LIES and HATE

 

I’m also tempted to save time and set up a recurring blog post that goes like this:

 

 

 

I lose track of what dumbass thing Trump has lied about now.


Oh horrors! Did Li’l Donnie LIE about immigrants 5 minutes ago? Big deal! Now he's telling a LIE about protecting people with pre-existing conditions! Wait 5 more minutes and he’ll have a new LIE about tax cuts.

 

How can you tell if Donald Trump is LYING? His lips are moving! 

 

As we get closer to the mid term elections on November 6^th, Trump propensity for LIES is getting worse. Frantic to forestall any Democratic gains in Congress, Trump is drilling down hard on immigration. The caravan from Central America is an INVASION, a THREAT, filled with the enemies of America and those America hating Democrats would just let ‘em in.

 

So far, all available intel on the caravan from the CIA, the Pentagon and more, agencies with satellites and shit that can see stuff from space, points to the caravan being what it looks like, a large group of people who are sick and tired of being the targets for looting, kidnapping, torture, rape and murder in their homeland and are marching northward on the slim hope that maybe, just maybe there is a chance, just a chance at a better life.

 

Trump says these poor, tired, bedraggled refugees are a threat.

 

This is a LIE. 

 

This is not say that a person or persons with bad intent could not be mixed in with this group of refugees. If such persons are part of the caravan, they are the anomaly, not the norm.

 

Trump would have you believe otherwise.

 

He says women and children are herded to the front of the group, to mislead us to the true nature of the group hiding behind the women and children.

 

This is a LIE.

 

Joining Trump’s war on the caravan is an endless cavalcade of crackpots on Fox News, escalating the size of the caravan and the nearness of the caravan to the US border. Hysterical screeds fill Fox’ airwaves that the caravan is bringing diseases along with crime and hidden terrorists.

 

Sheppard Smith, a lonely voice of reason on Fox News, took time out to speak calmly to the camera and assure the viewers at home that the caravan from the Central America is not the threat it’s being made out to be.

 

Later, Fox News pundits were back on the air, screaming that America is being INVADED!!!!!!

 

Meanwhile, Donald Trump was doubling down on the hate and the fear, promoting a political video. 

 

The video spotlights the murder of two California sheriff officers who were shot to death by Luis Bracamontes, an immigrant who was in the United States illegally.

 

Bracamontes boasts about killing the two officers and saying he would kill more if he could,

 

Make no mistake, Luis Bracamontes is an evil son of a bitch who deserves his own special corner of hell and I regret that I can’t send him there personally.

 

But get a load of this.

 

Superimposed on the video are the words, "Illegal immigrant, Luis Bracamontes, killed our people!"

 

Note the phrasing. Not “killed American citizens” or “killed law enforcement officers”. No, “killed our people”. 

 

That text is followed by these graphics. 

 

"Democrats let him into our country."

 

"Democrats let him stay."

 

The video cuts to footage of the caravan of Central Americans moving north in Mexico.  Then the video returns to Bracamontes’ smirking punk ass face and asks, "Who else would Democrats let in?"

 

The final text says, "President Donald Trump and Republicans are making America safe again."

 

Yes, Luis Bracamontes is an evil dude and deserves every bad thing will ever happen to him in this life and in the next.

 

But exactly how are Democrats complicit in his illegal presence in the United States?

How are the Democrats culpable for Luis Bracamontes’ murder of two police officers?

How does Luis Bracamontes connect to the refugee caravan from Central America?

 

Well, let’s look into this in a feature I’m calling….

 

 

A CLOSER I CAN’T BELIEVE I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS SHIT

 

Here are some facts. 

 

In February 2018, Luis Bracamontes  was convicted for  murdering California Detective Michael Davis, Jr., and Deputy Sheriff Danny Oliver in October 2014. Two months later, in April, Luis Bracamontes  was sentenced to death. 

 

His wife, Janelle Monroy, was convicted of assisting Bracamontes and sentenced to nearly 25 years in prison. 

 

So what about the part where Democrats took Luis Bracamontes gently by the hand and led him illegally into the United States?  

 

Hailing from Mexico, Luis Bracamontes followed a pattern of sneaking across the border, getting deported and sneaking back in. 

 

Luis Bracamontes was arrested for drug possession in Arizona in 1996. That was in Maricopa County, the home of then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a notorious super hard on crime and illegal immigrants Republican. 

 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, deported him in 1997.

 

He was arrested in Arizona again in 1998, turned over to ICE, but apparently not deported.

 

Another arrest on drug and weapons charges followed in 2001.

 

ICE deported Bracamontes again after that arrest.

 

Sometime after 2001, Bracamontes snuck back in again, moving to Utah and began using an alias.

 

Utah court records show that between 2003 and 2009, he had 10 driving violations.  

 

In 2010, Utah entered into an agreement with ICE to assist the agency in immigration enforcement.

 

Bracamontes’ time in America up to the killings spanned three administrations, Bill Clinton (Democrat), George W. Bush (Republican) and Barack Obama (Democrat). 

 

Want to blame Congress for not passing stricter laws or dedicating more resources? Both parties shared control of Congress during this timeframe.  

 

The Obama administration ramped up efforts to track down felons who were in the country illegally. It expanded the Secure Communities program launched under Bush. The program fostered information sharing among federal agencies and local jails.

 

Immigration enforcement priorities during Obama’s first term were just as broad as they are now, with people being deported for things such as traffic violations. Immigrant advocates in 2014 famously dubbed Obama the "deporter-in-chief."

 

There is nothing in this chain of events that can remotely point to "Democrats let Bracamontes  into our country or let him stay."

 

It looks like to me that for the most part, people were trying to so their job and kick Bracamontes out of the country.

 

Is it anyone’s fault that he kept sneaking back in? It could be reasonably argued that perhaps more resources at the border would’ve been more effective at catching Bracamontes and shutting down his efforts to get into the United States. If that lack of resources can be attributed to a lack of political effort or will, given the time frame involved, there is more than enough blame to go around to both parties in the executive and legislative branches over nearly 20 years. 

 

As for connecting the actions and character of Luis Bracamontes to the people in the caravan, the connections are virually non-existent. Again, other than the unsupported blustering of Trump’s delusional ravings, there is no evidence that the caravan is other than what it appears to be, a large group of refugees who just want a chance at a better life, a life better than one filled with fear of looting, kidnapping, torture, rape and murder.

 

It is not illegal to come to the United States.

It is not illegal to ask to come in.

 

If the answer is no and you come in anyway, then that is illegal.

 

Luis Bracamontes is a bad man who committed an evil act. He was captured, tried and sentenced by the state for his evil acts according to the laws of our country.

 

These refugees are people who just want to be free, free from terror and tyranny. Helping such people used to be our thing.  But Trump has replaced our compassion with hate.

 

Someone very wise once said, "Hate is always foolish. Love is always wise." 

Trump is being very foolish, indeed. 

Must he make fools of us all as well?  

Fear and Trepidation From 2016 to 2018

In the run up to November  8, 2016, I was nervous.  The interminable campaign for President of the United States was finally and at long last in sight of an ending.  In three debates, Hillary Clinton demonstrated a considerable depth of knowledge and understanding of the problems in the world and her role as President to solve them.

Donald Trump demonstrated  a considerable lack of knowledge and understanding.

In three debates, Clinton had clearly proven she was the superior candidate of the two.

 

The poll numbers were looking good for Clinton. There was talk about not if Clinton would win but just how decisive and large that margin of victory would be. Trump had time and time again proven himself a moron with no temperament to be Commander in Chief. It almost seemed unfair how bad a beating this lumbering loud mouth man child was going to be in for.

 

Surely no one in their right mind would vote for this profoundly stupid, stupid man.

 

Nonetheless, I was nervous.

 

I’ve learned never to underestimate the stupidity of the American people. But surely Americans would not be that stupid to elect an obviously incompetent and unqualified person to be President. 

 

As the returns came in the night of November 8, 2016, my stomach churned with the nauseating realization that yes, there were more than enough Americans stupid enough to elect an obviously incompetent and unqualified person to be President. 

 

In the run up to November  6, 2018, I am once more nervous. 

 

We’ve had two years to witness Donald Trump’s incompetency at being President of the United States. He has consistently said things, made choices and taken actions to the benefit of a select few that fracture the nation as a whole. Donald Trump has proven time and time again his deference to being President only to the people who support him. Trump’s Presidency is to benefit his own self-aggrandizement. He only acts to bolster support for himself. And this has been shown repeatedly in a clear and evidentiary way. My assessment of Trump as President is not an opinion, it is objective fact.

 

As count down the days to November 6, 2018, there are two groups I’m worried about.

 

First of all are the Trump supporters, filled with passion and rage to defend their guy and support the apparatus that has so far protected him from harm. No amount of facts, of objective truth, of hard cold reality is going to change their minds. These people are lost, now and perhaps forever more. And they see themselves under threat because they’re great and powerful leader, Donald the Dufus, has told them so. Under threat, they are motivated to vote, to protect Li’l Donnie and his great work.

 

The other group is Millennials. A recent survey has revealed that about only 25 % of Millennials intend to vote. What the hell is wrong with these people? Issues one might think would  be important to Millennials are challenged and threatened by the current status quo of an unhinged Donald Trump unchecked by a Republican led complicit Congress. Do they not understand? Do they not care?

 

Trust me, those on the right of the partisan divide do care and do understand. The status quo is good for their side. Rolling back health care protections? Reversing the rights and options for women over their reproductive health? Denying basic rights to trans gender people? All this and more is on the table for conservative religious ideologues who see Trump and the sniveling sycophants in Congress as the victory of their every ignorant, fear filled, small minded objective.

 

They care a lot for their causes on the right. For everyone else, political passions do not burn with that same intensity. 

 

Maybe I should not fret so much. There is data to show that younger voters are voting in highers numbers than they did in the last mid-term election in 2014.

 

But is it enough?

 

I thought two years go we were going to be fine.

 

No, we were not.

 

Please understand that I am not ready to relax just yet.

Doctor Who: Dance, Doctor! DANCE!

This past weekend gave us not only the 4th episode in what is shaping up to be an amazing season of Doctor Who but there was also a beautiful tribute to the mythos of Doctor Who on another British television icon, Strictly Come Dancing.

The Doctor defeats a Cyberman through the power of...

DANCE! 



In the role of the Doctor is Stacey Dooley, a BBC journalist and TV show host,  Dooley is known for her stories that expose the dark world of child exploitation. Much like the Doctor, when Stacey Dooley sees people need help, she gets to work helping. 

Stacey exits from a TARDIS to enter the dance floor with a swirling clock work pattern much like the opening titles of Doctor Who during the Peter Capaldi years. Stacey is wearing a T-shirt with the rainbow stripe and suspenders of Jodie Whittaker's Doctor. In deference to the dance floor, the pants are swapped out with a flowing slit skirt with heels replacing the brown boots. 

Kevin Clifton is a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing as well as Dancing With the Stars.  While Cybermen are not known for being very limber in their movements, they do represent of all the Doctor's foes the best option for a dance routine. Daleks, for example, would be horrible at the tango. No feet, you see. The silver clad Cyberman makes for a visually distinctive dance partner. 

The dance routine is fluoride and fluid as one would expect from a tango. The sequence ends with the Cyberman on his back with the Doctor standing in triumph over another defeated foe.

Click here for a link to the You Tube video.