The Politics of Being Me

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Over the course of my life, I've seen just about every side of the political landscape, from attending fundraisers for Republican candidates like Ronald Reagan and George Deukmejian as a child to casting my first presidential ballot for Ross Perot to proudly ticking the box signifying my selection for Barack Obama in the 2008 & 2012 elections. To a lot of people this would say that my values and opinions have changed over the course of my life, and to a relatively minor extent, they have. That's not the whole story. A large chunk of this story is just how far the politics in the country have shifted to the right and authoritarian, while the social scale has shifted left. I wonder if these two things are bound - the further left social opinion is, the harder right the political spectrum tends to turn.

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The Decaying Value of Republican Principles

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Excerpts from the Republican Party's platform:

"We believe America is exceptional because of our historic role — first as refuge, then as defender, and now as exemplar of liberty for the world to see."

No longer. Republicans no longer believe that America is a refuge. They no longer believe that we are defenders. Now too, they have used voter suppression and gerrymandering to ensure that we are not a shining example of liberty and democracy.

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A Layman's Economic Case for Universal Healthcare

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In the US, there's a massive debate about universal healthcare. Republicans tend argue that it's too much of a budget cost or that citizens should be 'free to choose their own' healthcare. Democrats tend to argue that healthcare should be a basic right offered by the state. Lost somewhere in translation here is the economic case for universal coverage. Neither party seems to want to go into it, but it's important to understand how healthcare isn't a regular market, and why it gets so expensive when individuals have to shop for their own coverage.

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Trump Names Rick Perry for Energy Secretary

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Seriously? Perry for Energy Secretary?

Didn't he propose closing the department? I'm being a little bit charitable, because he literally forgot the name of the department when he was trying to list the names of the departments he wanted to close.

He was quoted 15 minutes after the video below as saying, "By the way that was the department of energy I was reaching for a while ago."

Just a Little Bit Swampier

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Would you like to get an audience with El Trumpo's inner circle?

Look no further than the benefits awarded to those who fund El Trumpo's inaugural committee.

"Donate" a cool million, and check out all those benefits!

  • An intimate dinner for 4 with the Pences!
  • 8 tickets to meet the ladies of the first families.
  • 8 tickets to the "Victory reception".
  • Hell, 8 tickets to everything! It's a blowout sale here! Candlelight dinner with Trump & Pence. Concert and fireworks! VIP parade tickets! Premier access to the inaugural ball! Attending the swearing-in ceremony! And most importantly, you or your corporation will be recognized on select printed materials. (This way, the rest of us know who to blame.)

Oh, did I fail to mention that Trump's hotel is one of the ones on offer for the "Select Inaugural Hotels" for these packages? The ones that don't come included?

I'd say I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, but really, I just think that the US is.

Trump Can't Read His Own Lease

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Trump leases his Washington DC hotel space from the US Postal Service. Part of that contract (and indeed, any contract with federal leases) includes the stipulation that no elected officials may be involved in the lease.

Government Executive reports:

The Post Office Lease differs from many of Mr. Trump’s other business arrangements. That’s because, in writing the contract, the federal and D.C. governments determined, in advance, that elected officials could play no role in this lease arrangement. The contract language is clear: “No ... elected official of the Government of the United States ... shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom...”   
The language could not be any more specific or clear. Donald Trump will breach the contract on Jan. 20, when, while continuing to benefit from the lease, he will become an “elected official of the Government of the United States.” 

Maybe the GSA needs to revoke his lease. Oh, but wait, when he steps into office, he'll be the one employing them. This is a massive conflict of interest. It's time we start doing something about this. Trump cannot be allowed to hold public office while this kind of issue persists.

Shitshow, Continued...

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NY Times -

The president-elect criticized a report in The New York Times about his early telephone contacts with foreign leaders. In a post on Twitter, he said he had made and received “calls from many foreign leaders despite what the failing @nytimes said. Russia, U.K., China, Saudi Arabia, Japan.”
In fact, The Times reported that Mr. Trump had taken calls from the leaders of Egypt, Israel, Russia and Britain, but said they had been conducted haphazardly and without State Department briefings that traditionally guide conversations with foreign leaders.
Of the transition effort, Mr. Trump wrote: “It is going so smoothly.”

In what world is it considered going "smoothly" when the State Department isn't briefing the President-Elect on foreign leaders, especially when said person has exactly zero foreign policy experience?

"In the flag-bedecked lobby of the State Department, next to the main reception desk, there is a sign that says “Transition.” It has been very quiet. The State Department confirms that, like the Pentagon and the Justice Department, it has not heard from anyone on President-elect Trump’s team, a week after the election."

Clearly things are going well.

What a Shitshow

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Multiple sources are reporting that Trump's transition team is woefully unprepared for the job.

The New York Times:

"The turmoil at the highest levels of his staff upended months of planning and preparation for a process that many describe as drinking from a fire hose even in the most orderly of circumstances — a period of about 70 days between the election and the inauguration on Jan. 20. During that time, the president-elect must assemble a team to take the reins of the massive federal bureaucracy and recruit, vet and hire 4,000 political appointees to help him run it."

Eliot Cohen, former Counselor to the US State Department:

“It became clear to me that they view jobs as lollipops, things you give out to good boys and girls, instead of the sense that actually what you’re trying to do is recruit the best possible talent to fill the most important, demanding, lowest-paying executive jobs in the world,” Cohen said.

and later on Twitter:

Trump's presumptive appointment for Secretary of State is Rudy Giuliani, but there may be some problems with that according to sources.

"Mr. Giuliani said he was one of dozens of prominent Americans who worked for the Iranian opposition group known as the Mujahedeen Khalq, or the M.E.K. — drawing payments at the same time it was on a State Department list designating it a terrorist organization. He sought to persuade the State Department to revoke its terrorist listing."

"...it is the lesser-known names that may draw the most scrutiny.

TriGlobal Strategic Ventures, a company that aims to “assist Western clients in furthering their business interests in the emerging economies of the former Soviet Union,” according to its website, is among the more obscure clients.

Records show Mr. Giuliani has had ties dating to at least 2004 to TriGlobal, a company that has provided image consulting to Russian oligarchs and clients with deep Kremlin ties. They have included Transneft, Russia’s state-owned oil pipeline giant, which is the target of Western sanctions imposed after President Vladimir V. Putin annexed Crimea and began meddling in Ukraine."

Everything about this is shaping up to be a grade-A catastrophe for America.

Hope everyone has their popcorn ready, because we're in for a disaster movie that not even Hollywood could write.