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Monthly Archives: June 2019


The past 10 years have shown that we as a country are allowing idiots to run our government. This has been highlighted by the election of TOTUS. The two main political parties have failed to do their jobs by abandoning the “bipartisan “method of governing. We as voters have allowed and gone along with their inept and deceitful operations by keeping them in office in spite of the facts that show them up for their poor judgements. Politicians have always been self serving but the seat fillers we now have brought Government service to a new low. It appears that they would rather lie to us than be honest about  what they are doing and allowing some public discourse. What we get now are sound bites, buzzwords and dog whistles that raise our hackles rather than inform. It is in our interest to look askance at our lawmakers and  take a skeptical view of their words and actions. Personally I believe they all go in with good intentions but fall victim to the power of corruption that appears to be a slippery slope with rewards for themselves at the end. It is well to remember that in This country, we are the bosses and our votes are the power we have to get good government. If we do not exercise that power with intelligence, then we get the current administration whom we pay to do a poor job.

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Tom Toles Comic Strip for June 27, 2019 Rob Rogers Comic Strip for June 25, 2019 Chris Britt Comic Strip for June 24, 2019 Mike Luckovich Comic Strip for June 27, 2019 Tim Eagan Comic Strip for June 27, 2019

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“Late Term Abortion”

The Washington Post points out there is no precise medical or legal definition of “late-term,” and “many doctors and scientists avoid that language, calling it imprecise and misleading.”

The Daily Beast also notes that only 1.3 percent of abortions are performed after 21 weeks of gestation, and the idea that a woman can get an abortion moments before giving birth is “not how medical care works.”

The use of “dog whistles” aka “coded” labels has been common for many years but until recently has been out of the mainstream of conversation. The current administration aided by a neer do well Congress has brought these “coded” statements and words to common use. Along with this common usage the administration has trashed agreements put in place to prevent war and improve trade. Tariffs (taxes) put in place to offset the “tax” policy that was supposed to benefit everyday Americans and threats to bad actors who were in a state of containment with the approval of our now alienated allies. The administration has in a few years undermined our economy, foreign affairs and put us on an isolation footing all because of “dog whistles”.

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Fair is fair, ask TOTUS. MA

Joelle Goldstein, People•June 21, 2019
A Michigan man who beat the odds to win the Mega Million lottery has been forced to split the earnings with his ex-wife amid their divorce.
Richard “Dick” Zelasko was thrilled to learn that he won the $80 million jackpot back in 2013 — that is until an arbitrator told him that half of his winnings would be going to his soon-to-be ex-wife Mary Beth Zelasko, whom he was involved in a divorce settlement with, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Though Dick and Mary Beth, who married in 2004 and share three children, were separated for two years at the time he won the Mega Million, a Michigan appeals court ruled that the Pontiac native must pay his ex-wife half the winnings, as their divorce was not yet final.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Dick won the $80 million jackpot in July 2013 but took home $38,873,628 after taxes and deductions.
The arbitrator John Mills — who was granted the ability to make some decisions in the case by the couple — determined that Dick’s lottery winnings were “part of the marital estate” and likely not his first purchased ticket.

Because of this, Mills demanded that $15 million be awarded to Mary Beth, according to court documents. Their divorce was finalized in 2018, the Free Press reports.
Dick’s attorney Scott G. Bassett, however, argued in court that “Rich was lucky, but it was his luck, not Mary’s, that produced the lottery proceeds,” per the court filing.
Despite their argument, an appeals court did not seem to buy into it and reviewed the decision last week, coming to the determination that the case had no errors
In a statement to PEOPLE, Bassett said he had filed an appeal brief to the Court of Appeals and a reconsideration motion after the decision was made on behalf of Dick. Bassett also noted that if the reconsideration was denied, they intend on appealing to the Michigan Supreme Court.
“An equal split of an asset acquired so long after separation, and in this case after the conclusion of the divorce arbitration hearing, is extremely unusual,” Bassett tells PEOPLE. “We believe the arbitrator violated controlling Michigan law when he awarded Mrs. Zelasko half of the $30 million net lottery proceeds.”

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“Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”

This oath plainly states our allegiance to our flag, country and one another as a UNITED population. Recent times have shown that we have allowed an electorate and “leader”(?) to divide us in order to work their nefarious and dangerous plans for their own purposes. TOTUS creates chaos while his aides and cabinet work hard to move his ill-defined and conceived policies forward. This dedication to an ill-informed administration depends on spreading lies and half-truths to support the constant stream of lies that they attempt to pass as policy. If you believe in the Pledge of  Allegiance then it is incumbent on us all to elect representatives who work for us and not against us. Party affiliation does not matter if the people we elect are as honest as we can find. we allow dishonesty by our accepting of name calling and denigration as entertainment. Government is a serious business that requires serious people and voters who are not afraid of replacing anyone who is working against the public interests. Prime examples of currently serving Government employees: TOTUS, Botch McConnell, N. Pelosi, and current Cabinet members. If you are not paying attention to these people then you are assured of re-electing the same poor public servants again and again. Party affiliation matters less than the “character” of the person you vote for.

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POLITICS 06/18/2019 09:18 pm ET Updated 23 hours ago

By Nick Visser and Christopher Mathias
Donald Trump Officially Launches 2020 Reelection Campaign In Orlando
The president has planned to run for a second term since his inauguration.

ORLANDO, Fla. ― President Donald Trump formally launched his reelection campaign at a packed-to-the-rafters rally in Orlando on Tuesday, officially moving to continue one of the most divisive administrations in modern history for four more years.
“We’re going to keep on fighting for every man, women and child across this land. We’re going to keep [America] better than ever before,” Trump said to a chorus of cheers. “That is why, tonight, I stand before you to officially launch my campaign for a second term as president of the United States.”
During his announcement, the president brushed off any residual damage from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the 2016 election and praised his supporters for defending him throughout what he referred to as a “great hoax” and an “illegal witch hunt” meant to erase their votes.
He hit many familiar talking points during the event, championing his efforts to install conservative judges around the nation, lambasting former Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton and drumming up support for his wall along the southern U.S. border. At times, the crowd of 20,000 joined in with chants and jeers, waving Trump 2020 signs while sporting red MAGA hats.
“Our future has never, ever looked brighter or sharper,” the president said. “The fact is the American dream is back, it’s bigger and better and stronger than ever before. 2016 was not merely another four-year election, this was a defining moment in American history.” Throughout his speech, Trump brushed off any potential challenges from the crowded field of Democrats hoping to unseat him, declaring the party “more radical, more dangerous and more unhinged than at any point in the modern history of our country.” “No matter what label they use, a vote for any Democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American dream,” Trump said. “So don’t ever forget this election is about you, it’s about your family, your future and the fate of your country.”
“I have news for the Democrats,” he said earlier. “We are not going back, we are going on to victory.”
Thousands of Trump supporters waited for hours in the heat and rain Tuesday to get inside the Amway Arena in downtown Orlando. Some, like 37-year-old Daniel McQuarrie and his daughter, even slept outside the arena overnight so they could get front row seats for the president’s official campaign kickoff.
“I just wanna be a patriot and support our president,” said McQuarrie, a Disney employee from Port St. John, Florida. “It’s something historic that we’ll never forget.”
McQuarrie, who wore a T-shirt from the conspiracy website InfoWars, added that he thought Trump is “doing his best to drain the swamp” and fight “the globalists.”
There was certainty among many of the president’s supporters that Trump is sure to win in 2020, the most recent polls be damned. Almost none had Trump winning in 2016. Why trust them now? Before the president took to the stage Tuesday, his adult sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., took turns riling up the crowd.
Trump Jr. lashed out at the media, lamenting how his dad gets “95 percent negative coverage.” The crowd jeered and broke into chants of “CNN sucks!”
“If you’re a Democrat, you get a pass on everything,” Trump Jr. said, adding that “it’s not even close to a fair fight.”
Tuesday’s announcement has been a long time coming.
While the Orlando visit has been touted as a “kickoff,” Trump’s reelection campaign actually began on Jan. 20, 2017 ― the day of his inauguration —when he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. No other presidential victor has kept his campaign alive in this fashion. Barack Obama did not start his reelection campaign until April 2011 and George W. Bush waited until May of 2003.
Trump also broke with precedent in other ways, holding his first campaign-style rally as president three weeks after he took the oath of office, on Feb. 18, 2017, at a Melbourne, Florida, airport hangar, just 68 miles away from downtown Orlando. He’s held more than 60 rallies around the country since, many before the 2018 midterm elections.
Trump’s paperwork renewing his campaign committee allowed him to collect donations and spend money for an election three years and 10 months away. It also permitted him to continue diverting some of those donations into his own private businesses, which he still controls and from which he still profits.
In that same time period, the Republican National Committee, which Trump effectively took over at his nominating convention in 2016, spent $690,181 at Trump’s golf resort in Doral, Florida; $403,259 at his hotel in Washington, D.C.; and $289,335 at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.
In all, the Trump campaign and the RNC together have funneled $4,341,083 to Trump businesses since Trump took office, with some of that going directly into the president’s own pocket.
S.V. Date contributed reporting.
Nick Visser
Senior Reporter, HuffPost
Christopher Mathias
Senior Reporter, HuffPost

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Ok by now we should all realize that “BOTCH” McConnell is against reparations for Black Americans or perhaps we should say all nonwhite Americans (the native Americans were equally deprived). Think about this: what if it was White Americans who were deprived those 150 years ago? Uncle Botch would be all over it. The statement that none of us are responsible for it is a fallacy since I am sure “botch’s “ background is why he made the past President’s job so hard and was unwilling to assist in creating a proper Healthcare bill and is tacitly supporting this miscreant President. Mr. Graham’s input about the issue being too divisive rings hollow as the division has been supported by him in his support of TOTUS. Another Miscreant who is not doing his job MA
By Jordain Carney – 06/18/19 02:42 PM EDT
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said that he does not support reparations for descendants of slaves, a topic that has become a point of debate in the 2020 election cycle.
“I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago for whom none us currently living are responsible is a good idea,” McConnell said. “We’ve tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation. We elected an African American president.”

McConnell was asked about reparations during a weekly press conference, which comes a day before the House Judiciary Committee will hold the first hearing on the issue in a decade.
“I think we’re always a work in progress in this country but no one currently alive was responsible for that, and I don’t think we should be trying to figure out how to compensate for it — first of all it would be pretty hard to figure out who to compensate. … No, I don’t think reparations are a good idea,” McConnell continued.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is holding the hearing Wednesday “to examine, through open and constructive discourse, the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, its continuing impact on the community and the path to restorative justice.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) reintroduced legislation that was initially spearheaded by former Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) that calls for a study on reparations.
The issue has become a topic of debate in the Democratic presidential primary.
Several 2020 candidates, including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said while speaking at the National Action Network event earlier this year that they would sign a bill forming a reparation study commission into law if they become president.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has introduced legislation in the Senate that mirrors Jackson Lee’s legislation. Though it would form a commission and does not call for African Americans to receive payments.
Booker’s office announced last week that his bill has received 12 co-sponsors, including several 2020 candidates.
But the legislation is unlikely to move in the GOP-controlled Senate or in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I think it’s too remote in time. I think it’s too divisive,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters earlier this year.

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Mike Pompeo apparently has his Head up his butt along with TOTUS. MA.

Hayley Miller, HuffPost 23 hours ago
Trump Would Accept Foreign Information on 2020 Opponent
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday was none too pleased when Fox News’ Chris Wallace asked him about President Donald Trump’s remarks last week stating he’d accept information about a political rival from a foreign government.
The president drew backlash from Democrats and some Republicans when he stated during an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he would likely “take” such opposition research. (Accepting election help from foreign governments is illegal.)
But Pompeo, a former CIA director, shrugged off Trump’s eyebrow-raising statement after Wallace asked him if accepting such information from a foreign government is right or wrong.
“Chris, you know, you asked me not to call any of your questions today ridiculous,” Pompeo said. “You came really close right there. President Trump has been very clear. He clarified his remarks later.”
Wallace said he agreed that Trump “kind of walked it back” when he told “Fox & Friends” on Friday that he would listen to the information first and then bring it to the FBI or the attorney general.
Trump told Stephanopoulos, in a clip of an interview that aired Wednesday, that he didn’t consider opposition research from a foreign government to be foreign interference in an election.
“They have information,” the president said. “I think I’d take it.”

After playing a clip of Trump’s remarks to ABC News, Wallace again pressed Pompeo, noting that the U.S. has a long history of describing foreign interference in our election as unacceptable.
“Chris, President Trump believes that too,” Pompeo said. “I have nothing further to add. I came on to talk about foreign policy and I think that’s the third time you’ve asked me about a Washington piece of silliness.”
But Democrats and several Republicans, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), scolded Trump over his remarks to ABC News on foreign intelligence.
The interview prompted Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub to issue a statement warning politicians that it’s illegal to accept information from a foreign national linked to an election in the U.S.
“Let me make something 100% clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election,” she wrote. “This is not a novel concept.”
Wallace on Sunday also asked Pompeo about reports of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother being assassinated for being an informant for the CIA, but the secretary of state declined to comment “on intelligence matters in any way.”
“The American people should rest assured,” Pompeo said. “The United States is taking all the actions that it needs to take to make sure we understand the risks and the threats that are posed by North Korea.”
Wallace noted that Trump said last week that he opposes the use of CIA informants to spy on Kim’s regime.
“I wouldn’t let that happen under my auspices,” he told reporters outside the White House.
Asked why Trump wouldn’t allow U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on North Korea, Pompeo danced around the question.
“We’re taking all the efforts necessary to make sure we know what’s going on all around the world,” he said. “That includes every country, Chris.”

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“Botch” McConnell apparently is following his same line of defense on all things that benefits the American People, after the fact statements of what he is doing now as what he did (supposedly) before. Mr. slow walk anything that is good for the people and fast walk everything that is good for him and his $ backers.  He is careful to not speak a lot as he could equal TOTUS in the numbers on the lying scale. Shouldn’t the entire Congress  be bent out of shape on this too? MA
Hayley Miller,HuffPost 58 minutes ago
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday fired back at Jon Stewart after the comedian accused him of dragging his feet on legislation that would benefit first responders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Stewart, a longtime advocate for 9/11 responders, tore into Republican lawmakers during an interview with “Fox News Sunday” for their reluctance to reauthorize the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), which is facing a significant funding lapse.
“I want to make it clear that this has never been dealt with compassionately by Sen. McConnell,” Stewart told Fox News, referring to past VCF legislation. “He has always held out to the very last minute, and only then, under intense lobbying and public shaming, has he even deigned to move on it.”

The hosts of “Fox & Friends” on Monday asked McConnell about Stewart’s criticism and why congressional votes on the fund often occur at the “last minute.”
“Well, many things that Congress have at the last minute,” McConnell said. “We’ve never failed to address this issue. And we will address it again. I don’t know why he’s all bent out of shape.”
Host Steve Doocy noted that Stewart was outraged that so few members attended a House subcommittee hearing about the bill last week, where he gave an emotional testimony about the needs of 9/11 responders and their families. Out of the subcommittee’s 14 members, just half showed up, CBS News reported.
“Well, that frequently happens because members have a lot of things going on at the same time,” McConnell said. “It sounds to me like he’s looking for some way to take offense. There’s no way we won’t address this problem appropriately.”
Asked if the VCF will be fully funded, McConnell said yes.

The Never Forget the Heroes Act of 2019 would ensure the fund can deliver benefits to 9/11 responders for the next 70 years. Stewart has visited Capitol Hill several times in recent months to advocate on behalf of the fund’s beneficiaries.
Roughly 45,000 people are suffering from at least one 9/11-related chronic health condition and more than 10,000 have been certified with a 9/11-related cancer, Stewart wrote in an op-ed for the New York Daily News in February.
The Justice Department announced earlier that month that a lack of funding for the VCF would lead to compensation cuts as large 50 to 70 percent. A total of 835 awards have been reduced as of May 31, The Associated Press reported.
“Your indifference is costing these men and women their most valuable commodity: time,” Stewart told lawmakers on Tuesday. “It’s the one thing they’re running out of.”
The House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the bill on Wednesday. Before heading to the Senate, the proposed legislation will need to pass a full House vote, which has been scheduled for July.

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Unfortunately, the Republican Party we see today is not the same party that those men once led. Hell, it’s not really even the “party of Ronald Reagan” anymore. Unless you believe that a president who raised taxes during six of his eight years in office; signed an amnesty bill giving illegal immigrants citizenship; passed a ban on automatic weapons; and supported the assault weapons ban signed by Bill Clinton would get elected by today’s Republican standards.Whether many will admit it or not, today’s GOP is the party of Donald Trump.This is a man who was called a fraud, a con man, a pathological liar and a cancer to conservatism by many of the people who support him today. While infighting is common during a primary, the insults Trump’s fellow Republicans used to describe him went far behind the typical political attacks. These were deeply personal jabs people like Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Rick Perry took at Donald Trump.

Well, while doing some research, I found a quote from Teddy Roosevelt that perfectly demonstrates how far the GOP has fallen from the days when it was a party actually led by great people:

“The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.”

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