Archives for 2017

Last night, Donald Trump delivered his first speech to a joint session of Congress. And in many ways, it had all the hallmarks of the typical Trump campaign speech … a lot of promises, a number of verifiable lies and a total lack of substance.

Building the big beautiful wall got mentioned, as did bringing back manufacturing jobs from abroad. And, of course, we heard once again of the need to “repeal and replace” Obamacare with “reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower cost and at the same time provide better heath care.” About the only thing missing was a guaranteed cure for cancer!

But the most bizarre moment of the evening came when Trump talked about the raid in Yemen that took the life of Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens. Trump invited the dead soldier’s widow, Carryn Owens, to the gathering. She was seated next to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.

Trump praised the fallen soldier, saying, “Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero — battling against terrorism and securing our nation,” while Carryn Owens was overcome with tears. “I just spoke to Gen. Mattis, who reconfirmed that, and I quote, ‘Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.’”

Unfortunately, many military analysts consider the raid a failure … a botched mission poorly planned and executed. Trump has recently blamed both his own military and Barack Obama for the raid gone bad … everyone but himself.

After a long … very very long …. standing ovation for the sobbing widow, the man who cares so much about records, ratings and crowd sizes went off script, saying Ryan Owens was looking down and was “very happy because he just broke a record” for a standing ovation!

The fallen hero, who might still be alive if not for a very questionable operation, is very happy because he broke a record for standing ovations? How totally insensitive. How totally Trump.

Owens’s father, Bill, refused to meet with Trump after his son’s body was brought back to the U.S. because of his anger over the raid, which marked a rare use of American ground forces inside Yemen. He has called for an investigation.

“Don’t hide behind my son’s death to prevent an investigation,” Bill Owens told The Miami Herald. “I want an investigation. … The government owes my son an investigation.”

With our current president, who seems to never make mistakes, and a Republican-controlled Congress, it is unlikely the grieving father’s request will ever be met.

Photo | businessinsider.com

Donald Trump has tweeted he will not be attending this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner slated for April 29^th, making him the first president to skip the event in over 30 years.

Trump tweeted:

I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!

Notice something missing?

The usually “straight-talking” president fails to give a reason why he will not be attending the usually festive event. He does not even offer a plausible “alternative fact.” Sad.

This has caused many pundits to speculate about Trump’s possible motive.

The conventional wisdom seems to be that Trump does not want to confront the national press, who he has repeatedly called “fake news”and “enemy of the people.” Some are calling the president a coward.

While that may be a possibility, I believe the answer is more basic.

The man simply does not have a sense of humor. And when he does attempt to make a joke, no one can tell for sure if he is trying to be funny or announcing some actual policy proposal!

We got a glimpse of Trump’s standup routine at the annual Alfred E. Smith charity dinner in New York last October. His material, and delivery, was so bad the crowd booed the then GOP presidential nominee.

Many have wondered whether our president has the ability to be funny or even knows how to laugh. He certainly has shown an inability to laugh at himself.

Remember Barack Obama’s brilliant take down of Donald Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondent’s Dinner hosted by Seth Meyers? As Obama was delivering his killer material, the camera kept focusing on a stone-faced Trump. Obama succeeded that night in turning Trump into a laughingstock.

If Trump were to attend the press dinner, that would undoubtedly invite comparison to Obama’s silky smooth performances at past events and his ability to take a joke.

No, there really isn’t any wonder why Trump has decided to take a pass. He’s just not up to the job of being comedian in chief. The thin-skinned president, for sure, does not want to be the butt of jokes that might hit too close to home.

Or maybe, just maybe, our vain president has something more important to do that night … like Windex all the mirrors in the White House? Bada bing!

Photo | someecards.com

Fifty-four percent of Americans did not vote for Donald Trump yet they are being asked to make nice-nice with the forty-six percent who did.

“Try to see their point of view,” the majority of voters are being urged. “You’ll never get anywhere by calling them racist, xenophobic, uninformed and uneducated morons,” they are scolded.

The problem with this “try to understand” nonsense is that it is just that … nonsense.

How do you accept a person who does not accept verifiable facts? How do you have a rational discussion with someone who believes the mainstream media is feeding them “fake news?” How do you convince someone the earth is round when they believe it is flat?

Mark Twain famously said, “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”

At his 2020 reelection rally in Florida last week, Trump mentioned the terror attack in Sweden. Of course there was no such attack. Trump tried “clarifying” things by saying he heard about it on Fox News. Well, problem solved! To many gullible Trump supporters, the big bad media is just “covering up” the story and the attack did happen. (Funny how Trump loyalists do not consider Fox News part of “the media?)

How do you have an intelligent discussion with someone who does not believe in the primacy of logic or the theory of gravity?

The answer is you can’t. So why waste your breath?

Trump is nothing but your typical cult leader whose disciples will follow him to the gates of hell. If you question what the leader says, you are the enemy.

Just last week Trump tweeted this statement that should have every freedom loving American petrified:

The FAKE NEWS media (failing ‪@nytimes, ‪@NBCNews, ‪@ABC, ‪@CBS, ‪@CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

No, you won’t get anywhere trying to talk sense to the willfully ignorant. It is best to just ignore them … granted, calling out these misguided souls may make some of you feel better, if only for a moment.

Photo | scoopnest.com

Everyone knows the joke about when you know a politician is lying … his lips are moving. Now we have a tell about when Trump, or any of his acolytes, is telling the truth … a statement is labeled “100% false.”

Remember when the president-elect floated the idea of cutting the CIA staff and restructuring the agency? This is how Trump’s then spokesperson, Sean Spicer, described the situation: “There is no truth to this idea of restructuring the intelligence community infrastructure. It is 100% false.”

How about when Trump ally, Roger Stone, said during the Republican primary, reports of turmoil within the Trump campaign were “100% false.”

Then there was that time, at a campaign rally in North Carolina, when Trump described himself as a victim of a smear campaign and accused Hillary Clinton of “character assassination.” Said Trump, “These allegations are 100% false, as everybody knows.”

The key to knowing for sure something is a bald-faced lie is the addition of “100%.”

Today the Associated Press (AP) released a story that the Trump administration is considering mobilizing as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants.

The “leaked” draft memo says participating troops would be authorized “to perform the functions of an immigration officer.”

The White House was quick to respond. While not denying the document is real, Sean Spencer told the press corps Trump never considered implementing such a plan. “It is irresponsible to be saying this,” he said, calling the report “100% not true.”

The “100%” rule also works in reverse.

Donald Trump senior adviser, Stephen Miller, last week weighed in on the controversy surrounding WH press secretary Sean Spicer’s decision to comment on Nordstrom pulling Ivanka’s products from their stores.

“I’m not going make a comment on that,” said Miller. “I don’t have any information on it. I do want to say that Sean Spicer, as always, is 100 percent correct and that what he said is true and important.”

So there you have it. The next time you hear “100%” being bandied about by Trump or his surrogates, you know the opposite of whatever is being claimed is actually the case.

Photo | cnn.com