Category: Government

12 Reasons Trump Was A Flop & Joe’s Not

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OPINION:

12 Reasons Trump Was A Flop & Joe’s Not

Joe Biden won the largest victory in U.S. history

OPINION:

12 Reasons Trump Was A Flop & Joe’s Not

By Anna Hessel with Wes Hessel

We are admitted President Joe Biden supporters. We just wanted to take a couple minutes to thank Joe for not being Donald Trump and point out 12 reasons Trump was a flop and Joe’s not.

COVID Catastrophe

  1. COVID was out of control during the Donald‘s limp excuse for a presidency. He denied the severity of the illness, having fired the pandemic preparedness team put in place by the Obama-Biden administration. Millions died, the economy shut down; life was on hold, and we all suffered. Once President Joe Biden was sworn in he immediately arranged for free vaccines, free COVID tests, and we all received the highest amount of stimulus payments since COVID began. He  instituted a needed mask mandate during the first portion of his administration to arrest the spread of the disease. Now, although COVID still exists, it is far less severe, now it is closer to the flu that the Republicans claimed it was, when it was actually deadly. Life is finally nearly normal again. Thank you, President Joe Biden.

The Real Illegal

  1. Jack Smith currently has Trump federally indicted, facing thirty-seven counts in the (1)stolen documents case, not to mention the recent (2)guilty verdict in E. Jean Carroll‘s civil defamation and sexual abuse case, and (3) AG Alvin Bragg in NY city is after him for the Stormy Daniels payoff. (4) Latitia James the NY state AG has filed a $250 million dollar civil suit against Trump, family and company alleging wide spread fraud. (5) Fani Willis, Fulton County, Georgia, DA is amassing evidence for her looming criminal election interference case against the former president, indictments expected in August 2023. And, (6) Jack Smith again, looks like he has been busy investigating the January 6th events orchestrated by Trump. And if that’s not enough to keep Trump busy there is (7) Jack Smith‘s fake electors investigation.
  2. Trump instigated an insurrection. Trump invited the insurrection because he didn’t want to let go of power. He couldn’t admit he was a loser. No other president in history has done anything like this. In the United States; the loser steps aside for the victor.

The People Have Spoken

  1. President Biden received more votes than any other presidential candidate in history, yet Trump is still claiming the election was stolen from him. He tried to claim victory before the votes were even counted. Trump tried to discredit or invalidate the votes of 80 million Americans.

An A– And Class

  1. Forty-five decided to skip President Biden’s inauguration. Trump left his vice president to attend, skulking out of D.C. like the coward he is.
  2. The Donald held up a Bible he does not read in front of a church he does not attend. To worsen the image, he held the Bible upside down. Joe Biden, however, went to church before he was inaugurated, and said a sincere prayer during his inaugural address.
  3. Trump wanted to waste taxpayers’ money on dictator-style military parades, but Uncle Joe is a military serviceman’s father and placed wreaths and flowers on graves.
  4. Forty-five gave our nation the first staple in her belly button first woman. Silicon free, Mrs. Biden is a beautiful, gracious, an accomplished educator with a doctorate in education. There is no comparison between the two. Notice I was unable to use the word ladies here, since I only consider Dr. Biden a lady. President Biden is also responsible for the first female Vice President Kamala Harris, a woman of color and class. Our First Gentleman, Doug Imhoff, is a fine man of Jewish faith, strong in a world of sickening anti-Semitism.
  5. During the Trump regime, there was rioting in the streets, a global pandemic, and rampant racism, not to mention sexism and other blatant discrimination, but Joe Biden respects all races, all religions, all genders, and all sexual preferences equally. Joe served as second in command under our first black President, they helped to make America great together. Saving the auto industry and passing the ACA (Obamacare) health care bill are just two of their very many outstanding accomplishments. Joe also respects women – our President is responsible for the Violence Against Women Act. Forty five “grabs ‘em by the p—-“.
  6. The Bidens have have been married nearly 45 years – Joe is a widower who has loved wholly two women, separately, never cheating on either; Trump has committed adultery on a number of occasions yet the right wing “Christians” worship the Donald; as a liberal Christian, I worship God, and respect President Biden. These same Trumpster lemmings have overturned reproductive freedom, when in fact many of these men impregnate women without any responsibility, expecting them to carry pregnancies, and raise children with no support at all. A child should never be abused by circumstance, that’s not pro-life. It does take a village to raise a child for eighteen years, which “pro-birth” Republicans don’t want to acknowledge.

The Right Way, Not The Right-Wing Way

  1. The Donald is strongly supported by the far right gun lobby. Joe is all about sensible gun laws, against assault rifles, and a proponent of universal background checks. With gun violence destroying families and neighborhoods we need a man like President Biden to end the slaughter.
  2. Forty-five’s dictator buddy, Vladimir Putin has declared war on the Ukraine, and invaded a sovereign country for no legitimate reason. While Trump is hiding out in his bunker, our President is visiting the Ukraine because he is a man of compassion and courage. It makes no sense to me why President Biden’s approval rating is between 41-49% depending on the poll, in my view he saved the country. He ran against 45, beat him handily thus stopping the Trump madness. I can go to church, the library, the hairdresser, theaters, shopping for groceries, no longer having to shelter in place or, in most cases, wear a mask anymore in public. Unemployment is at a low, and most of our nation has medical care, not just a moneyed few. America is back working and thriving. The war in the Ukraine, and the Chinese economic collapse has caused inflation; President Biden does not set gas or food prices, he is trying his best to rebuild our economy. America’s welcoming arms are open wide again. Our nations citizens are working, living once again without fear of a deadly pandemic. We are back in the Paris Climate Agreement, the threat of climate change’s potential future devastation recognized, because we have a President that listens to science while still trusting the Lord. I personally thank God for President Biden. He has my full endorsement for his re-election campaign. My spouse and myself, we are a proud Biden-Harris household. God bless our President and God bless America…Go to Biden Victory Fund and support Joe and Kamala with some hard cash to build a better America.

What’s Going On In Russia?

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What’s Going On In Russia?

Russia Has The World Watching

D. S. Mitchell

 

Loud Noise

I fell asleep last night watching television. In my own defense I’d had a long and busy day. So, at about 11:30, my sleep was interrupted when the volume on the television rose a dozen decibels, bringing me unceremoniously awake. As I’m looking for the elusive TV remote to shut off the offensive noise I hear an amazing news drop.

Marching On Moscow

My eyes flickered stupidly as I listened to a CNN commentator announce that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, Russia’s state sponsored mercenary army, had pulled out of Ukraine and was instead pointing 25,000 troops under his control toward Moscow.  What the hell?

Prigozhin Screaming Mad

Prigozhin has been raging on social media for weeks against the military generals in the Kremlin, accusing them of lying to Putin and the Russian people. As the situation deteriorated between the sides; Prigozhin claimed that Russian military forces attacked his Russian mercenary forces, killing at least 2500 of his men encamped along a defensive line in Ukraine.

Move On Moscow

After weeks of complaints of no food, equipment, armament, weaponry, or ammunition; Prigozhin had a new and greater outrage to fume about. The killing of Wagner mercenaries threatened the very seat of power as Prigozhin began moving his troops toward Moscow. By this time I was channel surfing the cable news channels to get the most recent information. Holy, moly this was the biggest news on the Russian front since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

A Quick Snooze

I fell asleep sometime after 2 am and woke up about 8 am. The first thing I did was turn on the TV to see what was going on in Russia. Streaming pictures from the streets around the Kremlin showed a military defensive build up. All the cable channels were playing video of Putin reassuring the Russian people in a speech. Yikes.

Belarus Calling Prigozhin

After about 12 hours of chaos, Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus announced to the world that he has fixed everything, and that Prigozhin had agreed to stop his rebellion and turn his troops around. Prigozhin states he does not want to spill Russian blood. Just like that? What the fuc? It’s over?

What The Kremlin Is Saying

In a whiplash move, Putin’s communication office indicates that the criminal complaint against Prigozhin will be withdrawn. Prigozhin agrees to exile to Belarus. Lukashenko promised him a hotel without windows; so he signed on for exile. Wagner mercenaries will be given amnesty and are encouraged rejoin the fight against Ukrainian defense forces.

Looks Weak

Putin’s debacle in Ukraine has shown clearly that the Russian military is second rate at best. If it weren’t for Iranian drones, and conscripted prisoners working as mercenaries the Russian military would have already lost in Ukraine. After 23 years in power, Putin looks as weak and anemic as his army. It looks like Vladimir Putin just got kicked in the head and he’s still seeing stars. Whatever happens, Putin’s image has been damaged severely.

The Potential

The Ukrainians need to make advances on the battlefield while the Russians fight amongst themselves.  I’m sure Volodymyr Zelensky realizes Ukrainian forces have a very narrow window to take advantage of the current chaos. And what about Putin? Will he be able to hold onto power or does his weakness embolden his enemies? These are questions that only time will answer.

Universal Basic Income: A Realistic Solution

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OPINION:

Universal Basic Income: A Realistic Solution

OPINION:

Universal Basic Income: A Realistic Solution

By Ross Turner

Not a New Idea

During times of turbulence and upheaval, ideas that were once thought fantastical suddenly seem quite rational.  Such is the case of Universal Basic Income (UBI). UBI is also known as a “basic income guarantee.”  The concept first appeared in the book ‘Utopia” by Thomas More published in  1516. The idea has been revived more than once over the centuries. In the early 1920’s British philosopher, essayist and social critic, Bertrand Russell wrote of the advantages of such a system. But it has only been in the last fifty years with the advent of technology, the internet, robotics, and Artificial Intelligence that there been a true necessity and demand for it.

UBI May Be an Idea Who’s Time Has Come

The idea, at its core, is to give every citizen a regular, untaxed sum of money regardless of employment status or income.  The thought is that this will raise the poorest recipients out of poverty and help the overall economy by boosting consumers’ purchasing power and economic mobility.  Many people, however, have a negative visceral reaction to “handing out” free money, worrying that people will stop working, or worrying about how to pay for such a program in the first place.  First, let’s look at why something like Universal Basic Income will be needed in the very-near future.

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Looking Back At Trump

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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

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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

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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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EDITORIAL: Can SCOTUS Survive The Scandals?

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EDITORIAL:

Can SCOTUS Survive the Scandals? 

Can the Supreme Court survive the scandals of the justices? Hopefully not.

Editorial: Along with a series of outrageous decisions the SCOTUS is facing the revelation of potentially serious wrongdoing, grift, and corruption.

EDITORIAL:

Can SCOTUS Survive The Scandals?

By D. S. Mitchell

Public Backlash

The 6-3 supermajority conservative Supreme Court is facing ugly public backlash to numerous recent court decisions, most notably of course, the overturning of Roe. But the court is also facing public outrage over the corruption of members of the court and their spouses. Clarence Thomas (& Ginni Thomas), John Roberts (& Jane Roberts), Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh are mostly responsible for the bad publicity that has led to the court’s low public approval rating.  It looks like this set of justices is bad for the court.

Written on a Sign

I don’t know about you, but my outrage grows by the day. At a recent abortion protest, I saw a young girl carrying a sign inscribed, “I hate it here.”  If you are a follower of Calamity News and Politics, you may have noticed an increased tension, and quite honestly, unbridled rage coming from this corner of the progressive community. I too have had several recent “I hate it here,” moments.

Targeted Killings

The radical right sees no contradiction in banning abortion, for love of life, yet fueled rhetoric that likely led to the  murder of at least 10 pro-choice physicians. The radical right tell us the Second Amendment is sacred. Sometime between my birth and today, the sanctity of the Second Amendment has taken on ridiculous, and unintended proportions. Since when is the right to own a gun more important than the life of a child.

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OPINION: Mass Shootings Terrorizing America

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OPINION:

Mass Shootings Terrorizing America

No other country in the world has the gun violence seen in the U.S. It could be because there are more guns than people.

OPINION:

Mass Shootings Terrorizing America

By D. S. Mitchell

 

Nothing New

Only four months into 2023 and there have been 195 mass shootings in America. The recent rash of mass shootings has shaken the nation. Rightfully so, such a wanton loss of life is unacceptable in a civilized society. Sadly though, it is difficult to be surprised. Spree killings have been as much a feature of American culture as baseball and apple pie, reaching all the way back to the days of Howard Barton Unruh.  Howard  was an American mass killer, sometimes classified as a spree killer. Unruh  shot and killed 13 people (including three children) during a 12-minute walk through his neighborhood in the fall of 1949, in Camden, N.J. He was 28 years old.

A Couple Years Later

Charlie Starkweather is another twentieth century mass murderer that blazed across the pages of American newspapers with his 14 year old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate.  Charles Raymond “Charlie” Starkweather went on a multi-state killing spree killing eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming between December 1957 and January 1958. He was 19 years old. He killed ten of his victims between January 21 and January 29, 1958, the date of his arrest. I just wonder how many victims Charlie would have had if he’d had access to an AR-15? The point being, America has a gun problem and it is nothing new.

Powerful NRA Lobby

The latest Fox Gun Poll showed more than 75% of Americans support banning assault weapons and many other gun restrictions. The primary opposition to gun control laws in the United States are the gun manufacturers. The NRA has served as an arm of gun manufacturers for years, successfully masquerading as a citizen 2nd Amendment right’s group. The NRA and its bought and paid for wing of the Republican party have formed a powerful voice in Congress, effectively shutting down nearly all efforts to legislate gun control. One of their more ridiculous cries has been the case of “what-aboutism”

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Psilocybin Mushroom Information

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Psilocybin Mushroom Information

Psilocybin Mushroom Information

Growing and using Psilocybin mushrooms

Psilocybin Mushrooms are just one of the “drugs” made legal in Oregon in 2020.  Bill Cook a friend of Calamity Politics and expert on the cultivation of Psilocybin mushrooms stopped by the Calamity studio on 5/2/2023 and talked to Dave about the positive effects of growing and using Psilocybin Mushrooms. Over the next few weeks Bill will be stopping by the studio to chat with Dave on a number of topics including the cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana in the State of Oregon. We are looking forward to these conversations. Stay tuned as they say.

 

The New Space Race

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The New Space Race 

The competition in space is a looming threat to peace on earth.

The New Space Race

By D. S. Mitchell

 

Back To The Moon

The U.S. touched down on the moon and did a walk about, planted a flag, collected a pile of rocks and came back home. That was way back in 1969. With that landing the U.S. effectively won the space race of that era against it’s saber rattling, cold war enemy, the Soviet Union.

The Vision

NASA’s  new moon program is called Artemis. Artemis 1 orbited the moon and returned with loads of information, but did not carry human beings. The vehicle landed safely in the Pacific Ocean after a 42 day mission. In the Artemis 2  phase NASA plans to send astronauts to the  moon and return them safely to earth. A colony will be built over a period time where astronauts will visit and stay for weeks at a time.

Two Primary Goals

The goal is to establish a continual human presence on the moon. In the NASA plan a space station orbits the moon and a base camp is established on the surface; all fueled by small nuclear reactors.  The goal is basically two fold. One is to mine the minerals on the moon and two is to test whether human beings can live in space for months, potentially years, safely. NASA’s ultimate goal is to use the moon as a staging site for its race to Mars.

NASA’s SLS Rocket

The SLS rocket has cost over $93 billion to develop. The SLS is the most powerful rocket ever built, taller than the Statue of Liberty, and capable of carrying 27 tons of cargo. The big drawback of the SLS is that they can only be used once, making them inefficient. By contrast the super-heavy launch vehicle Starship, being built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX for use as the lunar landing vehicle is re-useable.

 What Role Does SpaceX Fill

SpaceX beat out Blue Origins, owned by Jeff Bezos to provide the lunar lander for Artemis 3, in a contract worth $3 billion dollars. Starship will ferry astronauts from their Orion capsule orbiting the moon down to the surface. But so far the SpaceX rocket has not been tested. Needless to say if SpaceX can’t deliver on time the whole project will be set back accordingly

Moon Geography

The Apollo astronauts landed at the equator. The Artemis astronauts will land and explore the South Pole, which features steep mountains as well as deep crevices that hold water ice. The Chinese have announced their plan for an exploratory mission  to that same region. It looks like it might get crowded up there.

Lunar Diversity

In 2022 the Chinese and the Russians agreed to co-operate in building a joint lunar base.  China sent a rover to the moon surface in 2013. They plan over the next decade to send at least three more rovers to the  moon,  their goal is to eventually land astronauts in the early 2030’s. The Chinese and the Russians are our rivals and the tensions here on earth could easily be transported off planet. Bill Nelson, NASA administrator highlighted tensions by accusing the Chinese of stealing U.S. secrets, at the same time the Chinese are deploying spy balloons over our country. In addition to the government missions, both Blue Origins and SpaceX intend to fund private venture missions of their own, separate from NASA. Capitalism at it’s finest.

Artemis Accords

NASA is partnering with the UK, the EU, Canada, and Japan to build a lunar space station. The U.S. has taken the lead in establishing a legal framework for international lunar co-operation. The Accords were written by NASA and the U.S. State Department. Twenty-one countries have signed the pact, most importantly two have not, China and Russia, calling the pact  “colonialist” paving the way they say for the U.S. and her allies to “loot” the moon’s resources before anyone else can get there.