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Donald Trump

Fox Triplets: Do You Want a “Socialist” America? Dump Trump Now!

June 25, 2020
by Peter Feinman
Red line is the poll results for Biden; the orange line his opponent

Fox triplets, do you want a “socialist” America? Then DUMP TRUMP NOW!

It’s time to live in the real world.

No more Tucker tirades about the unelected Fauci. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

No more Hannity hosannas about Texas and Florida. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

No more Laura LOL drug cures. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Do you have the mental necessities to read a graph? How come the number of cases in the European Union has dropped dramatically while America’s is rising? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Do you think after the struggle to control the coronavirus, the European Union will now accept the White House fantasies of 15 becoming zero, miracle cures, it’s behind us, and embers? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

If our leader rates a “10,” then what would you rate the leaders of  Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong, China and from other countries  that actually have contained the virus? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Do you think after the struggle to control the coronavirus, states like New York will now accept the White House fantasies of 15 becoming zero, miracle cures, it’s behind us, and embers? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

If our leader rates a “10,” then what would you rate the governors of the states that actually contained the virus? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Our President said the way to improve schools is to slow down testing: fewer tests mean fewer failures. Problem solved. How simple-minded to you have to be to believe this? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Oh, wait. He said to slow down the coronavirus tests, not school tests. Fewer tests mean fewer infections mean fewer deaths. How stupid are you? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

At Tulsa, here is what people who take this nonsense seriously had to say:

“This coronavirus is a little bit hyped. The media hypes things,” Anonymous.

If only FAKE NEWS knocked off their hyped reporting, there would be no talk of 120,000 dead and they would not be dead either…or the deaths aren’t really from the coronavirus anyway. Who knows how this unidentified electrician from Seattle is able to live in an alternate reality. The whole thing must be a hoax.

Other examples lends credence to the thinking it is a hoax.

“It’s all fake. They’re just making the numbers up. I haven’t seen anybody die, not from coronavirus. I don’t know anybody who’s got it,” said Mike Alcorn, Wichita, Kansas.

“I’ve been watching this closely over the last four months or so, and the numbers just don’t add up,” said Jeff Eskew, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

“[The virus] is a scare tactic more than anything. And I just don’t believe all those deaths are coronavirus,” said Donald Fanning, Wichita Kansas.

Do you see any global warming in your backyard? I don’t see any global warming in your backyard. It’s all fake, it’s all made up.

How can you even blame China for a hoax? How can China be at fault if it’s all fake? That’s like saying the Bolton book is a complete lie but the lies are classified so it shouldn’t be published.

Just because someone looks up to Putin doesn’t give him the right to play Russian roulette with the lives of the American people. Masks work. Is common sense illegal on Fox? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Just because someone admires Queen Elizabeth doesn’t give him a 007 license to kill Americans. Masks work. Is common sense illegal on Fox? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Just because someone’s uncle was a supergenius doesn’t mean he knows what scientists are talking about. Masks work, Is common sense illegal on Fox? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

LBJ knew when not to run for re-election.

Nixon knew when it was time to resign.

There are no Howard Bakers in the Senate

There are no adults in the White House.

It’s up to you Fox triplets to save America.

Do you want a Democratic White House, House, and Senate? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Do you want Biden to win by even a bigger Electoral College landslide than 306 votes? By a bigger landslide than the 332 of Obama? It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Why do you criticize what is going on the cities and then support the one person who will make matters worse?  It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Are you secretly working for Nancy Pelosi?

Are you trying to destroy the Republican Party?

Are you a minion of George Soros?

THEN DUMP TRUMP NOW!

The eyes of the world are upon us and what the world sees is a failed country with a laughingstock for a leader who is way out of his league. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Fox triplets: Rise to the occasion. Be a profile in courage. Save the country. It’s time to live in the real world. DUMP TRUMP NOW!

I am not so naïve as to think the Fox triplets will ever read or even know of this blog yet alone act on it. But it felt really good writing it.

DUMP TRUMP NOW!

Wishful Thinking and the Tulsa Truth

June 22, 2020
by Peter Feinman
A Blue Wave Coming (Matt Barnard/Tulsa World via AP)

We all engage in wishful thinking. It is one way to remain optimistic, to keep up one’s spirits, to have hope. It is also the proverbial Wiley Coyote running off the cliff – it works until you look down. Then SPLAT!

25th Amendment

Mike Pence has been a source of wishful thinking. When this administration began there were a series of blogs in History News Network (HNN) about him. They had to do with his activation of the 25th Amendment to end the current administration almost immediately. In a series of posts to  HNN, this contributor carefully explained how the 25th Amendment worked. But the analysis did not stop there. It was followed by a meticulously detailed description of every individual who would be involved in the implementation of the 25th Amendment to discharge the President and have the Vice President becoming the Acting President. The analysis demonstrated that the votes were there to make it happen. The writer confidently predicted that it would happen. If the current administration wouldn’t be the shortest on record it would be close to it. Obviously the 25th Amendment maneuver didn’t work or even happen unlike the Impeachment ploy. It should be noted that this writer also had confidently predicted that the 2016 elections would result in a Democratic victory with over 330 Electoral College votes and possibly over 350. All of this was pure wishful thinking. It gave the appearance of sound research while being based on absolutely nothing substantive. As you might expect, I don’t read this blogger anymore. The again that writer has refrained from making predictions and sticks to anodyne summaries of the past.

Michael D’Antonio

Recently Michael D’Antonio decided to engage in some wishful thinking. His article “Time for Pence to jump ship?” was posted on not HNN but CNN (June 11, 2020). D’Antonio wrote:

With a schism forming [in the Republican Party], the time is ripe for a high-level official to make the dramatic break that would signal that someone is ready to stand as the leader of the post-Trump Republican Party. I would nominate for this job, Vice President Mike Pence. Unprecedented? Pretty much. But the Trump era is unprecedented too, and Pence signaled, when he agreed that he would be Trump’s running mate, that he’s willing to do the unexpected.

Here we can observe three examples of wishful thinking:

1. That there still is a Republican Party – the Republican Party no longer exists except in name. Actual Republicans like Romney in the Senate and some governors are few and far between.

2. That there will be a post-Trump Party after 2020 – unless his health really takes a turn for the worse he will not leave the stage especially after defeat. And if Eugene Debs ran for President from jail, so can a convicted person today.

3. That Vice President Brown Nose is willing to do the unexpected.

D’Antonio compounds his wishful thinking with the following:

Pence should weigh the merits of declaring he won’t be vice president for a possible second term….Behind that mild-mannered persona lurks a savvy and opportunistic politician…. Conditions are perfect, in other words, for Mike Pence to observe that either he needs to spend more time with his family or believes the President would benefit from the excitement that would come were he to run with a fresh face — perhaps former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — beside him. Pence could resign, saying Trump is just too loyal to fire him, and graciously make a path for himself to become the new leader of the GOP come the defeat of the Trump-Haley ticket in November.

It’s hard not to laugh when reading this. After all, D’Antonio is the author of Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success and co-author with Peter Eisner of The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence. He is a serious, reputable person. His opinions are sought on talk shows. Technically, he has made a case on paper of the merits of Vice President Brown Nose taking a bold dramatic action that would thrust him into a leadership position post-2020 elections. But in fact, what D’Antonio wrote is pure unadulterated wishful thinking.

The proof was shown a few days later on June 15, 2020. The headline for The New York Times tells the tale:

As Cases Rise, Pence Promotes a Misleading Claim About Testing.

The article recounts how Pence “encouraged governors on Monday to adopt the administration’s claim that increased testing helps account for the new coronavirus outbreak reports, even though evidence has shown that the explanation is misleading.”  Not surprisingly, the false claim was the same on previously made by the President and which would be repeated in Tulsa. Stop the testing means stopping the number of cases of new infections means the deaths decrease.

There is no sign of bold dramatic action. There are two ways the D’Antonio scenario could work. One is if he became convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was no way the ticket was going to win, he could abandon ship for his own survival. Second, if he got wind that he was going to be dumped for Haley, he might bow out first. But either way, he still would be Vice President until January and still perform as a Brown Nose. The result will be he sold his soul for nothing.

Trumpicans and the Coronavirus

Tulsa exposed the wishful thinking of Trumpicans. Consider these examples:

1. “This coronavirus is a little bit hyped. The media hypes things,” Anonymous.

If only FAKE NEWS knocked off their hyped reporting, there would be no talk of 120,000 dead and they would not be dead either…or the deaths aren’t really from the coronavirus anyway. Who knows how this unidentified electrician from Seattle is able to live in an alternate reality. The whole thing must be a hoax.

This second example lends credence to Trumpicans thinking it is a hoax.

2. “It’s all fake. They’re just making the numbers up. I haven’t seen anybody die, not from coronavirus. I don’t know anybody who’s got it,” said Mike Alcorn, Wichita, Kansas.

3. “I’ve been watching this closely over the last four months or so, and the numbers just don’t add up,” said Jeff Eskew, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

4. “[The virus] is a scare tactic more than anything. And I just don’t believe all those deaths are coronavirus,” said Donald Fanning, Wichita Kansas.

Do you see any global warming in your backyard? I don’t see any global warming in your backyard. It’s all fake, it’s all made up.

How can you even blame China for a hoax? How can China be at fault if it’s all fake? That’s like saying the Bolton book is a complete lie but the lies are classified so it shouldn’t be published.

Remember, Trumpicans like mainland Chinese only get their news from the government propaganda machine. What are the odds on Fox showing how much better Europe has done then the United States in reducing the number of coronavirus deaths? What are the odds of Fox showing how much better countries from around the world have done in stopping the coronavirus? What are the odds on Fox showing the rise in coronavirus deaths in Trumpican states because it is not a New York problem anymore?  The Trumpican wishful thinking on the coronavirus will continue until Trumpicans start dying in droves and they all do know someone who died from it. I suspect, that little by little more and more Trumpicans will learn to live in the real world because it will become more and more difficult to live a lie.

THE TULSA TURNING POINT

I am going to go out on a limb with my wishful thinking. Tulsa was nothing like it was hyped to be or I expected it to be based on the hype. Tulsa may signal the turning point. For weeks now, Little Donnee Wanney has been the equivalent of a caged animal who hasn’t been feed. He was starved for the energy of a raucous crowd that would ignite his election campaign and power him to victory in November. Without the energy of Trumpicans he is just a tired irritable old man who has trouble walking down a ramp or raising a glass of water with one hand. With their energy he becomes the Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name. There is no Plan B. He has no vision except that he be the center of attention and be re-elected so he can stay out of jail. If the defining characteristic of his campaign in 2016 is removed from him, he has nothing left but hissy fit tweets from his White House bunker. A crowd of over 6000 when 19,000 indoor and 40,000 outdoor were expected doesn’t cut it. Where were all the people! Have they seen the light?

Tulsa is more than just a campaign event. True he can use it to take credit for making the country aware of a holiday that has been celebrated for 155 years. That is no small achievement. But Tulsa may be more remembered as a Toto moment. The curtain has been pulled backed. He looks not just like a loser to Biden but weak and wrong on everything: coronavirus, the economy, China, race, the courts, his niece, and his finances. Right now it seems as if the refs will have to throw a red flag for piling on just to save him. The military is not going to support him if he loses the election and claims “foul.” Even Barr seems to have his limits. President One-Term won’t want to leave the White House, but who will be left to help him remain there? All the adults are gone, the only ones left are loyalists and the son in-law. It will be easier to get him to leave the White House following an election defeat than I previously had thought. Perhaps Brian Williams is right to have started a countdown.

Play Ball: The Tulsa Template for Professional Sports

June 19, 2020
by Peter Feinman
Tulsa Shows the Way (https://www.etsy.com)

The Tulsa template for professional political wrestling provides the way for professional sports to return to action. Since March, professional sports have ceased. Sports headed towards season-ending championships including at the college level came to an abrupt halt. Sports warming up for the coming season never got started. Tournaments were rescheduled or vanished for the 2020 year. The U.S. Open (tennis) aims for a regularly scheduled tournament this summer with no fans. It seems it also won’t have some of the top male players either and who knows if players will be willing to travel to New York. The U.S. Open (golf) coincidentally is scheduled this summer for New York as well. It plans to play but with no word on whether or not spectators will be allowed and if so, how many. Meanwhile, everyone holds their breath for Friday Night Lights high school football, Saturday college football, and Sunday-Monday-Thursday professional football.

The Tulsa template this June 20 shows how games can be played with full attendance. The model is for an indoor arena so surely it will work outdoors as well. The model is for 20,000 people so it certainly will work for smaller crowds and should work for larger crowds outdoors in larger arenas. Real men don’t wear masks and real Americans don’t get COVID-19 so since sports fans are real men and real Americans there is no risk there. Besides as everyone knows the coronavirus is yesterday’s news. It’s over…but just in case, make sure that all attendees sign an insurance waiver so we don’t go bankrupt!

Here is a model that all professional sports can follow. Once again, the very stable genius has solved a problem the so-called experts have failed to solve. Remember how he solved the problem of forest fires in California: MAKE AMERICA RAKE AGAIN. Remember how his uncle was a supergenius. Remember how Little Donnee Disinfectant visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and said:

I really get it. Maybe I have a natural ability.

Seriously, wouldn’t the world be a better place if he had become a scientist. Think of all the discoveries he would have made.

Tulsa is just the start of the summer and fall political campaign. It shows that a full season of sports events can be scheduled as well. Of course, matches only can be held in Trumpican states. The New York Yankees will be unable to play in New York as long as the Democratic New York State Governor follows the advice of real scientists. The Yankees will have to play their games in a Confederate State. Similarly, the New England Patriots will have to follow their former quarterback south if it wants to play. The Republican Massachusetts Governor is not a Trumpican.  At this point, no one knows if professional sports will follow the example of the professional political wrestling and conduct their seasons in the South. But they will know that they can and the fans will demand it.

So as things stand, America can look forwarded to a summer of rounding up Trumpicans and herding them into arenas. While there, they will breathe on each other for hours, inhale each other’s droplets, and prove that the so-called scientists don’t know what they are talking about. Anthony Fauci has complained of an anti-science bias in America (see Darwin and COVID-19: Science in America). Now there will be an opportunity for Trumpicans to expose the fallacies of Fauci and the medical advice on the coronavirus. Once that happens, it will be PLAY BALL for college and professional sports.

The Trumpican rallies can be seen as a counter to the post-George-Floyd protests that have rocked the land. And these rallies probably will be without the physical violence that has occurred elsewhere….unless you are a black female reporter with a mask! One should anticipate a rip roaring fusillade of insults to come gushing forth. Look how long it has been since he has been able to deliver a full-throated performance.

Regardless of your personal views, we are witnessing an historic event. If the accounts of 800,000 people wanting tickets to attend are accurate, that is an extraordinary event in American history. It is reminiscent of the attendance in the Great Awakening with George Whitefield. This is not a Frank Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles, or Woodstock event. Trumpicans are not attending for mere entertainment. They are attending for hope and salvation.

Hundreds of thousands of people are eager to see their Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name. They are more than willing to sign insurance waivers because of their complete faith that the coronavirus is gone and couldn’t affect them anyway. They are here because they support the last line of defense against chaos. Only one person stands between the America they love and the total breakdown of society. They can see the foreigners all around them eager for the chance to take over the country after the rigged November elections. They know how perilous the situation is.

We can anticipate from now to November, the arenas of the country will rock to “Four More Years (at least!), Make American Great Again Again, Save the country, Lock her up, Build a wall, Deep State. Maybe some new material will be tested to see what works. The drumbeat over rigged elections will start now. It will be repeated incessantly. By the time of the actual election, Trumpicans will know the one and only way their Savior can lose is if the game is rigged.

For Little Donnee Wannee, these professional political wrestling matches are a matter of life and death. His life and his death. He has been cooped up in the White House for far too long. He needs the energy of the crowd roaring as he does the penguin walk, mocks Biden, and distributes free bottles of disinfectant to anyone who wants it. He needs their energy to sustain him against the Socialist Democrats, to sustain him against John Bolton, to sustain him against his niece.

The stakes are quite high.

P.S. We need to clarify the issue of Juneteenth and the Tulsa riots. When I first heard about the June 19 scheduling, I never considered that it was a racist act. I know anti-Trumpers were quick to jump to the conclusion that the racist bigoted president had just committed a doubly offensive act. My reaction was quite different. It never occurred to me that anyone in the White House [except a black Secret Service agent] even knew about Juneteenth or Tulsa. We are dealing with a person who blames the Baltic states for the breakup of Yugoslavia, who thinks the Canadians burned down the White House in the War of 1812, who thinks 306 Electoral College votes is a landslide. If your first reaction is that his decision was a racist action and not the action of a genuinely ignorant person then you are no better than someone who didn’t know Britain was nuclear armed and that Finland was an independent country. Just because he is a racist does not mean all his actions are racist. Sometimes they are just those of an ignorant person. Tulsa on the 19th was one such example. To those who criticized the racist action, the proper response is FAKE NEWS!

8:46 AM 9/11 to 8 minutes 46 seconds, 2020: What Happened?

June 11, 2020
by Peter Feinman
From 9/11 to May 25, 2020 (https://knowyourmeme.com/)

The numbers 8:46 may become bookend numbers for a transitional period in American history. The first is the time when a jet plane commandeered by Islamic terrorists crashed into one of the World Trade Towers in Manhattan. The second is the amount of time a Minneapolis cop knelt on the neck and back of black man who then died. Each event set off chain reactions. The worlds of these two incidents of death are very different.

9/11 8:46

The attack on the World Trade Center lead to responses which are not possible today. In France the headline of the newspaper Le Monde was “Nous sommes tous américains — We Are All Americans.” Parisians gathered at Notre Dame to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” [how did they know the words?]. The French built 82-foot-tall scaffolding replicas of the now collapsed buildings. The sign on the buildings read: “Les Français N’oublieront Jaimais. The French Will Never Forget.”

Nineteen years later the French may still remember but it is a different United States they see today. The eyes of the world are still upon us but what do they see now.

1. They see a simple-minded immature child president who is a buffoon and laughing stock.

2. They see a country that has abandoned of its own free will its position of leadership in the world.

3. They see a country which failed to manage the coronavirus in a spectacular display of ineptitude, declare victory, and move on content to have 800-1,000 deaths a day forever.

4. They see a country divided by racism preparing to refight the Second American Civil War.

At times like this they must wonder what happened to America or have their eyes been opened to longstanding but buried truths?

At home, the situation has changed as well. After 9/11, the members of Congress, meaning of both parties, stood together on the steps of the Capitol to sing God Bless America. That could not happen today.

The coronavirus clearly shows that even when faced with a deadly attack that far exceeds the death totals from 9/11, Vietnam, and Korea combined, that We the People that cannot come together. We can’t because we aren’t really one people, we are two houses.

By now it is well-known to Trumpicans that CORVID-19 is a New York medical emergency and not an American one. Real Americans don’t wear masks because real Americans aren’t infected. CORVID-19 is a disease of New Yorkers, nursing homes, prisons, and meatpacking plants operated by both legal and illegal immigrants. Why should real Americans care?

This division between the not-a-house divided but two houses played out in the relief packages to help people, businesses, and states get through the crisis.

Donald J. Trump 10:41 AM – Apr 27, 2020

Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?

These thoughts were echoed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Senate Trumpicans who see no need to assist Democratic states like New York during this national crisis that isn’t really a national crisis. Overlooked in the debate is that New York paid $26.6 billion more in taxes in 2018 than it received back, a testament to the weakness of the New York State federal delegation compared to the Confederate federal delegations. What happens if New York State tires of subsidizing the Confederate states and decides it needs the money itself?

8 MINUTES 46 SECONDS

The death via kneeling has had a profound effect on American politics and society. We are just starting to see the impact in the polls. It still is too early to know how it will play out.

One regrettable type of response has been how to exploit the death to your own advantage.

One way has been for mostly young black males to exploit the absence of police to smash windows and loot expensive stores. Obviously these instances are the favorite of Fox.

A second way has been for the alpha-male wannabe commander in chief to demonstrate that he is a real man. He has done so with his comic-book-tough talk to governors on phone calls. He has done so by pretending he was inspecting the White House bunker. He has done so by dominating Lafayette Park in one of the greatest displays of false bravado in American history. He has done so by using his generals as props. In so doing he has learned that he can’t count on them to do his bidding for photo-ops against the American people exercising their constitutional rights. He has even learned that Bill Barr of all people has his limits in his loyalty. Despite all this, he will continue to act tough and talk up his great victories before loyal Trumpicans at his professional political wrestling arena events beginning June 19 in Tulsa.

A third way has been to ramp up efforts to purify America. Monuments will be toppled. Once the forces of purification have been unleashed, it is impossible to tell where it will end. This Columbus Day during the election countdown is sure to provide multiple battlefronts as America’s Third Civil War heats up.

A different and optimistic way also is possible. The murder of George Floyd can be a catalyst for an intense, often painful, and hopefully honest discussion about the place of Middle Passage blacks and Confederates in the United States. Remember “malice towards none.” There are too many people involved to wish away the current situation or to solve it unilaterally. A national discussion where one side simply condemns the other as inferior, terrorist thugs, or people who need to repent their sins will be destructive. Much of the discussion will be at the grassroots level which is good since it will be harder for the conversation to be hijacked. But ultimately not everything can be solved at the local level. No matter what people work out involving the local police that will still leave the damage caused by interstate highways that ripped neighborhoods to shreds.  Given the failure to develop a national solution to the coronavirus, it is impossible to imagine how we can develop national solutions to the problem of race in America with the current political environment in Washington. Someone is going to have win America’s Third Civil War and I hope it is We the People.

AMERICA’S THIRD CIVIL WAR

As stated in previous blogs, my expectation was that America’s Third Civil War would heat up after the presidential election. It appears that more people now recognize the possibility of the culture war becoming a civil war.

Thomas Friedman (May 13, 2020, NYT, print): Having a pandemic is really bad. Having a pandemic and a civil war together is really, really, bad. Welcome to Donald Trump’s America 2020 [written before the murder of George Floyd]

Paul Krugman (June 2, 2020, NYT, print): And Donald Trump, far from trying to calm the nation, is pouring gasoline on the fire; he seems very close to trying to incite a civil war.

Thomas Friedman (June 3, 2020, NYT, print): I am not at all certain that we will be able to conduct a free and fair election in November or have a peaceful transition of presidential power in January. We are edging toward a cultural civil war, only this time we are not lucky: Abraham Lincoln is not the president.

The Confederacy is back in the news big time. We see it in the conflict over the military bases with Confederate names. We see it in the conflict over Confederate statues. It’s as if the America’s Second Civil War never ended. Probably that is because it hasn’t.

No matter the election results, a battle will ensue. It is already underway.

Monsters from the Id: Does Trump Know a Krell Society Is Suicidal?

June 10, 2020
by Peter Feinman
The Monster from the Id Has Learned to Tweet ( https://www.imdb.com)

Spoiler Alert: “Monsters from the id” is a key phrase in the sci-fy classic Forbidden Planet. The story takes place in the 22nd century. It involves a rescue effort of a previous ship and colony. The would-be rescuers learn that the people from the first ship had died a hideous death. They were ripped apart by some apparently monstrous and invisible force. Only one couple survived.

The planet had been inhabited by the now vanished Krell people. It turns out that these superior beings had transformed themselves from physical beings into ones tapped into the energy of the planet. One unexpected problem occurred. The transformation brought their ids with them. Given the virtually unlimited energy now at the disposal of the Krell, it was only a matter of a very brief time before the monsters from the id led to destruction of all of them until none were left. When one of the humans gained access to the surviving Krell technology, it was the monster from his id that destroyed the other members of his crew and started to destroy the crew of the rescue ship.

We do not have a device that can transform physical beings into energy but we do have the technology to unleash the monsters from the id on the world. The technology that enables the destructive power of the id to wreak havoc is Twitter. Through it the impulsive thoughts of a person may become a veritable smoke monster from Lost as its viciousness is released into the national discourse.

This ability to instantaneously transform thought into verbal energy via Twitter is easily abused. It is a technology that should only be used by adults and which can be quite dangerous in the hands of an immature child. Back on August 2018, I explored the intertwining of Twitter and adolescence (Omarosa and the President: A Case of Arrested Development – Suppose Life Is Not a Journey?) I quoted Jennifer Senior’s op ed on the topic (“The High School We Can’t Log Off From” NYT, 8/5/18 print). She wrote:

Twitter is a dark reservoir of hatred, home to the diseased national id. It turns us into our worst selves — dehumanizing us, deranging us, keying us up, beating us down, turning us into shrieking outrage monkeys hellbent on the innocents of Oz. It uncomplicates complicated discussion; stealth-curates our news; hijacks our dopamine systems, carrying us off on a devil’s quest for ever more dime bags of retweets and likes.

Most Twitter users know that the medium has an unfortunate tendency to transform adults into anxious adolescents. But perhaps it’s time to start thinking about this problem clinically. The fact is, Twitter is changing us — regressing us — in ways developmental psychologists would find weirdly recognizable.

Should we be surprised that a man who’s so frequently compared to a needy adolescent has chosen Twitter as his favorite medium?

For the 7th-grade smart-aleck dumb-aleck, Twitter is the perfect invention.

To substantiate her perceptions Senior draws on an internet expert.

Clay Shirky, one of the shrewdest internet theorists around, has noted that the faster the medium is, the more emotional it gets. Twitter, as we know, is pretty fast, and therefore runs pretty hot. (Emotional tweets, research has shown, travel more swiftly than anodyne ones.) We often become creatures of our limbic systems when we tweet. Our self-regulation deserts us (been there); our prefrontal cortex, responsible for executive function and impulse control, goes offline; we become reward-seeking Scud missiles, addicts in search of a fix.

She still is focusing on the mature adult. Her analysis is based on adult having a developed prefrontal cortex going offline. She has overlooked the situation of an immature child in an adult body who does not have a developed prefrontal cortex such as our Little Donnee Waney.

MONSTERS FROM HIS ID

Regrettably we just experienced an instance of Twitter at its worst. Lately our immature child president with no self-control or superego has been giving full vent to the monsters from his id. First there were his series of tweets accusing Joe Scarborough of murder. Now he is piling it on a critically hurt 75-year old who had the misfortune to be knocked to the ground while peacefully protesting. By the time Little Donnee Waney and his Fox (and OANN) Flying Monkeys are done, this person will have become the second Seth Rich, a key operative in a terrorist conspiracy to take down the duly elected President of the United States who is America’s greatest President and who has done more for black people than any president save maybe Lincoln.

In my previous blog [Mitch McConnell: Howard Baker (Time to Go) vs Stay the Course (Go Down with the Ship)], I posited that Mitch McConnell was going to have a decision to make about the 2020 elections. At some point he was going to have to decide what his assessment was of the prospects of Trumpicans maintaining their Senate majority and what could be done if those prospects were negative. I suggested the situation was not immediately urgent, it was fluid, and you never know what might happen next.

Little did I know how right I was. A day later, the embattled simple-minded President succumbed as he always does to the monsters from his id. Like the little child scared of every noise or bump in the night, Little Donnee Waney saw an evil terrorist conspiracy where none existed (just as he had done with supposed fraud in voting by mail). He immediately unleashed the monsters from his id on the world.

“Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?”

Now all Trumpican candidates and Mitch McConnell have a totally unexpected decision to make.

IF THEY RUN, THEY CAN’T HIDE

Things were bad enough already for Trumpicans seeking to maintain their majority in the Senate. Even prior to June 8, Trumpicans knew that the majority was at stake. As if the real issues ⸺ coronavirus, recession and unemployment, China ⸺ partially due to the President’s ineptitude and mismanagement weren’t enough, he has gone out of his way to complicate the election for them. First, there was his domination of Lafayette Square in the greatest military victory by and American President ever (The Battle of Lafayette Square: The Greatest Victory in American History).  Second, there was his monsters-of-the-id tweet about someone even older than him being a key operative of a terrorist conspiracy. Third both he and the Trumpicans are learning that it’s not Law and Order as usual.  It seems as if every Trumpican senate candidate should have a giant bottle of hydroxychloroquine, disinfectant, and antacid on their night stands.

If McConnell didn’t have a headache before, he should have one now. In the previous blog, I discussed Ron Johnson and how the Wisconsin Senator might want to reassess his Trumpican loyalty come January, 2021 when his re-election campaign starts. Consider how this loyalist tied himself up in a knot in response to this latest expression of the monsters of Little Donnee Waney’s id:  he hadn’t seen the tweet, but he also didn’t want it read to him. “I would rather not hear it,” he said as he ducked into an elevator.

Some Senators don’t have the option of ducking the issue for long. For loyalist Steve Daines of Montana, his re-election campaign just became more difficult. “The violence we are seeing across the nation is heartbreaking. We all need to pull together — both for civility and peaceful dialogue.” What are he and the other Trumpican candidates going to say when asked during the campaign:

When the President said the number of coronavirus cases would drop from 15 to zero, did you believe him?

When the President recommended trying disinfectant as a cure, did you agree with him?

When the President suggested Scarborough was guilty of murder, did you agree with him?

When the President said he went down to the bunker to inspect it and not for safety as Bill Barr said, which one do you believe?

When the President said Gugino was a terrorist agent, did you believe him?

So why don’t Trumpicans tell the truth? Do they still live in fear of the monsters from his id and the base that he can release? What is he going to do? Tell people not to vote for the disloyal incumbents and candidates? They should stay home instead? They should just vote for the President and leave the remaining ballot lines blank? They should let the Democratic candidates win?

As I said, Mitch McConnell has a decision to make. He does not have the luxury of coping by being in denial in response to polls that the presidential campaign does. At any moment another monster from his id may be released on the world to make matters even worse. And by the time McConnell decides he needs to do something about it, it will be too late. In the movie Forbidden Planet, the heroic captain acted in time, got the girl, and they rode off into galactic space together. Unfortunately for McConnell, this is the real world. The immature child president playing imaginary games can unleash the monsters from his id at any moment. He will continue to do so until the Red Wave does to the Senate in 2020 what it did to the House in 2018.

 

Todd Alcott (https://davallone.tumblr.com/post/125863268306/monsters-from-the-id)

Mitch McConnell: Howard Baker (Time to Go) vs Stay the Course (Go Down with the Ship)

June 8, 2020
by Peter Feinman
Will the Red Wave Be as Successful in 2020 as it was in 2018? (amazon.com)

Mitch McConnell has a decision to make…if he hasn’t made it already. McConnell is an adult. He lives in the real world. The Senate Majority leader has a transactional relationship with the President of the United. McConnell’s decision will be based on his analysis of the political situation and the November elections. Whether or not his assessment turns out to be accurate is not the subject of this post. Instead it is to examine the parameters of that decision-making.

McConnell’s political agenda is a fairly simple one.

1. Help rich people get richer
2. Appoint conservatives to judge positions
3. Don’t help, you know….those people.

His assessment of the election results will be based on how those results affect his ability to achieve his agenda.

HELP RICH PEOPLE GET RICHER

To fulfill this objective requires the support of the House, the Senate, and the White House. Following the 2016 elections, McConnell had this trifecta. As a result he was able to pass a tax cut for the wealthy. This goal already was part of the agenda for the former party of Lincoln even prior to the election.

McConnell recognizes that those days are over. That political confluence is not likely to return. If anything the 2020 census will probably make it even more difficult to attain the political trifecta. At present if he wants to help rich people get richer, he has to do so through economic recovery acts. Otherwise, there would seem to be little he can do anymore to help rich people get richer in this Congressional term or the next.

APPOINT CONSERVATIVES TO JUDGE POSITIONS 

To fulfill this objective requires the support of the Senate and the White House. During the past three years he has had exceptional results in appointing conservatives to judicial positions. McConnell recognizes that the window of opportunity may be closing here due to the loss of the Senate, the White House, or both. As a result he has been seeking the retirements of older judges so he can replace them with young conservatives. So far that initiative has not been successful. Still, one can anticipate that he continue to appoint these judges right up to the very last  moment on December 31 if he can depending on the election results.

If there is no change in the Senate and the White House, then the urgency is off and McConnell can wait to the new session.

If there is a change in only the White House, then the urgency remains and he will seek to use every moment he has left. In the next session, he will oppose the nominations of new Democratic President. He will stymie the recommendations of the former Democratic Vice President just as he had done to the former Democratic President.

If there is a change only in the Senate, then time is urgent.

If there is a change in both the Senate and the White House, then time is urgent.

So at this point, it is in McConnell’s interests to appoint as many conservatives to judge positions as he can.

DON’T HELP, YOU KNOW….THOSE PEOPLE

McConnell has had two opportunities this year to help people he does not want to help. The economic freefall as the result of the coronavirus forced his hand to provide temporary relief including to the people who were hardest hit by the virus. Now that the medical crisis officially is over and the economy officially is back from the recession, McConnell has put the brakes on any additional help. Why should expensive Democratic states that subsidize the Confederate states with their taxes get any assistance to perpetuate their wasteful ways helping the wrong kind of people?

McConnell supported the efforts of the commander in-chief to use military force to liberate Lafayette Park from the heavily-armed terrorists who had surrounded the White House.  The death of George Floyd has witnessed four previous presidents preaching unity. What an excellent opportunity for McConnell beyond boilerplate to spurn any sign of compassion or desire for unity in the country when it includes the wrong people.

McConnell needs to maintain control of the Senate so in case Biden becomes President the world isn’t turned topsy turvy and the rich are called upon to help those who aren’t rich.

SENATE ELECTION PROGNOSTICATIONS

What is McConnell’s assessment of the Senate election results?

At present the Senate configuration is as follows:

51 Trumpicans
45 Democrats
2  Independents who caucus with the Democrats
2  Republicans who caucus with the Trumpicans

Previously, I had raised the question of how Mitt Romney would caucus in the next session (Where Will Mitt Romney Caucus in 2021?). Depending on the Presidential and Senate election results, his vote could be the determining one in who controls the Senate. Now there appear to be two Republicans with Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski joining Romney. Together this amplifies the power of the Republicans in determining the control of the Senate in the next session.

Consider this quite possible scenario: the Democrats lose one seat in Alabama and pick up three in Arizona, Colorado, and Maine. Under these results the Senate configuration will be:

49 Trumpicans
47 Democrats
2   Independents who caucus with the Democrats
2   Republicans.

How will the two Republicans caucus if they have the power to decide who controls the Senate? In the interim, the Trumpicans will continually demonize Murkowski as a traitor, will not support her if she chooses to run for re-election, and will not welcome her in the Trumpican party.  In other words, the Trumpicans will do everything they can to encourage her to caucus with the Democrats in 2021 where that one vote might mean the difference. The other Republican Senator already voted to remove the President from office and is on the trump list. If the Democrats prevail in the Presidential election, it is easy to imagine the two Republicans caucusing with the Democrats.

This analysis excludes the other potential seats which also may be won by Democrats. Since all the candidates haven’t even been selected yet, it is too early to be realistic about the final results in the Senate. In addition, who knows what other events will occur between now and November (or October with early voting). It’s not so long ago that the coronavirus dominated the news. Now that the President of the United States has dominated Lafayette Square as he deployed his forces to take back the country, the results of his great victory have yet to be factored into the polls. What will the reaction be when coronavirus deaths in the United States hit 200,000? What will happen in the international arena? What will the response be to the October indictments of the Deep State including Obama and Biden as co-conspirators? So it easy to understand why predictions for the Senate remain fluid.

One should also keep in mind, that depending on the election results, Trumpican Senators up for re-election in 2022 may experience an agonizing reappraisal. If the vaunted red wave predicted by the Trumpican in chief dooms Trumpican control of the Senate as it did the House in 2018, then Trumpican Senators may want to reevaluate their position.

Consider Wisconsin as an example. In 2016, Wisconsin was not Trumpican during the primary. It barely was so in the Presidential election.  In fact, the then Republican Senator won by a larger margin. Since then the Senator has converted to the Trumpican cause and is gung ho on indicting Deep State Democrats. However, also since his election, Democrats have won statewide elections for governor and a state judge. Democrats also have gained popular vote victories for Congressional and state legislative seats but due to gerrymandering have been unable to turn those state majorities into victories. That may change after the 2020 census. Regardless, in statewide Senate election in 2022, Johnson will be running as a Trumpican. Or will he like other Trumpican Senators running in 2022 see the light and have a change of heart? Will it be too late?

Everything above is based on possible scenarios. The situation is very fluid. Maybe we will try again to buy Greenland? Maybe a hurricane really will hit Alabama? Maybe North Korea will launch a missile or detonate a bomb or both? So as McConnell assesses the situation for the Senate, there are a lot of variables to consider. As we get closer and closer to actual voting, many of the variables will stabilize. Then it will be possible to get a better fix on the results. Then it may be too late to do anything about the prospective results if they are adverse to McConnell who himself is a candidate. In the meantime, McConnell will do everything he can to appoint conservatives as judges and not to help you know…those people despite everything which has occurred.

Mount Rushmore Opportunity for a Little Little Boy: Does He Know It?

June 5, 2020
by Peter Feinman
The Macho Macho Boy Twins (Photo: AP)

In American history, there have been three existential moments when the fate of the United States was at risk: creation, secession, and depression.

CREATION

At the birth of the country, there was no guarantee that it would be successful. There was no guarantee that the fledgling states would successfully constitute themselves. One person made a difference and earned the reputation as the indispensable person. We will never know if without George Washington, the United States would have been created or not. What we do know, it is not simply by chance that he was in that position. People picked America’s first action hero to command the American forces and people wrote the Constitution with the expectation that he would be President. He fulfilled expectations.

SECESSION

At the secession, one may reasonably posit that the election of Abraham Lincoln triggered the event. But the idea that America was a house divided already was known. If it hadn’t been Lincoln’s election that immediately led to the Second Civil War, it would have been something else. It is easy to imagine that America’s Second Civil War could have ended with two separate countries as we are today except not legally. No one anticipated that Lincoln would become America’s greatest president outside the Confederacy. He exceeded expectations.

DEPRESSION

At the depression, one may reasonably posit that the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a direct result of the failure under Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt was elected to save America. No one knew that there would be a second and unrelated threat looming just years away –World War II. Similarly, Roosevelt’s success in the 1930s during the depression did not necessarily mean he was right person to be the wartime leader. Roosevelt first fulfilled and then exceeded expectations when the second threat arose.

Today, if one would to identify the three greatest American presidents, outside the current White House and the Confederate states, the answers would be Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. Historians can play the “what if” counterfactual one on do times make the person or does the person make the times. The other Roosevelt is likely to be a favored choice for Presidents who could have risen to the occasion to save the country had the opportunity existed. It is a lot easier to select Presidents who would have failed miserably had they been President during these crises or whose shortcomings precipitated the crisis in the first place.

MOUNT RUSHMORE OPPORTUNITY

At this moment in time, America experiences multiple threats. The times cry out for a Mount Rushmore President to lead us from the calamities facing us. It seems as if fate is piling it on, confronting America with one challenge after another. We are facing:

1. the attempt by the Middle Kingdom to wrest world leadership from us

2. America’s Third Civil War

3. the global coronavirus crises

4. the global economic recession if not depression

and, of course, below-the-radar, climate change which hasn’t disappeared from the real world even as it recedes from the news media due to all the other events.

To some extent, during the 2016 election We the People given our Electoral College system picked a President to deal precisely with most of these issues.

With climate change, the choice was simple. The candidate who denied that climate change existed and who claimed it was a Chinese hoax won. As one might expect, the anti-science values of his supporters carried over into other science-related issues. He has meet expectations.

With China, the choice also was simple. The winning candidate was one who had no interest in America’s role in human history or position in the world. Everything was transactional. Everything was a zero-sum game. There were no allies, only transactional relationships. We pulled out of the anti-China alliance the previous President had put together. The new President did so because he vowed to undo whatever Obama had done. The new President did try to apply his transactional zero-sum values to trade the Middle Kingdom but so far without much to show for it. Now he is trying to blame China for the coronavirus crisis and turn China into Mexicans and Salvadorans. That will work with Trumpicans again in the election but has little substance in the global arena. He has not met expectations but is still trying; plus the game has changed due to the new circumstances.

With America’s Third Civil War, the choice also was simple. The winning candidate made no attempt to be President of We the People. He made no attempt to be an e pluribus unum President. He saw that America was not a house divided but two houses. He did not divide America, he exploited the divisions which existed. The longtime pretend Democrat and Clinton supporter realized he had no future there just as he had none with the New York elitists whose approval he craved and never received. Instead he became a fake Republican, heard the call of Sarah Palin to take back the country from you know….those people, and answered the call. As long as Trumpicans think he is fighting for them against the terrorists, they will continue to accept him as their Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name no matter what else happens. He is meeting expectations and still fighting as the battle is not yet over.

With the coronavirus, that was unexpected. Just as Roosevelt had been elected for one crisis, the depression, and then had to face another one, so to now there was a second crisis unrelated to the first. The winning candidate was elected to save real Americans by taking back the country, not to fight a virus. Whereas Roosevelt proved successful in dealing with the unexpected, the same does not apply now. Success if fighting against immigrant people does not translate into success in fighting against an immigrant virus. Still, he has claimed success, asserted he wouldn’t have changed anything, and declared himself a “10.” The wartime President against the invisible enemy has won and saved over 2 million American lives in the process. By November, the coronavirus crisis will be over if it isn’t already and who will remember the problems of the spring.

With the depression, again the unexpected occurred. The United States economy already was on its way back in 2016. The one action taken to help rich people get richer did not contribute to a more successful economy. Now we are on our way back. By November we will be back and who will remember the problems of the spring.

To recap, the winning candidate did do what he pledged to do…up to a point. He did wreak havoc with the international arena. He did ignore climate change. He did fight immigration. He did insult, demean, and mock the politically correct, the news media, and the Republicans who did not accept the new Trumpican order. He did not end Obamacare. He did not return manly manufacturing jobs to the United States. He did not return manly coal mining jobs to their former number. He did save America from the coronavirus and did rebuild the economy. So despite his dishonesty, ignorance, narcissism, above-the –law behavior, and conduct as a seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck, he had and still has a legitimate chance win the Electoral College again.

What is important to realize is that the immature child playing imaginary games where he makes up the roles genuinely believes he has succeeded as a wartime general and that Trumpicans accept his version of the truth as communicated via Tweets and Fox.

WARTIME GENERAL FOR AMERICA’S THIRD CIVIL WAR

The same considerations apply to the ramped up Third Civil War in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Bonespur Boy is seeking to replicate his wartime victory over the coronavirus over the thugs and terrorists.

“We will end it now.”

“If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”

“My administration will stop mob violence, and stop it cold.”

“These are terrorists. These are terrorists. And they are looking to do bad things to our country.”

“Only I can save our country because I am a very stable genius, the smartest person in the room.”

You want empathy? Try weak wimpy sleepy Joe Biden. I will dominate the streets. I won the battle of Lafayette Square (The Battle of Lafayette Square: The Greatest Victory in American History). Real men don’t wear masks. Real men don’t go into bunkers (except to inspect them!). I am Macho Macho Man like Putin, ruler for life as I should be, too.

Obviously it is only because of Divine Providence, that at this moment of existential crisis, that our Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name, is here as President of the United States. He saved the economy once, he will do it again. He saved the country from the coronavirus. He will take back the country for real Americans. Truly we are blessed that at this moment of existential crisis, we have a President equal to if not superior to Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. And if you don’t believe me, just ask him.

For all his talk about having the greatest first year if a President ever,

For all his talk about having the greatest first two years of a President ever,

For all his talk about having done more for black Americans than any President except Lincoln,

He had a legitimate opportunity in the real world to become one of America’s greatest Presidents if only he knew it and was capable of rising to the occasion.

The Battle of Lafayette Square: The Greatest Victory in American History

June 4, 2020
by Peter Feinman
Prequel to "The Mouth that Roared: The Battle of Lafayette Square" (Amazon)

There have been many famous battles in American history, ones of great significance not just to this country but to the world.

Saratoga

The Alamo

Gettysburg

D-Day.

These battles reverberated through American history. They helped define who we are as a country and a people.

But I suggest when the future histories of this country are written, one battle above all others will stand out: the battle when America’s greatest warrior took our country back in the Battle of Lafayette Square.

Think of the situation Little Donnee Waney faced. There he was hunkered and bunkered deep in the bowels of the earth. He was trapped in an area no American sees except in movies like White House Down. Outside surrounding the real White House were heavily armed terrorists. There were terrorists by the thousands, terrorists by the tens of thousands, terrorists by the hundreds of thousands. Bonespur Boy had promised he would fight for real Americans. Now the moment of truth had arrived.

Showing no fear, the immature child playing imaginary games where he makes up the rules, rose up out of the earth to vanquish the forces of chaos armed to the teeth prepared to destroy him. Never before in American history had anyone seen such a courageous act as when this President confidently strode across Lafayette Square eyes fixed on his destination – a photo-op in front of a historic church where he would brandish a Bible upside down and destroy those who would destroy him.

Songs will be song.

Stories will be written.

Tales will be told.

Movies will be made.

“The Mouth That Roared.” Coming to a theater near you now that the coronavirus crisis is over and we can sit in theaters once again.

His exploits have complicated the design of the Unpresidential Library. In my original vision, at the entrance to the library would be a statue of him bent over with Stormy Daniels swatting with a copy of Forbes Magazine with him on the cover. The statue would say “I’m kissing my ass. I’m kissing my ass. I’m kissing my ass.” Then the statue changed to one of Little Donnee Disinfectant holding a bottle of disinfectant. Clorox and Lysol would pay big money to ensure their product wasn’t the one the very stable genius was holding. Now, I am thinking the entrance to the Unpresidential Library should have a statue of our Lord and Saviour, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name, holding the Bible as the minions of Satan were swept from the land in a confrontation worthy of Armageddon itself. One small step at Lafayette Square, one giant step towards taking back the country.

SHOCK AND AWE BY THE MILITARY

The military reacted in shock and awe at this display of courage and heroism at the Battle of Lafayette Square. They were stunned by this raw display of power. They thought they were just going out to inspect the troops following the inspection of the bunker. They had no idea they were about the witness the greatest act of sheer bravado in the history of the country. They could be seen trembling in awe at what they had witnessed.

Former Marine general and secretary of defense James Mattis was privileged to witness something he had never seen before not even in a dream James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.

He recognized that this President was trying to do something no President previously had tried to accomplish.

Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us.

Mattis even went so far as to call for another witch hunt into the Constitutional violations perpetrated by the divider in-chief, unique in the history of this country.

We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.

So moved was Bill Barr that the Attorney General promised to investigate as soon as he completed the exoneration of America’s greatest warrior president from the Russian collusion and Ukranian extortion charges and indicted Obama and Biden.

Mattis even acknowledged that America’s greatest President was one for the ages. He was on par with Abraham Lincoln having devoted his life to the exact same values:

we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite. Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.

These are the very words which have guided our heroic President and genius history scholar all his life. These are the values he comments on endlessly when he is not insulting, mocking, and demeaning people as scum. They are the values that have led him to this great victory. It seems like only yesterday, when Little Donnee Disinfectant was the laughingstock of the world. But now after his televised victory at the Battle of Lafayette Square, he stands tall with Trumpicans. Surely another Red Wave reminiscent of 2018 will sweep Trumpicans to victory in the House, the Senate, and the White House. All the polls show it.

It seems like only yesterday (it was June 2!), when I wrote

And what makes you think the generals will obey a command from the Commander in-chief to send troops into American states to suppress American people?….The American military is not the Department of Justice. The generals are more likely to be loyal to the Constitution than the individual who happens to be President. If Bonespur Boy tries to intimidate the military into playing his game of domination, he may be in for a surprise. Generals are not Trumpican Senators who have sold their soul and will roll over like obedient dogs at whatever whistle he blows, command he issues, or photo-op he desires. Borg to Hong Kong: Resistance Is Futile (Not in America)

Little did I know what was coming!

TRUMPICAN SCOTT JENNINGS INADVERTENTLY SHOWS BIDEN HOW TO WIN

CNN contributor Scott Jennings probably still is a Republican although he toes the Trumpican line. He is an adult who lives in the real world. He ventures off the Fox Reservation to appear on FakeNews outlets. He works very hard at not degenerating to the level of Kellyanne Conway but he has not followed the example of George Conway, George Will, or Rick Wilson in asserting a Republican identity instead of a Trumpican one. As might be expected, Jennings offered a trumpican perspective on the Battle of Lafayette Square. But in so doing he detailed exactly how Joe Biden could leverage that victory into a defining moment for his own presidential campaign. Obviously that was not Jennings’s intent and it is quite possible Biden will let this opportunity slip away.

Jenning wrote a piece for CNN entitled Trump’s law and order message strikes a chord. He stated:

If it takes a deployment of the US military to do it, because governors and mayors cannot get control of the situation in their jurisdictions, I think the President will find public support for it.

The military may not support it, but Trumpicans will. Jennings admitted his befuddlement with the actions at Lafayette Square and then commented on what Joe Biden could now do to seize the moment.

I was not sure what to make of his march to St. John’s Church across Lafayette Square as I watched it unfold live on Monday. I wish he could have taken one step further and stepped into the church and opened the Bible he held. I wish he had invited faith and civil rights leaders to go there with him. And I wish he would have sat in the front row for a church service aimed at praying for peace, calm and unity.

Churches and Bibles are not props; they are tools for the faithful to spread the Word of God and to unify people around God’s teachings. And churches, perhaps more than any other place, can be powerful places from which to broadcast expressions of sympathy and calm.

Are you listening Joe? The advice of this political operative is to go into the church and have a unity memorial service. There are four former Presidents who are preaching for unity, Democratic and Republican presidents. Invite them to the service. Have them open the Bible and read the passages that helped them through there moments of trauma and despair. Do that for yourself as well. Invite the ex-military generals too who have spoken out against turning cities into battlegrounds. Have the service Jennings says should have been held in the first place.

Listen to what others have said and what you have said.

Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde the Episcopal bishop of Washington who oversees the St. John’s Episcopal Church, said:

[Trump just used a Bible and a church of my diocese as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that our church stands for.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said:

We need our President, and all who hold office, to be moral leaders who help us to be a people and nation living these values. For the sake of George Floyd, for all who have wrongly suffered, and for the sake of us all, we need leaders to help us to be “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.”

You, Joe Biden said:

The country is crying out for leadership, leadership that can unite us.

You have been given the opportunity to provide that leadership. Have the memorial service for unity that should have been held at St. John’s Episcopal Church at Lafayette Square. Transform the battlefield to a City on Hill. Seize the moment.

P.S. And don’t forget to say “thank you” to Jennings for showing you the way.

Borg to Hong Kong: Resistance Is Futile (Not in America)

June 2, 2020
by Peter Feinman
Is Resistance Futile for Hong Kong? Is It Futile for the Federation? (https://www.startrek.com/database_article/borg-cube)

Back on August 7, 2019, I wrote a blog entitled When Will the Borg Assimilate Hong Kong?: Is Resistance Futile? I did so triggered by the title of an article “Can Hong Kong’s Resistance Win? (NYT July 14, 2019). I even speculated that the reporter might have had in the Borg in mind when contrasting China and Hong Kong:

If human beings have other wants or needs ⸺ like independent thinking, free expression or person happiness ⸺ well, those are things for our rivals, the Western democracies to pursue. The West’s production model is less efficient than ours. Ours has “Chinese characteristics.”

In that blog, I noted that China has its own Hannitys and Huckabees. It has its own propaganda machine that even surpasses Fox. It even matches the Fox techniques. Chinese are graduates of the Laura Ingraham School of Spin. As one Chinese professor said in support of the Chinese government against the Hong Kong Spring:

They are obviously actors, not Hong Kong citizens.  

Ingraham could not have said it better herself. In fact, she has said it. The same technique is being used today in America in reference to “outside agitators.”

The NYT article reported that activists who claim Hong Kong has a unique identity that needs to be protected are called “localists.” They advocate for independence, an increasingly taboo subject. The localists differentiate themselves from mainland Chinese. They do so by employing derogatory language. They call the mainlanders “locusts” [not “animals’ or “scum” or “lowlifes and losers”] and “invaders.” By American standards, these localists in support of Hong Kong independence are using racist language. They compound the derision by referring to the people of China as being from “Chee-na” instead of “China.”

Pro-Chinese people understand the insults and have responded in opposition to such castigation of mainland Chinese. As one individual said:

We’re all Chinese people with yellow skin. Why are you discriminating against your own people? 

So the pro-freedom and independence people use demeaning language to belittle and mock the locusts who invade their land and overwhelm their communities. The pro-government people refers to the Asian people of color as “yellow.”

The issue then as it is now really wasn’t so much “if” the Borg would assimilate Hong Kong as “when.” Evidently, China decided now was the time.

Why?

Why did China decide that now was the propitious time for its Bill Barr to legally swallow up Hong Kong into the Chinese legal system?

The answer really should be obvious. The Wolf Warriors smell the weakness in the global arena and are ready to feast on America and the world.

In response to the Pompeo accusations on the coronavirus, the Global Times, a nationalist Chinese newspaper, stated:

“Such lunacy is a clear byproduct, first and foremost, of the proverbial anxiety that the U.S. has suffered since China began its global ascension. It is also a combination of envy and panic on behalf of Washington elites.”

CCTV reiterated the message:

“If this evil politician Pompeo is allowed to continue his swaggering bluff, one fears that the United States ‘great again’ can only be a joke.”

Sounds like China recognizes the weakness of the United States. Every move by our immature child President to withdraw from the global arena either from an international organization or geographic presence, is matched by Xi seeking to fill the vacuum. The brilliant success of the ‘America Alone’ policy was on full display at a recent W.H.O meeting. George Bush’s “coalition of the willing” a scant generation ago was reduced to a pathetic attempt to gain Taiwan admission into the very organization the United States was about to leave! The feeble attempt highlights the decay and decline in American power under the lack of leadership by Little Donnee Wanney. Or should one say he has reaped what he has sown.

The Global Times was back at it when the weak President ramped up the rhetoric promising fire and fury as had never been seen before.

“Washington is making a bigger gamble, but America’s economy is not as fat as it once was, and it still coughs from the coronavirus. Their extreme tactics amount to nothing more than the slow suicide of a superpower.”

Given the success of regime change and behavior modification from sanctions in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela, it is hardly surprising that the current manufacturing center of the world is dismissive of the threats from the fading giant.

Quite the contrary. The Wolf Warriors are moving ahead on all fronts. China is aggressive against India, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam in addition to Hong Kong. Who is going to stop them? It is not as though China doesn’t have its own friends in Asia either like Nepal, Pakistan, and the Maldives. Meanwhile the United States is pretending the coronavirus crisis is over and is facing its own internal problems. Now the United States is the awkward position of defending the right of Hong Kongers to be free while calling for the domination by force of Americans seeking justice and equality. So far Xi has just proposed unleashing his Bill Barr; by contrast, Macho Macho Boy is calling for American troops to crack down on the agitators even when they are peaceful and white.

Here one may observe why although resistance is futile in Hong Kong, it is not in America. True the world is watching the riots just as it watched the failure of America to manage the coronavirus crisis. The eyes of the world are still upon us no matter what we do. But what is it we are doing? The story is not yet over and there is more to see than the looting and burning.

The world will also see police chiefs and officers kneeling down, hugging, and shaking hands with protesters.

The world will also see governors defying the President’s “request” for National Guard troops to be sent to the capital to protect the President.

The world will also see governors defying the President’s threat to send military forces into the states if he decides to do so.

And what makes you think the generals will obey a command from the Commander in-chief to send troops into American states to suppress American people?

What makes you think the troops if they do go will fire on the American people? Troops who are minorities themselves. Troops who may be from the very area they are called upon to secure. Troops who may even know people in the crowd. The American military is not the Department of Justice. The generals are more likely to be loyal to the Constitution than the individual who happens to be President. If Bonespur Boy tries to intimidate the military into playing his game of domination, he may be in for a surprise. Generals are not Trumpican Senators who have sold their soul and will roll over like obedient dogs at whatever whistle he blows, command he issues, or photo-op he desires.

The world will also see that America has an alternative to the current President. Countries throughout the world are familiar with the idea of Vice President from one administration challenging the President of the current administration. The current crisis has liberated the former Vice President and current Presidential challenger from his basement prison. He is now free to roam around the country, to offer an alternative, to bond with protesters, to show empathy, to hug people. Will the American President call upon American forces to fire upon his Vice President opponent if he stands with the protesters?

The situation between China and America is quite different. The Wolf Warriors will move aggressively secure in the knowledge that there is no one to stop them. By contrast, the America people, the American governors, and the American military will not be cowed by Little Donnee Wanney. And the world will see both countries in action almost on split screen as just happened with the current President and former Vice President. In that comparison, the world will also see why it wants the United States to be the world leader. All we need is a President who accepts that role and has vision for the 21st century.

Unmasking Trumpicans: I Live Free and You Die

May 29, 2020
by Peter Feinman
We Live Free and You Risk Dying

The coronavirus has had many non-medical effects on America…and you don’t need a red pill to see them. Think of the talking heads, some of whom receive (and open) these posts. Now we can see your kitchens, your livings rooms, your offices with the required bookcase. Sharp-eyed people or more technically-advanced people can even identify the books on the shelves. We can see men without ties and women without makeup. Will the talking head practices revert to normal once the crisis ceases or will some of the changes become permanent?

With Trumpicans, we have had an opportunity to glimpse their world view from something as simple wearing masks. I doubt if anyone only a few months ago anticipated that masks would become a political issue and part of the culture wars, but they have. Masks serve as a reminder that anything no matter how seemingly innocuous is grist for the culture war mill.

So what can we learn from the Trumpican preference not to wear a mask?

Are Trumpicans Thrill-seekers Who Like to Live on the Edge?

Trumpicans explain their opposition to wearing masks along the lines of: We don’t need the Government telling us what to do. We are free to make our own decisions and decide what risks we want to take. After all, tomorrow, I could get hit by a car.

Part of this explanation is based on the fact Trumpicans don’t get the virus. After three months, they can see who does get infected and dies and who doesn’t. The reality is that Trumpican states and even more so, Trumpican counties, have had a far lower rate of infection and deaths than states and counties that voted Democratic. And if there is a hotspot in a Trumpican area it could be meat plant. That means people who aren’t real Americans anyway. Now the land of Field of Dreams is the state where people at meat plants don’t count unless they are 10% infected or more.

Let’s pursue this idea of taking risks just as we do every day when we could be hit by a car. Automobile accidents are in the 30,000+ fatality range annually. That means in three months, the coronavirus has already tripled the annual deaths from motor vehicle accidents. Do Trumpicans know that? Do they still like the odds?

Do Trumpicans wear seat belts? If so, why?

Do Trumpicans wear helmets on bikes and/or motocycles?  If so, why?

Do Trumpican children wear helmets on bikes? If so, why?

Do Trumpicans buckle up on airplanes? If so, why?

At the beginning of his show, Hannity often informs his audience to “buckle up.” What does he mean when he uses that metaphor?

Maybe Trumpicans naturally like to live dangerously and take risks and that separates them from wimpy sissies who wear masks.

Trumpicans Demand Their 007 License to Kill   

Even if Trumpicans prefer to live dangerously, do they demand that people around them do so as well?

For example, do Trumpicans support “Drink and Drive”? Do they regard “Don’t Drink and Drive” as an infringement on their rights? Are Trumpicans naturally able to hold their liquor so the restriction need not apply to them? Do they realize that “Don’t Drink and Drive” is not only for their protection as potential drivers?

In other words, “Don’t Drink and Drive” isn’t only about the drunk driver. It’s also about the passengers in the car. It’s also about the people out for a walk who don’t want to be hit a by car. It’s about the people who are out for a jog, a bike ride with a helmet on, or a car ride buckled up, all of whom do not want to be hit by a drunk driver. Is it the position of Trumpicans that not only do they take risks for themselves but that everyone around them has to take the same risks? Do they think their right to drink and drive gives them the right to play Russian roulette with the lives of others?

The same considerations apply to vaccines. Think of how many people today demand the right to play Russian roulette with lives of others including children. Now imagine what will happen if a vaccine for the coronavirus is discovered but Joe Biden is President. How many more people will refuse to be vaccinated as a matter of personal freedom then?

We are at a point now where the wearing versus not wearing a mask will move beyond a political preference to an economic and legal boundary. Retail establishments, government buildings, planes and trains, will have mask-only policies. You want to go to Disneyland, wear a mask. You want to enter a hotel, wear a mask. You want watch a ball game, wear mask or stay home or go to a Trumpican bar. Here is where Trumpicans will sue to demand their right to play Russian roulette with the lives of others, their right to their 007 license to kill.

Vaccinations may mitigate the need for masks. However how will anyone know if the other person has been vaccinated? Will proof of vaccination be required before entering a venue?

Robert E. Lee versus Abraham Lincoln

No matter how poorly the coronavirus has been managed in America, Trumpicans are not going to abandon their Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name. When the war starting going badly for the Confederacy, did Confederates abandon Lee for Lincoln? Did they shift alliances because of the pending and then actual defeat? No. No matter how many Confederates died, they did not abandon their cause. Still 155 years, Confederates prefer Lee to Lincoln even as they have become Republicans. Confederates have remained loyal to their cause despite the defeat and Trumpicans will remain loyal as well no matter how many Americans die.

How Would Trumpicans Know the Coronavirus War is Going Badly?

Now that we have crossed the 100,000 dead and rising threshold, there is a sense that Trumpicans should realize that the wartime general has done a poor job. How would they know that?

As I have repeatedly said, Trumpicans like mainland Chinese, get their news from one and only one source – the government propaganda outlet. Several weeks ago Fox resumed its normal programming – all Deep State, all the time. The onion was being pulled back layer as one guest mentioned to reveal Obamagate, the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the United States. Each day witnessed more and more of the corrupt actions of the Deep State against Michael Flynn. It was only a matter of time before Durham exposed the whole rotten under belly of American politics.

Where was the coronavirus in all this programming? It was in interviews with the wartime general bragging about what a great job he had done. It was in the criticisms of the unelected Fauci really being part of the Deep State. Why should he have the power to prevent America from being re-opened? It was in praise of heroic Trumpican governors re-opening their states with no ill effects. It was in praise of heroic state legislators trying to force Democratic governors to re-open. It was praise of heroic freedom fighters trying to liberate their state from Democratic rule.

How would Trumpicans know that Americans were still dying?

How would Trumpicans know that Little Donnee Disinfectant was the laughing stock of the world?

How would Trumpicans know that Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea have all done vastly a superior job individually and even collectively in total to the American experience?

How would Trumpicans know that 40,000-plus people arrived from China after the ban and that the virus hitting New York came from Europe where white people live?

The only way our Dear Leader deserves a “10” is in trying to maximize the number of American deaths. But the only Trumpicans who know that are the old people who are the most exposed and are willing to support Biden. And according to the heroic Trumpican Texan Lt. Governor, old people should be willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of an open economy where nobody needs to wear a mask.

Trumpicans still live in an a world where real men don’t wear masks, real Americans don’t die from coronavirus, and their Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name, is still fighting for them and deserves a “10.” At least they know enough not to actually ingest disinfectant.