The Jersey Red Tide

Coming To a Place Near You?

Some of you may know that I live in New Jersey but did you know that I live in one of the most deadly counties in the world? And it’s at the beach…well, mostly…and it’s the home of the deadly Red Tide! The Red Covid Tide that is…

You see, I live in Ocean County, NJ., one of the most Republican counties in all of New Jersey. In the 37 years that I have lived here I have seen only 3 people elected to serve as either mayor or on the town council in my town…and none of them were re-elected. And that’s true for just about all of the towns around me.

And why is that so important? Well, even though we are a mixture of semi-urban towns and beach towns and we have an average per capita income higher than the national average, we have one of the highest unvaccinated Covid rates in the Northeast. Only 53% of our residents have received at least 2 of the recommended Covid-19 vaccine doses with only 26% receiving the booster shot.

And what is it that explains the vaccine skepticism of Ocean County residents? It’s Politics mostly. Because our county is heavily Republican (President Trump won it by almost 30 percentage points in 2020) and most Republicans, just don’t believe in vaccines (anymore). And besides beach towns and exurban towns we here in O.C. are also the land of Senior Citizen “villages” and those of us who are older than 65 are the most vulnerable to severe Covid illness and death. (Senior C’s account for about 75% of all Covid deaths in the U.S.) So put that all together: Republicans, senior citizens, loss of faith in vaccines…and you’ve got a Covid-19 playground.

But who cares? Right? It’s a free country isn’t it?  However, the large number of unvaccinated residents in Ocean County has led to what some might categorize as a horrific amount of Covid illness and death. Nearly one out of every 200 residents has died from the virus. That is worse than the toll in Mississippi… the U.S. state with the largest amount of Covid deaths per capita! And even worse…it’s the worst death rate than in any Country, except for Peru! Peru? Sorry Peru, but you’re number 2… now. and thusly…Ocean County’s “Red Tide” was born.

And still does anyone care? If we do the math then 1 out of every 200 residents divided into about 618,000 county residents is only 3,090 people. Is that a lot? If 75% of those people are senior citizens… tucked away neatly in their senior villages…(self segregated by choice) then 2,317 of those folks were over the age of 65… and they were on deaths door anyway right? So how many noticed?

I’m sure that their children and grand children noticed but not many else. Hardly anyone is out and about wearing a mask these days and it seems as though every week, parents are assailing the school board about when mask mandates will be ended and Covid restrictions lifted. And what about sports? We must have regular crowded gyms and fields filled with sports and sports fans! And bars and restaurants and malls! It’s important that Americans get back to their way of life, and death, vaccinated or un.

I’m always amazed about how when the topic of Covid comes up in a conversation, someone will always ask, usually in a very condescending and smug way, “Do you know anyone who has died of Covid?!” As though that is the crucial bench mark of a disease. If you don’t personally know anyone who has died from it then it can’t be a thing can it? So why make such a fuss?

As many people have died from the Covid-19 virus and its variants in the past 2 years as have died from Cancer and Heart Disease. And those are the 2 leading killers of Americans year after year after year for quite a few years now (probably for as long as everyone alive today has been alive) and so everyone by now knows someone who has died from those deadly diseases…and so we fear them and don’t want to get them and try to avoid them don’t we? But Covid? This new kid on the block is a sissy, right?

Just imagine if Cancer and heart disease were contagious. They’re no more deadly than Covid-19 but would any of us go outside? Ever? And what if there were vaccines that could protect you from Cancer and Heart Disease and your loved ones also? Who would be so cavalier then to go without those vaccinations and proclaim their bodily sanctuary of freedom before their family and friends? And what if wearing a mask could protect others from catching cancer and heart disease from you? Ha! You say! No masks for me! I’m a free human being and you frightened Indians can go scratch for all I care!

And so alas, the Red Tide of free, bold and like thinking Americans sweeps over us all here in Ocean County and from sea to shining sea, unencumbered, until it infects that other “sea” of humanity that will need to become infected and die in such numbers as to make them take notice one day and say, “Hey God, that could happen to me?” For Chrissakes! When is somebody gonna do something about it?”

But until then it’s just a liberal nuisance like I’m sure cancer and heart disease once were. Now they are mainstays and entire businesses and lifestyles are devoted to them. We know how to prevent heart disease but do we? As many of our beloved institutions and practices are devoted to hurting our hearts as are devoted to helping them. (rehabs, health foods, gyms) (bars, fast foods, chips and sodas) And as for cancer? Are we polluting our environments with fewer noxious, poisonous, toxic, virulent and nasty effluents and pollutants than we once were? Hardly, we’ve added more! We’ve just gotten better at providing more treatments, medications and surgeries than we once did in our efforts to combat cancers.

So all in all it’s a win/win! More sickness and disease. More healthcare and hospitals. The real crisis of Covid it seems has been the lack of hospital space to make this disease cost effective… not the tremendous loss of life. After all what’s 900,000 souls lost when almost 8 billion souls are still with us here on Earth?

Sounds pretty cold and crass doesn’t it? But hey! Do you know anyone who’s died from Covid?

So take care of yourself and Let the Red Tide roll on?

All I Want For Christmas Is…

Someone to shoot!

Ah yes, it’s a Republican Christmas: A time to spread cheer and love and peace on Earth. And what says love and peace and joy better than a wholesome family of mother and child(ren) packing heat along with their holiday message of Christian love?

Is Christmas dead? Apparently not yet!

At least not until Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and her 4 children decide they have a good reason to kill it? No doubt in defense of the Constitution, Santa Claus and Jesus! Because making friends with people who may be different from you is for Heaven…I guess.

And if you are a Republican, or anyone who thinks that this kind of crap is funny or cute or Christian or promoting positive values at Christmas time, especially from a United States Congresswoman who has sworn to represent all Americans, than you might as well get your gun and keep it by your side so you can always be ready to defend yourself… in Hell… where you’ll have all of eternity to blast away at lost souls who think just like you do.

Merry Christmas!

Cracker Box Palace

Somewhere out in the great beyond President Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee are smiling. It may have taken 160 years but the U.S. Capitol, home of those Damned Dirty Yankees, has finally fallen! For yesterday, January 6th, 2021 another American date that will live in infamy (and infancy…as in tantrum) our Capitol building in Washington D.C. was attacked, captured and desecrated by the Confederacy… of Dunces.

It didn’t take very long, just a few pushes and shoves, broken windows, fireworks and Confederate flags flown high and the Republican mob was up Capitol Hill and over the Union’s defenses and into the Capital Building’s domed lobbies, sacred offices and grand legislative chambers.

The insurgents broke windows, started fires, trashed offices and occupied the building with little resistance from the Capitol Police who seemed flustered and confused over how to stop an angry, well armed white mob composed mostly of middle aged ladies in mom jeans and mostly bearded men flaunting their finest hillbilly chic sportswear and work boots.

Our Nation’s National Emblem, The Capitol Building, was in no way defended. There were no teargas canisters deployed, nor rubber bullets fired, nor any sign of heavily armored policemen to thwart the mob’s assault or stand in its way. Our country’s Vice President, and Congressmen and Women, who were inside the building fled in panic or cowered beneath their desks, taken completely by surprise even though they had been warned time and time again by our own President, most of his entourage and scores of elected Congressmen and women, that he would be avenged (most likely with violence) for his election loss.

In fact, only a few minutes before the attack, at a rally near the White House, President Trump and his son Donald Jr. along with trusted lawyer and friend, Rudy Giuliani, exhorted their adoring crowd of sycophantic psychos that it would take strength and not weakness to reclaim their country!

“We will never give up. We will never concede,” Trump told the attendees outside the White House, who cheered him on. “We will stop the steal!” (The election was stolen from him because more people voted against him than for him…and besides as any redneck ninny knows, the only real way to tell if an election held in the USA isn’t rigged is if the Republican candidate wins)

And so off they went, onwards to the Capitol Building of the United States of America! And in a most embarrassing and startling turn of events, captured it with ease…and the Confederacy of Trump was born! They broke and entered! Came, Saw… and Conquered!

The angry mob even Took photos and selfies with some smiling law enforcement? officers? And were even saluted by the Junior Senator from Missouri (seen below raising his fist in a show of white power) as they went about their business of pillaging, desecrating and mocking The Union that had once defeated them in war back in 1865.

All in all the insurrection seemed like Great, White, American fun! Yes, some were arrested (52) and some were killed (4) but when you figure it out as a percentage of the thousands who stormed the barricades (spoiler alert: there weren’t any barricades) it’s positively insignificant! (just like Covid-19) It was the most complete and swift victory ever accomplished by Confederate forces on American soil!

And when the President was appealed to and called upon to do something! anything! in defense of our Great Nation to help stop the rioting and to defend our Revered Constitution and intervene in this most violent insurrection… he took immediate action…and tweeted!!! (The tweet heard round the world?)

“You have to go home now…he said. We have to have peace.” and he added…”I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it. Especially the other side. But you have to go home now,” Trump said.

He also added, and I paraphrase here because most of those tweets and videos have been deleted from the internet, (evidence of treason?) that he knows what it’s like to be a poor Confederate who loses when he should win and who doesn’t get what he wants when he wants it and who is persecuted by those who won’t give him what he wants…

He went on…

(And now I quote again) “These are the things and events that happen (the attempted over throw of Democracy?) when a sacred (?) landslide election victory (huh?) is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away (by counting the voters votes?) from great patriots (He is calling the Confederate insurrectionists great patriots!) who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long, (Since the Civil War?) So go home. We love you. (He loves those who stormed the Capitol?) You’re very special. (because they did it for him?)

“It’s a very tough period of time,” he added. “But we can’t play into the hands of these people. (Americans? The Union? Those Citizens who didn’t vote for him?) who he went on to characterize as “so so bad and so so evil”! (If you didn’t vote for him you are evil…it’s THAT simple?) 330 million citizens – 74 million Trump voters leaves @ 256 Evil Americans! That’s a lot of evil Americans! No wonder most Republicans find so much fault with America…and Americans.

Ah well…and so when it got dark they were asked to leave and they left: these Haters of Democracy…these Champions of evil… rooting out of!…these Overthrowers of elections…not winning!… These Crackers of… where’s my cream cheese!

And they suffered No consequences…No bullets in the back as they retreated…No kneels to the backs of their necks as they gasped desperately in defense of their innocence…No hours long interrogations or confession signings… nope, nada. It’s as though they all had Presidential PBA Cards! It’s so good to know someone important isn’t it? It’s just so good to be so white and so right in America… isn’t it?

But what happens now? President Trump still has 2 full weeks to wield his scepter of seemingly unlimited influence and control over his mutineer minions. He still maintains that he has been wronged, swindled and unfairly toppled from his rightful throne. … and his confederated zealots, fresh from victory agree. And both have sworn to never give up their fight to restore him to his most lofty latrine of power.

One commentator offered a suggestion as to why all of this was happening: “The president just doesn’t know how to accept losing” he said… But I say that our President just doesn’t know how to accept America… and never has…nor do his followers.

So what happens now? Will this republican mob make another coordinated attack before or during the inauguration of President-elect Biden? Will President Trump have already pardoned himself before they do so? Will the insurgents be carrying Presidential pardons in their pockets too… thus having been made an invulnerable, un-prosecutable, monster mob of President Trump’s self righteous Id?

Holy Psyche Batman!

Who will stand up to this disparagement of Democracy? Will only the crack of doom cancel this shit show? Maybe President Trump will leave office peacefully, only to retire to Florida to live in Ex-presidential exile where he will then take to the airwaves as a prognosticating naysayer of all things not to his liking?… His family squabbling on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as a veritable Duck Dynasty of Doomsday Drivel and Despair?

Will we all be subjected to a daily soundtrack of American mockery…without reprieve nor end, from a self pardoned President and his brood awaiting their return to power?

Stay tuned America! Same Trump time! Same Trump channel!

Yeeeeeeeeee Hawwwww!

Remember when President Trump said this about the Coronavirus way back in April of this year?

“I thought about it,” he said. “I said maybe we should ride it through. You know, Ride it like a cowboy.” Had that been done, President Trump said, health officials estimated 1.6 to 2.2 million people in the U.S. would die.

And now here we are 7 months later and a few days after Thanksgiving in America and what are we doing?

We’re riding the Coronavirus like a cowboy!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Hawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Are we having fun yet? Over 260,000 dead American citizens to date. Over 13 million reported cases. 200 thousand new cases per day. Almost 2,000 dead Americans every day. And now 500,000 expected to be dead by March of 2021…right up there with a yearly death toll running neck and neck with those two other apocalyptic American horses; cancer and heart disease.

Somewhere along the line Our President and his team of experts lost interest, along with his supporters and what appears to be half of the rest of the country! It was those lousy ratings his press conferences were getting I guess…

And then of course there was the campaign, the golfing, the pep rally comedy tour, his own coronavirus brush with death, the campaign again, and finally over 80 million citizens voting him out of office in what he called a “landslide mandate from the American People”!

…That’s what he called it when it happened to Hillary Clinton in 2016!

But now he says that he won’t go because the election was too close and that people really love him except for those Americans who are cheats and voter frauds and election thieves and Godless lovers of Satan, …

…you know… the other 250 million Americans who apparently don’t appreciate a good horse when they see one. ..One they can ride like a cowboy!

But don’t panic America because according to the White House Science Department “ending the COVID-19 pandemic” is the top accomplishment of  President Trump’s first and only term! It’s His TOP accomplishment!…

And in just a little less than 2 months President Trump and his White House staff and all of his men can ride that #@%#! accomplishment and the apocalyptic horse they came in on straight on outta town… just like a cowboy!

…And Good Riddance!

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Hang ‘Em High!

Is this your kind of Democracy? If it is then you should be ashamed of yourself.

Last week President Trump held another rally in Michigan where he downplayed the recent rightwing plot against Governor Gretchen Whitmer to have her kidnapped and killed because of her state lockdown measures aimed at curtailing the coronavirus and saving lives in the state where people are still dying from the poisoned water for profit scheme! (Do Republicans remember that?)

Said our President: “You’ve got to get your governor to open up your state, OK? And get your schools open! Get your schools open! The schools have to be open, right?”  

“Lock her up! Lock her up!” his supporters chanted in response. 

“Lock them all up,” President Trump answered.

And of course his crowd of angry, (P)syco-phantic inquisitors who adore our President as if he were the reincarnated Torquemada made whole in the 21st century, just so they could lasciviously witness the torture and imprisonment of all who disagree, look differently or believe differently than they do, cheered him on.

And yet just Forty minutes later President Trump’s Saturday night rally ended with The President (a most recent survivor of the coronavirus who contracted the disease along with his family and many friends through ALL fault of his own) once again railing against Michigan’s lockdown measures and sparking the crowd to resume the “lock her up” chants…

AS THOUGH THEY WERE ALL PART OF SOME GRAND REENACTMENT OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS…A FONDLY REMEMBERED PASSION PLAY OF PSYCHO-SEXUAL JOY BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE!

Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, senior campaign adviser, and woman who doesn’t seem to mind other women being treated like second class citizens later said “He wasn’t doing anything, I don’t think, to provoke people to threaten this woman at all. He was having fun at a Trump rally,” and added “Look, the president was at a rally. It’s a fun, light atmosphere. Of course, he wasn’t doing anything to threaten this woman. That’s ridiculous.”

Sure…it was just all in good fun. What’s more fun than accusing your rivals and competitors and fellow elected officials, Americans all, of being criminals who should be locked up just on your say so, without evidence of a crime or of any wrongdoing whatsoever?

Kamala Harris is nasty! Lock her up! Hillary wrote emails, the contents of which we actually no nothing about! Lock her up! That woman is not someone that I find attractive enough to consider dating. Lock her up! I believe that woman is not a Christian! Lock her up!

That’s America? If that is your idea of America then you should leave because the country you’re pining for is the country(s) that our founding fathers fled from 400 years ago!

You have forgotten what this country stands for and represents to the world…and so has our president. Shame on all who attend rallies that celebrate fear, hate and greed! That is not what greatness is made of… nor has it ever represented nor will it ever represent the power and glory of anything good that ever resided in Heaven or on the Earth…

Don’t Fear the Reaper?

Isn’t it ironic that as our President of the United States is recovering from his recent bought with the Coronavirus at the White House in Washington D.C. receiving the best treatment for his illness that is humanly available to him, his most recent Supreme Court nominee is waiting to be approved and sworn in by a completely partisan Republican Senate majority in their latest best effort to completely destroy and eliminate the Affordable Care Act from U.S. Law?

Make no mistake about it. Judge Amy Coney Barrett has been nominated for the Supreme Court of the United States because President Trump and Senate republicans are 100% sure that she will vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights, eliminate LGBT rights and same sex marriage and declare the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional and thereby eliminate the healthcare access that had been made available to millions of Americans in 2010.

They are in a hurry to have Judge Barrett confirmed because, should President Trump and the republicans win or lose the election, come November 3rd of this year, all of their dreams to take away the hard earned rights of “UnGodly Americans” can still come true.

While they continue to enjoy tax payer funded healthcare of their own: The absolute best access to doctors and drugs that our tax payer money has to offer.

Meanwhile, The President says that we, the people, should not fear Covid-19, better known as the coronavirus. In fact he suggests that we get it, like he did, and then get over it, like he is doing. “Don’t let it dominate you!” Says our President. “Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment. We have the best medicines, all developed recently,.”

That is if you are still eligible for that wonderful medical care after his new Supreme Court Justice helps to take it away come this November… following the election…of course! Why would he do it before the election? Duh.

But not to worry. Don’t fear the reaper! If you are lucky like our septuagenarian president you might feel better than ever after you’ve had the virus! You might even feel 20 years younger like he says he does now… Or there is a small chance that you may suffer from an insignificant…death!

So far only 218,000 Americans or about 1,000 Americans a day since March of this year have had the adverse reaction to Covid-19…as in an untimely death. Insignificant is the President’s word, not mine because that is what he called those deaths during one of his presidential pep rallies. That sure got his adoring crowd laughing and applauding.

And when he brought out a color coded chart to explain that if we didn’t count the “blue” states (we have red and blue states now) then hardly anyone has died from the Coronavirus! I guess, because people who live in blue states are extra insignificant? Even the Republicans too!? (those would be the red people living in the blue states)

I guess that if you didn’t vote for President Trump and/or you live in a state that didn’t give him the Electoral College votes he wanted in the last election then you can just die and go to hell…and apparently take everyone else who lives in that state along with you. (He’s an equal opportunity hater?)

But If the President is reelected and serves another 4 years, at 365,000 Coronavirus deaths per year, that would only be 1,825,000 Americans felled by the virus… and that would only be .5 percent of the 330 million Americans that we now have which is about as insignificant as the interest I get from the bank for the money I keep there.

So as far as Capitalism is concerned I guess we have to admit that we really don’t matter very much to our president and to our government since money rules and helping people drools…and as always the rich will get richer while the poor get sicker.

So I guess we should all just pretend that the Coronavirus is cancer or heart disease or obesity or whatever and go out there and live our lives with or without our masks. Maybe we’ll die from the virus…maybe we won’t, but it’s now 3rd on the list of things that kill us American’s the most…and you will die eventually anyway… so WTF?

And that’s the official policy of Our President, The White House and our United States’ government…not just something I’m making up…and if you’re waiting for a vaccine you might just want to move to a Red state and become a Republican (if you aren’t already in one or already are one) and get your instant immunity, and “heard mentality”…and don’t worry Democrats, I hear it rubs off on blue people too!

May God help us, Everyone!

Another Royal Scam

After unilaterally terminating Social Security’s dedicated funding for government workers for the rest of the year, President Trump is now raiding Medicare’s trust fund to pay to send letters to senior citizens before the election, promising them a $200 pharmacy gift card.

The President campaigned in 2016 on the promise that he would take on Big Pharma and protect Social Security and Medicare, but he has done neither of those two things. Rather he has done exactly the opposite while still claiming to keep his promises.

The President’s plan to send out $200 senior drug discount cards to 33 million senior citizens in the United States will cost tax payers (Not the President or his campaign) 6.6 billion dollars. And all of that money will come from the Medicare Trust Fund…which of course is money that you and your employers have already put there… on your behalf…for you.

That’s strike two for those of us who are already retired or who are about to retire. Billions of dollars are now being removed from the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds by our President and without the proper Congressional authorization needed to do so.

Medicare’s main trust fund, the Hospital Insurance fund, also known as Part A of Medicare – was already in financial trouble before the pandemic hit and the ongoing recession created by the Covid-19 crisis is squeezing the program from both ends.

And a recent projection from James Capretta, a senior advisor at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, found that the program could run low on funds by 2023. “So the next president, says Mr. Capretta, will have about two years to figure out what to do.”

And our President has promised to continue these economic programs (or is it economic pogroms?) should he be reelected this November, but of course, even if he loses, you can count on the remaining Republicans in Congress claiming that our now diminished trust funds are two more reasons for privatizing and ending Social Security and Medicare.

So instead of taking on the big pharmaceutical companies and skyrocketing medical costs in an effort to lower the costs of medications and hospitalizations in the U.S., President Trump is raiding Medicare and Social Security and taking our money to use for his own political purposes, in the hopes that neither you nor I nor anyone else will know the difference.

And he is also about to break a famous Republican promise by nominating and confirming a Supreme Court Justice during an election year (In 2016 The Republicans promised never to let this happen)…(ever!) And that Supreme Court Justice will join 5 others who will most likely strike down The Affordable Care Act (after the election…of course) leaving no Healthcare program to take its place.

Using public promises and public trust funds to fund private campaigns and private desires while undermining decades old and revered social health, medical and anti-poverty programs to the point of destruction? That is definitely not Socialism. That’s for sure.

I would call it Anti-Socialism…wouldn’t you?

And outright lying, cheating and stealing comes to mind too.

Are You a Citizen? Really?

As directed by the Constitution, a presidential candidate must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, and 35 years of age or older.

If you meet those requirements then you too can run for President or Vice President of the U.S.A.

To be a natural born citizen of the United States all you have to do is be born in the U.S.A.

Can you name the first President to qualify under those Constitutional conditions?

That would be President #8: Martin Van Buren! Does that make the first 7 frauds?

However On Thursday past, after Kamala Harris was selected by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to serve as his running mate, President Donald Trump once again gave credence to and elevated a new Republican conspiracy theory while speaking to reporters from the White House podium.

The new claim is that Ms. Harris is ineligible to serve as vice president or president because her mother is from India and her father is from Jamaica. Trump said he “heard” the California senator doesn’t meet the requirements, adding, “I have no idea if that’s right.”

Wow! The President of the United States has no idea what the requirements for being POTUS are? (I think that should be a requirement!)

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California on October 20th, 1964. And there is no dispute about that. That makes her a 55 year old natural born citizen and resident of the United States for the past 55 years and 9+ months…check…check…and check.

Doesn’t our president know that it matters not where her parents were born?

After all The President’s son’s mother was born in Slovenia and didn’t become a U.S. citizen until 2006, the same year in which she gave birth to their son Barron. He was born in March of 2006 and she became a citizen during that same year…although for some reason the exact date of her citizenship ceremony cannot be found on google.

Does that even matter? Do you care? But shouldn’t it at least be a date to celebrate and not hide? Maybe it’s just temporarily lost? Anyway, I digress.

Because when President Trump was asked directly about the social media posts claiming Ms. Harris is not eligible to run for VP he replied: “I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements. And, by the way, the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very qualified, very talented lawyer.”

But which constitutional requirement does that “very talented” and “very qualified” lawyer say that she, Ms. Harris,  doesn’t meet?

So if she is not eligible, even though born in the U.S.A., simply because her parents were immigrants, then that  would of course mean that our president does not even believe that his own son is eligible to run for President or Vice President of the U.S. someday either… since he too has an immigrant mother!

Did you have anyone in your family who was born of immigrant parents? Like you or your parents or grand parents? Then if they were not natural born citizens they were giving birth to other non citizens and so on and so forth… that would lead to you and me and all of us eventually being non citizens too!

Gee, it’s getting so that being born in the U.S.A. doesn’t mean anything these days!

 

 

Alright, America, I’m ready for my close-up?

President Trump recently visited a Ford plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan that is now making ventilators for Covid-19 patients and even though aggressive new safety measures were in place for workers and staff there was one person there who was still not that interested in such measures…and that of course would be our own President Trump.

 

Said the President: “Well, I did wear—I had one on before.  I wore one in this back area, but I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it. But, no, where I had it, in the back area, I did put a mask on.  I think it sets an example.  I think it sets an example both ways.”

Wearing a mask, and not wearing a mask, sets an example both ways…which would be?

One needs to wear a mask to keep others and yourself safe from the Covid-19 virus when one is in the close company of others…and…who cares?

Strangely, our president seems very (and perhaps overly) concerned that others might see him wearing a mask, especially members of the press (fake news?) but why would that be since he goes out of his way each day to put on a mask (IE: his make-up) painstakingly each morning.

I often wonder what his face really looks like… au naturel, and who, if anyone, ever gets to see him that way but I do suppose that if you are going to go to all of the trouble to put face make-up on each morning why then put on another mask just to cover up the first one? That would make no sense at all.

Why make yourself look beautiful and then not show yourself off? That would be silly wouldn’t it? Covid-19 virus and infection risk and example setting or not?

But The President later added when asked by reporters:

“I was given a choice and I had one on in an area where they preferred it, So I put it on and it was very nice, it looked very nice.”

 

So I guess looks aren’t everything…just maybe in TV Land they are the only thing. Ah well, Sometimes in the land of the free and the home of the brave…All is Vanity.

President Trump later railed against the United Auto Workers union for not endorsing him…Go figure!

Live Free or Bite Me!

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

All People in America have the right to speak freely, petition the government should they feel aggrieved or unfairly treated and to assemble while doing so, peaceably.

So what do you think about these protests and assemblies above and below? Would you say that they are peaceable gatherings?

Above we have a gathering of protesters who are aggrieved by the Governor of Michigan because she has imposed social gathering restrictions and other similar measures as a response to the Covid 19 pandemic that has hit that state hard (as well as all other states in the USA) and her orders coincide with the President of the United States guidelines for such laws during this pandemic as he announced on TV and in public.

And yet here are protesters with signs calling for the Governor’s removal because they say she is violating the Constitution of the USA.  One sign says “Live free or die” and another calls for the ending of the lock-down. And still other signs that support the President of the United States. (He, as already mentioned is in support of state stay-at-home laws)

However, many of the protesters are carrying guns! Is that a peaceful demonstration? And they are quite obviously very formidable weapons. I’d call them assault rifles but I know that a gun supporter will write a comment chastising me on the use of that term and then go on to explain what an assault rifle really is and how these guns shown couldn’t kill half as many as a real assault rifle could.

Anyway, is that peaceful? Am I supposed to feel at ease because this group of protesters hasn’t started shooting yet and is at the moment at peace? They do have a sign that says “Live free or die” but they don’t specify who will die if they don’t get to live free?

The folks below were part of that same protest. Here they have Michigan Governor Whitmer dressed as a Nazi and giving what appears to be the heil sign… because I’m guessing they see her as un-American? And below that photo is another one of a woman with a sign suggesting that we should hail the Nazi Witmer while also holding an American flag. She did misspell Whitmer but who can blame her. The H would not have fit on that sign anyway. (although maybe the H in Whitmer stands for heil?)

These guys below are in New Hampshire protesting what they see as an illegal lock-down in their state (really it’s a “shelter in place” order and people are still free to go where they please when they please) but lock-down sounds so much nastier doesn’t it? Something you might hear in a prison not in the land of the free, right? And their messages are also “Live free or die” and “Don’t tread on me.” But with a gun by your side doesn’t that kind of say…or else?

In Pennsylvania these loyal citizens protested also. Their messages were. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.”  and “Those who would give essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” (Two very provocative comments penned by two famous founding fathers: Jefferson and Franklin) and these folks have guns too. They do appear to be ready for action, do they not? Would the British army of 1776 have considered them peaceful demonstrators?

In any case, this is 2020 and not 1776 and these protesters while expressing their anger
remained peaceful and were not confronted by armed police or soldiers at least not in any of the pictures that I saw… In fact in Michigan a police officer was taking temperatures of the protesters as they entered the capital building. Wow! How nice. Doesn’t America work great?

And yet all of the protesters mentioned and seen above were breaking “the state law” (stay-at-home unless necessary, practice social distancing, wear face masks) which is deemed enforceable by the Supreme Court under the conditions (a health pandemic) under which they were made by state governors. And they are breaking the law while carrying guns!

So, Here is our President commenting about the protests on an Official Presidential Tweet:

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal.

And in another tweet he simply added “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”

 

And remember, the President approved of all of these safety measures taken by each state during this pandemic. (Before declaring their people should be liberated)

He even said that the states were on their own and could do as they please because the federal government would not be issuing a national stay at home order…but after seeing the “very good people” with their anger (and guns and signs?) he suggests that the Governor of Michigan “make a deal”.

Now let’s look at this protester: Just a man in uniform with a couple of his friends kneeling quietly during the National Anthem. He isn’t yelling or shouting. He has no signs with no demands. He is not carrying a weapon. (Good grief! Could you imagine what would have happened if he had?) And he is breaking no laws! (standing for the national anthem is not a law. It is considered proper etiquette and courtesy)

Mr Kaepernick’s reasons for his protest were simple and no less important to him than the Covid19 protesters reasons were to them. (Re: The enforcement of Constitutional Amendments) Said Mr. K:  “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,”

And here is what President Trump had to say about his rights as an American:

“I watched Colin Kaepernick, and I thought it was terrible, and then it got bigger and bigger and started mushrooming, and frankly the NFL should have suspended him for one game, and he would have never done it again… But I will tell you, you cannot disrespect our country, our flag, our anthem — you cannot do that.”

And he later added:

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”

Angry, disrespectful, law breaking, weapon wielding protesters: “very good people. Make a deal with them”

Silent, kneeling, weaponless protester breaking no laws: “Son-of -a-bitch” who needs to be taught a lesson about respect.

Colin Kaepernick lost his job as a result of his protest. How about the Covid-19 protesters? Shouldn’t those sons-of -bitches lose their guns as a consequence to their disrespectful and illegal protest? Fat chance, right? After all the idea behind 2nd Amendment rights is to use your guns to fight your government when you are disappointed with it…is it not? What do unarmed protesters get? Their temperature taken by a snarling dog, gas canister or a high powered water hose?

Remember those protesters in Ferguson, Missouri surrounded by policemen dressed like soldiers sporting armored cars and machine guns?  You can argue that the protest wasn’t peaceful but imagine if the protesters in Ferguson had come wielding weapons like those sported by the protesters in Michigan? What would have happened there and then?

It appears as though we are a country with quite a few diseases that we just can’t seem to shake. Covid-19 is just one of them.

Hopefully our latest illness doesn’t stick around as long as our sicknesses over racism,  guns and greed have…

We should be so lucky.