Ronald Reagan in his best role - we need Reruns!

https://youtu.be/ihUoRD4pYzI

Never thought I'd be posting a quote from Ronald Reagan! He knew where Social Security money came from and it wasn't an "entitlement". It appears that many of our elected officials are misinformed (or just don't want to know)
 The party in power, busy lining their pockets (and those of their friends and supporters) continues to moan about the country's terrible deficit (which they expanded with their generous tax cuts for the wealthiest). As they scratch their behinds looking for  "fixes" they inevitably come up with- "cut social programs".  Really!
 Election time is seven months away and if we get our act together (i.e. - vote, clean up the voting process) we can end  the orange man's swamp clearance project. It's time for new "cleaners" to clear the swampy DC muck of stagnant/sucking crooks!

Beto is running for the Senate - to replace this smarmy creature

Smarmy creature: Canadian born son of Cuban father; grew up in Texas, became a useless self serving senator and ran as Republican candidate in 2016 primary race for president. Das Trumpf called  him a liar, criticized his wife's looks and suggested that his father might have been involved in John Kennedy's assassination.  So the first thing he did when the orange man moved into the white house and invited TC (and his unattractive wife) to dinner was to accept and make nice-nice.

Remember his earlier comments during the primary: he called Das Trumpf "a sniveling coward", a "pathological liar", "utterly amoral" "a serial philanderer" and "a narcissist at a level I don't think this country's ever seen".  Then - big memory lapse (or is that normal for this Texas senator?) This week he authored a glorious piece of bull s..t praising the orange man (inTime magazine)saying this: "he worked with Congress to cut taxes for struggling families.....fought to bring back jobs...to our shores......" OMG - I can't even continue without throwing up.

This smarmy, whining excuse for a man - is Beto O'Rourke's opponent for U.S. senator from Texas! 

Beto is the ultimate "mentsch" who really cares about people, doesn't lie or throw platitudes around. If you haven't read anything about El Pasoan Beto O'Rourke, google him now. In a perfect world we'd have a Beto representing very state in the Union!

And the orange man in the white house? Just added a lawyer to his staff who has fewer clients than Michael the fixer. Rudy the Guly - who can really yell and excels at Gestapo tactics.

Name of the game: DISTRACT! DIVERT!

Every year. at the Jewish holiday Passover dinner the youngest at the table helps to remind us why we're there by asking "why is this night different from others?".

On Friday night, April 13, 2018 the orange man in the big white house said "tonight is different"; we're  responding to skinny Assad's inhumane treatment to the residents of his country. Tonight was different because "we had to distract Americans from my manic behavior and my fixer-in-charge's criminal actions". (BTW: more than 50 chemical attacks by Assad since he began this war; we reacted with a slap on his wrist one year ago. Wow - that really did a lot of good.)

The orange man picked the evening of Friday the 13th for a big media splash. How convenient! Now we can distract/divert Americans from my bubbling cauldron of criminal/lying antics performed and enhanced by buddy Cohen (sometimes referred to as "my attorney").

 And the orange man's future strategy? Hmmm - what does that word mean? Guess he'll have to tweet his Foxy friends to find out what to do next.

And our Congress - still sitting on their rear ends - probably yearning for more Benghazi trials and  private e-mail servers to distract from the orange man's "swamp cleaning".

Department of "good works" by Das Trumpf: in deference to West Virginia and other coal mine areas -  he really does have a plan for coal. (After he sells the Brooklyn Bridge.)
(thank you  New Yorker magazine)

Basta!

Addition April 5: Scott Pruitt - BASTA!  Sirens to rush him through town, soundproof phone booths, 24/7 security, First class travel - including trip to Morocco with 2-day stopover in Paris for staff of 7, and virtually free rent in DC thanks to lobbyist - and Das Trumpf says he's doing a wonderful job!

(This New Yorker cartoon has him pegged!)

Dept. of stupidity , circa April 3, 2018: Das Trumpf just announced military personnel on the border to protect us - should I laugh or cry? Wait! do I hear the caravan wheels from the South trundling northward?  Basta already!

Borowitz's recent New Yorker satirical column on Ryan/McConnell miraculously "functioning" without spines was timely - a medical puzzle; even more of a mystery - how do they function without guts?  Basta!

More basta: watching our evening dose of MSNBC I was struck by the deluge of pharma ads/promises of health/youth. "Tell your doctor" - who, unfortunately is often too busy, over screening, over diagnosing, over treating and over  prescribing. Medicalization of this country is furthered by sensationalist style medical reporting, horrific tv advertising and medical centers equally concerned with profits and cures. For those of us getting older - there seems to be no shortage of ridiculous medical procedures that will make absolutely no difference for an elder's remaining years - other than  relieving us of funds.

Must reading: every book written by Dr. Nortin Hadler (most recent: Rethinking Aging).He writes for the medical profession and the lay public with carefully researched statistics to back up his statements. 

On an upbeat note: the Netherlands doing their thing - fighting waste and pollution using products often thrown out. "Soups and chutneys made from wonky vegetables, beer from stale bread, cider from blemished apples and soaps from discarded orange peels are selling fast in a branch of Jumbo, one of the biggest Dutch supermarket chains." Gotta love their slogan: “Waste is Delicious”  (Verspilling is Verrukkelijk). Program is supported by a local university as part of a new national program, United Against Food Waste.

Seasonal Music (New Yorker magazine)

"No smarts, energy or chemistry"

A Comedy Item: 

Trump says he'll succeed with Putin where Bush, Clinton, Obama failed

"Bush tried to get along, but didn't have the 'smarts.' Obama and Clinton tried, but didn't have the energy or chemistry," the president tweeted.

Just in case you missed  this - courtesy of NBC. OF course our "stable genius"
has it covered - he just bows down and prays every day that Putin doesn't spill the beans.
But - sooner or later.......beans have a way of spilling......and I'm opting for sooner!

In the meantime, master "deal maker" is playing games with tariffs and livelihoods. Still waiting for the Congressional butts to get out of their chairs and say ENOUGH already!!!!  And the newest budget - I can't count that high - but if we need money maybe Das Trumpf can ask his "banker" Pootie boy to advance some more?

And how about the newest characters in the Asylum: (courtesy of Fox TV)
John Bolton - a war monger who flies off the handle easily.
Joseph Di Genova and his wife, Victoria - a pair of lawyers who pimp for Fox.

But there's hope - this bright spot: Former U.S. Army Intelligence Office Lt. Col Ralph Peters resigned from his "commentator" job at Fox . He called them a propaganda machine, saying they  “dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the Courts and the intelligence community … all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of ‘deep-state’ machinations”........

A sweet ending: how about a nice piece of halvah - the newest favorite of chefs? I loved this sweet as a child - my mom would buy it by the piece in the local "appetizing" store (NYC Zabar's got started as an appetizing store!). Now I see that chef's are dressing it up for desserts in upscale restaurants and some are even crumbling it into breading material for chicken and other foods. What could be bad?

"Money Makes the World Go Round" (apologies to Cabaret)

Just finished reading Red Notice -  a fabulous page turner of a book by Bill Browder (grandson of Earl Browder who was the standard bearer of the Communist Party in the United States in the earlier part of the 20^th century). Grandson Bill is now a citizen of the UK and a British financier. He is the CEO and co-founder of the Hermitage Capital Management and was the first hedge fund manager in Russia.  

 The book reinforced my belief that Das Trumpf’s  "friendship" and glad mouthing of  Pootie boy (he never did anything wrong!) is all about money: Putin has it and Trump needs it;  it’s obvious our "stable genius" can't say anything bad about his "banker Putin". I call Putin his banker because nobody else will advance/lend money to the Trump clan which is bleeding cash. (As he continues to bleed this country at the same time.)

Put this book on your "must read" list.

Last week's  American Experience TV show The Bombing of Wall Street (PBS) offered up a fascinating picture of terrorism in NYC which  occurred in 1920. A horse drawn wagon packed with explosives was set off in front of JP Morgan at midday when many workers were going out to lunch. Based on a book by Yale Historian Beverly Gage, the documentary served up some disturbing behavior by our government in their attempts to apprehend the culprits, get rid of immigrants (most who were innocent!) and how Mr. Hoover/FBI got his start.  

The PBS program can be streamed on your computer (free) until early March. Lots of food for thought.

Lies, anyone? Herr Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister was an expert dispenser of lies. His method: tell big or small lies enough times, repeat, repeat -and people will believe you. Sound familiar?

One of  our country's lie dispensers (who unfortunately has a bigger vocabulary than his boss), is Stephen Miller. Last year the White House asked Health and Human Services (HHS) to report on the cost of refugee resettlement in this country. The  study showed revenue generated by these newcomers (through local, state and Federal taxes)  EXCEEDED the costs of resettling them by $63 BILLION dollars. Miller had told HHS at the beginning of the study not to "embarrass the President". Seeing the results, Miller demanded that HHS "recalculate the numbers" - and when they didn't - he did it himself.
Goebbels technique in action:  according to several news sources, the White House went into LIE mode and denied the whole report.

There isn't much I can add to the incredible comments by students at the Florida school after the shooting. Teen-agers articulate beyond their years have little patience with the hypocrisy of our legislators. I hope they will be able to nudge the congressional NRA recipients off their butts!

Waaaa! I want a parade!

If any of you missed the Borowitz column today satirizing Das Trumpf's newest request I've posted the link below. Of course you all remember he didn't serve in the Military because his doctor said he had "bone spurs".

From New Yorker magazine:
“Regrettably, we have no choice but to issue thousands of deferments,” a Pentagon spokesman said.
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/military-refuses-to-participate-in-trumps-parade-citing-bone-spurs

So - what are the odds of him getting his request filled? How many mouths could be filled with the cost of bringing even only one tank to rip up D.C. streets?
Waaah - Putin gets parades, baby Rocket gets parades and Macron got his parade (forgetting that Bastille Day has a bit  more meaning than our wild leader's desire to feel important). 
"I want my own parade!!!!"  Waaaah!

Of course with his limited vocabulary we would not expect Das Trumpf to understand the word "treason".  If you don't stand up and wildly applause Das Trumpf when he's spewing platitudes and garbage you're committing and act of treason? 

Heil Napoleon Adolf Trumpf!