Posts Tagged ‘Barack Obama’
THE OTHER F-WORD
On December 17, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) stated re the upcoming trial of impeached president Donald Trump, “I’m not an impartial juror.” On January 16, Chief Justice John Roberts swore in the Senate. McConnell pledged to “do impartial justice.” Anyone for cognitive dissonance? Then McConnell doubled down. Before preliminaries this past Tuesday, he…
Read MoreSHAME ON AMERICA!
The Syrian Kurds fought alongside Americans and suffered 11,000 dead. American troops hailed their bravery. So what did Generalissimo Donald Trump do? After a phone call with Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump ordered the withdrawal of 50–100 Special Forces advisors from Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria and 1,000 troops elsewhere in Syria. Turkey attacked…
Read MoreTRUMPINOCCHIO
I’m TrumPinocchio & I want to be a Real Boy, not a Wooden Knockoff. But my Nose grows every time I Lie. Which I NEVER. Hold on. Have to hold iPhone I’m texting on farther away. Sure, sometimes I exaggggerate. That 400-lb. Guy in bed who hacked Democratic National Committee’s emails? He only goes 350.…
Read MoreTHIRTY PIECES OF SILVER
On August 22, the S&P 500 Index set a record for stock market bull runs (an aggregate annual increase of at least 20%) by reaching 3,453 days. The streak began on March 9, 2009 when the Great Recession pummeled the economy; the S&P closed at 676. On August 23, President Trump told Fox & Friendsthat…
Read More“THE ALIBI”—A FABLE
Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Joe follows the bailiff into the courtroom for his arraignment. He sits next to a haggard public defender, who nods. Joe smiles. Sure, he committed the crime. But he knows he won’t be indicted. Joe admits he came to the end of his rope. He’d worked a good job in a…
Read MoreIN THE NAME OF GOD
The famed evangelist Billy Graham was buried today. As a kid in the ’fifties, I saw bits of his massive TV revivals. Later, more evangelical leaders spoke publicly in the name of God. Is God pleased? Since the social upheavals of the ’sixties, many evangelicals have circled the wagons. A movement that shunned politics turned…
Read MoreTHE REAL STATE OF THE UNION
Delivering his first State of the Union address, Donald Trump stuck to his script. Although often wandering from the truth, he saluted an improved economy and painted a rosy picture of his presidency and the future. Beware! The real state of the union is far gloomier. Trump’s speech featured heavy doses of self-congratulation. It also engaged…
Read MoreCHEMICAL ATTACKS AND CRUISE MISSILES
Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad’s April 4 Sarin gas attack on the city of Khan Sheikhoun drew a quick response from President Trump. U.S. naval forces rained down 59 cruise missiles on Shayrat air base, destroying or damaging 23 Syrian planes. Many Republicans—far-right conservatives were opposed—Democrats and allied governments found the action intoxicating. It’s time to…
Read MoreLIFE IN THE BUBBLE
After Donald Trump won the presidency, many San Franciscans declared, “We should have seen this coming. But we live in a bubble. We didn’t know what people out there were thinking.” They were right. And they were wrong. A bubble around San Francisco? Not all San Franciscans live in mansions and luxury condos, dine at…
Read MoreALEPPO REVISITED
Two months ago, I wrote about the battle of Aleppo pitting Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, Iran and Russia against a hodgepodge of rebels, from secular to Islamist. Despite the horrific violence, I thought major U.S. involvement unwise: “Only the peoples of the Middle East can create lasting peace for themselves.” The battle’s over. I haven’t…
Read MoreFAKE NEWS
One of my favorite comic strips is “The Knight Life” by Keith Knight. Tuesday’s included a schoolteacher’s statement: “Facts are overrated!! All you need is a loud mouth & some Macedonian teenagers!!” Websites with fake news created by kids in Europe abound—fake news many Americans give credence. On December 9th, Yahoo News (real) reported that…
Read MoreBIRTHER 102
I’m thinking about running for President in 2020, but two factors give me pause. One is my age. I’ll be 76 then. Of course, a President Trump would be 74 prior to re-election, or a President Clinton 72. It’s the second factor that worries me. I may have to prove I’m an American-born citizen. Obviously,…
Read MoreMANY PEOPLE SAY…
Where do you get news? I find print, broadcast and most online sources to be inaccurate and biased. Cover-ups abound. So I turn to common wisdom. That said, let me share some important stories you might not have seen. Many people say President Obama is a Hindu. But wait! Isn’t he a Muslim? And wasn’t…
Read MoreLOYALTY AND BETRAYAL
Something ordinary drew my attention during President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. The ordinary being rather sense numbing, most Americans undoubtedly noticed but had no particular response. We should all be concerned. If you saw the speech on TV, you know that Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Speaker of the…
Read MoreTERRORISM 101
Everyone talks about stopping terrorism. But to do that, we must understand what terrorism is. That will help us make rational, as opposed to emotional, decisions about what might work and what won’t. To begin, terrorism is not a lone wolf or a pair of gunmen with a grudge who shoot up a school or…
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