Jamal Khashoggi, for those who aren’t familiar, was a Saudi Arabian journalist who was living in the US in self imposed exile. He was concerned about his safety and welfare in relation to his critical articles of the Saudi Royal Family, especially the prince, Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS. On October 2, Khashoggi entered a Saudi consulate in Turkey and never walked out. The prevailing theory, is that he was murdered and dismembered at the behest of MBS. The Turkish government claims to have audio recordings of the event, and by all accounts, the allegations are credible. Not surprising to anyone was how quickly Donald Trump was to defend the Saudi Royal Family. It’s widely known that he admires them, their wealth, and their political foothold over Saudi Arabia. So when he was quick to take MBS at his word that he had nothing to do with the murder, no one batted an eye. But the problem is that when the President of the United States doesn’t take a firm action to this kind of grievous conduct, especially to a foreign pundit maintaining residence in our country, seeking safety in our borders, it sends a pretty loud message that the US doesn’t take care of it’s people when they step foot outside our borders. I mean what would it take for Trump to condemn the Saudi Royal Family? I think that’s the question we’re all sitting on at this point.
If there is one thing I’m not going to try and do is convince people that I know all the factors that allow for these continued violent events, where students have to fear for their safety in schools. School shootings and their prevalence in the United States are complicated. I have my own theories and hypothesis about measures that should be taken, ones that are no doubt in line with many others, but there are a lot of factors involved. One factor that I’m SURE isn’t involved, is the lack of recognition of God and Jesus in town squares. I feel like I can make that statement pretty soundly. And I feel comfortable saying that because when you look at other countries that don’t seem to have the problem of school shootings, the lack of religion plays NO factor. It’s been pointed out recently by several people that Japan, specifically, has a Christian population of under 2%. There have been ZERO school shootings in Japan. In fact, incidents of mass violence (not Mass shooting, but mass VIOLENCE, as in explosives are any other kind of weapon) are practically non-existent. It’s simply not a problem that people in Japan concern themselves with in their day to day lives. So sorry, Ted Cruz. When you confidently suggest that all we need is more Jesus to combat school shootings, I can confidently suggest you go suck an egg.
So, Wednesday was a pretty scary example of what can happen when partisanship overwhelms discourse. So what we know is that philanthropist (and provably NOT Nazi sympathizer) George Soros had a bomb delivered to him on Monday. The Secret Service intercepted and reported bombs also being sent to the Clintons and the Obamas on Wednesday. On the same day, CNN offices were evacuated because they received a bomb package and an envelope with “white powder.” Maxine Waters, Kamala Harris and Andrew Cuomo may have also been targeted, but at this point not confirmed. Now, there is so much we don’t know. We don’t know who the senders were, what their connection to one another is, assuming there is one. What I feel we can assume at this point was that this was a concerted effort to silence, terrorize or harm people who are democrats or seen as democrat sympathizers (CNN is after all the media that Trump has branded “the Enemy of the people”). And because this has been seen as an attack on the left, the presumption by many is that this was perpetrated by Republican or Trump supporters. Whether that’s true remains to be seen, but it’s noteworthy that members of the GOP are being quick to call for civility and reasonable discourse in the wake of this event. The is that they can distance themselves from this idea that they helped create an atmosphere where their supporters may have felt comfortable doing this kind of thing. The easy and obvious example of this is Ted Cruz, who last night, was rabble rousing his rally crowd by suggesting he’d lock up Hillary Clinton and Beto O’Rourke together. Hours later, he is telling people that we all need to get along, and that he respects people across the isle even though he may disagree with them. Which…I mean that’s crap. And while Ted Cruz is one of the easier people to mock in this regard, he’s by no means the only Republican who are now walking back troubling rhetoric that demonizes the left so blatantly. Partisanship has run amok in the worst way, and I’m afraid this might only be the start of something more malevolent.
So, Donald Trump called himself a “Nationalist” on Monday night, and naturally, the left went nuts because of it. And I can see why. The word “nationalist” has connotations leading to racism, with many far right folks often identified as “White Nationalists”. But it’s important to note that it’s unfair to claim that Donald Trump is a racist simply because he self identifies as a nationalist. It is fair to claim that it makes him a Xenophobe and an isolationist, but being a nationalist DOES NOT mean he’s a racist. The way he treats people of color and his policies that show he only cares about White People is what make him a racist. Because he is still definitely a racist. The way he talks about people from predominantly non-white countries, his dog whistles towards White Supremacists during his campaign, and his reluctance to condemn the White Supremacists who give him support are the obvious examples. If you did research, you can find examples of him and his family’s racist tendencies in the way they treated black tenants in their properties as far back as the 1970s. Now, some might say “is the distinction between racist and nationalist REALLY that important?” and to that I have to argue YES. Yes it is. Because the fact that Donald Trump identifies as a nationalist is bad for reasons completely separate from his racism. His nationalism is already to leading to policies and actions that are damaging our relationships to the rest of the world, and with world that gets more interconnected by the day, having a leader who wants to focus only on our borders, and create an “us” versus “them” scenario, with “them” being 7.3 billion people…well nothing good comes of that.
Unsurprisingly, the numbers are out, and the national deficit is ballooning. Of course, most of us knew that would happen because literally anyone who knew anything about economics predicted it would. Even the Congressional Budget Office flat out said that this was on the table. We knew it would happen because of the ludicrously obscene Republican Tax Bill/blatant corporate and wealthy handout. Republicans in support of the bill really tried to sell it as the opposite. That the bill would pay for itself. But the fact was that it was never really going to happen that way. Even conservative economists really red flagged this bill as a potential disaster for our overall economic health. So of course when the inevitable happen, Republicans are doing what politicians always do when they screw up: pass the buck. But the really despicable thing is where they’re passing it. The discussion people like Mitch McConnell want to have is how many poor and elderly people do they have to screw to balance out the problem. Important, necessary programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are now one the block for gutting, sacrifices at the alter of the 1%. But listen carefully. Because it’s not hard to hear the hypocrisy and cruelty in the self righteous handwringing of rich old men looking to screw over the little guy. It just takes a little effort.
Let’s be honest. This whole Native American ancestry thing with Elizabeth Warren has gotten out of hand. I mean, it was out of hand the second Trump started calling Warren “Pocahontas”, as it was just insensitive and inappropriate. It got worse when he demanded she take a DNA test, but I’m honestly, Warren didn’t do herself or anyone else any favors by acquiescing. I know the idea was for her to shove the whole thing back in Trump’s face, but it was never going to work out that way. Trump would always lie about things he’s said, how he said them, and he would always move the line. And the end result is that no one looks good and the Native American communities end up feeling mocked. Now Lindsey Graham is talking about getting his own test to prove he’s more Native than Warren and it’s just…where does this stop? The only thing that Graham’s test is going to prove is that he’s an ass, and frankly I think most of us already knew that.
Anybody who watched Donald Trump’s bonkers interview with 60 Minutes this weekend might have caught a glimpse of a new painting hanging up in the West Wing. It’s called “the Republican Club” by Andy Thomas, and it features a flattering portrait of Donald Trump having a diet coke with past Republican Presidents like Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The thing about that portrait is that I can’t imagine Trump would have gotten along with some of those guys, Lincoln and Roosevelt pretty specifically. In terms of policy and general philosophy, they weren’t exactly on the same page as Donald Trump. Roosevelt was all about being hands on! A man’s man who was a true blue man of the people and hardcore soldier. He literally ran a company of men called the Rough Riders! Trump got a doctor’s note to avoid the Draft. And Lincoln? He hated war and was a man of great compromise. Oh, and he also freed the slaves. Trump is a petulant child and a racist. So…different strokes, you know? You can’t really put them in the same category of Republican, much less the same portrait. But I’ll give credit where credit is due, the artwork itself is well made…so there’s that I guess.
You know, I have to admit I’m not a terribly big fan of Taylor Swift. I don’t actively dislike her, or even hate her music. She makes perfectly decent pop music. But there is this sort of cult of personality that surrounds her that I admit I’m kind of wary of. Because it’s that same kind of cult of personality that made someone like Donald Trump possible. Not that I would put Trump and Taylor on the same playing field. I mean, at least Taylor Swift works very hard for everything the has. But she has a very real power to mobilize people, both her fans and her “squad” of celebrities. She’s more than just a tastemaker. She controls a narrative. She reminds me of the popular girl in High School, but on a MUCH grander scale. And the GOP is feeling the weight of that after she made a plea to her fans to register to vote, and to vote against Trump’s Republicanism. Seriously, if Tennessee sees the effect of a blue wave in the midterms, Taylor Swift will have had a very calculable effect on that. As it turns out, if Taylor Swift tells people to vote Democrat, they’ll do it. The Dems may have just found their 2020 candidate against Trump….
You know, it says an awful lot when someone has to let us know, not once, but twice in a single interview, that they are in fact, not a baby. Trump had to let poor Leslie Stahl know that, after bowling over her questions, and practically shouting in her face during the 60 Minutes interview on Sunday. He spent the whole interview acting indignant, ignoring inconvenient or unfavorable questions, and hammering on subjects that he wanted to talk about without letting Leslie move the whole process forward. I’m sure Trump’s supporters will look at his petulance and childish behavior as a show of strength and him having his way with the fake news. Personally, I see it has him being a big, dumb baby. And I know, Trump says, very specifically that he isn’t, but I don’t feel inclined to take his word for it.
Remember when Donald Trump pledged to donate a million dollars to a charity of Elizabeth Warren’t choice if she took a test to prove her Native American ancestry? Donald Trump doesn’t seem to remember. When confronted with that promise, he actually said “I didn’t say that. You better read it again.” Ok. Let’s all read it again.
“I will give you a million dollars to your favorite charity, paid for by Trump, if you take the test and it shows you’re an Indian.”
Well…I just read it, again and again, and I’m pretty sure he said it. What’s worse (for him) is that the publicity and specificity, he might have just screwed himself out of a million bucks. According to the awesomely informative website Law and Crime, this ‘fits the textbook definition of an offer to enter into a unilateral contract.” And they suggest Warren’s lawyers might have a pretty strong case. Whether she’ll feel emboldened to take this to court is another matter, but it would be interesting to say the least if she did.
Mind the Exit 