John DeProspo

Thanks To Trump, Palin Finally Sees Inside Of White House

April 20, 2017 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

Sarah Palin, former half-governor of Alaska and John McCain’s VP pick in 2008, was invited to the White House yesterday by President Donald Trump. Palin brought with her two of her close friends, rockers Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.

In a post on her website, Palin said she invited the musicians “because Jesus was booked.”

Trump’s invitation to the woman also known as “Mama Grizzly” and the “Queen of the Word Salad” was not just social as the two were said to have discussed some important issues.

One of the topics discussed was Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall along the Mexican border. The President was eager to get Palin’s take on the financing for such a huge undertaking now that Mexico has flat out refused to pay for the structure.

“Mr. President,” said Palin, “you are a master builder, businessman and negotiator. Why not do what you are so good at? Hire workers to build the wall and then just refuse to pay them?”

On a more immediate and serious note, the North Korean crisis was also discussed.

Palin was asked by the commander in chief how he should deal with the North Korean madman Kim Jong-un.

“Once again, Mr. President,” offered Palin,” you need to do what has always worked for you in the past. Invite him to Mar-a-Lago for a weekend of golf. You’ve said yourself some of your best deals have been made on the golf course. I’m sure you can smooze the dictator into giving up his nuclear weapons. And, anyway, I bet Mar-a-Lago’s “beautiful” chocolate layer cake will be a hit with Kim.”

Word is now spreading around the White House that Trump is considering replacing his top adviser, Steven Bannon, with Palin.

Following her visit, the president praised Palin for her “common sense solutions” to otherwise thorny issues.

“Sarah can cut through some serious problems like nobody else,” said Trump. “She’s a natural at problem solving. And she isn’t so bad to look at. OK, maybe no longer a 10 but a solid 8, believe me.”

Photo | talkingpointsmemo.com

Caution: this may be fake news!

Neil Gorsuch … The Barry Bonds of Supreme Court Justices

April 8, 2017 By John DeProspo 6 Comments

Neil Gorsuch is a marked man.

Much like Barry Bonds and his recording-breaking MLB home run record, Gorsuch’s confirmation to the United States Supreme Court will always be marked with an asterisk in the eyes of many Americans.

While Barry Bonds was able to break Hank Aaron’s home run record of 755 with the help of performance-enhancing drugs, Neil Gorsuch got his boost from a different power source … Senate Republicans. Gorsuch was able to become the 113^th justice of the Supreme Court when the GOP majority voted to change the longstanding rules on how a justice is confirmed.

Guided by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Senate voted, in effect, to require a simple majority to confirm a Supreme Court nominee instead of the previous 60 votes needed from the group of 100. In a body made up of 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats, Neil Gorsuch was confirmed by a vote of 54-45.

Baseball purists believe Barry Bonds is a thief. They say he stole the home run record from Aaron and therefore does not belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball writers who vote on Hall of Fame inductees agree. They have consistently voted down Bonds every year he has been ballot eligible.

Nearly all Democrats see Gorsuch in the same negative light as baseball fans see Bonds. They believe Gorsuch stole the Supreme Court seat rightfully belonging to Merrick Garland, President Obama’s High Court pick. In a totally unprecedented move, not only did Senate Republicans refuse to vote on Garland’s nomination, they refused to even give him a hearing!

Anyone who did not believe Republicans would employ the “nuclear option” i.e. change Senate rules to benefit their candidate, must have been dozing the past several years.

Republicans know the only way they can maintain their grip on political power is to tilt the playing field in their favor … in other words, to cheat. They have secured themselves major electoral advantages through the gerrymandering of congressional and state legislative districts and through constitutionally-suspect voter suppression laws.

Much like the case with Bonds, history promises to be unkind to Neil Gorsuch. He will forever be known as the illegitimate Supreme Court justice, appointed by an illegitimate president, “installed” by a radical, precedent-breaking Republican Senate.

Photo | conservativereview.com

Science Finally Solves Conservative/Progressive Mystery

April 4, 2017 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

For decades, scientists have tried to come up with an explanation for what makes Americans tick politically. Why are some people conservative while others liberal/progressive? Why do some identify as Republican and others Democrat?

In a landmark study, scientists have finally unlocked the mystery to this age-old riddle. In a biological trial involving 538 Americans, researchers have found the answer lies within our DNA. The deciding factor is a gene being called the “empathy gene.” Those that had the gene all identified as Democrat, while those lacking the gene all labeled themselves Republican.

“This is truly a giant breakthrough in our understanding of the human mind,” said the study’s director, Dr. Robert Schwartz, “Perhaps now each side of the political spectrum will stop sniping at one another. People simply are who they are. They cannot be shamed or cajoled into adopting the other’s point of view. It’s as simple as that.”

“For those individuals carrying the ‘empathy gene,’ the ability to understand or feel what another person is experiencing, especially one less fortunate, is hardwired. He or she has the capacity to place oneself in another’s shoes,“ said Schwartz. “For those lacking the gene, everything is viewed from a more personal perspective. How will this affect me? What’s in it for me? It is basically every man for himself.”

The study found the lack or presence of the “empathy gene” cut across ethnic, racial and socioeconomic lines. This helps to explain how a Wall Street billionaire and a coal miner in West Virginia can both describe themselves as conservative.

Surprisingly, most in the study group who identified as Christian lacked the “empathy gene.”

Already the study is causing an uproar, with profound implications. If we are programmed to either care or not care about others, especially the poor among us, what hope is there for a more egalitarian, humane and just society? Is there longer any reason to argue with Uncle Henry at family dinners about the virtue of free school lunches for the underprivileged?

The hope among scientists is that the new research will help make us more tolerant, not less, of political differences.

But already some right-wing pundits have started to disparagingly call the newly discovered gene the “GAS” gene, as in who “Gives A Shit.”

Photo | frank.jou.ufl.edu

Caution – this article may be fake news!

For Many Trump Voters, Loyalty Is Its Own Reward

April 2, 2017 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

It is a mystery that has stumped many a great mind … why do some people vote against their own economic interests? Why do so many white, low and middle income voters keep electing Republicans whose agenda is diametrically opposed to their wants and needs?

In today’s New York Times, Nicholas Kristof tries to tackle that conundrum. In a piece titled, “In Trump Country, Shock at Trump Budget Cuts, but Still Loyalty,” Kristof interviews a number of Trump voters in the deep red state of Oklahoma.

Almost all of the Trump voters questioned will be adversely affected by White House proposals to ax programs they have depended on … in order to pay for Trump’s border wall and increase in military spending.

But while these Trump supporters are upset, Kristof warns Democrats not to be too gleeful. The prospect of winning over these “penitent voters” is still a long shot.

They do not regret their vote.

Even if Trump’s harmful budget cuts go through, Kristof found none regretted their votes and all said they might vote for Trump in 2020.

Kristof notes “some of the loyalty seemed to be grounded in resentment at Democrats for mocking Trump voters as dumb bigots, some from a belief that budgets are complicated, and some from a sense that it’s too early to abandon their man.”

My belief is that the loyalty Trump voters show towards their man is partly grounded in a deep, visceral hatred of liberal ideology, in general. The very concept of multiculturalism scares them to death. They fear for a future when whites will be in the minority. They long for the good old days when “others” knew their places. They see the Republican Party as their vehicle for getting them to their dreamed of promised land.

In a recent article for The Nation, Sean McElwee and Jason Mc Daniel write, “In short, our analysis indicates that Donald Trump successfully leveraged existing resentment towards African Americans in combination with emerging fears of increased racial diversity in America to reshape the presidential electorate, strongly attracting nativists towards Trump and pushing some more affluent and highly educated people with more cosmopolitan views to support Hillary Clinton. Racial identity and attitudes have further displaced class as the central battleground of American politics.”

While it sounded sophomoric at the time, Trump’s campaign slogan of “Making America Great Again” was pure marketing genius.

Photo | Andrea Morales/New York Times

Trump Beats All Presidents, Since Truman … In Unpopularity

March 30, 2017 By John DeProspo 6 Comments

Donald Trump’s job approval rating fell to a dismal 36% in the most recent Gallup poll (3/27), following the House GOP’s failed effort to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The man who promotes himself as a winner is actually the biggest modern-day presidential loser at this stage in his administration.

In another poll conducted by FiveThirtyEight (3-29), Trump’s job-approval rating is slightly better at 41%. Still, only 69 days into his presidency, Trump is by far the lowest rated of any of the past 13 presidents during the same period.

Here is FiveThirtyEight’s chart comparing Trump with recent presidents on day 69 of their administrations:

PRESIDENT	DATE	APPROVE	DISAPPROVE	NET
Trump	3/29/17	41.3%	52.4%	-11.1
Obama	3/30/09	61.0	31.8	29.2
G.W. Bush	3/30/01	54.8	29.5	25.3
Clinton	3/30/93	55.4	29.6	25.8
G.H.W. Bush	3/30/89	59.1	14.7	44.4
Reagan	3/30/81	60.0	24.0	36.0
Carter	3/30/77	72.8	9.8	62.9
Ford	10/17/74	50.0	30.8	19.2
Nixon	3/30/69	66.0	8.0	58.0
Johnson	1/30/64	77.0	5.0	72.0
Kennedy	3/30/61	73.0	7.0	66.0
Eisenhower	3/30/53	67.0	8.0	59.0
Truman	6/20/45	87.0	3.0	84.0

As you can see, Trump is the only president with a negative net rating (-11.1).

Trump supporters crowed their man would be unlike any other president. In a very real but ironic way, they were spot on.

Photo | theslot.jezebel.com

Top 10 Reasons Why Trump Refused To Throw First Pitch

March 29, 2017 By John DeProspo 14 Comments

Donald Trump turned down an invitation by the Washington Nationals to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at their season opener on April 3 against the Miami Marlins.

The refusal to participate in what has become a presidential tradition going back to President William H. Taft is baffling to many. Wasn’t it Donald J. Trump who boasted he was the “best baseball player in New York” when he was young?

Below are the top 10 reasons why Trump declined to throw the first pitch:

It could bring back childhood taunts he “threw like a girl.”
His offer to throw out a golf ball instead of a baseball was nixed by the team.
He is afraid of splitting his pants.
He was warned against the idea by Chris Christie.
He is concerned the ball might slip out of his small hand.
It’s hard to throw wearing a long, over-sized coat.
His bone spur makes it hard on his plant foot.
The mound isn’t elevated enough for him.
His long red tie might cause him to trip.
He might be booed in a city that gave him only 4% of the vote!

For the record, the White House has said Trump has a “scheduling conflict” that makes him unavailable.

Photo | totalprosports.com

Hey, Mr. President, When Does The Winning Start?

March 27, 2017 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

Candidate Donald Trump sold himself to the American people as a winner. He promised if they elected him president, they would start being winners too. In fact, there would be so much winning people would get sick of it.

“We’re going to win. We’re going to win so much. We’re going to win at trade, we’re going to win at the border. We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning, you’re going to come to me and go ‘Please, please, we can’t win anymore.’ You’ve heard this one. You’ll say ‘Please, Mr. President, we beg you sir, we don’t want to win anymore. It’s too much. It’s not fair to everybody else. And I’m going to say ‘I’m sorry, but we’re going to keep winning, winning, winning. We’re going to make America great again.”

Two months into his presidency, Trump voters are still waiting for the winning to start. Instead of being a victor, it seems President Trump has been a loser, with one set back after another.

Here is a list of Trump’s losses so far:

He lost the popular vote by the biggest margin ever for a “winning” president.
He lost on the “Muslim” travel ban … twice.
He lost his first National Security adviser.
He lost out on Mexico paying for the big, beautiful wall.
He lost out on repealing Obamacare.
He is under investigation by the FBI.
He has the lowest approval rating so early in his first term.

Historian Douglas Brinkley, the best-selling biographer of presidents Gerald Ford, Franklin Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt, told The Washington Post, “This is the most failed first 100 days of any president. To be as low as he is in the polls, in the 30s, while the FBI director is on television saying they launched an investigation into your ties with Russia, I don’t know how it can get much worse.”

Even conservative pundit, Charlie Sykes, quipped on MSNBC, “Yeah, so far the only president who had a worse 100 first days would be William Henry Harrison who didn’t last past 30 days.” Harrison died of pneumonia one month after taking office.

It appears the only winners so far have been those Americans opposed to Trump’s agenda. They are saying, “with winning like this, who needs losing?”

Photo | theonion.com

For Growing Number Of Trump Voters, Case Of Premature Adulation

March 26, 2017 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

He was going to be their hero. He was going to shake things up in Washington D.C. like no career politician ever could. He was going to stand up for the forgotten man (and woman). He was going to fatten their wallets!

For a significant number of Trump supporters, the dream of finally having a champion-in-chief of the common folk has been shattered. The excitement they felt on inauguration day has turned into regret. Former devotees now openly admit Donald Trump has taken them for a ride.

Trump’s failure to repeal and replace Obamacare with a GOP healthcare plan that he promised would be more affordable, expand choice and ensure “health care access for all Americans” is just the latest blow to a love affair gone bad.

Even the more ardent Trump backers are upset with his rushed, ill-thought-out “Muslim” travel ban now blocked by the courts.

Many Trump followers have been shocked to learn that American taxpayers will be paying for his big, beautiful wall, not the Mexicans.

There are some voters who take offense at Trump’s frequent weekend getaways … and all the additional security expense they entail. Three million dollars for the president to golf at his luxury Mar-a-Lago resort, they ask?

Some disillusioned supporters say they had hoped Trump would act more presidential once in office. A few even admit to wishing he would act more like Obama!

There is a Twitter feed specifically for Trump supporters who feel let down by the man they helped put into the Oval Office. The feed had 25,000 followers even before Trump took office. The current following has climbed to over 250,000 of mostly exasperated people who claim to have voted for Donald Trump.

There, no doubt, is a solid base of Trump supporters who will never give up on their man. These are the people Trump had in mind when he boasted he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose support.

But for many voters, especially those who reluctantly voted for Trump, less for his promises and more because they hated Hillary so much, the regrets will just keep on coming.

Photo | upi.com

No Chuck, It’s More Than Just Incompetence And Broken Promises

March 25, 2017 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

For over seven years, Republicans railed against the “broken healthcare system” given to us by the Democrats. Obamacare, they told us, was a disaster that needed to be repealed and replaced. To drive home the point, House Republicans safely voted over 60 times to repeal the dreaded law knowing full well it would never be scrapped as long as Obama was president and could veto the bill.

With Donald Trump now occupying the White House, the Republican dream of relegating Obamacare to the dustbin of history seemed well within reach.

But the big moment never happened. Yesterday, the GOP healthcare bill went down in defeat. No, not because it failed to secure the required number of House votes to pass … but because the bill was yanked from the floor and never voted on.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, attributed the GOP debacle to incompetence.

Ultimately, the TrumpCare bill failed because of two traits that have plagued the Trump presidency since he took office: incompetence and broken promises. In my life, I have never seen an administration as incompetent as the one occupying the White House today.

Schumer, of course, is right. But Republican incompetence and broken promises is just part of the story why the Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare failed.

Simply put, the GOP health plan was a bad bill.

Trump supporters, even in deeply red states, came out in force against the bill Trump tried to sell as one that would “lower costs, expand choices, increase competition, and ensure health care access for all Americans.”

It appears you can’t fool all of the people, all of the time. Even voters taken in by Trump’s con know dog poop when they see it.

Fearing for their political lives, is there any wonder why House Republicans, led by the bill’s architect, Paul Ryan, pulled the bill?

Hey, there are elections coming up next year!

Republicans got the message loud and clear at the many “town hall” meetings they held earlier this month with their constituents.

Nothing instills fear in the hearts of Republicans more than the prospect of losing their jobs … and their free gold-plated health insurance.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

You Say Trumpcare, I Say Ryancare … Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off!

March 24, 2017 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

The GOP’s attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare has gone down in flames. For the second time in two days, Republican leaders pulled their bill from the House floor when it became clear the votes to pass the much promised legislation was headed for a humiliating defeat.

What happens next is anybody’s guess.

Will Republicans, after seven years of attacking Obamacare and over 60 House votes to repeal the law, just move on?

The Republican healthcare bill, sometimes known as Trumpcare, sometimes Ryancare, was disliked by both moderate and conservative Republicans … but for different reasons. Moderates were against the bill’s harsh treatment of Americans enjoying the benefits of Obamacare. For conservatives, the bill was despised because it wasn’t harsh enough.

One thing’s for sure. Donald Trump will not take the blame for this humiliating turn of events. The fact that Trump resisted calling the GOP bill “Trumpcare” tells you all you need to know about how committed the president was to the legislation in the first place.

For Trump, the bill’s passage was always more about racking up a big win than actually effecting policy. Some political pundits even questioned Trump’s knowledge of the bill and how it would disproportionally affect the very people who helped get him elected.

The smart money is on Trump blaming the debacle on Obama and the Democrats. Can anyone actually rule out Fox News finding a way to blame Benghazi or Clinton’s email server for the defeat?

If Trump follows through on his plan to spend another weekend golfing at his luxury Mar-a-Lago resort, he’ll have plenty of time to clear his head and think about the next big thing on his agenda … tax reform.

You can be sure Republican lawmakers will be on board with another attempt at “trickle down” economics… or as Hillary Clinton called it on the campaign trail, “Trumped up, trickle down” economics.

Photo | politicususa.com