sewer rat in the white house

"Just as leaks drove President Nixon to the brink, and he hired a team of spooks called the Plumbers to plug leaks during the Watergate crisis, Trump appears to have gone over the edge." 

...Scaramucci, in his profane rant to the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza this week, even raised the possibility of murder. 'What I want to do is I want to fucking kill all the leakers'..."
Reince Priebus Is Out: Meet the Mooch, Trump's 'Plumber' - Rolling Stone

my apologies to plumbers. 
scaramucci is a lowlife new york sewer rat.
Scaramucci’s fed-up wife filed for divorce while nine months pregnant | Page Six

image: Edal Anton Lefterov

File:Street-rat.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

plumbers deserve better than to be compared to scaramucci.

This is what it's come to with trump--sewer rats in the white house. 

there's got to be a better way. 

fortunately, there is:

who do you trust? 

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? 
The good, the bad & the ugly: let's make America great again

- or political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs? 

Here's how government is controlled in the US: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person that you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican.

Soon the republican and democratic parties will die.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

trump-mania: how low can it go?

last week wasn't a good week for trump or the USA.

The White House has become the craziest reality show on TV | New York Post
this entire year hasn't been good for the USA.
how low can it go?

image by simplecon

File:Simpleicons Business business-down-bars-graphic.svg - Wikimedia Commons

what sewer did scaramucci crawl out of?
Scaramucci’s fed-up wife filed for divorce while nine months pregnant | Page Six
good luck, General Kelly!
it's going to be a LONG 4 years.

There's got to be a better way. 

fortunately, there is:

who do you trust? 

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? 

- or political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs? 

Here's how government is controlled in the US: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person that you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican.

Soon the republican and democratic parties will die.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

one of those rare occasions when the news media educates

how many times does one need to:  
- hear the weather in a 30 minute news broadcast, especially when there's nothing particularly newsworthy about the current weather?

- hear "talking heads" tell you what the "news" means? 
- hear what "social media" is saying?

- watch a "guest chef" demonstrate his swedish meatball prowess?

occasionally, the news media comes up with a piece that educates:

New poll of rural Americans shows deep cultural divide with urban residents - Washington Post

enjoy!

congratulations to the washington post and reporters Jose A. DelReal and Scott Clement.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/5059275983

let's make America great again

Aristotle virtues:
1) Courage – bravery and valor
2) Temperance – self-control and restraint
3) Liberality – bigheartness, charity and generosity
4) Magnificence – radiance, joie de vivre
5) Pride – self-satisfaction
6) Honor – respect, reverence, admiration
7) Good Temper – equanimity, level headedness
8) Friendliness – conviviality and sociability
9) Truthfulness – straightforwardness, frankness and candor
10) Wit – sense of humor – meaninglessness and absurdity
11) Friendship – camaraderie and companionship
12) Justice – impartiality, evenhandedness and fairness

12 Virtues Introduced by Aristotle – the master of those who know | Aesthetichealingmindset's Blog

"The Founders thought that a free society could only flourish if its leaders are virtuous... the Founders understood that freedom would depend on citizens remembering that government derives its authority from people who consent to give it that authority, and that it must work to serve the common good, treating every citizen equally. Freedom depends on citizens who care enough about preserving it to really evaluate people who run for office, and to elect those who demonstrate wisdom, restraint, and personal virtue. Most of all, freedom depends on citizens having wisdom, courage and sense of justice necessary to take action when they see government overstepping its bounds." 
(read more)
https://www.docsoffreedom.org/readings/equal-and-inalienable-rights

visit https://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/

File:Constitution We the People.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain

take the test. rate trump on Aristotle's 12 virtues.

it's not pretty, is it?

who do you trust?
- someone who you know who has similar values to yours?
- or someone who trashes other people? an instigating bully who divides (instead of a leader who seeks to unify)? a foul-mouthed womanizer? a person who doesn't keep their promises? a charlatan? a liar? 
- or someone who thinks that they're above our laws, conducting government business on private, unsecured email, failing to protect classified government documents? who has no more regard for an innocent child than to support killing that child moments before the child would have been born?
- or do you trust political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs? 

way back in 1972 the godfather described how a virtueless government operates: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person that you voted for who is in control. it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

LET'S MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

voices in czar trump's head

"...sessions...tweet...generals...transgenders...tweet...russia...tweet...mueller...comey... rosenstein...tweet...sessions...tweet...leaks ...tweet...russia...tweet...spicer...tweet... sessions...tweet...murkowski...collins... tweet...russia...tweet...korea...tweet...iran...tweet...sessions...tweet...clinton...tweet... russians...tweet...generals...tweet...sessions...tweet...russia...tweet...war...tweet... sessions...tweet...russia...tweet..."

president trump: being wrong may get you votes; but, it doesn't make you right

to trump the truth is whatever trump wants it to be.

take the rise in oceans and global warming, for example. 
it's a fact that oceans have been rising: 

"With continued ocean and atmospheric warming, sea levels will likely rise for many centuries at rates higher than that of the current century. In the United States, almost 40 percent of the population lives in relatively high-population-density coastal areas, where sea level plays a role in flooding, shoreline erosion, and hazards from storms."

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevel.html

Global Warming 101 | National Geographic - YouTube

File:Trends in global average absolute sea level, 1870-2008 (US EPA).png - Wikimedia Commons

"...humans have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by more than a third since the industrial revolution. Changes this large have historically taken thousands of years, but are now happening over the course of decades."

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/global-warming-overview/

facts are facts.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Climate_Change_Denial_-_Heads_in_the_Sand_-_text_only.jpg

another example is russia. trump refuses to acknowledge that US intelligence, congress and most of the American people believe that russia interfered with the 2016 election. 

"Opinion polls show that non-stop state propaganda has convinced the Russian people that Russia is indeed a besieged fortress, the armed forces are to be trusted, more resources must be devoted to defense (at the expense of living standards), and that young Russians should not avoid military service. The percentage of respondents with “bad/very bad” opinions of the US rose from 34 percent to 60 percent between 2012 to present. The EU fared even worse with negative opinion rising from 21 to 60 percent. All pretense of democratic elections was dispelled with the managed parliamentary elections of 2016."

Why Russia Cannot Become Our Friend: Memo to President Trump

trump not believing what the majority of americans believe doesn't make trump right. it just makes trump different.

"Denial isn't just a river in egypt."

can trump change trump? negative. WYSIWYG

WYSIWYG: a 1970s computer acronym for "what you see is what you get".

trump:

- insulter-in-chief who trashes his opponents publicly

- nepotist-in-chief who has brought nepotism to a new level

- liar-in-chief who doesn't keep his (campaign) promises, e.g. 
  his income tax returns, "make america great again",
  "america first", his "foreign policy", etc. 

- womanizer-in-chief 

czar trump is at odds with most americans on many foreign and domestic issues, in particular russia and global warming. He attacks the media, his own AG, his press secretary, his own party, FBI director, special prosecutor, the senate, foreign allies and the opposition--which includes about everyone except himself. He rejects and/or exaggerates facts, e.g. inauguration crowd size, his "accomplishments", his low popularity, etc.

can trump reinvent trump?

for that matter, can anyone change trump?
can a leopard change its spots?
negative.

WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get.

this isn't to say that clinton wasn't a flawed candidate.

There's got to be a better way. 

fortunately, there is:

who do you trust? 

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? 

- or political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs? 

Here's how government is controlled in the US: The good, the bad & the ugly: the godfather: politics in the US

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person that you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican.

Soon the republican and democratic parties will die.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

catholic church: don't mess with the Word of God

when I was a child we said this during mass before communion: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed." Matthew 8:8

in the last 70 years this has changed. now we say: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

the two are completely different. 

the centurion did not ask Jesus to heal him. He asked Jesus to heal his servant. the centurion knew that he was unworthy to ask Jesus for anything for himself. 

today, during mass before communion, we ask Jesus to heal us, making us worthy. this is totally different from what the centurion said.

in all four gospel accounts (Mt. 26:26-30, Mk. 14:22-26, Lk. 22:14-20 and Jn.) Jesus instructs his apostles to "...eat My Body...drink My Blood...do this in remembrance of Me." 

nowhere does Jesus say "only if you're worthy". 

when I was a child many didn't receive communion on sunday because they felt that they were unworthy, not having gone to confession the day before. 

today, many more go to communion. have they figured it out--despite the church? do they realize that we are all unworthy? do they realize that Jesus' command to us to eat His Body, to drink His Blood and to remember Him is not conditioned on our being worthy? do they realize that Jesus only wants us to do what He asks us to do?

the catholic church shouldn't mess with the Word of God.

no human knows the  heart and mind of God. this includes priests, bishops, popes, theologians, prophets, saints, or any other human being, with the exception of Jesus (fully human as well as fully divine) and His mother, who is and was perfectly obedient to the will of God. For any other human being to presume that he or she knows the mind and will of God (infallibly, as if God speaks to them differently than he speaks to any other human being) is arrogant, ignorant and heretical. 

the simple poll question that you'll never see

how do you rank these in influencing our goverment?
___ voters
___ candidates
___ political parties
___ news media
___ money

some may say that they're in the right order--voters first and money last. I believe that they're in the reverse order of importance--money first and voters last.

I wouldn't be alone in my assertion that money has the greatest influence on our government.
How Can the U.S. Change the Influence of Money in Politics? - The Atlantic

others would argue that news media bias has the greatest influence on our government.
https://www.allsides.com/

it may be a toss-up between money and news media bias. or, maybe money and news media bias are the same thing said in two different ways.

have we become a nation where money and news media bias are the biggest factors in determining our government--rather than voters? I think so.

who do you trust?
- someone who you know who has similar values to yours?
- or political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs?

here's how government is controlled in the US:
The good, the bad & the ugly: the godfather: politics in the US

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person that you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican.

Soon the republican and democratic parties will die.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

impeachment row now

why not?
- the first six months of the trump presidency have been a disaster
- nothing worthwhile is getting done
- it'll give the senate something to do
- the news media will love it
- trump, the senate and the media can duke it out 
- we can get on with more important things--like cleaning a closet, and fixing this mess so that it doesn't happen again:

who do you trust?
- someone who you know who has similar values to yours?
- or political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs?

here's how government is controlled in the US:
The good, the bad & the ugly: the godfather: politics in the US

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person that you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican.

Soon the republican and democratic parties will die.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

critical universal health care issues that are missing from the national debate

key universal health care issues are missing from the national debate.
some of these issues are identified here:
America’s Medical “Black Box”: The Mystery of Health care Quality - Grand Rounds

there are more:
- does medical technology have the last word on how long that people live?
- if costly medical procedures covered by universal health care might extend a person's life, then should the age of the beneficiary be considered? in other words, is it equally important to extend the life of an old person as it is to extend the life of an infant, and visa versa?
- should the high cost of extraordinary medical treatments be paid for by all, regardless of the beneficiary's age or financial status?
- etc.

while our elected leaders in the federal government, and the media, go round and round in their seemingly endless debate, the most basic fundamental issues regarding universal health care are being ignored.
wouldn't it be better to address the fundamental issues first?
then it might not be so difficult to address the details.
but, it takes courage to address these basic issues.
and, the lack of courage from our elected leaders may be at the heart of the problem.

here's an idea:

those who seek aid from the government for their extraordinary medical expenses would have to apply to the government in the same way as students applying for government-insured loans for college. the applicant's age and financial status would be included in the application and would be subject to government verification. congress would then decide which applications are approved. this would insure that no applications would ever be approved because congress wouldn't be able to act on the application before the applicant died.

here's an even better idea:
who do you trust?

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours?
- or political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs?

here's how government is controlled in the US:
The good, the bad & the ugly: the godfather: politics in the US

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person that you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican.

Soon the republican and democratic parties will die.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

all creation groans

food for thought, and more.

Microsoft Word - Bible Studies - Outback Sunday.doc

http://seasonofcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/bible-studies-outback-sunday.pdf

image by Steve Evans from Citizen of the World

File:Mammillaria grahamii - Arizona Desert Cactus Flower (210234767).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

trump + desperate democrats + media = national mess

what a mess!

trump is a disaster (surprise, surprise).
and democrats and the news media don't know how to do anything else but obstruct and be biased. 

how do we get out of this mess? 

here's how: 

who do you trust? 

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? 

- or political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs? 

Here's how government is controlled in the US: The good, the bad & the ugly: the godfather: politics in the US

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person that you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican.

Soon the republican and democratic parties will die.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

PS the same applies to the "talking heads" media. By refusing to patronize the nonstop divisive media, eventually they will dry up and go away.

unlike the trump organization, it's not just trump

it's quite different, isn't it trump?

instead of like the trump organization, where you say "jump!", and everyone responds "how high?", you have 535 members of congress to deal with, not to mention federal courts, independent agencies in the executive branch, federal rules, federal regulations, state governors, state attorneys general, watchdog groups, opposition party, critics in your own party, allies, foreign governments, the media, the public, etc.

it must be quite a shock to your system.

File:The Trump Organization Logo.jpeg - Wikimedia Commons

who do you think will prevail? considering the numbers, the opposition seems to have the advantage, despite your billion$.

Good luck.

why most americans believe that the media have a negative impact on the country

no news here. 

it's no surprise that most americans believe that the media have a negative impact on the country.

"... new survey from the Pew Research Center finds that two-thirds of Americans now say the news media has had a 'negative impact on the U.S."--rating the press at the bottom of a list of national institutions which includes churches, colleges and labor unions. ... The national survey found that 63 percent of the respondents gave a thumbs-down on the media and its influence on 'the way things are going' in the nation."

Two-thirds of Americans say news media has a negative impact on the nation: Poll - Washington Times

it's not surprising at all--a third of the country doesn't know Walter Cronkite, whose last news broadcast was in 1981. If only those who were born before 1965 had been polled, then the 2/3 would be more like 100%.

image by Rob Bogaerts

File:Walter Cronkite (1985).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

For those who were born after 1965, Walter Cronkite was anchor for the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. Walter reported the news. Unlike Fox News, which advertises "we report, you decide", and then has a battalion of staff and outside "experts" to tell you what you should decide, 50 years ago CBS news reported the news without the benefit of "talking heads" to "interpret" the news for its viewers.

"Fair, balanced and unafraid" Fox crows. Really? How many people believe that Fox News is fair and balanced? Do those who believe that Fox News is fair and balanced also believe that CNN is fair and balanced? And, do those who believe that CNN is unbiased also believe that Fox News is unbiased? negative.

Obvious bias in the news media isn't restricted to Fox, CNN and cable TV however. Virtually every TV network, newspaper, magazine and radio news program is biased. The internet is so grossly biased that "fake news" has become part of our regular vocabulary. 

unfortunately, the media's sad current state has resulted in most Americans, even some who were born after the Walter Cronkite era, believing that the media has a negative impact on our country. 

sadly, the Walter Cronkite era is gone forever.

the trump presidency: doomed before it began

trump's abrasive, siege mentality, take-no-prisoners style, trashing anyone and anything that get in his way
     - primary opponents
     - election opponent
     - republicans
     - democrats
     - independents
     - women
     - mexico
     - foreign leaders
     - media
     - enemies
     - friends
     - etc.
doomed his presidency before it even began.

apparently trump never heard the expression "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar".

image by J.J.

File:Villianc transparent background.svg - Wikimedia Commons

as bad as trump is, acrimony from both sides of the campaign was way over the top. 
and, look at congress--republicans and democrats fight like cats and dogs (my apologies to cats and dogs).

our two party system of government isn't working. 

image: tomwsulcer

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

take heart! there's a way to fix it. here's how: 

who do you trust? 

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? 

- or political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs? 

here's how government is controlled in the US: The good, the bad & the ugly: the godfather: politics in the US

if you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person that you voted for who is in control--it's the party.

in the next election--national, state or local--vote for anyone except a democrat or a republican.

soon the republican and democratic parties will die.

nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr