US Capitol Dome

Shutdown – “The Art Of The Deal!”

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, “Well, there they go again”. The Federal government is shut down, with each side, as is custom, blaming the other. Not without some merit, but from where I sit, the primary fault lies on the Republican side, for one simple reason:

Failure to govern.

I’ll start with the White House, and simply say “case closed.”

On the Congressional side, The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) act is the proximate excuse for the shutdown. After President Trump announced he’d sign ANY bi-partisan legislation placed in front of him, he reneged, in his famous “shithole countries” meeting. it was Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown. And it left legislators on BOTH sides of the aisle seething. Bi-partisanship, indeed.

The House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution through February, which actually addressed several important issues – primary among those a 6-year funding extension for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). But it didn’t address DACA, which both sides want resolved in much the same way.

Republicans – especially the President – are now shouting that the Democrats shut the government down to support illegal immigration over the military.

Please.

The government has been shut down over a lack of good faith, pure and simple. And there’s an easy way out of this.

Senator Mitch McConnell needs to show that the Republicans can govern.

He needs to remember that Congress is a co-equal branch of Government, and can, when so motivated, do its job with or without the help of the President.

He needs to remember that bi-partisanship works – especially when most of the hard work has already been done.

He needs to govern.

A simple path out of this shutdown is as follows:

  1. Republican and Democratic senators meet, and come to an informal – but sincere – agreement that DACA will be a priority in the next three weeks, using the framework already developed. The framework will be focused on acceptability within the legislative branch, and not the the whims of the Jell-O like President.
  2. Pass the continuing resolution. Reopen the government immediately.
  3. Put together a DACA bill that will garner 70+ votes in the Senate. Something that pulls 40-11 on the Republican side and a majority of Democrats should be doable – again, they’re in violent agreement on the major outlines of the deal – and pass it. (For those worried about slapping a bill together in haste – they managed with tax reform …..)
  4. Call it “The Art of the Deal Act (TADA)“
  5. Send it to the President, with the understanding that a veto WILL be overridden.

For the Republicans, the upside is obvious – showing that they CAN do what they’ve been accused of not being able to do. Actually govern. The risk? They can’t pull it off, and the “Can’t govern” claim sticks.

For the Democrats, they show that they’re willing partners, and not simply obstructionists. And the risk is limited – if a deal can’t be reached by Feb 8th, the threat of another shutdown is available.

This is all avoidable. Both sides in Congress simply need to act in good faith, to implement what they’re basically in agreement on.

The shutdown WILL end. A budget resolution of some sort for the rest of the year WILL pass. The government will re-open. How about we Stamp Out Stupid, drop the posturing and overblown hyperbole, and get it done sooner rather than later, with minimal disruption to the most important business of governing the great land.

On shitholes.

Let me start with the fact that I’m saddened that I need to use the word “shitholes” at all – much less in a public forum. I was raised and educated (in public schools) to avoid vulgarities in polite conversation, in public, and most especially in professional settings. You don’t use coarse language, because you don’t need that kind of language, and because generally, it’s lazy. It’s called having a sense of decorum.

It should come as no surprise that President Trump lacks a sense of decorum.

But that’s not the sad part of his recent “shithole countries” remark. I expect no better from Mr. Trump. (I DO expect – better – MUCH better – from the President of the United States. But that just is a another log on the “Donald Trump is not fit for the Presidency” fire.)

The sad part is the people trying to defend that statement, generally by suggesting that that’s really what “the forgotten man sitting at the bar” is thinking.

That is wrong on so many levels, that my head is about to explode.

First is the sheer arrogance of that statement. Of course, Dear Pundit, you don’t think that kind of thing – but those poor schlubs in flyover country probably do, and, well, don’t their opinions count for something? (Or could it be that you’re jealous that you can’t say that kind of thing out loud, given your more elite position – so you take comfort in the fact that there must be others who can give voice to your darker thoughts? Nah ….)

Second, so what? Yes, I will gladly acknowledge that there are some people – all across this great land of ours – who harbor exactly those kinds of feelings. Does that mean we promote that? Celebrate it? It’s anti-social behavior, and it’s something we try to root out. “Good citizenship” was graded on when I was in elementary school. “Civics” were taught. Churches preached “love your neighbor as thyself”, and went so far as to treat things like this as sinful. We denounce and shun unprincipled behaviors, not promote and normalize them.

Which leads us to the third point – normalizing bigotry. The bar is being consistently lowered. The bigots are emboldened; and when there are no real consequences to their bigotry, they feel safe to go further. And everyone else becomes inured to it. It’s tiring to keep fighting. And is disheartening to see those in leadership positions not only do nothing about it, but look for ways to condone it. And that’s completely unnecessary. You can promote an agenda – ANY agenda – with dignity, class, and comity. There is no reason to tolerate what is being tolerated – by either side.

This is simply another riff on the “us vs. them” strategy, promoting the thought that “others” are responsible for our troubles. Divisiveness only weakens us. The real “shitholes” in this whole affair are the leaders and pundits driving this narrative and working to promote discord, hatred, and bigotry.

Don’t be complicit. Speak up. Help Stamp Out Stupid.

Keep Judge Moore in Alabama

I wanna be a cowboy ….

Alabama elects a Senator to replace former Senator, now Attorney General, Jeff Sessions next week. The Republican candidate – having won the state’s primary is …

(former) Judge Roy Moore.

Yes, this one.

(Side note – what’s with the cowboy hat and vest? I can’t remember the last cattle drive in Alabama. But that may be on me ….)

Judge Moore has come under scrutiny for his predilection to date much younger women (aka “teenagers”) while serving as district attorney. His behavior ranged from creepy to arguably criminal; and there’s enough evidence for it that I see no need to include the term “allegedly” here. Hell, he got banned by the local mall for his behavior ….

And now Alabamians are in a bind. Many of them are going to hold their noses, or delude themselves into thinking the allegations are a conspiracy against the good judge, because … [drum roll] they can’t vote for a Democrat.

That, my friends, is just stupid.

Should have thought of that before you made Judge Moore your candidate.

Look, I can understand not wanting to vote for an individual whose positions differ from yours. By all accounts, the Democratic candidate – Doug Jones – is a good man. A decent human being. And he should have roughly zero chance (because Alabama) of getting elected to the Senate, because he is a Democrat with some liberal positions. Which you might disagree with.

But that’s not sufficient to justify a vote for Roy Moore.

if you espouse the logic that the worst Republcan is better than the best Democrat, then that’s what you’re going to get. The worst Republican.

Actions need to have consequences. If you put forward an execrable candidate for public office, that candidate should lose. Period. if you don’t like losing elections, then try nominating reasonable, competent candidates.

On a personal note – Telemarketers.

Some things I just don’t understand.

Every day, I get anywhere up to a dozen calls on my cell phone, supposedly from numbers in
my area code (but not in my contacts list), each of them a recorded message inviting me to
take action on either student loan or credit card debt forgiveness.

There are only two unique calls. The numbers they come from differ – they’re being spoofed from
overseas – but it’s one of the same two messages every time. And they always leave a voice mail for me –
because the robo-calls can’t identify the fact that there’s not a real person who answered.

If I answer the call, and ask o be put on the Do Not Call list, I get hung up on – immediately.
If I try to return the call at a later time, it invariably turns out that the number is not in service.

The stupid here is this – I can not for the life of me figure out what the business model here is.

The idea, obviously, is to get me to sign up for some sort of service, which will cost me money and likely not deliver any tangible results. I understand that.

But if I’ve answered the phone, declined the service, and asked not to be called again, what’s the benefit in re-calling?

If I’ve failed to sign up for the service after the 100th, 200th, and 500th call, what is the point in placing the 101st, 201st, 501st, and 1000th calls?

Every chance I get (i.e., when I’m bored or particularly annoyed), I WILL answer these calls, and I will press “4” or whatever digit gets me to a live operator, and do what I can to waste as much of their time as possible. But I’ve found that the more I do that, the more frequent the robo-calls become.

And again, what’s the logic behind THAT? I’ve just answered your call – why would you then go and call me back with the same offer at a higher frequency?

It seems pretty stupid to me. But I’ve yet to figure out a way to stamp this particular stupidity out …

Why a Protocol Officer is a good idea …

Trump with Navajo Code Talkers

 

Let’s say you’re the President of the United States.  And let’s say that you’re hosting an event at the White House to honor some Word War II vets who happen to be Native American,  What would you think the focus of such an event should be?

  1. Honoring the aforementioned vets for their service
  2. Using the event to take pot shots (complete with ethnic slurring) at a political opponent who is in no way connected to the event being held, or
  3. Causing discomfort to the honorees by holding the event in a location prominently featuring the portrait of a man who was responsible for much suffering and death amongst Native Americans during his Presidency.

If you’re most people, you’d go with #1.  But President Trump is not most people.  Any honoring that got done at the event was overshadowed by #s 2 and 3.

We can be generous and write off #3 – holding the event in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson, he of Trail of Tears fame and a true bigot when it came to native Americans – as cluelessness rather than malice.  The problem is, professional administrations have protocol offices to look out for these kinds of things.  Apparently, Mr. Trump doesn’t  feel the need to avail himself of a competent protocol officer..

That’s just stupid.  You end up with a gaffe that could have been easily avoided, but wasn’t – because you couldn’t be bothered to take basic steps to prevent it.

The pot-shots are another story entirely.  Referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (who claimed a bit of Cherokee in her ancestry) as Pocahontas (a Powhatan) while celebrating the Navajo Code Talkers of WWII was simply an exercise in pettiness.  Again, this is where a protocol officer could have helped – assuming they could have kept the President on-script (a questionable assumption at best).  The use of “Pocahontas” was intended as a derogatory term  – who in their right mind thinks that is appropriate when honoring Native Americans?  More importantly, the whole affair had the effect of taking the focus off of the veterans being honored, and turning it on to Mr. Trump.

Which is a waste, because those gentlemen deserve to be honored.

Get a good Protocol Officer, Mr. Trump – and let them do their job.  It’ll help turn down the stupid coming out of your White House.  A little.  I hope.

That’s not how being “Presidential” works.

 

In a rally in Arizona, President Trump criticized Arizona’s two (Republican) Senators obliquely but unmistakably.  Everyone – both those present and those following in the media – knew what and who he was talking about.  And then he said:

“But, you know, they all said, Mr. President, your speech was so good last night, please, please, Mr. President don’t mention any names. So I won’t. I won’t. No I won’t vote — one vote away, I will not mention any names. Very presidential, isn’t’ it? Very presidential.”

 

I’m sorry – but that’s not how being Presidential works.  If you have to say “look at me, I’m being Presidential”, it’s a safe bet that you’re not, any more than a toddler saying “I’m a BIG boy now” makes him one.

Being presidential means being the leader of the whole country, not just pandering to your base.  Being Presidential means taking the high road – the highest you can find – rather than wallowing in the muck with the bigots and haters.  Being presidential means holding the office of the President of the United States as an honor and a duty to serve, and not as a vehicle for self-aggrandizement.

Here’s what being Presidential might have sounded like:

Sen. McCain and I have our differences on health care.  But he took a principled stand to serve the American people as he thought best.  It was a courageous act on his part, and I respect him for that – and I look forward to working with him and all Congressmen and Senators – on both sides of the aisle – to provide America with the best health care system in the world.”

Of course, Mr. Trump said no such thing.  He seems to be incapable of saying any such thing.

 

Mr. Trump, you are many things.  But Presidential is not one of them.

Dear Alt-right: No, we’re not “anti-white”

To the white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other members of the so-called “alt-right”:

The fact that people oppose you does not make them “anti-white”. Believing that it does suggests a major misconception on your part – namely, that you represent what it means to be “white”.

That’s just stupid.

When you choose to march in the name of bigotry, in the name of intolerance, and in the name of hatred, you are going to be opposed. Not because you’re white – but because you’re a bigot, because you’re racist. and, frankly, because you’re a bunch of assholes. You invite opposition by your actions.

In a similar vein, people who reject your values and stand against you are not “haters”. You seem to have that covered yourself. The fact that we find you rude, crude, and socially unacceptable stems from the fact that, at the core, you are evil. Standing against bigotry in support of tolerance and brotherhood is not hating. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

Don’t misjudge your position. I am among millions of Americans who share the same skin color as you. And we reject you. We disown you. We can’t stop you from hating; we can’t stop you from holding the beliefs that you hold. But we can invite you to STFU and crawl back under the rock you’ve been hiding under these past decades.

You don’t speak for us.

Just what we need ….

“I’m a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth” – Ted Cruz, 20 Jan 2016

 

Ted Cruz

 

Responding to a critique by former Senator and Republican Presidential nominee Bob Dole (who thinks Ted Cruz would be a disaster as the 2016 Republican nominee), Sen. Cruz uttered the statement above.

Let’s think about that one, shall we?

I have absolutely no problem with Ted Cruz feeling this way.  One’s beliefs and personal convictions are one’s own, and it’s not for me or anyone else to malign him in any way for his priorities.

I do, however, believe that the “American second” bit disqualifies him from serving as President of the United States.  After all, the Oath of Office is most definitely NOT

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, except where it conflicts with my personal interpretation of the Bible (Southern Texas Evangelical Revised Version)”

If you’re not going to be “American first”, you have no business seeking the office of President.

But beyond that, I question the statement “American second“

Montoya

 

To be clear, I’m not raising the “birther” nonsense here.  No, what I mean is that the bigoted, exclusionary, fear-mongering positions Sen, Cruz espouses does not match what being “American” says to me.  And frankly, I don’t think I’d put “American” as number two on the Senator’s list.

If I were making the list, I’d say that Ted Cruz is a radical Conservative first, an extremist Christian second, a Republican third (because that’s the only home for the first two), and an American only insofar as “American” is defined in radicalized conservative christian terms.

Unfortunately (for Mr. Cruz), the President of the United States needs to be the President of all Americans, not just his fellow travelers.  That means non-Evangelical Christians, Unitarians, Muslims, Jews, the non-religious, straights, gays, conservatives, liberals, moderates, libertarians, women, men, and everyone else who holds American values dear.

And I’m sorry, Mr. Cruz – but if your opening position is “American second“, you just don’t cut it.

#stampoutstupid

 

Sweet Home Alabama

BREAKING –This is huge.Developing.

Posted by The New Civil Rights Movement on Wednesday, January 6, 2016

 

In what isn’t a state Supreme Court ruling, but rather an administrative order, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is looking to halt same-sex marriage in Alabama.  His reasoning?  He’s not sure that last summer’s United States Supreme Court ruling on the matter applies to the Great State of Alabama.

Seriously, Judge Moore?  Look, the North won, and Alabama is a part of the United States of America.  Which means that Federal law – and the rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court – do indeed apply to Alabama.  You don’t have to like the law, but you – especially you – need to uphold the law.  ALL of the law – for everyone.

Making your state’s  probate judges choose between your hissy fit and the law of the land does no one any good.  Gay marriage is here to stay – and most people are just fine with it,  And there’s a good reason for that –

Gay people getting married doesn’t affect straight people’s lives in the least!

So fighting this fight – which is already lost – does nothing positive.  It makes you look stupid – a fossil from another era.  It stresses out your judges state-wide, who have to worry about whether doing their jobs will get them fired.  And it makes your state look bad – there are already enough negative stereotypes about Alabama as it is.  You don’t need to re-enforce them.

My advice – take a deep breath, go bail your son out, channel your inner Disney princess, and “Let it Go”

 

 

Stupid of the Day 05 Jan 2016: Televangelists NEED Private Jets ….

BECAUSE DEMONS FLY COACH!

Demon-Fearing Televangelist Kenneth Copeland

 

From Bipartisan Report. Apparently, it’s too hard to walk up and down the aisle and chat with God on a commercial flight, as

  1. Other people on the plane look at you funny, and
  2. There are DEMONS on commercial flights.

Go on—read the article. We’ll wait …..

Beyond the sheer absurdity of the claim, I think these guys need a refresher on their bibles.  Like this verse:

And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:5–8)

Even more—the folks who send these guys money need to brush up on their bibles before opening their wallets any further.

And BTW, I fly coach. I’m easy to spot … I’m the demon in the window seat just behind the wing.

#stampoutstupid