Archives for 2017

Trump: Flynn … Flynn Who?

December 1, 2017 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

Today may be remembered as the day Trump went down for the count. Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador (spy?) last December. Sources say Flynn is ready to finger his old boss.

While we have yet to hear from the Twitter-happy Trump about this bombshell development in the Mueller investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia, Ty Cobb, Trump’s attorney issued the following statement:

“Today, Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump Administration, and a former Obama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI.

The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year. Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn. The conclusion of this phase of the Special Counsel’s work demonstrates again that the Special Counsel is moving with all deliberate speed and clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion.”

Perhaps anticipating this day, Trump put out a statement in early May trying to distance himself from Flynn’s legal troubles. He blamed any problems with the retired three-star general on the Obama administration. Trump tweeted Flynn was “given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration – but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.”

During a Fox News interview this past April, Trump blamed Obama for flaws in the Flynn vetting process. “So when he came into our administration, for a short period of time, he came in, he was already approved by the Obama administration and he had years left on that approval,” Trump said.

After Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was indicted on charges stemming from Mueller’s investigation, he tried to downplay his connection with Manafort as well. Once again his attorney, Ty Cobb, issued a statement that emphasized the short amount of time Manafort acted as campaign manager.

“[Trump] likes and respects Mr. Manafort and appreciates the work he did for him during the three months he was with the campaign.”

Let’s see … Flynn, 25 days with the administration; Manafort only three months with the campaign? How could Trump possibly have had any real association with the two or know what they were up to with Russia?

Alls eyes are waiting for the King of Twitter to offer up some ridiculous and incredible statement.

As a famous bandleader used to say, “ And-a-one-and-a-two-and-a-three …”

Photo | newsweek.com

Sex Scandal Hits The Vatican

November 29, 2017 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

At a time when women accusing powerful men of sexual misconduct has turned into a daily ritual, another dominant male has been ensnared in allegations of sexual impropriety going back decades.

Pope Francis has been accused of groping two nuns during his years as a seminary student at the Inmaculada Concepción Seminary, in Villa Devoto, Buenos Aires.

The nuns, who chose to remain anonymous, have told reporters that the Holy Father copped a feel while they were waiting in line to give their weekly confessions at the Catedral Metropolitana, Buenos Aires. The alleged incidents took place in the summer of 1955.

“From out of nowhere I felt a hand squeeze my buttocks” said one of the nuns. The second nun told the same story of a surprise, unwanted touching.

Vatican spokesman, Father Guido Sarducci, issued a statement that neither confirmed nor denied the accusations.

“The Pope does not recall any incidents of improper touching during his years at the seminary. The alleged groping goes back 62 years. One has to ask why the nuns would wait so long to accuse the Vicar of Christ.”

Catholics throughout the world are in shock, not knowing what to make of the allegations. Many are simply praying, “Please say it ain’t so, Papa.”

One powerful male facing sexual misconduct allegations of his own has come to the Pope’s defense … Donald Trump.

“This is ridiculous,” said Trump. “Why would the Pope grope a nun? They are generally very homely. I would say on average a four. Have you ever seen a hot nun except in the movies?”

Father Sarducci went on to say, “Pardon the pun, but the Pope does not make it a habit of forcing himself on nuns or any females for that matter.”

If the allegations are true, expect more nuns to come forward in the days ahead.

It is being rumored that the two nuns accusing the Pope of sexual misconduct have contacted Lisa Bloom, a lawyer famous for representing female victims of sexual harassment and assault.

Photos | courageouschristianfather.com – pinterest.com

Caution – this could be fake news!

For Some Alabamians, There Is Nothing More Disgusting Than Being A Democrat

November 18, 2017 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

In a recent survey, registered voters in Alabama’s Senate race found that 29% of those surveyed are more likely to vote for Republican Roy Moore after revelations he may be a sexual predator.

And now, the Republican Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, has announced that, even though she believes the young girls accusing Roy Moore of sexual molestation, she is going to vote for him anyway … because he is a fellow Republican.

“I’m going to cast my ballot on December the 12th, and I do believe the nominee of the party is the one I’ll vote for,” Ivey said. “I believe in the Republican Party, what we stand for, and most important, we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like the Supreme Court justices, other appointments the Senate has to confirm and make major decisions. So that’s what I plan to do, vote for Republican nominee Roy Moore.”

In an hilarious video that went viral a few days ago, a reporter is seen chasing a Republican down a winding staircase trying to ask him if he supports Roy Moore.

Tom Llamas of ABC News is seen repeatedly asking Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks if he believes Roy Moore over his accusers. Brooks repeats the same answer: “I believe that the Democrats will do great damage to our country on a myriad of issues.”

Brooks argued earlier this week that the conservative agenda outweighs the accusations.

“America faces huge challenges that are vastly more important than contested sexual allegations from four decades ago,” Brooks told AL.com in a text message.

So there you have it. Members of the political party that likes to sell itself as guardians of “family values” would rather vote for a known sexual creep over pulling the lever for a Democrat.

One could almost hear the arguments for supporting Jack the Ripper if he were running for office with an “R” after his name, “Yes, he may be a serial killer, but at least he is not a Democrat. He’s got my vote.”

Or how about Jeffery Dahmer? “Yes he may have an eating disorder but I will support a member of my party over a liberal, gun-hating, god-denying Democrat!”

Fortunately for the state of Alabama, and for sanity itself, Democrat Doug Jones is currently leading the serial pedophile Moore in the latest Fox News poll, 50% to 42%.

Photo | nbcnews.com

Donald Trump Doesn’t Tell Lies, But …

November 12, 2017 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

According to fact checkers at the Washington Post, Donald Trump tells 4.9 lies per day.

So, our 45^th president tells almost five whoppers per day, a pace which would amount to more than 1,800 false statements over the span of a calendar year, or more than 7,000 over the course of a full four-year term.

And yet Donald Trump believes he is a very truthful person. He keeps reminding us that the only lies told to the American public are courtesy of the “fake news” media (all news outlets except Fox News, to be exact.)

In his 1987 book, The Art Of The Deal, Trump does admit he sometimes stretches the truth.

“The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration—and a very effective form of promotion.”

In other words Trump is not lying if he is just telling people what they want to hear. And boy how works!

I guess one way to describe Trump’s method of communicating, especially with his base, is that he only tells little “white” lies.

Remember some of these “exaggerations”?

“I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”

“I’m really really rich!”

“I’m the most militaristic person.”

“I will build a great wall . . . and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me.”

“Hillary Clinton was the worst secretary of state in the history of the United States.”

“I would use the greatest minds. I know the best negotiators.”

“I would hit [ISIS] so hard your head would spin.”

“We’re going to have insurance for everybody… healthcare that is far less expensive and far better.”

“I went to the Wharton School of Business. I’m, like, a really smart person.”

“We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning.”

Photos | businessinsider.com, timeline.com

Another Mass Shooting? Put The Blame Where It Belongs … The Supreme Court

November 7, 2017 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

America… another day, another mass shooting.

Only one month after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history took place in Las Vegas, the most deadly mass shooting in Texas state history has taken place at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.

In a country awash in gun violence, people are angry. They ask, “When will enough be enough? When will the madness end? When will our lawmakers enact gun regulations that might help stem the tide in this seemingly endless wave of gunphilia insanity?”

As if on cue, politicians have once again offered up their “thoughts and prayers.” Yet the American people want something more … they want action.

While anger continues to grow against our feckless politicians, bought and paid for by the NRA, one government institution seems to have escaped blame … the Supreme Court.

On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its controversial ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess firearms independent of service in a state militia and to use firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, including self-defense within the home.

The NRA, and gun enthusiasts everywhere, hailed the decision as an affirmation of unfettered gun ownership. While this reading of the Court’s ruling is misguided and a clear misinterpretation, let’s leave that aside for the moment (read: The Supreme Court Ruling On The 2^nd Amendment Did NOT Grant An Unlimited Right To Own Guns by David Ropeik).

Thanks to Justices Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Kennedy and Scalia, we have the NRA trumpeting its false narrative that the Constitution absolutely protects one’s right to bear arms.

In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the Second Amendment does not create an unlimited right to possess guns for self-defense purposes. Instead, the most natural reading of the Amendment is that it protects the right to keep and bear arms for certain military purposes but does not curtail the legislature’s power to regulate nonmilitary use and ownership of weapons. Justice Stevens argued that the Amendment states its purpose specifically in relation to state militias and does not address the right to use firearms in self-defense, which is particularly striking in light of similar state provisions from the same time that do so.

No, let’s not let the above-mentioned activist judges off so easy. They are one of the main reasons why mass shootings have dramatically escalated in the last ten years.

The Heller decision was, ironically, the very kind of judicial overreach conservatives constantly rail against.

Photo | achievement.org

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Mueller Probe … What If It All Doesn’t Matter?

November 3, 2017 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

For the majority of Americans, the only thing that can bring an end to our national nightmare (otherwise known as the Trump regime) is Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the Trump-Russia connection. Many defenders of our rule of law were overjoyed when, earlier this week, it was learned that three former Trump campaign officials have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges stemming from Mueller’s investigation.

As welcome as this news was to believers in our constitutional system of government, David Roberts’ piece in yesterday’s Vox.com cast a pall over those good feelings. Roberts asks:

What if Mueller proves his case and it doesn’t matter?

“Say Mueller reveals hard proof that the Trump campaign knowingly colluded with Russia, strategically using leaked emails to hurt Clinton’s campaign. Say the president — backed by the Wall Street Journal editorial page, Fox News, Breitbart, most of the US Cabinet, half the panelists on CNN, most of the radio talk show hosts in the country, and an enormous network of Russian-paid hackers and volunteer shitposters working through social media — rejects the evidence.

They might say Mueller is compromised. It’s a Hillary/Deep State plot. There’s nothing wrong with colluding with Russia in this particular way. Dems did it first. All of the above. Whatever.”

Farfetched? Not really.

As scary as the scenario Roberts paints might be, it is certainly plausible … and the article is worth the read. Here is a link to the piece… “America is facing an epistemic crisis.”

It appears the only sure way we Americans can rid ourselves of Trump and his band of traitors is for Democrats to take back the House and Senate in 2018.

But whether fair elections can ever be held in our country now that Republicans have all but acquiesced to a foreign power meddling in our electoral system (and their own efforts in suppressing the vote) is another question all together.

Photo | rollingstone.com

Trump Guilty Of Tweeting Premature Vindication

October 31, 2017 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

After yesterday’s much anticipated news about the first indictments in FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation, Donald Trump, no doubt, breathed a sign of relief. Nowhere in the criminal charges against his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his assistant, Rick Gates, did Trump’s name appear. In fact, the charges had nothing to do with collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia but everything to do with financial crimes.

“Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????,” tweeted Trump, adding, “….Also, there is NO COLLUSION!”

Unfortunately for Trump, only hours after the Manafort-Gates bombshell, we also learned of criminal charges brought against a third Trump campaign member, George Papadopoulos. Having been a well-kept secret for over three weeks, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty on October 5 of lying to the FBI about his contacts with people who claimed to have direct connections with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials.

Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign, is cooperating with prosecutors in Mueller’s office as they continue to investigate allegations of collusion between Trump aides and Russian officials looking to influence the U.S. election.

No evidence of collusion between your campaign and Russian officials. Mr. Trump?

According to court documents, Papadopoulos repeatedly tried to arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and senior Russian officials in London or in Moscow. The meeting did not take place, but court documents detail an extensive effort by Russian officials to gain access to Trump’s operation.

What is even more troublesome for Trump, the court documents show higher ups in the Trump campaign not only were aware of Papadopoulos’ efforts, but also encouraged them.

So a guy from out of the blue is the first Trump campaign member to plead guilty in the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe … and he is a cooperating witness! If that doesn’t scare the bejesus out of other Trump campaign operatives, I don’t know what.

No matter how much Trump and his surrogates try to downplay the latest news, yesterday could very well mark the beginning of the end of our national nightmare.

After hearing the news of Papadopoulos’ guilty plea and his cooperation with the FBI, I somehow couldn’t get Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” out of my mind.

“And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain …”

Photo | forums.sailinganarchy.com

U.S. Drug Makers – Sticking It To The American Consumer Both Coming … and Going

October 26, 2017 By John DeProspo Leave a Comment

The American pharmaceutical industry is a multi-billion juggernaut, unparalleled in its marketing prowess. No other commercial enterprise, not even Tech, comes close to creating a need for its products.

For drug companies, if there isn’t an illness that needs “treatment,” they create one, or more precisely, resort to “disease mongering,” where drug companies deliberately enlarge the market for a product by convincing people that they’re sick and need their product.

Does anyone remember the RLS (restless leg syndrome) ads of the early 2000’s?

The United States currently has an opioid abuse problem. Many are pointing the finger at the pharmaceutical industry’s insatiable greed at the expense of public health and safety.

A good number of watchdog groups are saying much of today’s opioid epidemic stems from the aggressive marketing tactics used by pharmaceutical companies over the past two decades. According to the New Yorker, companies such as Endo Pharmaceuticals, Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson centered their marketing campaigns on the use of opioids as all-purpose pain treatment medications, downplaying their addictive nature.

But did you know one of the other side effects of opioid abuse is OIC (opioid-induced constipation)?

Unless you live in a cave or have sworn off TV altogether, you no doubt have seen the ads for Movantik.

You know, the ones featuring Frank, a construction worker who is prescribed opioids after suffering a really bad back injury and whose daily pill popping has caused him to get “backed up, big time.” It’s only after he sees his doctor who asks him “how long have you been holding this in” that he finally gets the relief (release) he needs. Yep, she prescribes Movantik!

Drug companies are notorious for pushing harmful products and paying hefty fines after being caught by regulators. To them, what usually amounts to a slap on the wrist is just the cost of doing business. The big bucks are still there to be made.

It is a well-known fact that abusing painkillers can lead to addiction … and constipation. But at least with Movantik, that “number two” problem is now solved!

American drug makers…solving problems that they helped create. Genius!

With their direct role in the opioid crisis, it seems as if America’s legal drug dealers have the consumer both coming … and going.

Photo | youtube.com

Today’s GOP Driven By Greed … And Fear

October 22, 2017 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

As the man currently occupying the White House devolves into a more dangerous, and embarrassing, excuse of a president with each passing day, Republican leaders are refusing to get off the Trump train. Yes, privately they may call him a moron, but publicly they remain loyal supporters. So much so that recently a retired four star general was forced to debase himself by having to defend our empathy-devoid president over inappropriate comments made to the widow of a fallen soldier.

Republican leaders know they need Trump’s pen to enact legislation demanded by their wealthy benefactors. And what is at the top of a billionaire’s wish list? Tax reform, of course! Or more precisely, tax reduction.

Earlier this week, Senate Republicans passed a budget setting the stage for the GOP’s ultimate goal of pushing through “tax reform” later this year.

It doesn’t matter that the measure is estimated to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years, and contains about $4 trillion in spending cuts.

“We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to replace America’s failing tax codes,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor after the bill was approved.

One thing that can safely be said about Republican billionaires, enough is never enough.

Some political pundits have pointed out that if Republicans removed Trump from office, they would still have the pen of a willing accomplice in President Mike Pence. So why not get rid of the madman in the Oval Office?

This is were the fear comes in.

As much as many Republicans may loathe Trump, they know, as GOP strategist Rick Wilson pointed out, one mean tweet about them could ruin their political careers.

In addition, any attempt to install Pence as president would be met with intense blowback from Trump’s diehard base. The fear of their wrath is just unthinkable for any Republican politician.

It is due to this instinct of self-preservation that you’ll find the only Republicans speaking out against Trump are those who will not be seeking reelection, such as John McCain and Bob Corker.

As sad as it may be for the majority of Americans opposed to Trump, it seems the only way Trump will ever be removed from office is if the Democrats retake the House and Senate in 2018.

Or unless Mueller steps in before then!

Photo | nymag.com

Trump Fails U.S. Citizenship Test

October 12, 2017 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

According to recent news reports, Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, referred to Trump as a moron.

While Tillerson sought to refute the claim at an impromptu news conference shortly after the story broke, going so far as to refer to his boss as “smart,” he did not specifically deny having called Trump a dumb, stupid moron.

This Tuesday, Trump was quoted by Forbes as saying, “I think it’s fake news, but if he did that, I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.”

As of this date, Tillerson has not accepted Trump’s challenge.

Yesterday, a group of recently naturalized citizens issued a challenge of their own to the 45^th president of the United States … “Can you pass the U.S. Citizenship Test?”

Trump took the exam and failed miserably, scoring 50% (Six of the ten questions need to be answered correctly to pass).

The self-proclaimed genius has claimed the test was fixed and contained too many trick questions.

Here are the five out of 10 “trick questions” Trump failed to correctly answer:

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? Instead of answering Thomas Jefferson, Trump answered Abraham Lincoln.
What are the three branches of government? Instead of answering legislative, executive and judicial, Trump answered legislative, executive and military.
Which amendment guarantees freedom of speech? Instead of answering the First Amendment, Trump answered the Second Amendment.
What guarantees a citizen’s right to vote? Instead of answering the Constitution, Trump answered state legislators.
What does separation of church and state mean? Instead of answering the government is prevented from officially recognizing or favoring any religion, Trump answered religion and politics cannot be taught in the same classroom.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 91% of foreign-born applicants pass the naturalization test. But, in Trump’s defense, they have an unfair advantage … they tend to study.

Photos| tusconsentinal.com, cnn.com