Some Days, You Just Gotta Smile

Sometimes You Just Have To Smile

Some Days, You Just Gotta Smile

D. S. Mitchell

Shelter In Place

It is Tuesday morning and it looks like a perfect day. The clouds are white cotton balls hanging over a green ocean with cresting waves breaking gently against the sand. It does not seem to matter that I am currently “sheltered in place” because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was thinking before I started writing this blog post that I should discard politics for a few minutes and look for as many reasons as I can to smile. Here is what I came up with:

Smile List

1.) Puppies and kittens  2.) A man in white T-shirt and faded jeans, that fit just right  3.) Hot, crispy french fries  4.) Beach bonfires w/friends  5.) Misty mornings  6.) My over-sized cat sleeping in the hanging fern  7.) Moonlight on water  8.) Old Godzilla movies at midnight  9.) Taking first place  10.) Tiny houses 11.) Wicker and lace  12.) Powdered doughnut holes with fresh perked coffee  13.) My  secret journal  14.) An old cabin in the woods  15.) A check at the mail box  16.) Giving the peace sign, not the middle finger  17.) A new toothbrush 18.) An old Marx Brothers comedy  19.) Triple layer chocolate fudge cake topped with chocolate and cherry cordial ice cream  20.) Snowmobile rides under a full moon  21.) Sweet dreams  22.) Back rubs 23.) The rhythmic click of a spinning fan  24.) Remembering Mama  25) Following a stone wall to its end 26.) Babies dressed in boots and jeans  27.) Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef  28.) Machu Picchu  29.) Self-confidence  30.) The swooshing sound of corduroy on corduroy  31.) Toy Trains  32.) Cartwheels, somersaults, and hand stands on the front lawn  33.) Giant Tortoises  34.) Koi filled ponds  35.) Hot apple Empanadas  36.) Carte blanche  37.) Good posture  38.) A Denny’s breakfast of grease and goo  39.) Japanese lanterns floating on a breeze  40.) Twitter friends

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No matter what is happening in Washington D. C. today, I will smile. Join me daily on www.Calamitypolitics.com and Twitter @calamitypolitics, as I autopsy the headline political news, promised to be served with a generous side of sarcasm and a double order of cynicism. For dessert, I promise a big dish of hope. as I attempt to analyze and comment on the upside down world of U.S. politics.

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Trump Racism Is Bad For America-Part II

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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My Twitter Adversary Weighs In On NoKo

My Twitter Adversary Weighs In On NoKo

D. S. Mitchell

I love Twitter and I can understand why the President seems to be addicted to the platform.  Whenever I leave a tweet I get both “likes” and “incoming missiles” but I love the conversation, as long as it is real, authentic, and honest. I hate hearing the same words from 10 different people.  Think for yourself, I say, at least change the words. LOL.

Twitter gives us an opportunity to open up our hearts and minds to different people and different ideas.  An opportunity to join hands with millions of people around the world some thinking similar thoughts while others from polar opposite philosophical spheres.

I know that sometimes I am guilty of throwing red meat into the arena, just to get things stirred up, but for the most part I try to present rational thought with a tinge of humor. Because in the end we all need to be able to laugh at ourselves AND our beliefs.

Sometimes the 140 character format is too limiting. What is happening in North Korea as an example. So I use my blog to vent and fume, stomp my feet and throw hand grenades at the Trump administration.

One of my “Twitter adversaries” is Melanie Gambill @magambill,  Sometimes she hits me and my left-wing philosophy pretty hard.  But, I can take it and she takes the punches I throw at her, because we know we are both just too super great people with some differing opinions. I love her spirit, if not always her adjectives.

Yesterday morning as the North Korea sword rattling was reaching new heights I asked my twitter friend, in a “back channel” message, for her as a Trump supporter to share her off the cuff thoughts on the escalating situation in NoKo. Her response was honest and forthright and I believe in her sincerity and so I am posting it for folks to read, and think about.

I am taking advantage of her a bit by this post. She didn’t know she was writing for publication. I made no changes to her message. Love U Melanie. So follow us both on Twitter and chirp in anytime.

From Melanie: Noko!! We have a huge problem!! It does not serve us to blame !! We are here now what do we do? My thoughts!! This guy is a wacko!! China should be doing what trump is!! But that is not happening!! Talks !! we are trying real hard.. sanctions ok takes time for that to kick in. And that is going to piss the little ass off. Ppl will suffer more, not him!! If he was not shooting the rockets off in everyone’s face it w/ not be so bad.. he warned us he was going to hit us.. so I think if he wanted to , as crazy as the little BOY is he w/ have just done it! Problem is soko Japan china.. he know he has everyone by the balls!! Many many ppl will die!! Humanity!! But he could just do it anyway.. he is a child with no restrictions and a lot of boom

!! If he shoot rockets at Guam!! Even if it is national waters. That is an act of war.. anything to come at our country.. Close or not.. the beast will be unleashed!! Trump is not playing., but this is the very last thing he wants to do. Or he w/ have done it too!! But he is ready and in place!! He has to do this.. Kennedy did, but he did not have to deal with a child!! That is the problem!!

How do I get to your blog. I do not know much about this internet stuff.. I am interested in the conversation!! I don’t curse too much, w/ not do that!! If i get puff!! I w/ leave!! Let me know!! Busy dog day! I have pick ups , new dogs coming in. Grand child to watch. Whew. And possible war!! The 15th is when he will let us know his plan!! I think!! Right? Noko?

Dar