Theresa May Signs the UK's Economic Suicide Note

Earlier today, the UK's diplomatic representative to the European Union, hand delivered a letter signed by British Prime Minister Theresa May formally invoking Article 50 of the EU treaty. Article 50 handles the terms by which a member state of the EU can leave the Union.

The letter is six pages long and is a very diplomatically worded mixture of flattery and threats. Politico has an excellent interactive guide the letter and what the various passages may or may not mean. You can check it out for yourself by clicking here.

The UK media has predictably fallen to three different camps in terms of their coverage of today's events. More right leaning outlets have hailed a return to British Sovereignty, more left leaning media have sounded dire warnings about threats the National Health Service, Social Care programs, Worker and Environmental protections, and the as of yet unresolved issues surrounding the rights and status of EU Citizens currently living in the UK.

The more centrist media have chosen the hedge their bets. Sounding "concerned" about potential impact this will have on the UK economy and Britain's standing the world. While simultaneously making pointed commentary of how the EU and the UK both need each other. so .... somebody better figure out how to make this thing actually work.

The fact that nobody wants to point out is, the current Tory government of Theresa May has no plan   They have never had a plan for making this work.   They are making this up as they go along. The reasons for that are not hard to understand.   The previous government under David Cameron had a master plan.  Call for a referendum,  then back  a Leave campaign that would narrowly lose.  Then call a general election  and win under a platform of  "Healing  the rift" in the country they made.  All while promising that the near miss of almost leaving  would give them leverage to negotiate new and better terms  for the UK with the rest of the EU.

It was going to be great! they could still whine and moan about "the overreach of the EU" but not have to actually leave it.  Thus having their Euro-cake and getting  to  complain while eating it.   It was a cunning plan Black Adder!, The Tories would get to stay in power, steal the thunder and  the key issue of right wing parties like the UK Independence Party, (UKIP)  all while keeping their faux Anti- EU bona fides intact.

 Ah... the best laid plans of Mice and ... well morons. When the dust settled after the vote, it turned out that the same anti-migrant hordes the leave campaign  had spent weeks stirring up into a rabid racist frenzy, went and actually voted, and voted to leave.

That result torpedoed the Tory master plan. Not wanting to be the one to clean up the mess he and his party made,   David Cameron beat a very hasty resignation retreat.

 His accomplice in this farce,  former London Mayor and now  MP Boris Johnson, also quickly figured out that if he was Prime Minister, he would either have to admit to the grand pandering lie, and stop Brexit , or be the one who gets the blame when it wreaks economic havoc on the UK economy.

Enter,  Theresa May. 

As the UK Home Secretary, May was all for the " Let's pretend we want to leave, but then don't" plan. So much so that she was seen wishy washy and even too pro-remain by many Brexit campaigners.    But when both David Con Man and BoJo the Clown, exited stage far right,  May saw her chance for Thatcher-esque greatness, and well.... here we are.   It is interesting to note, that hard core "Brexiteers" have more in common with hard core Donald Trump voters than just their blatant racism, sexism and xenophobia. They also share a similar level of sheer stupidity.

The Brexit  cheerleaders both in and out of government, love to  claim that  the EU needs the UK much more than vice-versa,  and how  like Thatcher reborn,  Prime Minister May will ride her Brexit tank into the Article 50  negotiations.  There she will dictate to the trebling, feeble EU the terms by which the UK gets to enjoy the trade and economic benefits of the common market, and at the same time  keep all those icky immigrants out. 

Like Trump voters claiming he won the popular vote,  Brexiteers have also decided to blissfully ignore one huge bit of reality.   It is not in the EU's interest to strike a deal with the UK.   Quite the contrary in fact.  It is far more in the interest of the EU to make leaving  the union as painful as possible.   Thus sending a clear message to fledgling right wing anti EU movements in other member states, that leaving would  be hard,  painful and  ultimately economically self destructive.

Would a "Hard Brexit" (one with out an amicable trade deal) hurt the EU? Yes, a bit. German automakers would likely end up facing UK tariffs as would other industries based on the continent. But there is unanimity in the EU Leadership that the costs of lost trade deals with the UK is a small, even an inconsequential price to pay, to keep the rest of the EU intact.

As if to underscore that point, German Chancellor Angela Merkel dealt an instant blow to Theresa May by rejecting the PM's bid for trade talks to take place at the same time as Article 50 secession negotiations. Britain will be put into the slow lane for discussions about any future trade deal with the EU following actions by the German Chancellor, who intervened just hours after the UK invoked Article 50.

One of the lasting legacies of the Thatcher era is transformation  of the UK from a manufacturing economy into a services economy.   The Iron Lady crushed the trade unions by pushing forward the process that eliminated the factories, mines and mills that employed their members, while enacting tax and banking de-regulation that turned London into a global financial services hub, second only to,  (and some would say even surpassing)  New York.

Underneath all the  cautiously optimistic  statements by the likes of  HSBC,  Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, etc.,   are quiet plans behind the scenes to move  operations, and  with it, massive numbers of jobs to places like Frankfurt,  Paris,  Geneva,  Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE.   All of whom are eager to welcome Canary Wharf's  "Brexit refugees"  with open arms.   The Banking  goose that lays the biggest golden egg keeping the British Pound not only afloat, but relevant,  is  getting ready to the fly to coop.

And yes,  I could be  totally wrong.  Brexit may turn out to be a big nothing burger and the UK after a brief period of adjustment related economic instability  emerges  triumphant and resurgent.    I wonder how many people would truly be willing to bet their jobs, their livelihoods,  their short, mid and long term financial security on that?

Because that is exactly what  Theresa May did today.

Dear Trump Voters. We hate to tell you this... But,

You are all incredibly  sssstttuu.......   Well okay,  let's  put this way:

After 7 years  and  more than  60 votes to get rid of the Affordable Care Act,  the  GOP finally  had its moment.   They control the White House,  they control the House of Representatives, AND they control the Senate.    They have had SEVEN YEARS  to  carefully and exhaustively  craft the  "tremendous" replacement for the ACA they swore was coming on DAY ONE  when they finally got  into power.

Shockingly enough,  it turns out  the GOP is far better at  bitching about other people governing than actually doing any sort of governing themselves.   So much so,  that they have even caused  FOX News to say  WTF!?

Lets be  clear about what happened  yesterday.    The GOP health care plan had nothing to do with health care.  The Ryan/Trump/whateverthehellyoucallit  plan  was  a Trojan horse to do two things; First,   give massive tax cuts to the top 2% of the US economic ladder, and to pay for it by TAKING AWAY health insurance from 24 MILLION AMERICANS.  

Second,  it was a ticking time bomb set to  DESTROY MEDICARE by turning it into a capped  block grant program that  wouldn't be able to cover the needed numbers of recipients even  in the first year.  Then it would require denying benefits to more and more people every year after. It is a move purposely designed to kill the entire Medicare program.

But  the good news is,   it is clear Trump, Ryan  and the rest of the Congressional Republicans  were not able to find their own asses with both hands.  The "tremendous negotiator"  had no idea  how a bill becomes law.  let alone how to move a legislative priority through congress.  So he  deferred to  House Speaker Paul Ryan,  a  man who truly hates poor people and  hates any program designed to help poor people,  even more.

The hard  truth about Paul Ryan is this;  He is not a leader.  Not in any way shape or form, he was the default choice for Speaker of the House as he was the only Republican not visibly crazy, who was willing to take the job.

As Speaker of the House,  Paul Ryan was  completely unable to lead  the Republicans in Congress in any cohesive, collective way.   The Ryan Trojan Horse  was  too cruel  for moderate Republicans  and not cruel enough for  the "Freedom Caucus" (aka, the wing nuts formerly known as the Tea Party).

So  at the end of the day when the whole thing blew up in their faces, what did  President Trump do?  He blamed the Democrats, and  told a stream of more easily debunked lies about  the ACA  of course.   To the point where even  Republicans on  cable news panels were embarrassed.

Meanwhile  in addition to yesterday's signature legislative failure, that whole  Russia thing clearly  isn't going away anytime soon, and... and... and....

So Trump Voters,  how is that cheaper, better health insurance and all those new coal mining jobs working out for you ?

If you voted for Donald Trump you either are a White Supremacist, or  just plain stupid.

Take Your Pick.

London will not be Terrorized....

Video: Jason Hawkes 

Music: Jack Cook

"Composed upon Westminster Bridge" by William Wordsworth, read by Sir Ian McKellen.

In Honor of St. Patrick's Day...

Take it away Boys!

Republican Heathcare Déjà vu….

After 6 years and more than 60 votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republicans have FINALLY released their “replacement” for the ACA. We don’t know how many people it will cover, and we have no idea how much it will cost. CNBC did some basic number crunching and the results we not good. To the tune of $600 Billion of not good…

Here is what we DO know about it. (Courtesy of Poltifact):

The requirement to buy insurance goes away. People will no longer be fined on their tax returns if they lack insurance under the plan. Large companies will no longer have to pay penalties for not offering insurance.

There are still tax credits for people to buy insurance. The plan includes an "advance-able" tax credit, based on age and families size, which people can use to buy insurance. Whether it’s as bigger or smaller than Obamacare will depend on specific circumstances. The plan’s advocates say the credit will be between $2,000 and $14,000 a year "for low- and middle-income individuals and families who don’t receive insurance through work or a government program."

Insurers still have to cover pre-existing conditions, but they will be able to charge more for people who are recently uninsured. The plan allows insurance companies to charge higher rates if a person has a significant lapse in coverage. Higher rates will be charged if a person was uninsured for 63 continuous days during the previous 12 months.

Insurance plans don't have to cover all care; catastrophic policies will be allowed again. The Obama administration required insurance companies to cover basic care without exclusions; they called it "essential health benefits." The GOP plan has allows for more limited policies and policies that kick in in cases of major illness or injury.

Adult children and college students can stay on their parents’ plans. As under Obamacare, children will be able to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26.

Medicaid will eventually be reduced, but it might expand first. The Medicaid expansion remains at first but new enrollment freezes in 2020. Other limitations will also be applied to the program.

The taxes from the 2010 health care law will be repealed. That includes taxes on prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, health-insurance premiums and medical devices. As for how the plan will be paid for, an explanation on the House GOP website says, "We are still discussing details, but we are committed to repealing Obamacare and replacing it with fiscally responsible policies that restore the free market and protect taxpayers."

Also there are some amazing tax cuts and tax breaks for very very wealthy people and corporations in this plan. The Washington Post breaks it down:

Republicans' new health-care bill is a mass transfer of income that cuts taxes for the wealthiest Americans while cutting federal benefits for the middle and working class. Just two provisions in the Republican plan would allow the richest households to pay an average of nearly $200,000 less under the GOP plan, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

For the lower-middle class, the plan would replace the current system of benefits based on income with a new system based on age. As a result, a young person making less money would get less help to buy insurance than an older person who is making more.

Republican proponents of the bill argue that by eliminating regulations on health insurance, their legislation will reduce the price of coverage for the middle class, making up for the financial pain of reduced government support. Some experts, however, are skeptical that the plan will work as intended.

Then we have my personal favorite , a designated tax break for health insurance executives who earn more than half a million dollars a year. No, I’m not kidding, and neither is the GOP: (CNN Money Reports)  

The bill would roll back a provision of the 2010 Obamacare law that placed a $500,000 limit on deductions for each executive's compensation, according to a summary from the staff of the House Ways and Means committee.  

Five major insurers paid their CEO's $73 million in 2015, the most recent year for which pay has been reported. Only $2.5 million of that was deductible under Obamacare tax laws. But more than $70 million of that would be deductible under the proposed Republican legislation

To fully understand it you have to decode the GOP’s own talking points on Health Care. The Republicans have consistently said they believe all Americans should have “guaranteed access” to health coverage. It is critical to understand that by guaranteed access, the GOP does NOT, mean equal access. They mean Americans should have access to all the health coverage and care that they can afford, and ONLY to what they can afford.

Lets set aside the fact that this bill is the first salvo the GOP’s cherished long march to finally kill Medicare, by choking it off with capped block grants to states that will never fully cover the costs. We can have that debate another time. This is about the fundamental core philosophy of the Republicans when it comes to Health Care for Americans.

At the very core of the Republican Party’s philosophy and approach is Economic Darwinism – Survival of the Richest. If you are too poor to afford health care, that is entirely YOUR problem NOT the Government’s. Utah Senator Jason Chaffetz truly believes the reason poor people can’t afford health care is they are spending their money on new IPhones instead...   Seriously…

Not only does the Senator show exactly what kind of human being he is, (terrible) he clearly demonstrates how when it comes to basic market capitalism,  he and his fellow Republicans are total morons. Idiots. Dumb as a box of hair.  Stupid to the point of being a threat to themselves and others. Here’s why.

What are core drivers in any capitalist economy? Supply and Demand. When supply of any goods or service is greater than the demand, the price falls. Likewise, when demand exceeds supply the price goes up. Basic High School Economics, right?  Which brings us to the GOP’s second most beloved talking point. “Increased Competition will lower costs for everyone!”

A nifty sound byte, but totally divorced for the reality of Health Care. Competition only lowers cost when it impacts the gap between supply and demand. But in the case of health care, that will never happen. Demand for health care will ALWAYS far outpace the supply, and the differential between supply and demand will never shift towards supply. Why? Because the population grows instead of shrinks.  

Left solely to market forces, prices will never fall but instead, will keep going up forever. This is why most every other industrialized nation has some variation of a public/single payer option.

Republicans  should be honest and call their approach what it really is; Survival of the richest. Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and their ilk, screamed of  health care rationing under the ACA, when in fact, that is exactly what the GOP replacement IS. Rationing of care based on income. If you believe that is a good thing, fine. But be honest and answer the core question;  How many people will have to be denied coverage and care for your plan to work?

Because that IS what the GOP has proposed. For a predominantly Market/Competition based plan to work and sustain itself, it must take in more money in premiums than it pays out in benefits. For that to happen in a market where growth of demand exponentially outpaces supply…. You will HAVE TO deny coverage to some people to sustain the system. 

So, Mitch? Paul? Who’s it going be?    Who gets to die for sake of your economic ideology?

The core question that America must answer, the question that most every other western industrialized nation answered for themselves decades ago is this;  Is health care a commodity that people should have access to based on their ability to pay for it? Or, is health care an obligation of a civilized and compassionate society, to ensure people can get,  when and how they need it?

Yesterday the GOP gave us their answer. In their world, death by Poverty is just another “natural cause”.

  

A letter to Senator John McCain

The Hon. Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

218 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

(First of all,  I understand the odds of  the Senator actually reading this letter are absurdly remote.  So let me take just a moment to speak to the member of your staff who is reading this on your behalf.    Hi there,  no I am not  one of the Senator’s  Arizona constituents.   I am an overseas, expat California voter who lives in London. Senator Diane Feinstein is my Senator.   But I  wanted  to write to Senator McCain and ask for his help, not as an Arizonan but as an American.)

Dear Senator McCain,

As preface, and confession.  I am not a Republican, (I used to be, but that is not germane to this discussion.)   But I have always admired your service to our country and have the deepest respect for the sacrifices you have made in the course of that service.  You Sir,  are a true American Hero.  

It is awfully tempting when looking at  the arc of your career in public service to ponder historical “what if’s”  It is hard not to imagine that,  had You  been successful in your campaign for the  Presidency in 2000, instead of then Governor Bush,  the world today (and the New York skyline) might well look very different than they do today.  But  that is neither here or there.  We are where we are.

And that,  is the problem.    

Senator.   The President of the United States has, either willingly or  unwittingly been  compromised by an adversarial foreign power.  His National Security Adviser was clearly a risk  to  our national security by his relationship with, and work on behalf of,  that same adversarial foreign power.   

The mountain of evidence that our very democratic process  was compromised is just the tip of a massive iceberg of concerns about this Administration;  and  its political, financial and potentially  illegal ties to Vladimir Putin’s regime.

All this from an Administration led by man who insulted, degraded and mocked not only your service and heroism,  but that of all POW’s

Senator, when  you ran for President again in 2008, your campaign slogan was “Country First”.  It is time to live up to that slogan.   The leadership of the Republican Party under Senator McConnell  and Speaker Ryan  have made it clear that they  will put partisan gain before country, regardless of the cost to our nation.   You sir are  the last remaining Statesman in your party, and all Americans desperately need you,  to once more put country first.   

You have made service to country the defining theme of your life, Sir.   That country now calls upon you again.  

You must stand up, and stop this insanity. The truth  of the Trump Campaign and now, Trump Administration’s  ties to Russia must be immediately  and thoroughly investigated by an independent counsel.   This  will never happen if left to GOP leadership.  

The very security and integrity of our nation is at stake.

Sincerely,

David Fabie

London, United Kingdom

The President of the United States is not Mentally Competent.

There are moments when you know a Presidency is over.    That moment when you see the Man, overwhelmed by the office.   The narrative is lost,  the  grand visions and promises abandoned in a fruitless effort to control events;  which at that moment have taken control of him,  and irrevocably derailed a Presidency.

For  President Reagan it was the moment  cameras caught him being coached by the first lady to answer a reporter's question.

For President Carter it was the moment the mission to rescue the American hostages in Iran came to a crashing halt in the middle of the desert.

For President Lyndon Johnson,  it was the moment he realized  the  overwhelming majority of Americans , and the verdict of history would hold him responsible for the war in Vietnam.

For President Nixon,  it was  the, desperate hubris of the  "I'm not a crook", speech.

Yesterday,  January 25th 2017, five days after his inauguration,  the Presidency of Donald John Trump came crashing down around him. Not in the private agony of the Oval Office,  or some back room  high atop Trump Tower,  but live on Television,  in front of the whole world.

From TheWashington Post:

The way President Trump tells it, the meandering, falsehood-filled, self-involved speech that he gave at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters was one of the greatest addresses ever given.

“That speech was a home run,” Trump told ABC News just a few minutes into his first major television interview since moving into the White House. “See what Fox said. They said it was one of the great speeches. They showed the people applauding and screaming. … I got a standing ovation. In fact, they said it was the biggest standing ovation since Peyton Manning had won the Super Bowl, and they said it was equal. I got a standing ovation. It lasted for a long period of time.”

The lengthy interview, which aired late Wednesday night, provided a glimpse of the president and his state of mind on his fifth full day in office. It revealed a man who is obsessed with his own popularity and eager to provide evidence of his likability, even if that information doesn't match reality.

I could go on and cite more of the WaPo  article , but honestly  it doesn't even begin to capture the magnitude of the moment.  It is something that must be seen.  Not just to be understood, but to be believed.

If Donald Trump was just a real estate developer,  or a reality show host, or a product pitch man, yesterday's interview would be amusing.  Fodder for the inside pages of a New York tabloid. Just another  celebrity anecdote about a man  desperate to affirm his own grandiose image of himself.  A self-perception that he must defend at all costs.  Defend it against anything that threatens his core belief that he is  the greatest, the smartest, the most "tremendous"  and successful man that ever lived.

But Donald Trump isn't just another insecure celebrity.  He is the 45th President of  the United States.  The Commander-in-Chief of the United States Military, and the man who has the sole power to order the use of America's arsenal of the most destructive weapons mankind has ever constructed

Five days in his Presidency,  Donald Trump is mentally, emotionally  and physically incapable of getting past the fact that fewer people attended his swearing in than that of  Barack Obama.   Five days into his Presidency, Donald Trump is mentally, emotionally  and physically incapable of getting past the fact that Hillary Clinton won more votes than he did.   Five days into his Presidency  Donald Trump is mentally, emotionally  and physically incapable of getting past  even the most routine public criticisms that all Presidents face on a daily basis.

His Presidency has collapsed into an obsession  to convince himself that  his inauguration was the biggest ever,   to convince himself that he really did win the popular vote;  all  at the expense of actual governing.   His administration is currently operating with a skeleton staff at the National Security Agency.  His administration is currently operating with NO sitting ambassadors  at any of our embassies around the world, as he demanded that all serving diplomatic heads from the Obama Administration vacate their posts by the moment he finished taking the oath.

Foreign Policy is reduced to a desperate spewing on Twitter that the refusal of the Mexican President to meet with him was a "mutual decision".

 All the while the President's surrogates are left to try to spin some sort of coherence out of this madness.  Reduced to claiming their provably false statements are not lies,  but rather  "Alternative Facts."

I did not vote for President Trump,  but  like many Americans I did "give him a chance".  I tuned in from halfway around the world to hear  his inaugural address.  Desperate to hear  any evidence that his man understood the office he was elected to,  what I heard instead was political rally  boilerplate, the same divisive rhetoric that defined his campaign.

It was the speech of a sore winner.

In the first television interview as President of the United States,  Donald Trump showed the world that not only is he a sore winner,  but more than that,  he is  a dangerously insecure narcissist who  will at some point,  completely self destruct under the weight of the Presidency.   We all can only hope the expression of that involves the use social media,  and not nuclear weapons.

Keith Olberman gets the last word on this...

Just Sayin....

Hey 2016! You Seriously Sucked!! But ... (You did give us James Corden.) So I Guess We're Cool...

Vanity Fair Reports:

"What did we do to deserve James Corden? It’s been quite a year, but at last it’s time to start wrapping it up—and the Late Late Show host has apparently been working for all of 2016 to make sure his viewers do so in the best way possible.

How? By quietly enlisting a sampling of his “Carpool Karaoke” guests to belt out their best rendition of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas.” And like every good present, this one comes with a nice bow on top: Carey herself, who took a quick spin with Corden to do some last-minute shopping.

This one kicks off in style: Corden’s in a festive sweater, and the Elusive Chanteuse is in what appears to be a red leather blazer. Because ’tis the season. Before long, though, the video cuts to various guests of “Carpool Karaoke” past: Adele, Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas, Elton John, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Chris Martin, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Gwen Stefani."

Enjoy!

Hat tip to Joemygod

My 2016 Election Concession...

Dear Trump Voter,  You won.  I Lost.

It is a beautiful  early Winter day here in London. The weather has been unseasonably mild for mid December. (It is in the upper 50’s Fahrenheit this week). But the Christmas decorations are up in Central London and the city sparkles and shines, even without snow. So I was feeling pretty good, even somewhat smug as I saw the predicted high temperature for Madison, WI today. (12 Degrees F.) That feeling quickly dissipated however, upon seeing the news report about the final result of the election recount in Wisconsin.

After all was said and done, it was Donald Trump who actually increased his margin of victory in the Badger State, by 131 votes. (Hillary Clinton added 713 votes to her total, and Trump gained 844 new votes.) The recount resulted in a total net increase of 837 ballots.

A number of old friends in WI have sparred with me on Facebook over the recount, Russian intervention in the US Election, and what the Trump victory might mean. On more than one occasion over the past few weeks, I have been told that I need to “get over it, cuz Trump won.” A fact that the WI recount result has clearly underscored with added emphasis. So there…. Nyygha!

You know what? They’re right. So to all the Trump voters back in my Childhood home of Wisconsin, I concede. Donald J. Trump won the election by  winning 74 more electoral votes than Hillary Clinton. The fact Hillary Clinton beat Trump by nearly 3 million more total votes, while frustrating, isn’t how our system works. Donald Trump won the election. He is the President-Elect and come January 20th will be the 45th President of the United States.

Granted, there are a few things you voted for in your support for Trump that you clearly are not going to get. Hilary Clinton isn’t going to be charged with any of the imaginary high crimes and nefarious deeds Trump cited to milk applause at his rallies. Sorry, but nobody is going to “Lock her up”. Also, lets be real, you are not getting a wall with Mexico. Not because of political or social opposition, it’s just not physically possible.

 Which brings me to what you actually ARE going to get for you vote.

Congratulations, you are getting a fact-free federal government. The one hallmark of Donald Trump’s historic victory, ( and yes, we all can be honest here and admit it truly was historic), was the total lack of any need for facts. Or rather,  just making up your own facts when reality disagreed with you.

When the unemployment rate was really less than 5%, you just said; No it isn’t… it’s over 40%! When over 90% of the global scientific community agrees on the fact that man-made carbon emissions are a leading factor in changes to our climate, you just said; No it isn’t! The whole thing is a Chinese hoax!

 When you lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes you just said; No we didn’t! Everyone who didn’t vote for us, voted illegally, so we really won!   You voted for , and will now get a Federal Government that will simply make stuff up, when reality doesn’t support the talking points.

Speaking of the climate. You voted for coal, and for oil.. Bigly, as the President-Elect likes to say. You voted for a foreign policy that will put the profits of Exxon-Mobile as the foremost interest of the United States around the world. 

 You voted to reward the dictator of Chad for waging war on his own people. You voted reward Russia for waging war on its neighbor by allowing them to revive a half a TRILLION dollar oil deal between their state owned oil company and Exxon.

Let’s not forget Coal, because you voted to reopen coal mines in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Not only that, but you voted to eliminate air quality standards, clean water regulations and gut the federal agency responsible for overseeing it all.    So this is what you are getting for at least the next four years. An executive branch that is composed  almost entirely, of  exactly the sort of  people you believed you were voting against. 

But you won!  So you get to eliminate health insurance for over 20 million people. With no alternative to fill the gap.  You voted for "repeal" without any sort of replace.   There is no Trump or GOP health care plan beyond going back to the lack of a system the US had before the Affordable Care Act Many aspects of the GOP “proposal” are clear: It would permit health insurers to cover far fewer services than they have to cover under Obamacare, and it would reduce federal subsidies for buying insurance, pare protections for people with pre-existing conditions, roll back funding for Medicaid, and convert Medicare to a voucher-type program.

Trump hasn’t said what this would cost, or how many people would end up with insurance – what we do know is that number will be far smaller than it is under Obamacare. So when all those newly re-employed coal miners get Black Lung, better hope their voucher is enough to cover it.

But you won. So by all means tear up all the trade deals and go try to renegotiate them. Then try not to wonder what happened when the good faith and credit of the United States collapses. But you won, so you get to spend millions of dollars in tax payer money to pay companies to not move jobs overseas And to then call it a victory when those same companies only move most of the jobs overseas.

But you won, so you get to turn Social Security over to the same system and players who completely crashed the economy in 2007, People who actively sought to make money on people losing their homes. So sure, why wouldn’t you want them to be able to make money on people losing their retirement. What could possibly go wrong?

But hey, you won! You get a President who will use social media to attack anyone who criticises him. You also voted to get a Vice President who has promised to make  it legal to treat anyone who is   Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgendered as not just less than equal in the eyes of the law, but less than human in the eyes of the law. You voted to make the government the entity that decides what is best for a Woman’s health. You voted to make sure Corporations have greater civil protections than you do .

But, as you keep reminding me, you won. So you get a new domestic police force with the sole mission of rounding up people. You get internment camps for undocumented immigrants. The irony here is that for years the fever-swamp on the American Right Wing was convinced Obama was building secret concentration camps for Gun Owners, Christians, and anyone who reads Breitbart news.( Funny how that never happened?) Yet you clearly had no qualms voting for the same idea for anyone who in your view “might not belong here”

For the past few weeks I was pretty upset about all this, But you wake up, the sun is shining, the weather is mild. I still have both private health insurance AND universal health care. I still live in a country where the Conservative government pushed for Marriage Equality. I still live in a country that is actively developing alternative energy and doesn’t care if Trump throws tantrums about Wind farms near his golf course. 

 I still live in country that despite it’s own internal struggles with xenophobia, understands you cannot wall yourself off from the rest of the world.    So congratulations on your great win Trump voters! The rest of the World may, for a little while, lament your choice. But soon, will move on, quite content without you.

China, Russia, (definitely Russia), India, and many others will smile and applaud, as a Trump Presidency completely destroys what is left of the American Manufacturing sector. Mexico, Japan and South Korea will quietly cheer when the talking heads on FOX News gleefully announce the idea of a living wage in the United States is dead and gone.

While at the same time, taking heads over on the FOX Business Channel will be insisting that bank executives who, when they crash the economy again, and need to be bailed out by taxpayers, must still receive multi-million dollar bonuses, as those are necessary to "keep America moving forward".

You won. So please do shout hallelujah as Mike Pence leads the charge to legalize discrimination against anyone who isn't a white, (supposedly ) heterosexual, evangelical Christian. Chant “drill baby drill!” as the National Parks are handed over to Oil Companies, Timber Companies and Mining Corporations. You won’t need to worry about helping your kids with their homework as the GOP finally will finally be able to eliminate science from public schools.

You won. So you get to go ahead and teach American kids, that the Earth is only 6,000 years old, and the human race began with two fully formed people, who rode around a garden on dinosaurs, chatting it up with talking snakes. All those students in India, Japan, South Korea and China thank you for freeing up all that space at Universities. As American students won’t be able to fill out the applications let alone get in. But hey, all that “book-learnin’ “ is just a liberal plot right?

You Won,  so you get to try to remake  the United States of America in Donald Trump's image. So please go ahead,  beat your chest proudly and talk of "American Exceptional-ism'. But when you start to wonder why all that American Greatness hasn't  trickled down to you, and get upset about it,  please remember;  You won.  This is what  you voted for.  

There is no point beating around the bush anymore so I wont.   I conceede.  You won, I lost. So I say to my Republican and Libertarian friends, good luck. The rest of the world thanks you, for all you have done ... to eliminate the United States as their competition.

Republicans Blocked Release of Report on Russian Cyber Attacks

The Washington Post's Ellen Nakashima talks to Rachel Maddow about her bombshell reporting on a secret CIA assessment that says Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win.

Like anyone is even remotely surprised by this stuff anymore.  Mitch McConnell is a traitorous partisan hack who  has, will continue to gleefully  endanger U.S. National Security for his own personal gain.

Meanwhile in Donald Trump's America

If you Voted for Donald Trump you are Standing with THESE people. You say you are not a Racist, but YOU Trump Voter, voted to make racism, bigotry and hatred acceptable in the American Mainstream.

You cannot hide your culpability in allowing ... THIS to claim a legitimate place in our American civic discourse... You say you never would approve of mobs giving the Nazi salute, but YOU Trump Voter, have made it OK for others to do so, YOU Trump Voter, did this.. YOU Trump voter, OWN this...

Spare me any pathetic attempts at self justification for your role in leaving this .... rancid Shit stain on American Democracy. Don't bother posting it here.

There is NO excusing this.. or excusing ANY actions that have enabled it.

When you don't know whether to laugh or cry...

The amazing, and gifted writer/satirist R. McDougal shared this with me today...  It isn't often you find a perfect blend of  brilliant satire and all too cogent political commentary.
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"Look, just because we disagree politically, it's unfair to call me racist, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic and all that. Yes, I know what has been said, but you shouldn't assume that I agree with EVERYTHING that's said. I don't have anything against those groups, but you know, this isn't about individuals and their special interests, it's about a revolution against big, global government that is overstepping it's bounds. It's just time for a major change...

I mean, the last eight years have been devastating to my home economically - well, we're not starving, but we could be doing SO much better, and I'm tired of watching the poor get handouts from Obama and the United Nations. For me this is mostly about our economy, but I also agree that what we need is a strong military force, to get rid of these people who aren't even citizens, and a government that will get back to our nation's true religious morals and values.

So don't overreact and assume I'm a bad person just because I'm a White person who supports Trump.

I just personally see Him as the lesser of two evils."

_______________________________________________________________________

"Look, just because we disagree politically, it's unfair to call me racist, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic and all that. Yes, I know what has been said, but you shouldn't assume that I agree with EVERYTHING that's said. I don't have anything against those groups, but you know, this isn't about individuals and their special interests, it's about a revolution against big, global government that is overstepping it's bounds. It's just time for a major change...

I mean, the last eight years have been devastating to my home economically - well, we're not starving, but we could be doing SO much better, and I'm tired of watching the poor get handouts from Obama and the United Nations. For me this is mostly about our economy, but I also agree that what we need is a strong military force, to get rid of these people who aren't even citizens, and a government that will get back to our nation's true religious morals and values.

So don't overreact and assume I'm a bad person just because I'm an Iraqi that supports ISIS .

I just personally see it as the lesser of two evils.“

To My friends, who voted for Donald Trump....

Over the past few days. I have gotten a number of comments on Facebook claiming I am being unfair to Trump Voters by saying they voted for things like Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Homophobia and White Nationalism.

 Some folks have even expressed downright anger at being "accused" of being  all those terrible things.    Sigh,...   Lets be clear,  In no way am I accusing you of being racists etc.etc..  Yet the fact remains you voted FOR those things. 

A few of you have come back with very thoughtful responses,  detailing your outrage at Secretary Clinton's lack of trustworthiness, and her litany of "scandals" , as justifcation for your vote for Donald Trump;  Who you say you dont actually like, but you just coudn't support "Crooked Hillary".  

Ok then, ... lets examine some painful facts...

1) Your moral outrage at Hillary Clinton's emails would reek less of partisan hypocrisy if you had been equally outraged at Condi Rice and Colin Powell who did the same thing,

2) Your indignation at 15,000 (supposedly) missing emails from Hillary Clinton's private server would reek less of partisan hypocrisy if you were equally concerned over 33,000,000 emails deliberately deleted by the GW Bush Administration. Emails that deal ...directly with decisions that took America into two wars.

3) .Your moral outrage at completely debunked claims about the Clinton Foundation would reek less of partisan hypocrisy if you were as concerned about actual violations of the laws governing 501c3 charities committed by the utterly bogus Trump Foundation.

4) Your outrage at the tragic loss of four American diplomats in Benghazi would reek less of partisan hypocrisy if you had demanded the Republican Congress that cut funding for consular security had been equally concerned about the 60 American deaths in the 13 different attacks on embassies and consulates that happened from 2000-2009.

No my friends (and yes, I DO mean friends) you are NOT racists, or sexists or white nationalists.. But you for voted FOR all those things.

I speak as someone who hoped in my heart of hearts that the Republican Party (a party, that I can confidently say, my credentials of past support for are equal to, and even far out weigh any of yours..) would turn aside from this madness and step forward to credibly seek to lead our nation. Instead it has embraced the darkest demons of our nature.  

30 years ago I stood in a crowd in Berlin and heard the American President, MY President, demand that walls be torn down. Now we have a reality tv personality with a world view predicated on the lie,  that building walls is somehow an answer to America's problems.

I love you all, but the idea that a vote for Donald Trump was anything but a vote FOR racism , sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, islamophobia and rank hypocrisy on an epic scale is to be simultaneously engaged in self delusion and self justification,  on a level as to boggle the mind.

It's the End of the World!!.... Or is it?

Ok… deep breath.

I have been struggling for the past couple of days since the election, to process what just happened. Donald Trump is President Elect of the United States. I am sure some you have had Trump supporting friends/acquaintances gleefully telling you how we all have to come together and support the new President.

When I point out to these people how when in 2008, we asked the same of them, what we got was an eight year long torrent of racism , obstructionism, blatant disrespect and outright hate;  When presented with that little historical fact, some of these people have actually replied; “So what? You always said you were better than us, here is your chance to prove it!”

Seriously? Shut the hell up. You own this. The next four years are all yours.

You got your wish. It looks as if You elected the least intelligent, least self aware, most emotionally unstable person in the country as our next President. Oh… and all you disgruntled Bernie Sanders voters who flocked to Jill Stein in a fit of pique, thus handing Florida to Donald Trump, You are just as much a part of this as anyone whooping in joy, wearing a (made in china) “Make America Great Again” cap.

It has created fear and, here in London as well as around the world  there is mass uncertainty  as to whether or not America can be trusted as rational sane and dependable  international partner.

Or....  Just like with the  all the election polls,  are we all making another totally wrong prediction?

Now this is going to sound really weird…. But hear me out. There is another possibility here. Remote, but interestingly enough, one that hard core Trumpers are not going be happy with. It is entirely possible that Donald Trump, the great con man, just played us all.

There is a school of thought that says , the President Elect honestly never thought he would win. Now faced with the mind numbing responsibility of being the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump may well be having a serious “Oh Shit!! What do I do now??” moment.

His meeting yesterday with President Obama was originally scheduled to last less than half an hour, and ended up running more than an hour and a half. Afterwards the President Elect even said he would be calling upon President Obama for advice and counsel, even after he assumes the Presidency. Gone is all talk of the infamous “Muslim Ban” (as of this posting all reference to it had been scrubbed from the Trump Campaign website). Gone also is any mention of “locking up” Hillary Clinton.

Which creates an interesting fork the road we as a nation have just started down. If there is one thing you can say about Donald Trump it is, he is always thinking about his “Brand”. It is foremost in his mind. How he can expand it, how he can protect it. Never before have we had a President who is so motivated by not just public opinion about him, but public perception of him. 

During the campaign, Trump would drop everything to respond to even the smallest perceived slight or criticism of him on Social Media. On January 20th he is assuming dead center of the biggest target for public criticism there is, the American Presidency.

The voters who made Donald Trump the Republican Nominee are not the voters who won him the Presidency. The GOP base expects Trump to deliver on all the nutty stuff he promised during the Primaries and tried (unsuccessfully for the most part) to pivot away from during the General Election. The Voters who have put Trump in the White House, were not voting for Trump, they were voting against pretty much… well, everything.

The overwhelming majority of Americans support a women’s right to make her own reproductive choices, they support marriage equality and they want some form of Universal Health Care , and comprehensive immigration reform. If President Trump takes the path of trying to turn back rights for women, LGBT Americans and people of color, it is safe to say he will be most disliked, and openly and publicly criticized President in American history. Something which (to put it mildly) he would have a very, very VERY hard time dealing with.

So it’s not crazy to think President Trump could just… pivot again. Acting as if all that crazy stuff he promised the right wing nuttosphere never actually happened. During the campaign he did it all the time, with problematic things he said, or positions he held in the past.

It could well be, that Donald Trump knows that right now, Democrats would love nothing more than for him to give them reasons to treat him, the same way his Party treated President Obama for the last eight years. Progressive activist groups like the ACLU have already said they are geared up to file endless lawsuits against the new administration should Trump try to follow through on precisely the far right proposals that the GOP base who made him the nominee, are counting on him to deliver for them.

All those gleeful facebook posters saying “all those liberals are going to get it now, just you wait and see!”; May soon find themselves even more angry with Donald Trump, if it turns out the he isn’t willing to write his own political and cultural obituary by delivering on their thirst for insanity, and instead quickly “pivots away” from all those things the majority of Americans want nothing to do with.

A famous saying goes; “We campaign in poetry, but govern in prose”. It will be interesting to see if Donald Trump governs answering first and foremost to the constituency he has represented his whole life; Himself.   Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and their assorted interests and backers may find that President Trump isn’t willing to go along with them , if it means his “ratings” (i.e. approval numbers) would take a hit.

An optimistic scenario I know. Highly improbable, but hardly impossible. Barack Obama aptly said that the Presidency doesn’t change who you are, it magnifies who you are. Donald Trump’s life has always been about what is best for Donald Trump.   Oddly enough that character flaw, may well turn out be America’s best hope for surviving the next four years.