Ain't it funny? Ain't it strange? Ain't it HYPOCRITICAL?!

So a lot of people are posting "Walk up not Walk Out" memes and comments and going on and on ad nauseam about "We need to fight school bullying and that'll stop school shootings." They post articles about the horrible bullying and abuse going on in schools and scream at the top of their lungs about how this is the real problem and how THOSE PEOPLE are ignoring the real problem to push THEIR agenda at the expense of REAL Americans.
Now don't get me wrong, I am a strong Anti-Bullying supporter and have been for a very long time, but this sudden and quite frankly underwhelming influx of individuals crying out against School Bullying is more than a teensy bit hypocritical and sadly it's not even a new hypocrisy. Pick any subject that rankles people's cankles and you'll see the same thing happening. Back it up a few years to the big "Refugee" debate. When it was suggested that maybe the US should actually take in some of the refugees that we created by waging continuous war in the Middle East for 20 years, the Conservatives were all, "WE SHOULDN'T HELP ONE SINGLE REFUGEE AS LONG AS THERE ARE HOMELESS AMERICANS LIVING ON THE STREETS!"
This sentiment is, at least on the surface, a noble one. We should feed, clothe and find homes for ALL of our homeless before helping others. I totally support and cheer the idea. However, and here is where the hypocrisy lies (lays? Darn it!). When all the hullabaloo was going on and these noble souls were crying out their love for our poor, you could (and I did) check their FB pages or other social media sites and you would see a very different picture of how they felt about the poor and homeless. You'd see posts and memes calling the Homeless "leeches" or "worthless" and articles from "news sources" talking about how stricter laws were needed to force the homeless from whatever shelter they had. So, you see that the fight wasn't so much (at all?) about helping our own before helping others and more about just not helping people we didn't like.
Now fast forward to today. Teenagers and Adults are fighting back against being kids being murdered by nutjobs with guns and people are listening. New laws are being passed and companies are voluntarily taking steps to combat the problem and this is not sitting too well with a large chunk of people. So suddenly, people who truly never even thought about school bullying or even cared about it are suddenly all over it. This would be an awesome step forward if it wasn't questionable at best. Of the far too many "friends" and followers I have on Facebook, I can point to at least 4 (Used to be 5, but one blocked me. HEY TC!) who haven't exactly been supportive of Anti-Bullying in the past. Matter of fact, two of those 3 have posted memes that pretty much said "Well, bullying always happens so that sucks for you. Man up and quit being babies." Also posted articles that opposed stronger anti-bullying laws and stricter punishments for kids found guilty of being bullies. So you see how the sudden "Quit being bullies" sentiment might seem a tad...BS?
Now don't get me wrong, if you are now fighting against bullying, I am all over supporting you. Hells, I really don't even care what your reasons are. But, if your support for the bullied children vanishes as quickly as your support for the homeless did after the Refugee uproar died off, then you are a hypocrite.
Now I don't have any real answers. Hells most days I can't even figure out the questions. In a sense, all of y'all are right. It is a Mental Illness Problem. It is a Bullying Problem. It is a Gun Problem. It is an Awareness Problem. It is all of the above and prolly other things we haven't even thought of yet problem. It is a Problem, but this problem will never be solved as long as everyone does nothing. Say what you want about the Gun Control groups, but right now they are actually accomplishing something. Only time will tell if it is effective (Affective? Darn it!) or worthwhile, but they are speaking and polticians and businesses are listening.
if you feel like this is the wrong direction, then do something about it. Quit whinging and crying and insulting the other side and put forth your own actions. If you truly feel it is a mental health issue, push for better access to health care. If you think it is rightfully a bullying issue, push for stronger anti-bullying laws and stricter punishments for bullies. The time for talk and finger pointing (Well except me, finger pointing is kind of my thing) is over. People are tired of all talk and no actions and they will support and cheer on any people who are even perceived as actually doing something. So it is time to step up to the plate, grab a bat and swing for the fences instead of sitting on the sidelines.
End of Rant

Just admit it, you don't love me anymore or Healthcare, Smealthcare! Pfaw, who needs it!

Bend over and saw AHHHH!

     Ok, so once again the dread shadow of ReBoobican Alternative Sponsored Healthcare (Or RASH as I like to call it.) rears its ugly ass (HAH See what I did there, ass...rash...?  I say, its a joke, son! Don't you get it?) preparing to fart on pretty much everyone who isn't at least in the Upper Middle Class.  After many many moons of failed attempts to repeal the ACA, our beloved and oh so caring Cantservative Leaders are poised to feed us a truly bitter pill of poop poorly covered in a shell of imagined caring.  (Sorry seems to be a butt joke day.  Ever have one of those?)

     Now keep in mind that, this is now the second attempt to push this thing through and the first one failed royally because even the Cantservatives could see what was inside the candy shell.  However, this one does seem to have a bit more momentum so there is a chance that it could pass both House and Senate and even make it all the way to the POTUS to sign.  So, we'll just have to wait to see how bad this train wreck is going to be.  Anyone who has bothered to actually read and understand this piece of tripe (I HAVE! OH, ME! ME! ME!) knows what a full on cloister flock (Get it?  Same initials...similar sounds...Meh ask a Veteran.) this roll of toilet paper is going to be.

     Sadly, my rant isn't about this latest incarnation of TrumpCare.  I mean talking about how organized politics is going to screw over the American People is kind of like commenting on whether or not there will be gallons of Sweet Tea at a Southern Family Reunion.  Or, if you are of a more literary mindset, reporting that the dolphins are still missing.  (Douglas Adams...Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe Trilogy...Book 4....So Long and Thanks for all the Fish?  READ A BOOK!)  Nah, my rant is a little more simple than that.

      So as long as I can remember, forces within the government on both sides have been trying to push some form of Government Sponsored/Controlled Healthcare.  Both sides have tried off and on for decades to create something only to have it shot down before it got too far.  Along comes the ACA, the severely flawed but still breathing creation of the Damnocrats.  They manage to pass it into law despite boisterous opposition from the ReBoobicans and it has kept plugging along doing the best that it can ever since.  

     Within seconds (nanoseconds...picoseconds?) of its passage, the hue and cry from ReBoobicans and Liarbertarians (Still looking for a better wordage for that one) began.  "Gubberment don't need ot be involved in healthcare!"  (Keep in mind that ReBoobicans pushed versions of Universal Healthcare in the past on both a state and national level, but moving on..."  "Let the free market decide!" and so many other quotes became the battle cry from their aging mouths.  Many of these shouty types are still running around DC today.  (Well, okay most of them are older than Moses, so they aren't really running, but creeping around DC just sounds spooky.)  A whole chunk of them are currently working on TrumpCare 2.0...3.0?  I lose count.

Just thought it was funny after the whole "running/creeping" thing.

     So here's my thing (Look closely).  I'm okay if you feel that the Government shouldn't be involved in healthcare.  I'm okay if you feel like if a person cannot afford Healthcare, then they should just pray for a miracle and hope for the best.  Hells, I'm even okay if you feel that all of those parasitic, greedy leeches suckling off the government teat should just die and reduce the excess population.  (Charles Dickens...A Christmas Carol...?  Ah come on!  It's a classic!)  That is all well and good.  I won't even judge you (much) for it.

     BUT (Wow what a big but!) if you (and in this case I am talking about the ReBoobicans and Liarbertarians in DC not you...yeah you, the guy sitting at his computer eating canned cheese and Oreos while drinking a Vente Unicorn Frappachino.  Seriously dude, eat some veggies.) truly feel that people should just be left to fend for themselves, own that crap!  If you feel that the poor and Lower Class should use the poorly funded and poorly equipped Free Clinics and if (as is so often the case) there ain't a Free Clinich within range, they should just die, preach it loud and clear!  Bring out your inner Scrooge (Dickens...Christmas Car...ah the heck with it) and proudly creep around.

     See, the Cloister Flock occurs when these proud individuals who preached, "Meh, the hell with y'all" when it comes to healthcare during the time when they had no chance of actually accomplishing anything are suddenly faced with the YUGE backlash from the people that keep them in office if they actually succeeded in practicing what they preached.  These Pallid Plodding Preachers are suddenly forced to realize that if they win and get what they want, they will most certainly lose.

     So that is how we wind up with the steaming pile of poop that is the current version of TrumpCare.  ReBoobicans must give the illusion that they are really and truly doing their best to provide good and loving healthcare for all while also doing as little as they actually can so that they can convince the people that think like them that they don't really want any of that Universal Healthcare crap.  In the end, (Butt jokes...end...Get it?!) the whole battle for healthcare going on is another prime example of the hypocrisy that is alive and unwell at the heart of our government.  The hypocrisy itself never actually changes.  It just changes party during elections.

     End of Rant.

Trumpaggedon Week One or Whelp I saw that one coming.

     Okay, so its been a week since the Hairpiece that walks like a man was elected POTUS and I feel its time I made some sort of commentary since...well its kind of my job to make commentary.  All in all, this week has been one of the most unsurprising weeks since National Stand In One Place All Week was removed as a National Holiday.so there is really not much of note to talk about, but here we go.
     So first big non-surprise, the Donald has signed a WHOLE BUNCH of executive orders in just a few short days attacking everything from Abortion Rights to Immigration to Puppies VS Kittens (Always new Trump was a puppy dude).  Of course this has sparked all sorts of mockery from the Left and some of the Right who (rightfully so) pointed out that the same people cheering him for doing it called the same actions Executive Overreach and so any more harsh things when Obama did it.  Me, I'm giving him some slack on this one because he did state during his entire campaign that his first actions in taking office would be to pretty much trash everything Obama ever did.  Since he is kind of ADD, I never thought he'd wait till he could do it through normal channels and HEY at least he is keeping (sort of) his campaign promises.  Right?  Right?  Okay...moving on.

Mister President, BUILD UP THAT WALL!

     Now speaking of campaign promises (Which I conveniently was...go figure) one of the most central promises to Donny's whole campaign that he would build a glorious Great Wall of America 50 feet high and 20 feet thick that would run the entire length of the border between the US and Mexico.  Not to let that be his biggest boast, he then promised that he would force Mexico to pay for this grand feat of masonry.  That's kind of like if China had built the Great Wall and then forced the Huns to pay for it.  Well, Don Don and his sock puppets have proudly announced that they will indeed build the GWoA as planned and as promised Mexico would be forced to...reimburse the US for the costs of the wall at some future point...Wait, that is not what the original promise said, was it?
      (As a funny side note here, Mexico has repeatedly said that in no way would Mexico pay for said wall.  So Trump proudly stated that if Mexico would not agree to pay for the wall, he would cancel the planned visit between him and Mexico's President.  Awesome show of being macho..except for the fact that Mexico had already cancelled said meeting because...well they refused to pay for the wall.)
     So what this means is that the US is going to fork out (and be forked over) 12 billion dollars starting out with more to be spent as they go for this mythical wall.  Current best estimates by anyone who is not Trump and or Conservative is that the wall will cost at least 45 billion dollars to build.  Republicans have refused to say how the money will be gathered, but you can bet it will prolly come from all those nasty social programs they hate or they will just write a blank check like they did during Bush's two wars.
     Another thing of note is that Donny has moved to block refugees and immigrants from Islamic nations from entering the country at least temporarily.  This has caused a bit of a fuss among some Conservatives who actually thought the ban would be permanent,  He has also started his noises about registering Immigrants, but has modified it somewhat to those who have committed or might commit crimes.  I might be all for this one except the wording pretty much states that it is aimed at Muslims.  Given the vast number of violent crimes and horrors committed every day by Non-Muslims, that seems just a tad bit...selective?
     Now I could go on and on again again about all of the other things he has done this week.  Gagging the EPA, Lying about the crowd size at his swearing in. (Alternative Facts?  REALLY?)  However I am basically lazy and to hit on all of them would take WAY to long.  Folks I am really trying my best to give Herr POTUS the benefit of the doubt and wait to see just how badly he screws the country over.  I really am prepared to say "I WAS WRONG!" at the top of my voice from some suitably high place if he actually turns out to make things better for ALL Americans.  So I am trying to bide my time, but damned if he ain't making it hard.  And all of the Trumpservatives cheering him on and defending his "Alternative Facts" aren't helping either.  Here's hoping Week Two will be a little less hectic.

My impression of what Trumps about to do to America.

End of Rant

The Day of the Trump or Does size really matter?

Riddle me this Folks

     Okay so the big day has come and gone.  Trump has been sworn in as POTUS and sworn at by millions of people.  We all survived and surprisingly enough no one nuked Washington DC.  Time to take your victory and proudly move on with an air of dignity and grace to take on the great challenges that lay ahead.  Right?  I mean it's certainly not time for you to send your Minister of Propaganda on national news to whine about how the mean old news services are saying bad things about you...RIGHT?  Well, Wrong.

     So some of the news services are reporting that the turnout for Trump's big day wasn't quite as big as previous ones.  They might have even hinted that his was a measly 250,000 or so and that Obama's might have been upwards of a million or so.  They might have posted live shots with time stamps of Trump's crowds and compared them to recorded time stamped shots of Obama's crowds.  They might have even had the audacity to show statistics from the DC Metro and the DC Tourism office that seems to indicate that the crowds just weren't that large compared to previous times.

     So OF COURSE, Trump sends his Minister of Propaganda (WAIT!  Before anyone gets to peeved off at me, I have always pretty much thought as every White House Press Secretary in such a way so I am not picking on Trump...well not too much anyways.) to say that the press is all a bunch of stinky poo poo liars and that all of the film, photos etc were all faked or misrepresented.  MOP screams that Trump had the biggest attendance of anyone EVER and basically said that anyone who says otherwise is a big dumb poopy head.  (I am paraphrasing here somewhat.)

What the what?

     Okay here is my rant for the night.  Lets just pretend for the sake of arguifying that the MOP is absolutely freaking correct.  Let's pretend that the Grand Left Wing Conspiracy to Discredit and Abuse Donald Trump (or GLWCDADT for short) is in full swing and had its nefarious agents in place with cloaking devices to hide the crowds and super duper computers to fool the Metro systems.  Lets pretend that people in the crowd used their evil mind control generators to make everyone think that the crowds were MUCH smaller.  (Owch I think I just sprained a pretending muscle.)  Here i smy simple question.  WHY THE FUGG DOES IT MATTER?

     Donald Trump just won the biggest contest in the country.  He proved all his detractors and naysayers wrong.  He went from being a joke of a candidate to being the Orangen (Well he ain't golden) Boy who showed all of us just what big dummies we are.  He has won!  Grabbed the brass ring, crossed over the finish line, climbed Everest and every other single stereotypical WHOO HOO phrase I can think of.  He certainly doesn't need to prove just how bad ass he is right after kicking everyone's butts.  So, lets just say that eleventy billion people showed up from around the nation and the globe to cheer him on and praise his glorious Toupee and the mean old nasty wasty press said otherwise (As a side note here, let me add that even Fox News, the Right's most powerful propaganda machine has reported the differences too.  Anyho, moving on.).  So the fugg what?

     The MOP coming on the air and whining about the reports is the equivalent of a 5 year old whining to his Mom because the boy next door called him names.  Its what children...and immature adults do.  It is NOT what the President of the US does.  (And yes I am including any previous whining by previous POTUS, but this is about the Donald.  If you want a rant about Obama/Bush/Clinton/Reagan let me know, I do requests.)  Okay so they may have lied about you.  in the immortal words of a true Ice Queen, Let it go.  The only thing you are accomplishing by sending your faithful servant and lackey to beech about it is convincing all the people who will believe it anyway that the reports are right.  Just let it go already.

     Most people prolly don't know this but being President is a kind of tough job and a lot of people aren't going to like you and a lot of them are going to say mean things about you.  If you can't suck it up and ignore it, you are going to have a long, depressing time in office.  If you can't take the mean words and bad talk and constantly try to refute, rebutt and re-everything, then not only is it going to be a long term, but you'll only encourage more and more abuse.  

     Trump just needs to accept that people are going to say mean things about him.  Hells I got at least 40 or fifty blogs all planned out already myself.  If he is even going to have the proverbial snowballs chance in Hades of doing his job and making it through all of this, he really just needs to suck it up and move on.  Or (even better for me) he can keep whinging about every single little thing and my blogs will practically write themselves.  Since I am innately lazy, I know which one I am hoping for.

End of Rant.

Countdown to Trumpageddon Day 2 or Payback is a female type canine.

Yeah, that is pretty much a textbook definition.

Simple Definition of hypocrisy

• : the behavior of people who do things that they tell other people not to do :
•  behavior that does not agree with what someone claims to believe or feel.

  

      All I can say is this.  You've spent the better part of a decade spreading lies, hatred and bigotry against Obama.  You have called him an illegal alien, a Muslim Terrorist, and said he was a Homosexual.  You called his wife a cross dresser.  You posted 1000s of pictures of the two of them and their children as Chimpanzees or Apes.  You called him racist names and called her names like Moo-chelle.  Those of you who didn't participate in this racist BS never spoke out against it and even found it all amusing.  You've been total pratts for 8 years and that was your right.

    However, you don't get to turn around now and say that we should respect Donald Trump because he is the new President Elect.  You say we need to respect his wife even.  You are crying foul because people are pretty much saying the same things you said for 8 years.  If it was okay for you to spew hatred and lies then you don't get to play the righteous card now.  If you wanted people to treat your leaders with respect, then you should have done the same.

     End of Rant

Countdown to Trumpageddon Day One or Is this trip really nessecary?

Countdown Begun, Activate Defcon BunnyFoofoo.

Brains...brains...dear god I am so hungry.

     The next few weeks will be fairly boring.  Sorry about that folks, but the really interesting crap won't start till Trumponce (New word, copyrighted.  If you use it, you owe me a nickel.) takes office.  The handy link at the top of the rant gives you the exact time left.  Please feel free to use it.  I mean, Trumponce being elected is kind of like all of the dolphins leaving in the classic 4th book in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy.  How many times can you say, "Dolphins still gone" or in this case "Toupee that walks like a man elected POTUS?"  So the next few weeks of tating will be mostly about other disasters happening in the world or just random musings from your not so modest scribe,  Just sit back and relax, we'll get to the end of the world soon enough.

     I thought about doing a rant on exactly how we, as an American people, let this disaster happen.  I also considered talking about all of the really bad things that are very likely to happen once Trumponce takes office.  I even considered a piece on the hypocrisy of the Right Wingers mocking all of the people who threatened to leave the US if Trump was elected when entire states tried to secede just because a Black Man dared to be elected POTUS.  However since I am currently on vacation till Sunday, I decided to hold off on the somewhat serious stuff till next Monday.  Till then, it's just going to be random stuff that catches my attention.

A rare candid photo of Trump before his makeup.

     My early observations of the post-election hysteria is one of complete Unsurprise (Yeah I know its not a real word, sue me.) and extreme disappointment mixed with some amusement thrown in just to confuse me.  The Unsurprise comes from all of the vitriol coming from both sides with insults flying left, right, up and down.  Extreme disappointment comes from seeing people that I personally know should be above this kind of crap engaging in name calling and outright lies.  I see people who have gone on and on for years about how bad other people are resorting to the exact same thing now that the foot coverage is placed on the opposite appendage.  The instances of this happening are far to many to list here, so just let me say SHAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMME! to all of you in the first two categories.

Well, close acquaintances at best.

     Current amusements are not nearly as numerous.  My Facebook page and my Twitter account are filled with comments and insults that are better left in the 60s and all they are doing is proving how right I have been about pointing out how little we have changed in the past 50 years despite what a couple of friends like to think.  

    Among my amusements is two separate friends who are lifelong Conservative Republicans and Mormons who have posted comments before and after the election saying just how bad things will be when Trump is elected.  Folks when its so bad that people who's family has voted Republican since the Mayflower landed don't vote Republican, then its generally a good sign that things are bad,  Amusement the second, is having my Brother announce that he didn't get elected to any office (Note: He didn't run for any to begin with) and having another friend talk about how his dog, Molly didn't get elected too.  I also suffered extreme amusement when I "forced" a friend who had sworn not to make a political comment break her oath not once, but twice.  And just now, I had a FB friend who has seen my tating for years asking me ot be patient.  Anyone who has actually read this blog knows that patience ain't exactly my strong point.

     As the countdown continues, I fully expect to have fuel for more intense and snarky blogs handed to me from both sides.  Till then I hope that these filler pieces will amuse and distract you.  Keep reading for the COUNTDOWN TO TRUMPAGEDDON!  (Insert echo chamber effect here.)

End of Rant

Wait, you mean the word isn't about small fuzzy critters?

We got Trumped or "Its the end of the world as we know it."

And actually I don't feel fine at all.

I'm set, are you?

     So I pondered long and hard about exactly what this first blog would be about after Donald Trump became the President Elect for the United States of America.  I thought about some clever, snarky and extremely insulting bit with silly snips aimed at his Toupee or some wise sounding quips aimed at all of the stupid things he has said and done for the past year.  I even thought about a truly insulting rant about the lack of intelligence or common sense of the people who voted him into office.  I also pondered just putting a giant clipart image of a turd here to show exactly what I think of the whole thing.  I finally decided on the following.  I hope you enjoy it.

     

No matter how painful it may be.

     Anyone who follows me here or on Facebook and Twitter (All five of you) knows how I felt about Trump's campaign and his future presidency.  They also have a good idea about how I actually feel about the people who supported him and got him elected.  They know I'd rather have Satan Himself running the country than Trump.  (As an aside, my feelings toward Clinton were only slightly better.  If she had been running against Old Scratch, I might have been torn over my vote.)  As time moves forward, I fully expect to run hundreds of blogs about how Humping Ponce.(Not going to explain Ponce, look it up.  The effort will do you good.) is ruining the nation (BTW I hope I am wrong and they actually do a great job.  I really do.), but this blog isn't about that.

     All morning I have seen Facebook and Twitter filled with hatred and rage.  I see Trump supporters mocking Clinton supporters and I see Clinton supporters mocking Trump supporters.  I see Clinton supporters saying they will refuse to acknowledge Trump as POTUS and do everything they can to undermine his presidency.  I also see Trump supporters talking about how all the people who supported Clinton need to be shot, arrested and all sorts of evil wishes.  All I can say is, GROW UP!

     Right or wrong, good or bad and all those other sayings, the election is now over and the American People have made their decision.  I despise Trump and seriously question the intelligence of many of the people who support him, but he won.  Barring an actual Zombie Apocalypse, he will be President for the next 4 years (3 years...2 years...ever how long he is in charge till he is arrested for something.) and railing against it will solve nothing.  Screaming and ranting about how unfair things are only makes you and the country look really bad.  

     I understand the fears of all my Black/Hispanic/Women/LGBT friends with a fully Conservative Government now in control.  (Ponce is so completely anti-science that he might as well be a member of the Spanish Inquistion which of course no one would ever expect.)  I understand that they are terrified that all of the progress seen in the past 8 years will be destroyed and those fears are well founded.  However, good or bad, we live in a country where no one side can ever fully control how things go.  Democracy is about as messy and sometimes unfair to some groups as you can get.  We accept these things and we move on.  We try to learn from our mistakes and make better decisions the next time.

     I personally have enough faith in America to believe that no matter who is in charge or no matter which party is in control that we have enough checks and balances in place to keep the nation from being destroyed.  Even if Trump and the Conservatives are as a big a disaster as I believe they will be, the nation will survive the next 4 years and hopefully will learn from this horrible mistake.  I am also Tater enough to admit if if I turn out to be wrong.  If Trump and his ilk actually wind up doing a great job to make the nation better for everyone, I will happily (okay, somewhat grumpily) admit it.

     I've seen both sides saying the usual "We must set aside our differences and animosity and move forward for the best of the nation" and they are right.  The election is over, one side won and one side lost.  Nothing is going to change that.  Now we have to move forward and try to work together no matter how we feel.  Okay, honest addendum to that statement.  You all have to move forward.  Me, I'm all set for years of prewritten blogs.  Just saying.

End of Rant