Dishonorable Discharge, Please!

 

Some things make make me feel a certain kind of way and the disrespect Trump demonstrated to our veterans  was one of them. Our military members take an oath to make the ultimate sacrifice if required to defend this nation. Over the history of the United States lives have been lost in defense of the country in swamps, deserts and on the shores of foreign lands worldwide. Lives were even lost on our own soil to preserve the very existence of America. Fighting through poisonous gas, dangerous chemicals and IEDs is part of the job description as many gave their last measure in defense of this country and our freedoms. 

 

It is disheartening to realize our proud military members answer to a man, that they pledge to obey the orders of his office that could send them to their deaths, who would not endure a little rain to honor their sacrifice. Those supporting Trump with his bigotry, misogyny, vulgarities, lying, antics, laziness and corruption need to have a real gut check on their motivations. The Constitution apparently is just a piece of paper that Trump feels free to wipe his feet and who knows what else on. We are on the road to a dark place because there is a cult voting mentality at play than has millions supporting the destruction of their own futures by voting for leaders that have openly tried to take away their healthcare coverage for pre-existing conditions and stated intentions to cut Medicare and Social Security. 

 

 Living in the Age of White Reparations - Amazon

 

So why are millions of otherwise rational citizens supporting a man and political party with the demonstrated knowledge that they are voting for their own future detriment. No one can honestly answer the question of what drives an almost suicide voter mentality except the people engaged in the practice. Whipped into a hateful paranoia by warnings of the coming immigrant, Black and Brown people takeover of America some feel it is better to make their own brand of ultimate sacrifice by voting away their futures to stop the other. The big miscalculation Trump supporters have made is the the change they are trying to stop can't be halted because it is inevitable. One day former Trump supporters will look around and the United States they were trying to stop will be reality, but they will be less financially sound, less healthy and angry that they allowed themselves to be robbed blind out of fear of social and cultural change.  

Trump, Lebron James and Fear Of A Brown Planet

In typical fashion the 45th President of the United States denigrated successful persons of color when he attacked Lebron James and Don Lemon of CNN in reference to an interview James did with Lemon. James was discussing the new school for disadvantaged youth he opened in Akron, Ohio. James was asked about Trump and he responded that he was using sports to divide people. Trump, who has skin so thin that it is translucent, responded by insulting the intelligence of Lemon and James. Trump then attempted to drag basketball legend Michael Jordan into the fray by stating that he liked Mike. Jordan responded by stating he supported Lebron James. Trump's own wife, Melania, stated she thought Lebron was trying to do good. 

Living In the Age of White Reparations - 

Caged Migrant Children, Kneeling Athletes & White Supremacy - on Amazon.com 

 

Trump has a pattern of attacking positive figures in the Black community in order to gin up support among his solid 33% or so base. Trump attacked President Obama, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Black NFL players and Congressman John Lewis. Combined with Trump's attacks on the gold star Khan family, immigrants from south of the U.S. border and labeling some people from majority Black or brown population nations as residents of shit hole countries it is clear that he is stoking fears of a brown nation and world, but that train has left the station. Projections are that the United States will be a majority minority country by 2044. Trump can fan all the racial fear, social anxiety and hate he wants, but the tsunami wave of demographic change is coming and there is little he can do to stop the United States from becoming the melting pot it was destined to become.

 

The idea that a President of the United States is actively the leader of a racial and social division campaign in America should chill the souls of all of citizens he is supposed to be serving. It is one matter to feel there may be an issue with local officials in regards to race relations, but to feel that way about the POTUS is frightening. All of our taxes support the house Trump lives in, the aircraft that transports him and the secret service that protects him, so Trump should understand he works for all of us and when an employee is insubordinate they should expect to hear the words, "You're fired!"  

Hello 911! I'm Reporting A Stolen Presidency

Donald J Trump

Hello 911! This is the American public. We would like to report a stolen United States Presidential election. The crime occurred primarily during the year 2016. Do we have a prime suspect? Yes we do. He is a White man about 6 feet 3 inches tall, well over 200 pounds. He has an orangish complexion and thinning hair he wears in a comb-over. His age? About 73. His name? Donald J. Trump. Yes. The President of the United States! That's him! Why do We think he stole the election? He was standing there in front of national television television cameras, reporters and millions of people watching asking for Russia to help him destroy his opponent and they did what he asked. How do I know that?. Special counsel Mueller just indicted Russian government agents for stealing emails from Democrats and it started the same day Trump asked them to on television. Yes I know Meuller is working on the case, but I want to report what was stolen to get it on the record. Do you have a pad to write this down?

Available on Amazon.com

Okay, Trump stole the Presidency, at least two Supreme Court Justices, a lot of federal court justices and what could amount to almost $1.5 trillion dollars of taxpayer money with his new tax plan. Yeah, that's a lot of money. So if he's caught how do we get all this back? I mean I want a new election or at least to have this crook and all the people he brought in with them thrown out. I mean he ruined our reputation as a country and where do we go to get our good name back. Okay, I'm ready for the police report number.

 

Why Voting Matters – Kennedy Retires - Trump Gets Another Supreme Court Pick

Here we go again. Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring from the Supreme Court and Trump will get to place another Justice on the bench of the highest court in the land. A lot of people were not excited about Clinton and did not vote or voted third party and Trump won. The entire episode of Trump winning by about 70,000 votes in three states has changed the direction, character and standing of the United States in the world. Trump will select the most right wing judge possible that can get confirmed. Many of the protections we take for granted will be at risk like Roe versus Wade on abortion.

Available on Amazon.com

There is very little Democrats can do to block a Trump Supreme Court pick since the rules only require a simple majority to confirm a Supreme Court Justice. Republicans just won multiple decisions out of the Supreme Court due to Trump's appointment of Neil Gorsuch. People must take their votes more seriously or one day we will wake up in a country we don’t recognize.  

Let Them Eat Beautiful Chocolate Cake

When the Republican tax plan was signed into law near the end of 2017 we were told that the lower tax rates on business would allow them to keep more of their profits and pour money back into jobs in the United States and employee pay. Six months in the year of 2018 and it seems that the tax plan was not working as sold. The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated the following:

Real average hourly earnings were unchanged, seasonally adjusted, from May 2017 to May 2018. Combined with a 0.3- percent increase in the average workweek, real average weekly earnings increased by 0.3 percent over this period.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/realer.pdf

So if increased profits from companies paying lower taxes didn’t go to workers in the form of higher wages, where did that extra money go. Large public companies use their additional profits to buy their own stock back and pay dividends to their shareholders. As warned by many, the trickle down of trickle-down economics never happened, but according to the Congressional Budget Office the tax plan is pushing the United States towards a debt disaster:

 Available on Amazon

At 78 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), federal debt held by the public is now at its highest level since shortly after World War II. If current laws generally remained unchanged, CBO projects, growing budget deficits would boost that debt sharply over the next 30 years; it would approach 100 percent of GDP by the end of the next decade and 152 percent by 2048. That amount would be the highest in the nation’s history by far. Moreover, if lawmakers changed current law to maintain certain policies now in place—preventing a significant increase in individual income taxes in 2026, for example—the result would be even larger increases in debt. The prospect of large and growing debt poses substantial risks for the nation and presents policymakers with significant challenges.  

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53919

Many Americans are cheering the politicians enacting these budget busting and economic crisis inducing policies, so where is the pushback from those of means with platforms? The current tax plan is structured to pump a lot of money into the bank accounts of those at the top of the economic ladder and has bought their silence. As for the rest who will shoulder the debt, get no pay raises and possibly have their Medicare and Social Security cut to lower the self-inflicted deficit, the message is like Trump said about his meal with China’s President Xi,”It was the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake.”

It seems, like Marie-Antoinette, Trump is saying let them eat the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake.

Photo of cake authored by Carl Black from Decatur, GA, US - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Trump and The Art of Hate Baiting

President Donald Trump

 Hate baiting is Trumpism's answer to race baiting. Tell them they are just hate baiting when a Trump supporter goes hateful with words that really don't matter.

Liberals and progressives have long been subject to getting a knee jerk response of race baiting whenever issues around racial discrimination or racial injustice were raised in order to take the legitimacy out of whatever the underlying argument was about. It did not matter if the issues were concerning African American deaths at the hands of police or harsh treatment of migrants from nations south of the United States border, the instant the color of the individuals involved were mentioned the reply from those unwilling to entertain race as a factor in the negative outcome was that race baiting was involved to cloud the discussion. We have now entered a new era under President Donald Trump when so-called race baiting on one side should be replaced by hate baiting on the other.

 Available on Amazon

It should be clear that the type of insulting, vitriolic and often racist language coming from Trump and his supporters should have a label, hate baiting. Hate baiting is using intentionally toxic language such as calling Black athletes kneeling to protest police violence against African Americans sons-of-bitches, said migrants were infesting America and called the press the enemy of the people. Hate baiting has gone from words to actions with migrant children separated from their parents. Hate baiting by Trump and his supporters is designed to provoke a like response from opponents that will allow a coordinated attack by Trump supporters citing a lack of civility. Hate baiting includes flaunting demeaning acts such as former Trump campaign manager Corey R. Lewandowski when on a televised news interview made a dismissive, womp womp, sound when another guest mentioned a migrant child with downs syndrome child separated from his parents at the border. Lewandowsky was vilified by the left for his remarks, but lauded by Trump supporters. President Trump rewarded Lewandowsky with a seat on Air Force One as he flew to a campaign rally where he was applauded by the crowd in attendance. Hate baiting is a strategy and responding in kind is a trap for Trump policy opponents, but it is understandable when turning the other cheek just gets you another slap on your face.  Congresswoman Maxine Waters fell into the hate baiting trap and was attacked on all sides, but I guess she was tired of getting slapped in her face.

Next time Trump or his his supporters say something in the most hateful way possible, take their power and tell them they are just hate baiting. 

Let us try to save those hate baiting responses for voting if we can hold out.     

Teacher's Walkout At Breaking Point - Rotten Apple

Image Attribution: Roberta F.

Public school teachers have staged walkouts in multiple states in protest for higher pay and more funding for public schools. When watching some of these teachers being interviewed, it is difficult to reconcile that individuals in our society with some of the highest education levels among us have to work side jobs and still not be able to make ends meet. One teacher said he could not afford to enroll his wife in the health insurance plan provided for him as a teacher. When reviewing a national list of average teacher pay it was eye opening. Starting salaries ranged from the low $30,000 range to the mid $40,000 range. After years of experience the top pay was still under $80,000.  Don't look at the higher end salaries in a vacuum because they are often in very high cost of living areas. Let us be reminded that these are people with college degrees and some have multiple Master's degrees. With college degrees come student loans and debt. Many of these teachers are still paying off their own student loans and now their children are ready for college. Almost all of these teachers did into their own pockets to pay for supplies for the their classrooms and students. Why have we allowed teachers and our public education system to be starved for resources the way they are. Our public schools and the people that keep them going seem to have become and afterthought, just like the American infrastructure.

Our public schools have become the place children go to five days per week while their parents are working. The kids are dropped off, picked up by a bus, drive or walk to school five days a week and show up back home later in the day. What happens during that school day is not top-of-mind to the vast majority of Americans, but not to the teachers and students. Teachers deal with the issues, attitudes and behaviors students bring with them on a daily basis. Teachers deal with the lack of resources provided to them with undiminished expectations when it comes to performance and student test scores whether they can pay their bills or not. Being a teacher may be a calling, but it should not be a sacrifice through hardship and economic deprivation. We must think of our public education system as part of our national infrastructure and if it is not invested in, it will crumble just like our highways. Funneling money into the pockets of the wealthy at the cost of everything else is a recipe for disaster. 

Thus far the walkouts have been in states that solidly supported Donald Trump in the prior Presidential election. There are dots to be connected that can not be ignored. Funding of public schools is a function of federal, state and local governments. President Trump appointed an anti-public school advocate as Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. DeVos is a supporter of moving public schools funds to private and religious schools. Teachers and those supporting them need to connect the dots and make sure they are voting in their best interests in the future. Teacher need to be thanked, appreciated and PAID! 

 DTPollard.com