EPA Cuts Cause Potential For Real Harm

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EPA Cuts Cause Potential For Real Harm

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics is a progressive political blog that’s main intention is to improve people’s lives. I’m here again, uncensored and irreverent, raising hell and screaming for attention. I know I’m about 3200 miles from Washington, D.C. but I pray people are aware of the perilous and irresponsible attack on the EPA that is taking place at the hands of the Trump Administration.  The Environmental Defense Fund states flatly, “No federal agency has been singled out for such a large and pernicious budget cut as the EPA”.

Approximately 90% of the American people support strong environmental protections.  It is an all hands on deck emergency if we will be able to stop President Trump’s efforts to gut the EPA budget, thus eliminating many core environmental safeguards. The government has been transferred into the hands of anti-environment extremists whose goal is profit through fossil fuel extraction over the lives of wildlife and our historic national park system.

Trump and the Congress seem to be on a mission to kill our national parks and destroy our environmental protections.  Many lobbyists are sent to Washington paid to convince legislators that relaxing restrictions on the millions of acres of National Parks land would be an economic boom for the country.  The goal seems to be directed toward shifting control from the federal government to the individual states, where those treasured resources can be sold, or licensed to the highest bidder for the systematic extraction of gold, silver, oil, gas, coal, and timber.

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Trump Lives In A Facsimile Universe

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Trump Lives In A Facsimile Universe

D. S. Mitchell

Last week President Trump set off another Twitter firestorm when he began a vicious  attack against MSNBC TV hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. Trump’s bad behaviors and odd proclivities have made for interesting chatter on their early morning political news show, ‘Morning Joe’.  The Twitter attack came after several months of negative Trump coverage by the two TV hosts.

The heat of the outrage following Trump’s disgusting attack came from a wide swath of the public, Capitol Hill and the media. At the height of the Kerfuffle, Joe and Mika came on their own show as “guests”. The pair answered  a slew of questions from their regular panel.

In short order,  I watched the story shift from Trump’s questionable  mental capacity to an even darker and more sinister sets of behaviors. Behaviors that support the James Comey’s recent testimony; threats and bullying being standard practice by the thug from Queens.

Joe and Mika told a hair raising tale ‘on air,’ of being excessively pressured, or  “blackmailed”, by several White House officials.   The staffers were demanding Joe and Mika call and apologize to the President, for their recent unflattering reporting of Trump on their show.

The pair described many ominous phone calls being made to their children and other family members threatening publication of an ugly National Enquirer story.  Mika stated that White House staffers made frequent phone calls to her, telling her to back off  the negative reporting of Trump.

Not only was there pressure to change reporting, but also to call the president and apologize.  All they needed to do was cave to the threats by the White House thugs.  If Joe made that apology call he was told the negative National Enquirer story would be scrapped.

Joe told his television audience that he had called Jared Kushner directly.  During that conversation  Kushner, confirmed, “All you need to do is pick up the phone and call and apologize, and the National Enquirer story will disappear”.  Joe said he refused to apologize, and things deteriorated into Trump making the subsequent disgusting tweets attacking the two TV hosts.

The Trump attack against the commentators soon segued to how can Trump control what is published in the National Enquirer and how is he using that power to control and manipulate reporters and the news itself?

It is well-known that National Enquirer, CEO  David Pecker has been friends with Donald Trump for decades. Despite Pecker denials of biased reporting favoring Trump it has been obvious for many months that The National Enquirer and TMZ are having a print love affair with Trump. And Pecker has been allowing his personal relationship with Trump to effect editorial decisions at the tabloid.

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66 Things To Smile About

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66 Things To Smile About

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics presents progressive political opinions, predictions and speculations regarding the current U.S. political news scene. The Fourth of July, Independence Day, one of my favorite holidays. Its been a good day. I worked half a day, hung out with a couple friends while they did demolition on their new “used” home. It looks like a lot of work and a huge money outgo, but the place is in a great neighborhood and the house has great bones. After the fireworks I was too tired to finish my Independence Day post. So, here are ’66 Things To Smile About’:

1.) Hours at the library 2.) Remembering my reusable bags when I go shopping 3.) The Budweiser horses 4.) Summer Solstice Parties 5.) Wall art 6.) A room filled with music 7.) Houseboating at Lake Shasta, California 8.) A seaplane landing 9.) A lazy game of golf with the girls 10.) A bag of tennis balls for the dog 11.) A twisted toothpaste tube 12.) Animal cookies 13.) Elevator door opening just as you reach it 14.) Playing darts at the pub 14.) A new litter of puppies 15.) Roses growing up a picket fence 16.) Getting the local paper at the doorstep 17.) Breakfast with Tracey 18.) Antique car shows 19.) Having a plan 20.) Astoria, Oregon 21.) Air shows 22.) Girl’s softball 23.) Dancing with a great dancer 24.) Kids in the sprinkler 25.) Thrift store shopping 26.) Hot air balloons 27.) Upscale resale shops 28.) Loading the fishing gear 29.) River walks and Ocean Promenades 30.) Saturday Night Live 31.) Remembering a loved one with graveside flowers 32.) Inspiring a child 33.) The tingle of stage fright just before a performance 34.) Chasing rainbows 35.) Chintz curtains blowing through an open window 36.) Country stores 37.) Fresh baked bread soaked with butter 38.) Castles sitting high above rivers 39.) “Getting away” for the weekend 40.) Coconut milk fresh from the coconut 41.) Kah-Nee-Ta Resort 42.) Shiny firetrucks 43.) Plate size cinnamon rolls shared with friends 44.) Antique quilts on display 45.) Pressing Restart after a bad episode 46.) Hitting a home run 47.) Marching for a cause 48.) Seeing football teams wear pink for breast cancer awareness 49.) The Ferries of Puget Sound 50.) Vancouver Island 51.) Sidewalk dining 52.) Finding a childhood toy when unpacking boxes long stored 53.) Street rods 54.) Consciously stirring a conversation to avoid an argument with a co-worker 55.) One trusted and forever best friend 56.) A “Make Over Day” 57.) Wind chimes quietly tapping in the wind 58.) Catfish caught in the early morning and fried for breakfast 59.) Fortune tellers and Ouija boards 60.) Mexican tooled cowboy boots 61.) Beer in iced glasses 62.) Making, and then eating cannabis cookies 63.) Hanging an oil painting you did when you were 25 over the fireplace for a new showing 64.} The ‘mission’ you create with a ‘To Do List” 65.) Self help books, purchased, but never read 66.) A joke well told

Thank you for joining me for my weekly smile session. Remember to do your part; call Capitol Hill, fax and email your reps, write letters to congress, letters to the editors, tweets, blog, protest, run for office.

Join the Resistance.
Dar

Congress Doubts Trump Foreign Policy

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Congress Doubts Trump Foreign Policy

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics is a progressive leaning political blog where we attempt to offer relevant and engaging political analysis and commentary, sprinkled with a bit of sarcasm and cynicism.  So, if you are ready, please join me as I examine the good, the bad, the planned and the unplanned on the U.S. political scene.  Some call it Mud Wrestling, I call it Russian Roulette.

Mieke Eoyang, a National Security Analyst at the Third Way, said, “I think it is setting in, especially in the Republican members of Congress, that they are not getting the kind of adult leadership out of the White House that would allow them to give deference to the White House”. Continue reading

To Believe, Or Not To Believe

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To Believe, Or Not To Believe

D. S. Michell

In 2015, after years of debate on the separation of Church and State issue, a Republican controlled State Legislature passed a bill authorizing the placement of a Ten Commandments Monument on the Arkansas Capitol grounds.  A group of fundamentalists raised $26,000 to fund the creation of the Ten Commandments monument. That monument was erected last week on the Capitol grounds at Little Rock, Arkansas.

Within 24 hours of its erection, the Ten Commandments came tumbling down, after being rammed by a Dodge Dart, driven by Michael Tate Reed.  Reed, posted a video of himself running into and destroying the newly placed monument. Reed reportedly yelled, “Oh my goodness—-freedom,”  as he rammed the 6,000 pound granite slab.  Reed 32, was arrested and secured at Pulaski County Jail charged with, criminal trespass, defacing object of public interest, and First degree criminal mischief.  Reed has subsequently been transferred to mental health authorities.

Reed in 2014 rammed another vehicle into a Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma State Capitol, in Oklahoma City, OK.  And, in fact, Reed is currently under court order to maintain mental health treatment and therapy.

Wednesday afternoon, maintenance crews were cleaning up the mess.  Arkansas officials intend to replace the monument as soon as possible. A state official confirmed the vow to replace the monument, “we won’t let this bitterness and hatred stop us.”

The separation of Church and State debate is not expected to tamper down in the near future. The ongoing, and increasingly loud dissension seems to increase as partisanship policies polarize respective groups.

Nationwide school boards, city and county hearings, state legislators and citizens are debating the place of religion in American life. One of the most contentious arguments centers around the display of the Ten Commandments and other religious invocations on public buildings and grounds. The display of the Ten Commandments has led to numerous legal battles and poisonous debate.

Through a spokesman, the ACLU issued a statement,  “We are committed to seeing  unconstitutional monuments struck down, but safely through legal means.” A group called Freedom From Religion, has threatened numerous laws suits across the country and have successfully had religious monuments removed from government properties in Mississippi and New Mexico.

My opinion is simple. You as an individual, or a business owner can decide to put religious decors, monuments, plaques on your property.

I as an individual do not want such religious monuments on my property, nor do I want any such affirmations on public property, EVER.

It’s a big week end here in my little corner of the world.  The annual HOA garage sale is going full force. People come from all over the county for this huge event.  The community picnic will be Sunday, another big event. The 4th of July, because it is on a Tuesday this year, is making it a really long week end, and thousands of tourists are flooding our beach side  community.  Traffic on our narrow little roads gets risky for walkers and bikers.

Calamity Politics wishes all my readers. HAPPY 4TH! Stay Safe.

Join the Resistance

Dar

Proud to

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“Proud to Say I’m a Liberal,” JFK

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics is a progressive political blog where I address and comment on U.S. political  shenanigans and bullshit that happens everyday in Washington, D. C. Calamity Politics is coming to you today from hotter than hell Grants Pass, Oregon where it was a melting 107 degrees yesterday, and we are expecting more of the same for the next couple days.

Sadly, it seems to me, that “people” never vote for policy. Which is what effects their every day lives.  Instead, politicians have figured out that “people” vote for hot button issues, the candidate’s appearance and stage comfort being other factors.  There seems to be a total disconnect for many people.  The individual political party platforms state clearly the values and direction of that party.  Furthermore, the history of the individual parties actions when in power are a pretty reliable predictor of how they will govern.

Characters like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Newt Gingrich are continually ginning  up the right wing base with attacks against any and all “liberals” “lefties” “progressives”; and the “Democrats” specifically.

I’m proud to be a liberal if that mean, in the words of JFK, ” Someone who looks ahead and not  behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad. If that is what it means to be a ‘Liberal’— then I’m proud to say I’m a liberal.”

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Heartbreaking

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Heartbreaking

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity politics woke up early this morning to more health care debate on the the cable news channels. I have been making my calls to Senators and voicing my disgust for the emerging  disaster identified by many as, “TrumpCare”.

I have written several posts recently about the health care subject and again this morning Calamity Politics is urging political action by everyone.  If you’re reading this post don’t forget to write, call, protest, run for office, anything to further the Resistance.

One of the things that never gets people excited is organizing.  But, grassroots organizing is essential. Knock on doors, talk to people, ask them what they are looking for in a candidate, and find a candidate that matches what that community is talking about.  Whatever you do, don’t lose faith.  If you take a hammer and you hit it against a concrete wall, over and over again, that wall will breach.  We are that hammer.

The secret writing of the Republican health care bill was enough to convince many people of its dubious underpinnings. The opposition to the pending legislation by hospitals, nurses and doctors, American Cancer Society, Diabetes Foundation,  and reportedly 76% of the U.S. population is unprecedented.  Those factors alone should be enough for the Republicans to sense the way the wind is blowing, but they cannot get past the “Repeal ObamaCare” thinking.  If the Republicans are allowed to pass the TrumpCare bill many American citizens will suffer, maybe you, maybe your mother, or an uncle, a friend from work. Someone you know will be negatively effected if this bill passes.

Paul Ryan (R. WI) said he had dreamed of this bill, this moment, “since he used to talk policy at kegger parties, in college.”  Are you fucking kidding me? Someone who is still holding on to dumb ass, drunk ‘college kid’ ideas is drawing up national health care policy that potentially effects everyone in America either directly, or indirectly, makes me furious.

These folks are so removed from everyday life that they don’t even realize what they sound like. The other day Senator Lindsey Graham (R. S.C.) made the comment, “If we don’t pass a bill, we”ll  just wait until ObamaCare collapses.  Maybe then we can get something passed.”

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senator Graham’s comments are both heartlessness and offensive.  Somebody has cancer, guess we’ll watch his treatment interrupted, his life turned up side down, and most likely his hastened death.  Why, when we have the technology to save his life? Because, some guy in college fell in love with the Ayn Rand idea of ‘me’ over everyone else, or an old guy that acts as if no action is acceptable. That’s like watching someone drown and you standing on the dock ignoring the event, and it’s potential.

Maybe you guys, back there in Washington, D.C. need a reality check.  Sometimes a bad ‘promise’ should be broken, and the Republicans have made some really bad promises over the last eight years., without any regard to the negative effect, those promises will have on a large portion of the American population.

Dar

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35 Reasons To Smile

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35 Reasons To Smile

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics was temporarily disabled on Sunday, and because of that issue  I did not post my regular Sunday Reasons to Smile. So, it’s Monday and let’s find some things that make me smile, and hopefully you too.

Forget politics for a few minutes and join me for 35 Reasons To Smile:

1.) Sandra Lee’s Semi-Homemade cook book series  2.) “Doing” breakfast  3.) Blowing bubbles  4.) Saturday night Roller Derby  5.) Popeye cartoons  6.) Aquariums  7.) Tug boats  8.) Winning 9.) Tootsie Roll Pops  10.) Costco food samples  11.) Fitted sheets  12.) Window seats  13.) Spa Day  14.) KoolAid  15.) A freshly sharpened pencil  16.) Chasing rainbows  17.) Day hikes  18.) NASA 19.) Birdhouses 20.) Caves  21.)  Beach bonfires  22.) Song birds  23.) Hot fudge sundaes  24.) Balcony  25.) Gymnastics  26.) Playing Frisbee with the dog  27.) Windsurfing the Columbia Gorge 28.) Clam Chowder in a bread bowl  29.) The shape of water 30.) Indian summer  31.) Hot tea  32.) Wishing on a star  33.) Baskets of Geraniums  34.) Toddler’s in snowsuits  35.) Secret family recipes.

I’m happy now. Hope you found something to smile about.

Join the Resistance

Dar

Time To Plug-In

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Time To Plug-In

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics had a “plug-in failure” Sunday night.  The failure involved temporary loss of multiple features on the blog.  This failure was extremely aggravating, and it wasn’t resolved until Jane worked her magic.  However, she hasn’t been able to fix everything, yet. But, she is on it, and I’m sure all of our features will be available again, soon.

The reason I’m even mentioning our Calamity Politics catastrophe is because it demonstrates a life truth: shit happens. And when that shit happens to concern health care, there are several subsistence safety net programs for Americans. The big three are,  Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

My anger has grown steadily as the Republicans prepare to destroy American health care. Just  watching Mitch McConnell smirk into the camera surrounded by the Republican caucus sends me into a rage.   They are all looking tail-wagging happy with themselves.  Is that the way you are supposed to look when you are throwing millions of people’s lives  into chaos?

Last week in the Capitol of the United States of America handicapped individuals, protesting the proposed draconian cuts to Medicaid, were pulled from wheel chairs, zip-tied, and arrested.  It was one of the most disturbing and disgusting sights, I believe I have ever seen.

I believe the next 2 days are vital if we are to have any chance of stonewalling this legislation. Call Republican Senators and tell them to put conscience above party. Phone calls are very effective. Please call and demand they “vote no” on the Senate Repeal and Replace ACA bill.  Stop TrumpCare.

Join the Resistance

Dar

OPEN LETTER TO NANCY PELOSI

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6/22/2017

Dear Nancy,

I woke up to a very somber crowd at the Morning Joe table.  All kinds of thoughts and commentary were tossed around about how the ‘face’ of the DNC is Nancy Pelosi, and in many districts, your name has become toxic.

It seems that brilliant powerful women cannot be tolerated in this country. If you were morphed into your male alter ego, HE would go down as one of the most brilliant strategic planners and policy makers in House history. And, without a doubt one of the biggest fund raisers.

With that said, I must acknowledge that I am 71 years old. I know that you are 77 years old. As an older person I am glad to see the new faces in the stores, in the offices, and hopefully soon in the Congress. Nancy please step aside.  When you step aside, it should not be in anger, or contention, but rather a natural changing of the guard.  Teach your successor. Nancy, pick your successor and then help them succeed, that’s what great leaders do.

Your admiring fan,

Darlene Mitchell