TrumpOphobia Syndrome

I'm sure some psychiatrist has already identified and named the trauma syndrome that mysteriously appeared in our culture last Inauguration Day.  I know I have it, with media fatigue and a general hopeless malaise sitting on my shoulders like Poe's raven. 

Unless one is a Republican (for whom things are going merrily along), there are suddenly SO MANY issues to care about -- and so few ways to actually change anything, given the GOP majorities in the House and Senate and the giant, unrestricted funding behind them.

How is it that we have suddenly become embroiled in so many real conflicts in just 11 short months?

I wasn't politically oblivious during Obama's administration, and I don't think he did everything perfectly given his inexperience and his obstructionist Congress, but I don't recall waking up at night in a cold sweat worrying about:

• DACA - and the 800,000 immigrants who were brought here as children and now possibly being deported to a completely unfamiliar country/
• ACA - and all those millions of people who will be left with either NO insurance or prohibitively expensive insurance, especially those who have a hard time with finances now. 
• EPA - currently run by a man who hates the very existence of his own agency and who is sabotaging its purpose and goals -- to the detriment of us all. 
• Climate Change - Not a priority for this president, and not even believed to be true by officials with budgetary power. 
• "Review" of national monuments, which will result in downsizing and being opened up for industrial exploitation. 
• CHIP - medical care program for children which has expired and has not yet been re-authorized. 
• ANWAR - drilling in the Arctic wildlife preserve for oil, when the market is already glutted.  Threats have also been made for offshore drilling in California. 
• Tax Reform - Bad enough for the average American in its current unfinished form but with potential devastation to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security as "entitlements" will be targeted to pay for the corporate and one-percenters' tax breaks. 
• Every single political move made with an eye toward profit/gain instead of toward the welfare of the American people. 
• Gun control -- where is it, Republican Congress?  Five years after Newtown, concealed carry laws are about to be liberalized?  Really?
• Packing the courts with unqualified federal judges, some of whom have records of racist and homophobic remarks. 
• Racism and xenophobia at the highest levels, making their noxious ways into policies (Muslim travel ban, immigration policies, the stupid Mexican Wall). 
• Misplaced, unwarranted and dangerous pandering to evangelical "Christians," resulting in limitations to health care access, particularly for women, and imposition of religious values not shared by millions of Americans. 
• Actual nuclear WAR with North Korea, and God knows what violence now in Israel/Palestine. 
• Enduring complete humiliation by having an ill-informed, lying, racist president, completely without honor and integrity, who has supported an alleged pedophile for senator, who himself is accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and assault, who has called racists and Nazis "good people," who has likely colluded with Russia, and who has alienated most major countries by his despicable actions and speech.  I hate that this despicable man makes me hate. 
• ...and so much more.  

I wouldn't feel so hopeless and frustrated if I believed in an avenue to STOP this horrible direction.  We're told to look to 2018 mid-term elections and the 2020 presidential election -- but I haven't seen much evidence of dynamic, engaged leadership yet -- have you?  I do think people (libtards, like me) are rallying and coming together -- but an angry crowd is just a mob without effective leadership, enough money to make a difference, and political savvy to make a change.  Are there Democratic versions of the Koch Brothers...and all the rest of that cabal...who so effectively manipulate elections (e.g., Roy Moore)? 

Is this what happened in Germany in the 1930's?  I've always resented the ordinary German people who allowed and even championed Hitler's rise to power, and I personally remember the aftermath of his genocidal actions, but is this how it started?  I'm feeling a bit more sympathetic toward those German common folk these days as I just don't see how we are going to turn this around.  

Things are being done that will have lasting effects -- and not for the good of most of us.   

Things are being done in our name that a majority of us find anathema.  

Very bad things are being done by this Republican machine -- how the hell do we stop it?  

Whatever it's really named, I definitely have TumpOphobia Syndrome, and so far nothing seems to soothe.  

Houston, We Have A Problem

Aside from working as a "community organizer" the only skills Obama has thus far shown the public are 1) speechifying, and 2) getting elected due to his proficiency in #1.

It's no accident that his 9/7/09 speech to the AFL-CIO harkens right back to these two skills -- whenever a tough situation arises, make a speech, rouse the crowd to cheer "Yes, We Can" and think you've done your job.

I don't claim to be an expert on the inner workings of Congress, but isn't "debate" one of the players in the great legislative game?  There exist many avenues by which proposed legislation becomes law, (see this link, if 7th grade was a long time ago for you, too,) and debate is certainly part of the process.

Now, in this speech to Labor, Obama is telling us the time for debate is over?  To the best of my recollection, we don't have a viable bill in either the House or the Senate, nor has the eagerly-awaited magic Obama White House bill yet been unveiled -- but the debate is over?

Houston, what the heck?

I find it incredibly frustrating that those who speak in opposition to West Wing proposals are continually accused of "spreading lies," of being "right-wing extremists" or "special interest groups" determined to sandbag the Democrats' plans.  Those epithets trickle down from the Obama spout all the way to network media.

Why can't the opposition be considered exactly that -- those opposed to health care/insurance reform, as it has been presented, based on ideological or budgetary grounds?  Why must everyone not marching in lock step with President O be constantly demonized?

This is taken from the above AFL-CIO speech (in case you didn't click the link):

"I've got a question for all these folks who say, you know, we're going to pull the plug on Grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants -- you've heard all the lies," Obama said. "I've got a question for all those folks: What are you going to do? What's your answer? What's your solution?

"And you know what? They don't have one."

The president seemed eager to recapture some of the enthusiasm that propelled him during his campaign. A prolonged recession has sapped morale, he said, as have pundits who warn that "this isn't working and that's not working."

In the face of a collective "funk," Obama reprised a story from the 2008 campaign about a South Carolina official who electrified one of his appearances through a chant of "Fired up; ready to go!" The story was not part of his prepared speech, and the White House later said Obama had launched into it spontaneously. If nothing else, the chant buoyed his aides, who whooped and shouted as the president trotted out the anecdote.

With about 20,000 people listening in and outside the pavilion, Obama said "every debate at some point comes to an end. At some point, it's time to decide. At some point, it's time to act. Ohio, it's time to act and get this thing done."

Yeah -- let's shut down debate and just "act and get this thing done" while we don't have a consensus, while the Congressional Budget Office has controverted Obama's own team's analyses and before Obama's own bill has seen the light of day.

Sounds like a good plan to me -- sounds about like the rest of this administration's actions to date.

Maybe I missed something in the last nine months -- what the hell's the hurry about passing this critical, sweeping, overwhelming legislation that will affect nearly everyone in America in some way or other?

Reform may be inevitable, but shouldn't it be measured, thoughtful and the best solution possible?

Obama may be "fired up and ready to go" but my money isn't all that eager to leave my bank account until we have a plan that just may actually work.  We all know these programs NEVER get repealed.  This reform will be with us until, well, forever.   Can't we wait and do it right, instead of being forced to do it wrong, right now?
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Something "Fishy" on Pennsylvania Avenue

If your only news source is one of the Big Three networks, you likely haven't seen the flap that's sent the blogosphere reeling in the past few days. It hasn't been the lead story on any NBC, ABC or CBS channel that I've seen, but it's certainly all over the Internet.

HERE's the link to the original White House blog where we're asked to send "fishy" emails directly to the White House since they may be filled with "disinformation" about the health care proposal.

HERE's a link to Senator John Cornryn's response to the White House blog where he expresses his alarm at this frightening action. THIS link talks about the Democrats' panic at resistance.

And, just for fun, HERE's a link to a hilarious YouTube video poking a little fun at the whole thing.

Only... the background battle of these skirmishes isn't all that funny.

I can't figure out if President O is simply determined to set the all-time record for "most money spent or allocated and most debt incurred in the shortest time by any president EVER" -- or whether it's the force of his monumental ego that is driving him to imprint his Obamacare logo on our collective asses.

The simple of mind and heart would have us believe he wants health care reform for the good of all. The more cynical of us bleat a wet, sloppy Brooklyn raspberry and say it's just one more facet of his not-so-hidden, far- far-left agenda, aka socialism in the closet. Don't ask and definitely don't tell.

I just can't figure it out -- what is the rush to reform? And more to the point, why does this reform include suppression of dissent?

President O wanted the whole enchilada done by the August congressional recess. Now, the date is September. Where is the time for actual debate? Where is the time for the citizenry to provide input to their representatives? Where is the time for these elected controllers of our lives to even READ the legislation? Why are we in such a hurry to incur another trillion or so dollars of debt that this shaky economy can't possibly support?

Everyone involved in the push to ram this program down our throats, from White House staffers to elected Pelosipeople to mainstream media "reporters" to liberal bloggers, have choked down O's message and are sell, sell, selling it harder than any car salesman with a hot prospect. Oh wait -- I forgot -- the Gov IS that car salesman now, isn't it.

I think they could worry less about DISinformation if they got a little more real information -- and not just prepackaged commercial sound bites -- to the American people.

With its usual Chicago pol tactics, O's team has started its own smear campaign against plain-vanilla protesters who don't like what they've heard about Obamacare. These aren't organized folk -- these are worried folk who don't want to hold out their hands for a government handout, and who don't want their money and health care decisions put into a government bureaucrat's hands.

These are concerned people who want to be heard, not railroaded. Life today in the old US of A is tenuous enough without Congress rushing into long-term decisions that will affect real people's lives at the most stressful of times.

I'll admit I received some "fishy" emails from my conservative brethren. I didn't forward them along to other friends because I didn't believe what I read. There really are some whopping lies and distortions making the rounds along with all those "please forward or you'll die in five minutes" prayer emails. But neither did I forward them to Big Bro in the White House.

When hopey and changey was voted into office, was free speechy given the boot?

If you're not getting BOTH SIDES of the news these days -- and yes, Virginia, there really are two sides to each story, check out the "Great Political Links" I've listed on the right-hand side of this blog. Those particularly worth your time, in my bloggy opinion, are "Ace of Spades" "Powerline" and "Real Clear Politics." "Iowahawk" will make you laugh until you spew Pepsi out your nose.

Headline: Ayn Rand Spinning In Her Grave

Although Ayn Rand's epic "Atlas Shrugged" is completely irreconcilable with my Catholic Christian values, there is still enough truth in her philosophy to send me running around these days like Chicken Little.

I'm sure Dear Dead Ayn herself would admit the sky is indeed falling. Her book, always frighteningly prophetic, has bridged the world between fiction and fact.

This article from the Washington Post today is the single most alarming news story I've read since the Obamarama Circus started its four-year run.

I know the question of caps on executive salaries has been simmering since the first bailout/bonus scandal. Common sense dictates that corporations poised on the brink of the abyss are foolish to perpetuate high-flying compensation packages. Those who have gone begging to the Fed for billions while still paying bonuses are even more foolish and deserve to be bitch slapped for their bad judgment.

Executive salaries and perks have been the guys in the black hats for a few years -- since compensation has become public knowledge and their companies' performances not so hot. Still... in a market-driven economy (which we had until we became a Federally-funded economy), the Big Cheeses make the big decisions, bear the big responsibilities and are ultimately accountable to their stockholders and governing boards. I've always felt that if performances (personal and bottom line) warrant the big bucks, let the Big Cheeses have them. No matter the reward, the job is tough.

I even felt this way when I was a Democrat, because I had enough experience running on the corporate hamster wheel to appreciate the expertise and chutzpah it takes to steer any large company.

Only in Barbie's Fairytopia would lower executive compensation mean anything to me personally -- it's not like they're going to be calculating the differential and sending us all checks, nor are they about to skew the pay scale by sharing it with their employees.

This legislation that the members of the House (those paragons of virtue, intelligence, character and effectiveness) passed will "empower financial regulators to limit pay that they deem inappropriate." That sentence doesn't say who these "financial regulators" will be, but the rest of the article implies they will be government employees. So... a civil servant sucking on the public teat will help determine compensation for an employee presumably high on the corporate food chain -- who steers the corporation that fuels the economy by providing jobs, goods, services AND TAXES --- taxes that pay that same civil servant's salary and the rest of the porkulus.

Atlas Shrugged is too damn long to analyze -- or even summarize -- in a blog posting, but, very briefly, in the story the world's economies -- all of 'em, most spectacularly, ours -- teeter on collapse under the burden of regulations, nationalization of industries, government involvement and the politics of manipulation.

Of course, just as in real life, the evil capitalists are blamed -- after all, they're RICH. The real and total collapse occurs when those evil ones (the actual producers of wealth -- genius industrialists) go "on strike" and refuse to participate in the smarmy world of the bottom-feeders who have been nominally in charge. Rand calls the centuries-long success of this warped system "the sanction of the victim" and the book ends when the victim withholds that sanction and, oh yes, saves the world.

Yeah, Atlas Shrugged is fiction -- but can you say "government bailouts" -- "socialized health care" (and it is - don't kid yourself) -- "cap & trade" -- and now "controls on compensation" ?

Here's an article posted yesterday on Obama's 32 czars who are "in control" in his administration without any kind of vetting, congressional confirmation or oversight.

And here's a link to Amazon.com for Atlas Shrugged. If you're a friend or a family member, buy the book and send me the bill. My treat -- I'm not kidding.

The Obamarama Circus was funny for awhile -- now it's just plain damn scary.

The Land Of Ozzzzzzzzzzz

I sleep so much better at night now, knowing that the nation's Chief Executive Officer, with all his many years of executive experience, responsibility and business acumen, is at the helm of our ship of state.

What? He has no business experience? He has no impressive record of achievement and success? He's only had a couple of jobs besides running for office? How could that be?

Well, I sleep better at night knowing that General Motors and Chrysler, two of three companies forming the bedrock of our auto industry, are once again viable since their billion dollar loans. Whew! I'm so glad they escaped bankruptcy, which, we were assured in January, would send Chicken Little into the streets and completely devastate our weakened economy.

What? GM is now facing almost-certain bankruptcy after all? Wasn't keeping it OUT of bankruptcy the rationalization for the original government loans? Now it's the answer? Are you telling me that a constipated, bloated, overfed, overgrown organization like GM couldn't come up with a completely new, innovative and profitable business model in two months? The same company who hasn't come up with anything really new in 20 years? (I've seen a corporation 10,000 times smaller than GM not be able to come up with new letterhead in two months.)

Well, surely I'll sleep better knowing that our weary troops are coming home from Iraq. Thank God we won't be putting lives at risk and spending all those billions every month fighting in that troubled region.

What? We're escalating the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan? Really? After all that campaign rhetoric? Good grief! And we want to be friends with Iran? How does Israel feel about that?

At least I'll be sleeping better knowing that in this economic climate no reasonable, right-thinking, brilliant economics team would propose massive new government programs to solve every problem that exists in our society. Of course we're going to try to get back on our financial feet before we institute new health care reforms, education programs, paid volunteer programs and pay for all those little piggy earmarks. After all, we need a healthy economy with stable revenues before we wallow in all that pork, don't we? At least the "average American family" won't be facing new taxes. Thank goodness.

You're kidding. All that stuff is actually in the proposed budget -- while the whole world economy flounders like, well, a beached flounder? But only those who make $250,000 and up will be hit with a tax increase? Wait -- doesn't that mean most small business owners, who create 70% of new jobs? By all means, tax the investors, tax the job providers, tax the backbone of the economy.

I'll have to remember to set my alarm as I'll be sleeping so soundly knowing that members of Congress, our elected representatives who speak for us and act for us, will be on the job in Washington. They are all so trustworthy, intelligent, honest, ethical souls, aren't they? Look at how they all reacted to the AIG bonuses. They're my kind of folk.

No! You don't mean they actually took PAC money from the very corporations they loaned taxpayer money to then lambasted for their actions? Those nasty big businesses who honored their employment contracts and paid bonuses? Well, I guess a member of Congress has to be re-elected. We can't fault them. We don't seem to ever get rid of them, either.

Come to think of it, I haven't slept a wink since Election Day, 2008. I wonder why?