Is today the day?

Western news correspondents in North Korea have been told today to expect a "big and important event". At times, in the past, this has amounted to nothing. Other times, however, this has heralded a test of either a missile or a nuclear warhead.

So, with Trump's “Armada” steaming full ahead towards North Korea, is this going to be what kicks off war with North Korea?

It's apparent that Trump is very keen on conflict. When we're talking about North Korea, or Syria, we're not talking about Russian connections to the treasonous Trump team. Distraction is one of Trump's absolute favorite tactics. Mainly, because it works. Our media has proven time and again to be as susceptible to distraction as the very dumbest of our population. At this point, Donald may as well be jingling his car keys at them.

So, if Kim tests a nuke today then what is the response? Tomahawks? Airstrikes? Both will be a clear declaration of war. North Korea is not Syria. This isn't pantomime any more. If we attack North Korea at all, if we fire a missile, a round, if we throw a fucking rock, we will be at war with North Korea. Period.

We are in the absolute worst position we could be in. We are sitting here today and wondering - “How will Trump respond to provocation?”.

The answer, unfortunately, is probably “Not well”.

I fear that by the day's end we will be at war. Someone should tell Donald Trump that you can't win a war from a golf course. 

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While it is true that Trump's White House is now clearly a lost cause of scandal and incompetence there may still be a silver lining:

Trump may be too busy, or even completely unable, to pursue military actions.

He's in it now and it's showing. He's coming apart at the seams live on Twitter. His mad ramblings, written in such obvious panic and desperation, should be more proof than anyone needs. The way he attempts to fling blame at other people is a clear indicator. He's compromised, there is proof, and he knows it. Why else would he be so worried about a wiretap that he'd tell his tweeps before he asked his advisers? 

He's rattled.

Imagine that you're a general watching this. A general that, not so long ago, watched your commander-in-chief throw you and your buddies under the fucking bus for a botched raid that he himself greenlit. 

Now you're thinking about your career, your family, your troops. Are you going to follow this man into battle? Having served under some questionably suited NCOs and officers I can tell you that disobeying an unlawful order is as much a soldier's duty as following a lawful one. I have to hope that our military commanders are the men that I think they are and that they should be.

I also don't see Trump getting any cooperation from our allies at the moment regarding broad military action - like war with Iran. I've written about my belief that Trump will attack Iran in much the same way that Bush attacked Iraq; Looking for things that aren't there and after a dubiously connected terrorist attack. I can't see that happening with the way things are going. As with most of my most pessimistic writing... I hope I'm wrong.

The support that he needs seems to be dwindling. As Republicans continue to play damage control, while they push through measures to make their friends rich, they are slowly distancing themselves from the Trump administration. Especially now that the Republican healthcare plan has been outed as an absolute disaster. Trump has no real allies that I can see. Is a politician ever a true ally? A person motivated solely by their self interest is never going to burn for you.

It'll be very interesting to see how the Trump administration responds to Rachel Maddow's exposure of Trump's 2005 tax returns. The WH's statement...

is a disaster. How embarrassed are you that this is the kind of statement that Trump's WH releases?

So, what now? They just accused Maddow of breaking the law. Are they going to arrest her? Is this the next iteration of the "Lock Her Up!" movement? Isn't it funny that Trump and his cronies have been saying for this entire time that he can't release his tax returns and then today, when the press gets a portion of them, they are eager to release that portion but only that portion? We need to see those taxes.

What Maddow has now isn't actionable but she's got the right idea. By showing what she has she can show us what we need and why we need it. Hopefully this is only the beginning. 

I believe that the president is corrupt and compromised, I believe that initially only his inner circle were fully aware of the extent of this, and I believe that now, as the evidence pours out of the many holes in the HIRMS Trump, people that previously did not believe are starting to. What they will do with this information I have no idea. 

Trump is sinking, though. 

Watch the rats.

Putin's Puppet.

Donald Trump is a liar.

Countering the anti-refugee hysteria

The refugee crisis is perhaps one of the most pressing issues that we are facing today. A situation caused by a lack of humanity that can only be solved by demonstrating the opposite. People feeling war should not be treated as though they are criminals. Indeed, even as we argue about "illegals" and The Great Orange teases mass deportations we, as humans, must acknowledge that undocumented immigrants are not criminals. Sure, they have criminals among their numbers. Some "bad hombres" to be sure. The majority, however, are just trying to not live in squalor. Is it criminal to want a better life for your children? 

But I digress. I want to talk about refugees. That tired, poor, huddled mass yearning to breathe free. These people are the weakest of us. The most vulnerable. Homes, families, and lives destroyed by war; They're searching for a place to live in peace. Any place. Anywhere but there. That's what they really are. They aren't roving bands of evil Muslims storming across Europe to genocide the white people. They aren't ISIS invaders attempting to blow up the Eiffel Tower or poison the Rhine. They don't want to climb the fences of Buckingham Palace and rape the queen. They just want to exist.

So, let's dispel some untruth about them, shall we? Let's destroy some lies. 

LIE.

"We have to be vigilant. We have to be strong. We have to see what's going on. There's a big problem in the world. You look what's happening with the migration in Europe. You look at Germany, it's crime-riddled right now."

- Donald J. Trump, President-Elect of the United States of America.


Between 2014 and 2015 the refugee population in Germany increased by 440% while the number of crimes committed by refugees increased by 79%. Germany's Federal Criminal Police Agency's (BKA) report on refugee related crime states that the "vast majority of asylum-seekers commit no offenses.".

"Over-represented [in committing crimes in refugee reception centres] are people with Kosovar, Serbian or Macedonian nationality. Under-represented are those with Syrian and Iraq nationality," the report notes.


"The current trend shows that refugees are just as unlikely to commit crimes as comparable groups among the current population. The majority of them don't commit crimes, they are seeking protection and peace in Germany." - Thomas de Maizière, Germany's Minister of the Interior.

LIE.

"The majority of them are young males. And they could easily be people who are being infiltrated by terrorists and recognize that once you bring them in, then you have got to bring other members of the family in." - Ben Carson.

This is absolute bullshit and can be disproved with basic google search skills. Unfortunately, it seems as though the people that listen to Ben Coonson don't know how to google. Not really much of a surprise.

Here's the actual data, though:

Of the 23,826 total applicants seeking to resettle in the U.S. — 15,937, or around 67 percent, are women (of all ages) and male children (age 0 to 11). Men (age 18 and older) accounted for 25.5 percent.

Maybe they're over represented in the total count of registered refugees?

NOPE.

As ALL DATA has frequently shown the majority of refugees are WOMEN AND CHILDREN. Even if you were to count all males 12 - 59 as young males they are still only 32.9% of the refugee population. So, this is an obvious and demonstrable LIE that is being repeated by Republican xenophobes to besmirch refugees and stoke fear. It's despicable that it's being done with such gusto.

LIE.

Again, the majority of asylum seekers are women and children. So that's a lie to start with. The Great Orange lies a great deal so no surprise there.

The vetting process is arduous. Refugees are vetted by gathering biographical information, interviewed, medically screened, checked by Homeland Security and the FBI, run through databases, and then approved. The approval rate is somewhere around 50%.

It kind of seems as though these are things the president should know. Alas, he in a buffoon.  

His buffoonery is on display in another tweet about refugees;

Another lie?! Surely not! Trump wouldn't know the truth of it hit him repeatedly about the head and shoulders with a Chilean Sea Bass while quoting facts about the things he loves. You know, money, Russia, teen pussy, hooker urine...

The fact is that this tweet is a knee jerk reaction to this story. 

"Members of two Syrian families had turned themselves in to U.S. authorities in Laredo, Texas, at the Mexican border, and were being processed by immigration officials, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Thursday.

Two men, two women and four children who "presented themselves" Tuesday at the port of entry were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents and then turned over for immigration processing, DHS said in a statement."

Not sneaking in. Not connected to ISIS. Not terrorists. They presented themselves in the correct way and were processed by immigration officials. 

Again, a fucking buffoon.

LIE.

In 2016 the US let in 12,486 Syrian refugees. Canada has accepted 32,400. Turkey is currently housing 2.7 million. Lebanon?  1.07 million. Jordan? 649,700.

Hardly "pouring into our great country.".

LIE.

"Muslim refugees are running around Europe raping all the white women." - Every xenophobic white supremacist moron on Twitter.

"According to the report, 32 percent of the 208,344 crimes linked to refugees involved asset or fraud offenses, while theft accounted for another 33 percent. The proportion of sexual offenses made up less than 1 percent of refugee-related crimes, with 1,688 cases of sexual assault, including 458 cases of rape or sexual coercion.

According to the latest available figures, there were nearly 47,000 sexual offenses in Germany in 2014."

The fear of brown people raping white women is nothing new in Europe. When French African soldiers occupied Germany after WWI there was the same baseless mass hysteria about rape. Racism doesn't change much.

A German woman has even tried to fight this hysteria by debunking false reports of refugee misconduct with a website called "Hoaxmap". The name is pretty self explanatory. It's a map that shows reports of crimes allegedly committed by refugees that have been refuted, complete with source. She does good work.

"So that extremists can't manipulate people with rumours and half-truths, we need to counter them with facts,“ - Thomas de Maizière, Germany's Minister of the Interior. 

Refugee is defined by Webster thusly:


one that flees; especially :  a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution

They're just people that had to leave their homes to stay alive. They have already risked everything to get to where they are. We owe it to them as fellow humans to help them. Because we can.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" 

- Emma Lazarus                                                      

Edit - Here is a NYT article that details the entire vetting process.

FAKE NEWS!

Trump today denied charges of corruption and Russian collusion by shouting down reporters he didn't like as "FAKE NEWS!" while paid spectators clapped and cheered. His supporters ate up that slop like pigs at the trough; Happily and without question.

The rise of fascism in the United States is real and imminent. Ominous. Trump discredits honest, but biased, press while he refuses to divest in his many businesses. He is clearly compromised by Russia but his followers don't care. Anyone but "Killary" they cry, still. The election is long over but any criticism of their God-King is immediately and fervently met with criticism of Hillary Clinton. The only way that they can justify electing a man like Donald J. Trump is to highlight the flaws of his opponent. "Look what could have happened!", they cry. Trump himself has no actual merits. There was no reason to elect Trump other than that he was not Obama or Clinton. That's it.

His campaign promises are disintegrating as we speak. Lock her up? Nope. Drain the swamp? Absolutely not. The swamp is now being populated with some of the most dangerous and dastardly characters that the right can find. The far right. So far right that they're warming up the trains and dusting off the gas chambers. Build the wall? Maybe. Mexico isn't paying for it, though. You are. Suckers.

America chose a salesman over a politician because the average American thinks that one is better than the other. Now, Trump's supporters are driving off of the lot at 19% interest with a six year loan and a big ol' smile on their big dumb faces. "My payments are super low!", they gloat stupidly. Meanwhile, the used car salesman is at the bar buying drinks for his friends with their commission check; laughing at the idiocy of these uninformed consumers. "Not to worry!", He says as he roars with laughter, "When it breaks down they'll blame the Mexicans!".

If you cannot see that calling his first press conference, screaming at the press, denying vehemently, and tweeting frantically is an admission of guilt then I don't think there is any hope for you.

If you cannot see that Kellyanne Conway being dispatched to spread misinformation to major media outlets as damage control is not Trump basically pleading guilty then the wool is thick over your eyes.

If you cannot see that Russia addressing these allegations so immediately and directly is a complete acknowledgement of their collusion then you are a fool.

This is fascism rising. This is how our democracy dies. Our president is quelling free speech and twisting the truth to fit a lie. Watch the Kellyanne interview for example.

Repeatedly, Anderson Cooper says that the story that CNN reported WAS NOT the same story that Buzzfeed ran. He says it over and over and over again. She continues to say that they are the same story. THEY ARE NOT. She deliberately says "CNN and Buzzfeed" together in the same sentences over and over again. This is an attempt to link the two in your brain and make the two stories inseparable. By doing this they only have to discredit ONE of the stories. 

She also says that they don't discuss intelligence briefings. While she's arguing about what happened IN AN INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING. While she says that it DIDN'T HAPPEN IN AN INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING.

What?

This is an absolute attempt by an authoritarian administration to discredit the press and control the media. 

He's not even president yet.

Can you imagine how bad things are going to get when he actually has the power of the office? 

We're fucked. 

Find a Trump voter and thank them. 

/Drunk blog over.

The Liar Reich

I'm tired of hearing white people complaining about losing. I'm sick of being told that the white man is the new oppressed minority. I definitely do not have the stomach for it when it comes out of the mouths of frauds like Richard Spencer. Please tell us more about the plight of the young white man growing up in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, Texas. I'm sure it must have been tough living in a neighborhood that currently houses the likes of George W. Bush and Mark Cuban. I think Cuban is Jewish though so maybe that means Preston Hollow has more diversity now then when I last saw it.

I wish that the angry and poor white people supporting phonies like this would realize that they are being conned. He's using their hatred, their fear, their xenophobia, and, honestly, their gullibility to control them. They see him up there spouting off half-baked philosophies and flawed ideologies that they want, need, to believe and they fall in line. Even throwing him the Nazi salute.

Speaking of which, how the fuck can you claim to celebrate European heritage while throwing Nazi salutes and waving Nazi flags? I'm not sure that these guys could find Europe on a map let alone speak in any length about it's history or their connection to it. Trust me when I say that the majority of Europe neither claims nor wants to claim you. They've done that dance. They didn't like it. I'd also be very interested to see where these men trace their European roots to. Do they trace them at all or do they just say to themselves in earnest "I'm white. I must be European."? It should be a hard sell for people that think the ancient Egyptians were also white and that Jesus was an Aryan. Could you not be a relative of Tutankhamen? Maybe you're the last Scion. Hail Caesar and all that.

That these people are lying to themselves with the same gusto that their leaders spew untruths goes completely without saying but I'll say it anyway. Just because I have the time and the hotness in my belly. You know, the one you get when you need to shit urgently or possibly throw up? Then surprise! You're doing both. I'm doing both all over the Alt-Right as often as I can until they go away.

Their ideas are stupid. Their logic is flawed. Their leaders are frauds. Their knowledge of history is shoddy. Their haircuts are dumb, they have weak chins, and, I hear, their wives enjoy big giant throbbing black cocks. A group of flailing cucks, one and all. Pigs. Swine. Cowards.

Fuck everything they stand for and, if you stand with them, fuck you, too.

Stop It?

Trump's "harsh words" in response to hate crimes are akin to mine when my wife's cat steps on my keyboard while look for pets.

Stop it.

Like kindly Papaw delivering a scolding to his favorite grandchild with the hint of a smile and a wink.

Stop it.

President Obama, adressing hate crimes in America, had this to say;

At root, this isn't just about our laws; this is about who we are as a people.  This is about whether we value one another 
-- whether we embrace our differences, rather than allowing them to become a source of animus.  It's hard for any of us to imagine the mind-set of someone who would kidnap a young man and beat him to within an inch of his life, tie him to a fence, and leave him for dead.  It's hard for any of us to imagine the twisted mentality of those who'd offer a neighbor a ride home, attack him, chain him to the back of a truck, and drag him for miles until he finally died.

But we sense where such cruelty begins:  the moment we fail to see in another our common humanity -- the very moment when we fail to recognize in a person the same fears and hopes, the same passions and imperfections, the same dreams that we all share.

We have for centuries strived to live up to our founding ideal, of a nation where all are free and equal and able to pursue their own version of happiness.  Through conflict and tumult, through the morass of hatred and prejudice, through periods of division and discord we have endured and grown stronger and fairer and freer.  And at every turn, we've made progress not only by changing laws but by changing hearts, by our willingness to walk in another's shoes, by our capacity to love and accept even in the face of rage and bigotry.

Trump, addressing hate crimes in America, had this to say;

I am so saddened to hear that.

George Bush, addressing hate crimes in America, had this to say;

One of the greatest obligations of this administration and of the Department of Justice is the guarantee of civil rights for all Americans. As I said in my State of the Union Address, every one of us must confront and condemn racism, anti-Semitism, bigotry, and hate not next week, not tomorrow, but right now -- every single one of us. For hate crimes cannot be tolerated in a free society.

Trump, addressing hate crimes in America, had this to say;

Stop it.

Bill Clinton, addressing hate crimes in America, had this to say;

We should remember that each of us almost wakes up every day with the scales of light and darkness in our own hearts, and we've got to keep them in proper balance. And we have to be in the United States absolutely resolute about this. That's why I think this hate crimes issue is so important.

We're not talking about everybody agreeing with everybody else on every political issue. We're talking about whether people have a right, if they show up and work hard and obey the law and are good citizens, to pursue their lives in dignity ... without fear of being abused. And this should not be a partisan issue.

Trump, addressing hate crimes in America, had this to say;

And I say, 'Stop it.' If it -- if it helps, I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: 'Stop it.'

Your "President-Elect" is, at best, an incompetent. At worst, he's a treasonous, white supremacist collaborating toad.

I say 'your's' because he is not mine.

No president of mine would attempt to stop hate crimes the way that Willy Wonka attempts to stop Mike TV from teleporting himself.

The President-Elect is a Pathological LIAR.

The first thing I saw Donald J. Trump say today was a lie. This has been par for the course these last 18 or so months. The only explanation I have for this is that he thinks we're all morons. He might be right.

This tweet, taking aim again at the "Lugenpresse", is a flat out LIE. Disprovable with a simple google search, like so.

How dishonest are they, Mr. Not My President-Elect? Not nearly as dishonest as you, to be sure.

It seems, though, that he nor his supports care for the truth any longer. It seems that the only truth is what more people hear. In Trumpland, a lie becomes the truth when it's heard by more people than the real fact. Just say it loud, proud, and often. People will believe it.

This is NOT MY PRESIDENT.