How to Protest Trump's UK Visit

To my friends in the UK,

If you plan on protesting the Trump visit there next week. Here are your ultimate protest signs

 Forget the Baby Trump balloon. What we learned this week is THIS is Trump's Kryptonite. His ego is so fragile it can't take ANY reminder of just what a failure as President he is.

He is SO insecure about being compared to better, smarter Americans, that should he catch even a brief glimpse of these images, it will drive him totally off the rails. So trigger the Man-Baby and watch him implode

You want to reduce Donald Trump to a quivering incoherent mass of rage tweets? Simply print out these out and blow them up, and wave them at his motorcade at every opportunity

Memorial Day Voices...

I have posted the speeches below  because it it worth noting that today is a day that (should) transcend politics,

That being said. Memorial Day is one of those moments when the President of the United States must speak, for, to, and about our nation. Giving voice to the legacy of sacrifice, to which we all owe an unpayable debt for the freedoms we enjoy.

President Reagan - Memorial Day 1986 

at Arlington National Cemetery

President George HW Bush's Remarks - Memorial Day, 1989

at the American Military Cemetery in Anzio, Italy.

President Bill Clinton's remarks - Memorial Day, 2000

at Arlington National Cemetery

 

President George W. Bush's remarks - Memorial Day, 2002

at Arlington National Cemetery

  

President Barack Obama's remarks - Memorial Day, 2016

at Arlington National Cemetery

And today, Memorial Day, 2019.  When the 45th POTUS stood  before our Military Men and Women, and addressed them along with the rest of our nation and the world .... THIS is what we got,

President Donald Trump's remarks - Memorial Day, 2019

onboard the USS Wasp, docked in Japan.

 

I lament the loss of that "Presidential Voice".  The truth of this day is far too great to be reduced to a tweet or a glib panto performance.  What we saw today from the current occupant of the Oval Office  was not Presidential.  It was just plain embarrassing.  

Seeing the damage that has been done...

For the past few days, I have been in Washington DC on a business trip. Thankfully my meetings ended early enough in the afternoon to give me some time to once again, play tourist and explore the Nation’s Capital. While here I also had the opportunity to attend the National Police Unity candlelight vigil for Law Enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty last year.

I remember the first time I came here.  It was when I was in grade school, when my family took a trip during Spring Break. My second time was a few years later to participate in the “Kids to Kids” International Satellite demonstration as part of the American Council for Better Broadcasts annual conference. Aside from two other brief visits to attend the 1989 and 2000 Inaugurals I have not been back  until this past weekend.

For someone who has spent a good part of my adult life as an expat living outside the United States, visiting Washington DC is always in interesting experience. The City always had a certain majesty to it. A palpable sense of history and American exceptionalism. Embodied in granite and marble. A story told in museum exhibits, and  by grand statues and fountains at intersections.    It is a city that was designed to convey American Greatness, to inspire and humble foreign visitors and place the machinery of government in a stately setting, apart from the politics of any one particular state.

There was some of that, this trip. The candlelight vigil for fallen law enforcement officers and their surviving families was a powerful moment and one that made you feel grateful for the heroic men and women who stand on that “thin blue line” to serve and project us all.  It was  a humbling experience to stand there among the crowd of  Law Enforcement offers, their families and friends as the names of the fallen from each state were read aloud.   A sobering reminder that the men and women who have made protecting public safety their professional calling, often pay the ultimate price.

I made it a point to visit four things while  here. The first was for the Star Trek fan in me. The original  model of the Starship Enterprise from the first Star Trek TV series.  It has been  restored and is now back on  display in  the National Air and Space Museum. The first time I saw the model, it was hanging in a forgotten corner of the Museum’s gift shop. Now it stands proudly near John Glen’s Mercury capsule and Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis”.

After satisfying the SciFi geek in me, I made a more serious pilgrimage to the Lincoln Memorial, the National World War II and Korean War Memorials. The WWII Memorial is , I think after the Lincoln Memorial, the most impressive on the National Mall. With it’s two opposing towers commemorating both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of that war it is a fitting tribute to the generation that truly did save the world from fascism and tyranny.

The Korean War Memorial is located near the Lincoln Memorial  and  was dedicated  in 1995.  With its ghostly figures moving through the brush,  it is especially powerful when you see it just after dusk when the memorial's lights first turn on. It is a powerful and moving tribute to what is often known as the “forgotten war”.  The memorial commemorates the sacrifices of the 5.8 million Americans who served in the U.S. armed services during the three-year period of the Korean War.

I don’t care who you are, or what your politics are, but if you visit the Lincoln Memorial and are not deeply moved by the experience,  there is something wrong with you .  With it's walls inscribed with both the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's second inaugural address, the interior of the memorial reads like a  marble storybook of the greatest challenge our nation has ever faced, and the tall quiet man from Illinois who truly gave his full last measure of devotion to preserve that nation.

Off to the right side when you enter the memorial itself,  there is a small gift shop with your standard collection of refrigerator magnets, postcards, and Abe Lincoln bobble-head dolls. After paying my respects to the memory of our 16th President I went into the little shop to see what they had.

It being May there were groups of middle school students from all over the country visiting the city. Everywhere I went I would see them in their matching t-shirts and lanyards being shepherded by tired and harried teachers constantly checking to see they hadn’t left anyone behind at their last stop.

There was a group from Texas at the memorial and the shop was full of young students jostling to get souvenirs . A group of girls were excitedly talking to each other alternating between speaking Spanish and English.

One girl turned to a friend and suggested she get a souvenir magnet that had the likeness of Lincoln over an American Flag.  Her friend examined the magnet then said “why would I want that? Her friend replied that Lincoln was a “famous President of our country”. 

Her friend then audibly scoffed and said “We speak Spanish, our country  wants to get rid of us, so why should I care about America or a President, when the one we have now hates Latinos?” 

I stood there speechless from what I had just heard this eighth grader from Houston TX say.  One of her Teachers standing near by looked at me sympathetically and shrugged. Then ushered the group out of the shop and back down the steps towards their bus.

I followed them out, pausing before the massive statue of Lincoln. Half expecting it to stand up out of the chair, chase after that young girl and tell her that America is better than the racism of one man or his followers. I wanted to bring her back inside to where the Gettysburg Address is carved in stone and read it to her,  

I wanted to tell her how the man memorialized here  felt that she was as much a part of the fabric of this nation as anyone.  How he had given  all he had,  that full last measure of his devotion to the idea that America was has much hers as it was anyone's

I wanted to take her to the spot only a few feet away, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood as he spoke of his dream of an America where a child like her is judged not by the color of her skin but by the content of her character.  But she and her friends were gone. Moving away into the early evening,  their voices a mixture of Spanish and English fading into the background.  I walked over to the MLK inscription and paused for a moment. I then moved to the side and sat down on the smooth white marble steps,  looking out at the National Mall with the Washington Monument off in the distance.  

As I sat there I couldn’t help but think about what the last two years have cost us as a Nation. I felt utterly defeated, knowing that there was nothing I could have said to that young girl that could have possibly countered the messages of racism xenophobia and hatred she hears on a regular basis coming from the President of the United States. 

 

The American Presidency is first and foremost about stewardship. You are the caretaker of  American greatness, NOT the owner of  it.  It is not a mantle you can claim,  it is duty you fulfil. Even the smallest of men who have held that office felt the need to rise above their own failings to meet the expectation.that the office is greater than its occupant. 

You are the steward of something far greater than yourself. Something too big ever be reduced to a glib slogan on a cheap red had made in China. The Presidency is about making the promise of America,   “E Pluribus Unum” out of many, one, real for as many of our citizens as possible.

We have had weak Presidents. We have had fearful Presidents, We have had Presidents who lacked intelligence, saw compassion as weakness, and who didn’t understanding their duty and even disregarded the truth.   But never before have all those human flaws congregated in one man who then became President. That is until now. 

Donald Trump sees the Presidency as a show. It is all about him. He will never see the need to serve something greater than himself, because in his mind there is nothing greater than himself. 

Washington DC is the ultimate “company town”. The machinery of government is the only real constant in this city.  Many here have taken comfort in knowing that like so many others that came before him. Donald Trump will one day be gone, and things will then get back to normal.

 But even that has been damaged by Trump.  His temper tantrum shutdown of the Federal Government earlier this year  took a heavy toll on people here, and you get the impression that this city has not yet fully recovered.  As I  walk the streets I get a sense of loss for some of the majesty that so awed and inspired me years go. Instead, it feels like just another city, trying to get through the day. 

Donald Trump has made being President all about him, at expense of nearly everything else the Office is meant to represent.   At the expense of truth,  at the expense of America's credibility on the world stage and  worst of all,  at the expense of an eighth grader from Houston Texas' faith in the idea that the President of her country is there to work to help make her dreams possible.  

 Donald Trump has  inflicted such damage on the American Presidency and to  the very things that office is sworn to preserve and protect, that it may well take an entire generation to repair it. 

I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together...

The world is a much sadder place today...

From NBC News :

Tim Conway, who made generations of Americans laugh on TV shows such as "McHale's Navy" and "The Carol Burnett Show," died Tuesday morning, his publicist said.

Conway won multiple Emmy Awards, most recently in 2008 for his role as a guest star on the comedy show "30 Rock" in which he played Bucky Bright, an old, long-forgotten television star.

The actor's big break in Hollywood came on "McHale's Navy," when Conway was cast to play Ensign Charles Parker. He was nominated for a best supporting actor Emmy in 1963.

But he'll probably be best known for his work on "Carol Burnett," the iconic 1970s sketch comedy show that included the likes of Burnett, Conway, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner and Vicki Lawrence. Conway won Emmys for best supporting performer in 1973, 1977 and 1978 for his "Burnett" work.
He stole many a scene on "Burnett," with cameras often catching Burnett and Korman struggling — and usually failing — to keep straight faces after something Conway had said or done something hilarious.

"I’m heartbroken," Burnett said in a statement Tuesday, shortly after Conway's passing.

"He was one in a million, not only as a brilliant comedian but as a loving human being. I cherish the times we had together both on the screen and off. He’ll be in my heart forever.”
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I grew up watching Conway on the Carol Burnett show. Now even years later it doesn't matter how many times I have seen this, it has me on the floor doubled over in laughter.

Tim Conway was 85.

The issue is NOT a new one...

At the National Press Club in 1954 talking about the need for affordable quality health care for all Americans.

Who defines being "0ut"?

Last night, we saw history made on  national television.   A  credible candidate for the Presidential nomination of one of our major political parties  was asked a question we have never seen asked before,

Sitting across from MSNBC's  Rachel Maddow, (herself an out LGBT public figure.)  South Bend, Indiana Mayor, and newly declared Presidential candidate Pete Buttigeig was basically asked, why hadn't he told everybody he was gay earlier in life than he did. 

Before I get into the underlying issues  this exchange raises.  let me first say,  the question itself was not out of line,and certainly not out of line coming from Maddow.  This was going to come up sooner or later.  Clearly  Mayor Pete knew that,  and gave an incredibly thoughtful and genuine response,

I think had he been  on Meet the Press, or  Washington Week,  or even any of the other shows on liberal-friendly MSNBC,  this question would have been far more difficult to ask.   So major kudos to Rachel Maddow for asking it, and for prefacing it with some of her own coming out story.

That being said...   I will confess I still came away from watching it feeling .... annoyed.   Not with Pete Buttigieg  or with Rachel Maddow  as such.    But  with the context  that says this question had to be asked in the first place.  It smacked of the  questions  Barack Obama faced in 2007  about being Black or  "Mixed Race".     Despite Maddow's own preface and caveats, I  felt  there was an implied criticism  in her question. That by not coming out sooner Pete Buttigeig was not as "authentically gay" as Maddow.     

Rachel Maddow is  a few years younger than me.   She grew up in Northern California,, graduated from Castro Valley High School in Alameda County in the SF Bay area.  She did her undergraduate studies at  Stanford University in Palo Alto,  then (as she reveals in the interview) was the first openly Gay American Rhodes Scholar  at  Oxford University the UK.   All of  those environments have a very different relationship to the LGBT experience than the US Military or the State of Indiana

I am NOT saying that I think Maddow's journey to self acceptance as a Lesbian was less challenging as Buttigeig's as Gay man, and  I am in no way claiming any insights into Maddow's personal experience on that journey.

But, the reality is  Maddow's coming out journey took place in an environment where that process frankly is easier.  Meaning it was logistically easier to come out in Northern CA in 2005  than in central Indiana, even a decade later.

 "So why didn't you come out sooner?" , is a question many Gays and Lesbisans get asked.   I have been asked this question many times,  by well meaning  friends, and family.   The sentiment behind the question is one of love, and at times a bit of guilt..  They see how the experience of being in the closet  is such a difficult one, and worry that they somehow may have contributed to that pain,   Part of the coming out process is educating those closest to us,  that  it really had very little to do with them.  

Coming out is not just about telling your family that you are Gay, it is about first  telling  YOURSELF that you are.   That moment in front of a mirror in Sun Prairie, WI when I looked  my own reflection in the eye  and admitted  that  the prevailing social, cultural and yes,  religious expectations for the trajectory of life  were not going to pan out for me, was both liberating, and terrifying.

It would be nearly 15 years before  I would have that conversation with my own friends and  family.   And  part of that conversation was letting them know that it was never about them. 

This is a debate which has raged with in the LGBT community  for ....well  forever.    Who gets to decide what being  "out" means?  Who gets to judge when someone should come out?    Younger friends of mine who are in the midsts of the coming out process  have asked for advice. I always tell them  that  being "out" first and foremost is NOT about who you tell.  It's always first, and foremost about  how you feel. 

There is a tendency to think that a change in laws or policy is a silver bullet. It isn't.   A changed policy doesn't mean unversially changed attitudes  I have seen close up how the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"  did not suddenly make serving in the military as openly LGBT  easy or safe, or  how Anti discrimination laws didn't suddenly make being Out at work risk free.  Even if it had,   as much as I understand the question from an intellectual stand point,  my emotional reaction  was  that, coming out remains an intensely personal journey, the timing of which,  no one, not even Maddow, the "first openly Gay Rhodes Scholar"  should get to question.

Coming out for Buttigeig while in the US Navy, or even in Indiana  in 2015 was a far different proposition than for Maddow in the SF Bay Area, and Oxford in 2005. Her question, seemed to ignore that fact.

The implication  that if you are not  "Out and Loud"  before the age of 30 you are somehow doing a disservice to  the "LGBT Community" is  as dangerous and unfair an implication  as saying Barack Obama was not as connected to  the concerns of  the African American community  because he was of mixed race and grew up in Hawaii  and not some mainland inner city.

I know  that is NOT what  Rachel Maddow was implying,  and by asking the question first,  she has even done Pete Buttigeig a real favor,  pre-empting  it as a line of attack from those who will seek to make his sexual orientation the defining issue of his candidacy   Still  it's hard  not to come away from  watching that interview feeling  that the implication was there in subtext. 

There is a real tendency in Democratic Presidential primary politics to turn the process into a giant circular firing squad of  litmus tests.   Be it Kennedy's  Catholicism as a religious litmus test, Obama's relationship with his  former Pastor as a racial litmus test, or even Hillary Clinton's marriage as a feminist litmus test.    

I don't claim to speak for any constituency or group,   I am just sharing my feelings and impressions as someone who also has made this same, very  personal journey of self- acceptance.  Consequently,  I long for the day when  the process of choosing the next President of the United States is mainly about ideas  rather than identity politics.

To my friends who support Donald Trump…

What the ungodly F*CK is wrong with you!?! Seriously! I would really like to know.

I am not talking about Russia, I am not talking about the missing millions of dollars from the Trump inaugural fund, I am not talking about Wikileaks, I am not talking about Jared’s business ties to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

I am not talking about Ivanka’s Chinese Patents, or Don Jr’s ties to private prison companies.I am not talking about Paul Manafort and Ukraine, I am not talking about Trump Tower Panama, or Trump Tower Moscow, the Trump Hotel DC, or 666 Park Avenue.  I am not talking about Marina Butina and the NRA. I am not talking about Stormy Daniels, or Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova.

I am not talking about Mike Flynn and Turkey, I am not talking about the Trump Foundation or Trump University.  I am not talking about Rick Gates, Michael Cohen, George Papadopoulos or Roger Stone.  I am not talking about Tom Price, Scott Pruit, Wilbur Ross, Steve Mnuchin, Brock Long, David Shulkin or any of the other officials who have been forced to resign due to the myriad of scandals plaguing them and the rest of this Administration. 

I am not talking about the Mueller Report, the Barr Report or even whatever the latest gaslighting the President has spewed forth on Twitter today.  I am not talking about any of that. As awful as all that is, your support of the Donald Trump in that context just made me question your common sense, not doubt your fundamental human decency.

That is, until now.

As Donald Trump takes his victory lap claiming the (yet unseen) Mueller Report totally exonerates him of ….well, everything he has ever done in his life. What has he decided to focus on first? His promise of a Trillion dollar infrastructure plan? Nope.   Is he focused on his  promises to reform the criminal justice system? The Immigration System? The Postal System? Nope, no and not even close.

Donald Trump has decided to once again, try to take health insurance away from 29 Million Americans. (Forbes reports:)

In a brief filed late Monday, the Trump administration said through its Justice Department attorneys that it supported a recent U.S. District Court ruling that invalidates the entire ACA, also known as Obamacare. The law this past weekend celebrated its ninth anniversary of being signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010.

The case, which legal experts believe will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, could result in health coverage being stripped from more than 20 million people who have subsidized individual health benefits from private insurers and Medicaid benefits in more than 30 states under the ACA.



A study by the Economic Policy Institute found that across the country, 29.8 million people would lose their health insurance if the Affordable Care Act were repealed—more than doubling the number of people without health insurance. And 1.2 million jobs would be lost—not just in health care but across the board.   Let’s not even focus on the job losses, as odd as that sounds. Let’s just take that number of uninsured in the United States more than doubling. If you support this President, if you support this Administration, here is what you are saying you believe, and want. 

• If you have a pre-existing health condition, you can be denied health insurance. No matter what the condition is.
• Medicare should be cut and the payroll contributions you have made to it throughout your working life can and should be used to pay for tax cuts for the top 1% of earners and for Corporations.
• You believe Health Care is a commodity, and if you can’t afford it you should not get it. You believe in the United States in the 21rst Century, dying because you can’t afford health care is acceptable. 

Spout all the fake talking points you want about how “government run health care” is a total disaster, but the facts on the ground in 32 other industrialized nations prove you wrong. Here are some basic facts for you; Health Care is not like cars, or like consumer electronics. To claim that deregulation and competition will lower costs and increase access is a wonderful Fox News talking point but is completely false.

But hey, I’ll play along. To say you believe in a totally market driven health care sector is a valid position. But then be honest about what that means. The two core drivers in any market economy are what? Supply and Demand, right? When supply outpaces demand prices fall, when demand outpaces supply prices rise. That’s Capitalism 101.

So when you have a sector of your economy that is a basic human necessity where the demand will always, always, always far outplace supply. No amount of deregulation or competition will ever lower costs. There will always be more sick people than doctors and nurses. There will always be more need for hospitals and medicines than capacity. Left to “the market” prices and costs will never, ever decrease. That is why nearly every other industrialized nation on the planet has some form of universal health coverage for their people.

 So the only way a for profit model can make money is to deny care.  (or "manage utilization" as the for profit insurance companies call it).   So the question you don't want  to answer is this:  How many American deaths are acceptable to support your economic philosophy?   Because that is what you are advocating.

You are saying that in the United States  death by poverty is a natural cause.

The Kaiser Health Foundation did  a comprehensive study on Health and Health Care disparity in the United States.before the Affordable Care Act was in place.  They found  that disparity in access to health care, and the resulting impact that had on the health of various populations in the U.S. was a direct contributing factor in the deaths of over 87,000 Americans a year. 

Let me repeat that, because it is worth repeating. Not being able to afford Health Care, kills more Americans a year than all the terrorist attacks in history. It killed more Americans from 2000- 2001 than if there had been a 9-11 scale attack every week. 

THIS is what Donald Trump wants to return to, and if you are supporting, him, you are supporting this as well. It is an unconscionable, and deliberately cruel act by a small petty stupid man, because he is obsessed with jealousy and insecurity over his predecessor.  There is no “replace” in his repeal and replace.    This is all about Trump needing to defeat Barack Obama for whatever perceived slights his fragile ego and unstable mind can’t get past.

 He will get his vengeance, even if it kills thousands of Americans. 

If you support Donald Trump it gives me cause to doubt your basic humanity. It is not a policy disagreement. It is a clear case of good versus evil. To stand with Trump on this, is to stand with evil, and I am done with it, and with you.

Understanding the Brexit Debate....

Allow me to explain what's going on. Imagine this....

You along with all your friends and family decide to take a road trip.to the beach. Some folks including you, think you should use GPS to find the best way to go. Your friend NIgel says he has made a "magic map" that if you follow it will get you there faster, cheaper, and safer as you won't have to share the road with drivers you don't like. 

Now you think following a map your friend just made up, and that nobody else has ever used before, is a bad idea.  Your buddy Dave and his friends  however are sick of Nigel getting all attention so he gets an idea how how to steal the limelight and  says "Let's all vote on what we'll do!"

So you ask everyone in the car to vote. But the Majority of people in car are either asleep or looking out the window because they think whole idea of the  magic map is stupid,  and can't imagine anyone else taking it seriously either. So they ignore all of you and don't vote.

Out of the people in the car who did vote, 51% say give the magic map a try. Suddenly Your friend Dave remembers he gets carsick on long trips so he jumps out. leaving his girlfriend Theresa to take over following the magic map.

(Now Theresa has never driven a car before but says she has seen it done and truly believes in the Map now that she is driving, despite having voted against using it.)

You start on your trip but as you go, you notice LOT of things are NOT on the map. Large parts of the road are full of obstructions that have to be cleared, and  lots of other things on the map don't actually exist! Finally folks who were asleep in the back seat,  wake up and examine  the map and discover that it doesn't lead to the beach but takes you right over a massive cliff. 

So they and you,  start to demand that Theresa either turn off this road, stop the car, or at least slow down so everyone has time to figure out how to avoid going over the cliff!

Theresa's response is she can't do that because that would make the people who voted for the magic map feel bad. and "Map means Map!" not GPS, or Map plus GPS, and certainly not stopping to ask for directions! Theresa  adds that the majority of people who voted clearly said they wanted to follow the magic map. So that's what she is going to do.

You try to gently remind Theresa that the majority of people in the car didn't actually  vote, let alone vote to use the magic map.   Theresa says that doesn't matter, and to let the majority vote now would make those who did vote before, lose their faith in voting. So If that means driving off a cliff? So be it!

You keep hoping your friend Jeremy who is the designated back-up driver will say something.  But  turns out he is still asleep, and shows no interest in waking up.   Then Nigel and his friends start saying  that going over the cliff isn't a bad thing! In fact, even though it might severely injure us all in the short term,  the crash probably won't kill us,  and after healing from the injuries,  we will all be stronger and will enjoy the holiday even more. 

That is the insanity of the Brexit debate. Millions of people telling the driver she needs to stop speeding towards a cliff, While the driver and the idiots riding shotgun with her, are more worried about having to admit the magic map was a total lie to begin with .

The Sheer Exhaustion of Living with Trump.

I don’t know about the rest of you , but I’m tired. Really tired.

Every day the new insanity is crazier than the insanity the day before. There is no time to be shocked by what the Trump Administration is doing because the next shocking thing comes flying out moments after the previous thing.

Which is  the point. Donald Trump is many things. dishonest, corrupt, incredibly greedy, epically insecure, racist and  the most  emotionally unintelligent person to occupy the White House since Andrew Johnson. 

 But he is not, as many people have said, stupid. He is, when it comes to his own self preservation and enrichment, remarkably clever.  So it should come as a shock to …well,, nobody that Trump’s go-to maneuver comes right out of the playbook of Adolph Hitler’s own master spin doctor; 

 “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” - Joseph Goebbels

That is Trumpism in a nutshell. When faced with facts, gaslight your opponents and as loudly as you can, accuse them of what you actually did or are doing. “Hillary colluded with Russia!” “CNN Is Fake News!” “The Democrats are racist!”. The list has gotten painfully long. Most Americans have just stopped paying all that much attention and are just hoping Bob Mueller comes out with enough to arrest Trump for …. Something. 

Political and media pundits love to pontificate on the  constant state of “Oh God! What NOW???” that most of us are in with Trump by looking earnestly at the camera and asking, “Is this the new normal?” The answer to that,  sadly is  both Yes and No. 

Yes, this is the world we are living in now, and no, it is anything but normal. There have been a number of notable casualties in this war on reason and facts that Trump and his enablers have waged for the last two plus years. But the single greatest loss in this war on sanity. waged by Donald  Trump, may well be the Republican Party itself..

There was a time when the GOP wasn't a big bucket of crazy, it was the party that stood for individual freedom as well as individual and collective responsibility. So what happened? Simple, the Republican Party lost its mind, and sold its soul to Donald Trump. In exchange for tax cuts the GOP jumped on the crazy train, and in order to justify it, truth, had to became negotiable.

Abraham Lincoln led a GOP that sought to free the oppressed, unite the nation, and punish war profiteers. We now have a GOP that still seeks to ignore real threats to,  and attacks on our democracy.  Where we ignore or worse yet, enable human rights abuses in other countries because our family and  friends have business deals there.

Dwight Eisenhower led a GOP where war was always a last resort, and an unchecked military industrial complex is a threat to democracy. Now we have the very real possibility  the GOP will support a war in Venezuela for nor other reason than to help Trump change the news cycle,  and get stories about his relationship with Russia off the front page,

Even Richard Nixon understood we live in a world of interconnected global relationships. Constructive engagement and détente' is always more successful than direct conflict. We now have a GOP that believes  in "Trump First,  America Second"  or even third...  if we are lucky.  Where  America's intelligence agencies are attacked because  facts don't support Trump's  talking points.  Where  the Presidential Daily Intelligence brief is tossed aside in favor of the "good word" of  Vladimir Putin.

Gerald Ford led a GOP where duty and the interests of the nation were more important than polls or elections. Where accepting responsibility for the actions you take in office is a president's first obligation. No matter the personal political costs.  We now have a  GOP unable to even admit mistakes, let alone learn from them, where  defending  American interests in secondary to defending the interests and ego of Donald Trump.

George H.W. Bush once urged the nation to see; "In crucial things, unity, in important things diversity, and in all things generosity". The Republican Party of Donald  Trump has as a GOAL, to divide Americans more than at  anytime since the civil war.

Here is the reality of Donald Trump, he will say anything, that he thinks will sound good to his base. And he will do anything to protect himself, even at the expense of our national security  There is no thought process beyond “Is this good for Me?” . He gives no thought as to would it be a wise thing, or an appropriate thing, or even a potentially dangerous thing to do. Donald Trump's train of thought never makes it that far down the track.

We are now in a time when there is no point in asking if this latest episode of the Trump un-reality show will be too much for the Republican Party to bear. It's not. The fact is the GOP has decided that this is who they are, and the real tragedy is, they are right. This really IS who they are, and what they have become.

I'll say it again, Donald Trump is not stupid, he just can't be bothered care about anyone or anything but himself and his immediate interests. What Donald Trump is , is a fool. Like most fools, he will do and say foolish, reckless, even dangerous and profoundly stupid things, with no thought to any potential consequences; simply for the short term gratification of it.   Like most fools, he will make mind-bogglingly bad decisions, without a moment's hesitation, if those bad choices feed his ego. If anything bad does happen as a result, he will deny, lie, accuse and contort himself incoherently in his attempt to blame anyone  but himself.

Now, with the revelations by former Acting FBI Director, Andrew McCabe we see the final death throes of the Republican Party . In briefing to the senior congressional leadership, (known as the Gang of Eight) It was made painfully clear that Donald Trump was a compromised asset of the Russian Government.  

Yet for Mitch McConnell and the rest of the GOP, Tax Cuts for the top 1% and gutted government regulations are clearly more important than America’s National Security.

There are news reports that the investigations by Special Counsel Robert Mueller are about to come to a close. One can only hope that this will also bring an end to this long national nightmare of Donald Trump.   I know I hope so. 

Because frankly? I don’t know about you , but I’m really tired of it all.

Out of Many, One...

Here in London, the news is dominated far more by the issues surrounding the UK’s imminent crashing out of the European Union;  so the constant tornado of chaos that is the Trump Administration  can seem light years away. Yet Donald Trump’s ridiculous stunt of holding the entire US Federal government hostage for 5 billion dollars has not escaped notice even on this side of the world.

The media here (even the Rupert Murdoch owned media) has pointedly mentioned that the rationales for his “Wall”, trotted out by both Donald Trump and his various mouthpieces are in fact, total bunk. The vast majority (more than two-thirds) of undocumented foreign nationals in the United States didn’t sneak across the Southern border in the dead of night. They landed at an Airport entered the country legally on a tourist or student visa and then just stayed. 

Likewise, the claim a wall is needed to keep drugs and terrorists out is just as much a load of bull-puckey. So much so, that even FOX News’s Chris Wallace wasn’t willing to let White House Spokesperson Sara Sanders get away with it.

The whole issue of the wall is nothing more than a racist dog whistle to Donald Trump’s base supporters. And those who are cheering the idea of that wall are people who respond to racist whistles. People who have fallen for the con-job that somehow America’s multiculturalism, our diversity is responsible for the problems in their lives. 

They have bought into the ridiculous lie that arresting people trying to come here and who are picking lettuce, or making hotel beds in California, Arizona and Texas; THAT is going to make life better in Hancock County Tennessee, Dubuque, Iowa or La Crosse, Wisconsin. 

Let’s get a few facts out into the open, shall we? There is no wall, there never was going to be a wall, and there never will be a wall. A wall on the US southern border is a physical and geographical impossibility. Which is why you have started to hear Trump shift to using the phrase “border security”. 

The key thing Trump doesn’t want you to know is, when you hear him say we need five billion dollars for “border security”, what he is talking about is a massive giveaway of billions of dollars in taxpayer money to the private prison industry. Who are major donors to the Republican Party generally, and the Trump campaign specifically.

 Apparently, there is a lot of money to be made kidnapping children and locking them up. 

I have always held firm to the belief that America’s greatness comes from our incredible diversity. E Pluribus Unum - Out of many, one. It is the story or our Nation. A new nationality as Ben Franklin called it. Like nothing that had been seen before in the history of man.  But it is also the story of my family as well.    In 1987 I was studying in Germany, and my Sister went to study in Hong Kong. 

My mother likes to tell the story of the reaction of one of her friends who upon hearing what we were doing exclaimed; “Have you just given your children to the world!?”  

Indeed, in many ways she had. In more ways than either she, or my Dad could have ever imagined. Now more than thirty years later, Those lessons in the value of other cultures, traditions and peoples shaped not only our paths life, but that of the next generation as well.  As  I sit in London writing this I am in the middle of  packing for a trip next week to India. Where I will  attend my niece’s wedding. My brilliant, beautiful niece. Oldest child of my Sister and her husband, my French Brother-in-law.   She is marring an amazing young Indian man , who grew up in Singapore. 

Add to this mix her younger Sister, with her Indian-American boyfriend, her younger Brother with his Mexican-American girlfriend, and her Iranian-American best friend with her Latino boyfriend and you have the most American family wedding portrait you could ever imagine. 

E Pluribus Unum - Out of many cultures, languages, religions and parts of the world, we are creating one great global family. One that breaks down walls, builds bridges across the world, and is more truly American than anything. 

Something that Donald Trump, even being a Grandson of Germans Immigrants, who married a Slovenian, will never understand.

Star Trek Musings, 39 years later...

I was browsing on Facebook and saw a note  in a group I follow that marked today as the  39th anniversary  of the preview of  the very first Start Trek movie.  (Star Trek The Motion Picture) Which opened on December 7th , 1979

This movie will always have special place in my heart. I saw it on  that New Years Eve. I was in grade school  so there wasn't much for me to do on New Year's Eve. My older brother and sister were both doing things with their friends and I was stuck at home. 

Then My parents said we were going to go into local shopping mall near our home in  Madison WI and see the new Star Trek movie.Well , when you are in 4th grade just going to a "late showing" of any movie is pretty cool but this was STAR TREK!

So needless to say... I was pretty excited.

Also my parents were not really what you would call Star Trek fans, or the kind of people who went to late movies, so the fact that they were clearly doing this for me was also pretty cool.

We went to the movie and it was after midnight when we were driving home when our car had engine trouble. But right then a WI State Trooper saw us and offered us a ride home so Dad could get our other car and tow this one back. While we were heading home in the back of the patrol car, someone went speeding by the other direction and the trooper hit the lights and siren and swung round and went after the speeder! I was in kid heaven! 

So bash the movie if you will, call it "Star Trek the Plotless Picture" if you must. But for me it will always remind me of what remains to this day is one of the best New Year's Eve's I've ever had.

Thanks Mom & Dad

Wisconsin's Moment of Truth

Many of my friends are shocked when they learn that I, used to be a Republican. How could a good progressive Gay man like me, ever have been a member of the GOP? The answer is found in a conversation I had one afternoon when I was thirteen years old.

I was attending an event hosted at Vilas Hall, on the University of Wisconsin Madison Campus. The event was to promote a media literacy and education organization I was heavily involved with at the time. 

Like many such events I attended, I spoke early in the program, and was the youngest person there. I would then have to sit there while speaker after speaker began to blur together, and my 13 year old mind began to wander. Realizing. I was in danger of nodding off, I quietly excused myself, and ducked out into the adjacent "green room" to get a drink of water.

As I walked into the lounge area I heard the sound of a Television, and saw an older gentleman sitting on the couch watching the University of Wisconsin Football game. With his curly white hair and trademark red vest, I instantly recognized former Wisconsin Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus.

 I had met him a few times previously, and was friends with his daughter Susan, with whom I worked with on media literacy and education projects. He saw me, motioned me over (remembered my name), and cheerfully announced that the Badgers were up by 7. I sat down next to him, and we watched game for a few minutes in companionable silence.

He then turned to me and asked how I was doing. I. talked briefly about the Media education project I was there to promote. Then I got up my courage and asked if I could ask him a personal question. Governor Dreyfus smiled and said; "So is this an interview Dave?". I assured him we were off the record, he laughed and gestured for me continue. I said; "Why did you want to be Governor?" Dreyfus had recently finished a very successful term, but then not run for re-election. A move that had surprised most, and frustrated many, inside the Wisconsin Republican Party. As the conventional wisdom was had he run again, he would have won re-election quite easily.

Looking back at the television to check the score, he turned the sound down and then asked me if I had ever noticed the murals in the rotunda of the WI State Capitol building. I proudly replied that I had, and eager to demonstrate my knowledge, rattled off the names of the four murals at base of the rotunda.  

Government, Justice, Legislation, and Liberty.

The former Governor of my home state then went on to give me the best civics lesson I have ever had. He explained that he had benefited from the education system and professional and economic opportunities that living in Wisconsin had provided. Consequently, he felt an obligation to "do his part" to ensure that those opportunities and advantages he had enjoyed, were protected and expanded.

He went on to say that our system was set up to make that possible. The executive branch (Government) worked with the Legislature and the State Senate to craft and pass the laws (Legislation) that were then interpreted by the courts (Justice). Combined, this system of checks, balances and cooperation between all three entities, ensured freedom and opportunity for everyone (Liberty).  

 He looked at the television, then back to me, saying, it was to ensure others had those same opportunities he enjoyed, was why he had gotten into politics.

It was at this point his daughter poked her head into the room and chided us both for. "hiding out" and said we should re-join the event next door. I shook Governor Dreyfus' hand and thanked him for taking the time to talk with me. "My pleasure Dave", he said, and we went back into the next room.

It would be a conversation that would stay with me for years, and it was on that day, at the ripe old age of 13, I decided that I , like Lee Dreyfus, was a Republican. I would join the Young Republicans, campaigning for Ronald Reagan in 1984. Two years later, I would cast my first vote. While a student in Germany in 1986, I proudly walked into the. American Consulate in Munich, filled out my absentee ballot and cast my first ever vote, for Republican Tommy Thompson for Wisconsin Governor.

That next year  I would stand  at  Berlin wall while Ronald Reagan challenged the then Soviet Leader to  "tear down this wall!"  The pride I felt as an American would only reinforce my belief that the Party of Lee Dreyfus, Tommy Thompson and Ronald Reagan was where I was meant to be.

I would go on to become an active member and officer of the College Republicans, even chairing the CR election efforts on campus for. Bush-Quayle '88 and '92. My reasons were clear. It was a Republican who had showed me the power of our system of government to make the lives of Americans better, and by extension, the world a better and safer place.

So what happened? Why did I leave the GOP? The most concise way to answer that question is  to simply say,  the  GOP left me. Or more accurately,  the GOP left me, Lee Dreyfus, Tommy Thompson, George HW Bush, Bob Dole and yes, even left Ronald Reagan.

Wisconsin was the birthplace of the Republican Party. I used live in the town of Ripon Wisconsin and would regularly go past the landmark where the GOP had its creation. The Republican Party on the ballot next week in Wisconsin bears no resemblance to the that party. Let alone party of Lee Dreyfus.

The Party of Scott Walker sees our great system of cooperative branches of government, with its checks and balance, as an obstacle not an asset. Scott Walker is a man who serves a small select group of corporate and financial interests. The people of the great state of Wisconsin, are at best a nuisance to be tolerated, and in truth, often seen as a threat to the agenda those interests have tasked Walker to deliver for them

The Republican Party is addicted to crazy. It has embraced the darker politics of division and fear in place of faith in our system and public service to our citizens. Like many addicts, the Wisconsin Republican Party, doesn't want to get better.   The only way for the GOP to stop digging the deep dank dark hole it as been wallowing in, is to finally hit rock bottom.

This isn't just an election. It's an intervention. For the GOP, it's time for tough love. A vote for Scott Walker and the GOP is a vote to return to 50 million Americans with out access to health insurance. It is to turn the stunning natural beauty of the state of Wisconsin into a strip mined, fracked toxic wasteland where contaminated water catches fire when it comes out of the tap.

A vote for Scott Walker is to hand what is left of the WI public purse over to unregulated special interests and then gut public education and services to pay their bar tab. It is to sacrifice Wisconsin's place as America's Dairyland in favor of becoming the. Mississippi of the North. An under-educated, under-employed, over polluted gilded swamp of the very rich, the very poor and nothing in between.

Trump Supporters like to scream about how they want to “Make America Great Again!", which is nothing more than code for not wanting a people different from them to have any rights. Well,   I want to make the GOP great again. I want a Republican Party that believes in the synergy of Government, Justice , Legislation and Liberty.

It;s time to give the GOP a time out. It's for the people of Wisconsin to step up and save the Republican Party. How?   By voting for Tony Evers, and voting for the Democratic Party.