A magnificent and glorious shutdown - may it last for a few more months.

 

As I write this, we are a little over two weeks into the federal government shutdown, and people are hurting. A food pantry has been set up just outside of West Point (the Army's service academy) to serve the needs of military families who are doing without pay.  Other "Essential Workers" such as Air Traffic Controllers are taking sick leave to work jobs in the "Gig Economy" to pay for necessities.  In short, the Democrats in the Senate are successfully using their only tool left in the political tool chest to protect Obamacare subsidies for the poor and middle class in America.

The GOP is wrongfully claiming that the Democrats are demanding healthcare (and other benefits) for people illegally in this country.  They are lying, as they do not want to anger the Orange Snowflake by making things right for the American public.  They only serve to benefit the "Billionaire Bandit class" (not to be confused with "Vanilla Billionaires") who see the average person as only a disposable tool to be used in increasing their wealth among their class.  The "Vanilla Billionaire" (and there are many of them) doesn't see the average person as a tool.  They see these people worthy of government services and want to make sure that these people have no reason to rebel against our capitalist system which allows the wealthy to enjoy their wealth. 

Are people hurting?  Yes!  Yet, many of us participated in the "No Kings" protests being held around the USA.  What is the GOP message about these protests?  It is that these protests are "Anti American."  Hmmm....  If we didn't protest against unjust laws 250 years ago, we'd still be flying the Union Jack over our land.  And the GOP is saying that all protest against their authoritarian ways is wrong.  As George Takei said about William Shatner in a celebrity roast (and as I'd say to the snowflake), "He can go F*** himself and the horse he came in on. (And in that roast, Shatner did ride in on a horse.)  Although I was unable to attend a "No Kings" march in October, I hope to do so the next time one is called.  Constant pressure from all sides is needed to make the GOP crack.

At this time, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is keeping the house out of session, so that he doesn't have to swear in a new Congresswoman from Arizona.  Why, you might ask?  Well, when she is officially in congress, she'll be the 218th vote to release the Epstein Files.  We know that the Snowflake's name is mentioned many times in those files, and we know that this is the one area that MAGA demands answers from the GOP - which are not being given.  Maybe the Democratic party should alter its message slightly and "officially" focus on the other names in these files, saying that they want to expose the names of the pedophiles in the "Donor Class".  Of course, the Snowflake would figure predominantly in what is revealed, but this would make it easier for GOP congressmen to abandon support for the snowflake.

Without the House being session, there is no hope for any compromise between Senate Democrats and the GOP.  So, I expect that this will be a very long (maybe record breaking) shutdown, as saying no to the GOP is the only leverage they have left, and would be foolish to give up before they had an iron clad commitment from the GOP that Democrats' needs will be met. And when the GOP cracks, watch the snowflake have a temper tantrum the likes you've never seen him have before.  I can't wait for this to happen!

The tide may be turning.

 

The more I watch the news, the more I get worried.  The other day, I spoke with one of the regular attendees of game nights and he has similar concerns to me - even though I am much more at risk than he is.  Even with my fears, I see signs that the GOP coalition that elected the snowflake may soon fall apart.

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Every time the Orange Snowflake makes a demand, it seems like he gets shown to be a paper tiger.  He has been shown to be a liar or an incompetent by the leaders of France, Ukraine, and now Canada.  As I write this, he is about to announce some kind of deal with the UK.  Dollars to Donuts the deal will not accomplish much more than allow the snowflake to claim some sort of success with his tariff threats.

The judicial branch of government is also putting a stop to the snowflake's excesses.  However, they have yet to force him to bring back the man who was wrongfully sent to a Salvadoran prison.  He has said that he doesn't want to make the phone call to bring this man back to the USA.  I wonder: Why?  To me, the answer is just as simple - he can't admit a defeat or that he makes mistakes.  Instead, he keeps doubling down on his bogus claims that "justify" his actions.

Look at his recent appointments, and how several nominations have been retracted in favor of someone even more loyal (and less competent) than the person s/he replaced.  Many of his appointments are only temporary, such as his "nominee" for Attorney General. Congress is feeling the heat, as the GOP members keep trying to support the snowflake's unpopular actions.  It's only a matter of time that they will turn on him, as they are creatures that depend on being reelected every so often.  The other day, my "Moderate" (yeah, right!) congress critter had a hard time controlling the people who attended a recent town hall.  (Finding out when they'd be held in advance is virtually impossible - he's afraid of the people in his district - NY-17.)  Like many people here, I can't wait to vote against him, as he supports the snowflake's anti-transgender actions.  Given that this is a swing district, I hope that the Democrats have a strong candidate to run against this example of human garbage.

On the subject of tariffs, I doubt that China will do much of anything to help the snowflake.  He overplayed his hand from the beginning, and they will not react warmly to being bullied as part of his "negotiation" process.  Soon, the first ships will come in with post-tariff goods.  Sites like Temu (which I hate for reasons unrelated to anything I've discussed in this post) will be showing how much tariffs add to the cost of each item.  As much as it will cost me, I can't wait to see how this all plays out.

Recently, Palmer Report discussed the price of Trumpism for the USA.  Sadly, after #47 is 86'd, there will be many cultural injuries which need to be dealt with. It is very easy for people to be turned against their neighbors and into shells of who they once were.  I can see that tendency in myself, and have to resist letting the anger the snowflake generates take over my soul.  Hopefully, I will be able to retain most of my humanity when this sorry state of affairs ends.

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Years ago, someone came up with what is called the "Chinese Curse":

May you live in interesting times.

Please start boring me to death soon.  I need a rest from all of this.

 

Another one bites the dust

 

If you're an avid reader of this blog (and I know that there aren't that many of you), you know that I despise the man above.  Unlike our 45th president, he's a competent slime-ball, and deserving of all of the contempt that he has earned from the American left.  Too bad, that until recently, he was a darling of the American right - Trumpism without Trump.  Luckily, as I write this, this contemptible person has just "suspended his campaign" and endorsed "Orange Elvis" for president.

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We've seen Trump mold the GOP in his own image, leaving no room for dissent.  When one listens to excerpts from his speeches, Trump now seems to be going senile.  I do not believe that the one person who is left in the race for the GOP nomination will usurp Trump from his control of the GOP.  This leaves us with the strong possibility that one of the criminal cases against Trump may decide his guilt before the GOP convention, if not before Election Day in November. 

What happens if Trump is convicted?  Will a conviction change the votes of many independents?  What about "No Labels" effect on the general election?  Even crazier is the possibility that Trump will be elected, but noted as being disqualified to serve due to the 14th amendment.  More than that, could he be deemed too ill (senile) to serve and prevented from taking office due to actions taken under the 25th amendment?  There are so many unknowns at play in this election, that it may make sense for many Republican party loyalists to vote Democrat - simply as a tool to clean out the Trump cultists from the GOP.  I see the GOP as afraid to deal with the Trump cult, and it will be up to the Democrats (as usual) to clean up the mess the GOP has made.

I am very afraid of the reprisals that will likely take place if Trump wins in November.  So I will support any and all legal means to keep him from power until he has been defanged and declawed - preferably in ADX Florence (America's Supermax Prison.)

Maybe I watch too much political news?

 

Considering what many loyal Trump followers believe about what is being reported by the mainstream media, one wonders how the fictional Ted Baxter could be considered an idiot - when these people get their "news" from an outlet (Fox News) whose viewers test as knowing less than if they didn't watch any news at all.

Last night, as I write this, a New York judge ruled that the Trump Organization's finances were fraudulent, and that this fact need not be tested before a jury.  So, what does this mean fr the rest of us?  If one watches the "liberal" news outlets, this is painted as Trump finally getting his comeuppance in business.  By distorting financial information, he has defrauded both the state, his banks, and the public.  If one watches the right wing news outlets, this is painted as our ex-president being attacked by the "deep state."  What I see is that a cult leader's corruption is being exposed to the public, and that its followers are fighting the cognitive dissonance that occurs when one truth competes with another in their minds.

Trump, simply, is a two-bit grifter who got lucky for a while.  If it weren't for "The Apprentice" show, he would never have been portrayed as a successful businessman on TV.  All of these shows followed a loose script, with Trump making judgements on whether someone succeeded or failed, usually ending one contestant's run with the phrase: "You're Fired!"  If an uneducated person were to see this show, s/he might think that he is the model of a successful businessman, and someone who could run a country if given the chance.

Think of the phrase: "I, alone, can fix it."  His loyal followers never will ask the simple question: "Did he do it, alone or not?"  They see others getting in his way, and blame his (and their) failures on his opponents.  The rest of us know he's unfit even to work as a carny.  But the Dunning-Kruger effect has kicked in.  Those who know the least about a subject will think they know much more than they do about that subject.  They will follow people who shout loud and project confidence, not people who speak softly and know how much there is yet to know about things.  This is simple, but a sad part of our human nature.

Why am I worried?

Right now, Trump is ahead of Biden in preliminary polling.  If Trump regains the presidency, we will again see political chaos, and the erosion of human rights.  As a transgender person, I fear what forces he will unleash to cement his hold on power.  But what happens if Trump is convicted in one of his criminal cases, and is unable to serve?  Virtually all other GOP candidates are likely to win against Biden.  Bailing out for the good of the Democratic party's chance of winning the 2024 election may not be on Biden's radar right now.

I fear a competent GOP leader in the White House, as s/he would be beholding to many of the same people who supported Trump.  But being competent, this person may do much worse than Trump ever could do.  Unlike Trump, this person knows that s/he alone can't do it.  But s/he with others can do it.  And we already know that they want to do to us transgender people....

 

Politics can be toxic, and today I expected to see a lot of toxicity.

 

As I write this, the electoral college's ballots have started to be read in a joint session of congress, and evidence of Trump's disastrous effects on American politics is evident in what should be another boring session of congress.  All 50 states have confirmed their ballots, and some GOP congressmen and senators are challenging the ballots of the battleground states to show their loyalty to our (thankfully) outgoing president.

In another forum, one of my Facebook friends and I have an occasional discussion regarding Trump.  She has drunk all of the Kool-Aid in her glass, and still desires more.  I find it amazing how she tries to defend Trump (and the GOP) against anything that makes them look bad and the Democratic party look good.  But then, people who have been successfully scammed try to defend the scam, lest they feel like fools in front of others. This is human nature at its worst.

We are seeing the beginning of what could be the breakup of America along political lines, or the beginning of a healing process for this country.  If the latter, many of the people who served to enable Trump and his attacks on our democratic institutions will also need to call out the extremists in their party, and finally hold the populists in check.  And I see that the some of the GOP leadership is being forced to do just this.  Will they be successful?  Only time will tell.

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With the above being said, I can say that I have faith in this country and most of its people. On an individual level, most people are kind and decent people.  However, the human instinct to identify with a family, a tribe, and a nation can cause good people to do evil things.  That is why we need a representative government who will respond to the peoples' needs, but will take the time to think things out.  Today, we're seeing the reasons why America needs a government with built in "circuit breakers", because we will occasionally need a political reset when a major system failure is imminent.

Today's political debates are a perfect example of the need for a reset.  Four years ago, Trump won a hotly contested election.  Many people in New York City and in the global banking community knew him to be a self-centered crook. But people outside these community saw him as a successful businessman, due to his former TV show.  They were bamboozled by the glitzy image he liked to show the public. With untruths running free across the internet, and people choosing to see "news" which only supports their own biases, there was no way a competent political insider could win the 2016 presidential election.  Four years later, after Trump applied a wrecking ball to our government and its political norms, it was time for a change.  And yet, we have two political tribes that are as polarized as ever.  So, we have the need for a reset.

I expect that the next four years will be that political reset.  Biden will likely be the president whose most important priority will be to cool off the passions of the public, so that the 2024 election will be more of a traditional choice of candidates.  Yet, this will not go as far as we need it to go - we need a government that can get needed things done.  America won't be able to heal unless we fix the underlying problems of government. And that means that political gridlock must not be tolerated.  

In 2017-2019, we saw what could happen when radicals from one political party controlled the levers of government. Once the House changed hands in the 2018 election, there was a check and balance on the party in control of government. In the 2020 election, we saw the public throw out a corrupt president.  Yet, they also voted to check the excesses of the party in charge of the House.  We're seeing something good - America as a whole wants moderation in government, and we may just be edging in that direction.

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When I started this entry, I didn't know what was about to happen.  No one, save for security people, should have needed to be prepared for the mob which stormed the capitol building.  These people are criminals, and should be treated as such.  But then, we have a criminal for a president.  And it's time that he be impeached and convicted for removal from office, or that the 25th amendment be used to remove him from office.  Yet, this doesn't address the underlying illness we have in this country - 75% of the GOP loyalists believe Trump's lies.  It will take at least a full generation to deal with this social sickness.

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Why am I writing about politics today?  Well, we are affected by the machinations of those people who we elect to represent us.  The Trump administration has not been friendly to Transgender people, and has acted to take away our rights and privileges.  How many of us remember that it was Trump who acted to expel Transgender people from the military?  How many of us remember his Education department's attacks on Transgender rights?  What about his administration's attack on the census collecting data on the LGBTIQ community?  We must remember the recent past, lest we allow an ignorant populist to get power again, harming us in his/her pursuit of power.

 

 

 

 

 

Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow. NOT!

 

As I write this, the snow is falling in front of my apartment.  It is not the blizzard that we're expecting later in the week.  Instead, it is that kind of snow fall that will require a relatively effortless task of shoveling out the car and getting it out of the way for when the plow comes. Unfortunately, this is not the kind of snow fall we're expecting at mid week.  I am seriously considering driving 150-200 miles from here, staying overnight, so that I can avoid the headaches of the expected blizzard.

With weather like this, I usually take the easy way out and venture outdoors as Mario.  If I had a more feminine body (especially, my face and my head), I'd be going outdoors as Marian.  I want to present as authentic an image as possible when I venture outdoors.  

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2020 will be known as the year of the Pandemic.  In the USA, it will also be known as the year that the public (for now) was able to save a democratic republic from becoming a corrupt authoritarian kleptocracy.  (Please, no comments from any stray Trump supporters who may read this blog.)  Our soon to be former president's base continues to be a threat to the LGBTIQ community.  So we're still in danger, if not from Trump, then from the people who make up his base.

The other day, I visited a person who was a "knee jerk" Republican.  Just the mention of the word "Socialism" makes him worry. So, he fears people like AOC and Bernie Sanders.  He'd vote for Trump, corrupt as he is, instead of for representatives who could keep the left most part of the Democratic Party coalition in check.  But then, this man lives in a suburban bubble where he never sees minorities, except when they get into trouble.  (Grand jury duty only served to intensify this man's biases against minorities.)  Although the man is a decent person, his attitudes have been shaped by the social bubble and media bubble that he lives in.

Most of my readers live in different social and media bubbles from the above Republican. We are among the people who are often demonized in their bubbles.  They call our news outlets the "lame stream media".  Why?  Because it doesn't reinforce their beliefs.  Years ago, we could count on the main stream media to cover the news and report it objectively.  Today, people get to choose highly biased news outlets, and never get the chance to learn objective truths.  This is not healthy in a democratic republic, as we need to acknowledge a single set of objective facts, and only then form opinions about those facts.  

This leads me back to the pandemic.  America has been a victim of its own politics.  Wearing/not wearing a face mask is usually a good sign of a person's political beliefs.  In the past, we had presidents who cared about public health.  Our current president does not care - and was (supposedly) struck by the coronavirus himself. Yet, he still models behaviors which are in opposition to those recommended by the CDC.  As long as people consider the danger of this pandemic to be a hoax, then we will suffer from it much longer than necessary. 

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A long time ago, I looked forward to snow.  Now, it is one of many things that gets in the way of me living my life.  Until it is cleared away, I intend to stay in my flannel nightgown and stay warm and cozy for the next few days.