Tag Archives: Trump

Dec 26 2020
Posts

Random Topics VI

Doomscrolling, Flight Diapers, & Zoom Face

Dateline – Christmas Day, 2020

As I write, I’m celebrating a ‘Home Alone’ holiday this year due to the pandemic. This morning after 6 a.m., just as I made coffee and logged onto my laptop, I turned on CNN, which is part of my routine during my safer-at-home, semi-lockdown, life.

A bomb exploded in an historic district in downtown Nashville. As the day unfolded, so did the investigation and developing story. An RV arrived overnight, parked, and in the morning, in what was described as a female voice, broadcast an announcement of an impending blast including a countdown. Earlier, witnesses heard shots being fired and called 911 which is why first responders arrived at the scene and heard the bomb warning. The area was evacuated and at 6:30 a.m., the RV exploded, injuring three people. It’s suspected the explosion was intentional, yet suspects or motive for the blast are unknown at this time. Continue reading →

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Nov 01 2020
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Words Matter II: Trump’s Demagoguery

“Donald Trump is a demagogue – he’s a heroic demagogue to his followers, and he’s a dangerous demagogue to everyone else.” — Jennifer Mercieca

Demagogue definition: “A demagogue or rabble-rouser is a leader who gains popularity in a democracy by exploiting emotions, prejudice, and ignorance to arouse the common people against elites, whipping up the passions of the crowd and shutting down reasoned deliberation.”— Wikipedia

Words matter.

As I write, it’s the final leg of the 2020 Presidential Election. In two days, polls close and votes are tabulated. We won’t know who the next President is before we go to bed on Tuesday, November 3. It may take days, perhaps weeks before the final vote is known and certified.

We can bet the farm however, that Trump will go off the rails, spouting conspiracy theories, claims of rigged elections, and voter fraud. Lawyers will prepare legal briefs and suits and the President of the United States will be begin suing states, their election boards, and secretaries of state. Continue reading →

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Oct 03 2020
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Shouting from the Soapbox: Russian Roulette

“Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?” — Arthur Fleck, Joker

“Putin will be a Trump campaign surrogate while he quarantines.” — Senator Chris Murphy, (D) Foreign Relations Committee

Early Friday morning, around 12:30 a.m. I woke up to use the bathroom. Since the start of the pandemic, I sometimes have difficulty returning to sleep. My new habit and antidote to intermittent insomnia is to watch television news until the talking heads put me back to sleep. I turned on MSNBC, announcing late-breaking news, first, that Trump adviser, Hope Hicks tested positive for COVID-19 and shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that Trump and the First Lady, Melania, also contracted COVID-19. Oh, My! Continue reading →

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Jun 20 2020
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Posts

The New Abnormal

Normal – conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.

Abnormal – deviating from what is normal or usual, typically in a way that is undesirable or worrying. 

As I write it’s the Summer Solstice. Here in Madison, Wisconsin, my home, it’s traditionally been celebrated, pagan-style, with bonfires and festivities marking the longest day of the year at Olbrich Park on Lake Monona. near my home.

“In northern European countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, Midsummer is a festive celebration. When the summer days are at their longest, and in the north, it is the time of the Midnight Sun, festivals generally celebrate the summer and the fertility of the Earth.” Continue reading →

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Apr 22 2020
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Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Stirred Crazy

For this next installment of Dispatch from the Hideout, I originally planned on writing about how I became stir crazy as I sheltered-in-place and stayed-at-home alone. Instead, following Trump’s LIBERATE Tweets which fueled demonstrations by his supporters in a number of states, I’ve changed the focus to an opinion piece, Stirred Crazy.

Stir Crazy

One benefit from the pandemic experience is I’ve learned that I’m able to thrive on my own, while still desiring social, physical, emotional, and spiritual connection with others, including loved ones and a larger community. Continue reading →

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Oct 12 2019
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Posts

Unpresidented

“Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?” — Arthur Fleck, Joker

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” — Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

As President Trump’s lies have tallied over 12,000, media outlets introduce every story as ‘Breaking News,’ and the adjective ‘unprecedented’ describes the latest Tweet, leak, defense, or revelation, we know we now inhabit a dystopian world.

The title of this essay is intentionally misspelled; it best illustrates our current state of affairs, the potential outcome of the impeachment inquiry and yes, the unprecedented series of investigations of corruption, abuse of power, and obstruction of justice by Trump, his cabinet, members of the Republican Party, and his family.  More disturbing and a potential Article of Impeachment, Trump’s blatant invitations to foreign governments to meddle in our elections, again, to further his own personal political gain. Continue reading →

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Aug 11 2019
Posts

2020 Vision: Cataracts, Candidates & Critical Choices

“Your mind is working at its best when you’re being paranoid. You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation at high speed with total clarity.” ― Banksy

Morning in America

On the morning of Saturday, August 3rd, a young white male, an alleged domestic terrorist, by his own admission and confession, targeted Mexicans in El Paso, Texas at a Walmart near the border of Juárez, killing 22, including U.S. citizens and Mexican nationals and injuring many others after posting a screed on 8chan, an online megaphone for hate groups and gunmen. Continue reading →

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May 30 2018
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See Something, Say Something (Or, Not!)

From my blog post, Picking Up and Dropping the Mic, a quote from Will Rogers bears repeating: “Never miss a good chance to shut up.”  And, on the flip side, a quote by Maggie Kuhn, “Speak your mind even if your voice shakes.”

Yesterday was a full moon, the Full Flower Moon. Early in the morning Roseanne Barr began her day tweeting hate speech, racist comments, and recycled conspiracy theories. Later in the day ABC fired her, cancelling the new season of her commercially successful, rebooted sitcom, Roseanne. Perhaps she learned a lesson, never tweet during a Full Moon. Continue reading →

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Dec 31 2017
Posts

Finding the Light in Dark Times

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” — Edith Wharton

It seems timely — that on the eve of the New Year and the eve of the January Supermoon — I take a look back at the past year and look ahead to the New Year, while I search for the light to give us hope in what can only be described as dark times.    Continue reading →

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Dec 17 2017
Posts

Words Matter: The Seven Banned Words of 2017

“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” — Yehuda Berg

“It’s a beautiful thing the destruction of words.” — George Orwell, 1984

Earlier in the week I began writing a blog post. Since it was the holiday season, I thought I would reflect on memories of the past and muse about what holiday traditions mean for me today. The draft I was working on was entitled, ‘Tis the Season: Memories and Musings. As sometimes happens, I couldn’t get in the flow of the subject, words and ideas were not coming to me, the proverbial writer’s block. Instead, I edited the opening paragraph three or four times without making any significant progress. Words and the messages behind them are important and matter. They are the tools of the writer and the fundamental way we all communicate to achieve understanding. Continue reading →

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