Repeal and Replace Reality

Every day it seems we are experiencing life through the looking glass. And this week was no different. Here's a quick and random lighthearted romping roundup on some of the High Ridiculousness that holds our nation in its thrall.

The fate of the Trump Administration may end up depending on the testimony of this guy.

A Democratic Senator got called out by a nation for his stupid "joke" and boorish behavior on a USO tour. The President decided to ride herd by shooting off a couple of tweets as if to lecture Sen. Franken on moral propriety. What was once the kiss of political death - the disrobing and sexual fondling of a 14-year-old - is now a rallying point for God-fearing Republicans. Of course, there's no mention by Trump of Roy Moore's Major Serial Sex Problems in Alabama, or even his own 12+ sexual harassment and assault accusers. And everyone is still waiting for Trump to launch his year-long-promised lawsuits against these accusers!

Lying lies by lying liars who lie! Who are you going to believe - Trump, or everyone else who he says are lying.

Everyone is lying about Trump! Lies! Lies! But of course it's the inverse that is true. Check out Michael Gerson's take on the "spectacular accumulation of lies" that Trump & Co. have amassed. Gerson is no bleeding heart - he was George W. Bush's speechwriter and came up with the "Axis of Evil" catchphrase, something he now regrets. He's been around the block a few times, and what he sees happening is so flippy-flop unreal that he can hardly believe it. "This is, with a few exceptions, a group of people for whom truth, political honor, ethics and integrity mean nothing." Believe it:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-russia-investigations-spectacular-accumulation-of-lies/2017/11/16/741024bc-cb0e-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html?utm_term=.cbc164b09831

It's a constant - all Presidents lie at some point or other. Usually, it's for National Security reasons. Sometimes it's for Political Expediency. But most Presidents have honored their positions by, at the very least,  purveying a pretense towards truthful discourse. However, this President does not. This week, and every week, he keeps the firehose of Falsehoods flowing at full blast. Also, remember that Trump really doesn't think he lies: whatever he says he 1) Believes it is true, or 2) Believes it should be true. 

Here is one of our favorites - The Washington Post has an ongoing chart of the number of lies, the type of lies, and the categories of lies that emanate from the White House. It's a lot of fun - try it:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/?utm_term=.15dc5fd7d1fd

Why it's enough to make a man holler, throw up both his hands, as Marvin Gaye once sang. Perhaps it was enough to drive this Navy jet pilot to create a Phallic Sky Art piece over the Washington DC area the other day:

Yup, ya don't see that up in the clouds every day. A gigantic FU over our seat of government. Maybe the pilot was expressing his dismay over Trump's insistence that 3 to 5 million illegal voters did not vote for him.

Each Secretary of the Treasury gets to sign off on US money. It's a perk of the job to see your signature on all the new ones/fives/tens/twenties/etc. that roll off the Money Printing Press. This week was Steve Mnuchin's chance to shine, and he didn't disappoint. Neither did his amazing wife. In a first, the Treasury Secretary's signature was not in cursive. It wasn't in Mayan hieroglyph, either, just block style print. Now why this traditional photo op for the head of Treasury should include his avaricious wife is one for others to contemplate - but it's another first!!

"This wallpaper will be perfect for the servants' bathroom!"

Speaking of dollar bills, it was revealed this week that the Trump Administration's Department of Justice has 10 lawyers and staff working against various lawsuits filed against Trump. "... the taxpayer-funded lawyers are making the case that it is not unconstitutional for the president's private companies to earn profits from foreign governments and officials while he's in office."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/15/taxpayers-pay-legal-bill-protect-trump-business-profits/848354001/

Holy Emoluments Clause, Batman! It's just another first - a President defending his ability to profit from being President, with his legal team being government lawyers, paid for by you.

In other week's news, it was announced (shortly after a military coup in Zimbabwe), that the US Department of Interior is abandoning its Obama-era ban on African wildlife trophies, such as lions and elephants. It really is a classic in upside-down rhetoric:

"Killing elephants will enhance their survival"

"We had to destroy the village in order to save it" was once said in Vietnam. As one who has spent time in Zimbabwe, The Daily Kibitz can assure that the rate of poaching these magnificent creatures will now skyrocket. Poverty-stricken villagers will expand their cooperation with the new wave of wealthy trophy-seekers and ivory collectors.

On left, a dead rare leopard with Trumps. On right, Donald Jr. is holding a severed elephant tail

Meanwhile, the tax "reform" bill advanced.  Among other high blood pressure howlers, it allows Corporations to deduct unending expenses, like a Private Jet Deduction, but won't allow teachers to deduct expenses for buying their own classroom supplies.  It demolishes the Estate Tax ("the Death Tax"), which plays well for H.L. Mencken's "boobouisee" (Trump Base) who think it affects them - when it really affects 0.2% of the population. Oh, and that percent is the wealthiest in the US. Of course! Within a few years, nearly all tax cut benefits will have trickled up to the 1%. Yep, "trickle down economics" is really "trickle up". For more, here's the great Dana Milbank presenting the Alternative Facts Reality we live in:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/forget-alternative-facts-were-now-in-an-alternate-reality/2017/11/17/52e53a56-cba0-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html?utm_term=.611414034076

"Ignore the rules and disqualify the referees who were put in place to enforce standards of integrity." Yes, that's our new socio-political reality as evidenced by those actions from the Republican Congress and White House. Standards for lifetime-term Federal judges? Ha ha! Behold the latest Trump nominee for the Federal bench - Brian Talley. He is the 4th Trump nominee to receive a unanimous "Not Qualified" judgment from the American Bar Association. In fact, since 1989 there have been four judges placed on the bench who received this unanimous "Not Qualified" status. Two of them have been put there by Trump.

Talley has been a lawyer for three years. Never tried a court case in his life. But he is a Paranormal Investigator and has written fiction and non-fiction about his work in this field. Oh! And he is married to the White House Counsel's Chief of Staff, who has been interviewed by Robert Mueller in the ongoing Russia investigation.  Is this what Trump meant when he said he was going to Drain The Swamp?
Forget it, Jake... it's Americatown:

http://www.businessinsider.com/brett-talley-trump-judge-ghost-hunter-wife-2017-11

On a slightly more serious note, the fantastic Sarah Kendzior weighs in on this week's amazing testimony by Attorney General Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions. Noting the changes in memory and evasions that Sessions employed, Kendzior determines that,

"Eroding the law may well be the point... dilute the value of truth - both to sooth Trump's ego, but also because the value of truth is closely linked to the integrity of law... (it's) part of a purposeful dissolution of legal norms. When truth erodes, and the law crumbles, an independent judiciary loses its rigor. In this formulation, Trump does not serve the law; Trump is the law, and Sessions is Trump's willing servant." Please read her whole article, it's that good:

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/amp/ncna821141

Finally, as we struggle through this morass of upside-down alternate reality, let's take a good look at the whole of what's been happening. It ain't pretty at all, but Mother Jones has been quite excellent at documenting all the nonsense and long-lasting damage inflicted by the Trump Administration onto our country. Read it weep:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/creeping-authoritarianism-trump-trumpocracy-300/#

Oh, for cry-yi. Our President is a Bullshit Artist and his Administration is filled with folks who seek to grift for themselves, and/or to dismantle institutions and demolish social and political norms for their own extreme ideological purposes. It's quicker to destroy a building than it is to build it up. With the powerful help of State TV Fox News and Radio Hot Breaths like Rush and Mark Levin, nearly half of the country has been "gaslighted" over the last generation. Our upside down world may seem like a new experience, but it has been a long time in the making. Gaslighted? Why, yes. Here is the piece from Teen Vogue (of all places) that got the ball rolling on this idea last year:

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/donald-trump-is-gaslighting-america

We've gone through the looking glass and have tumbled down the rabbit hole. Remember, though, in our inverted world, everything that falls down comes back up. Let's take a quick musical moment to remember another time when America had fallen down a rabbit hole. Our old friend Grace Slick is here to give testimony:

Yes, feed your head. With facts. Verifiable facts.

The NRA will always keep your gun safe.

Thoughts and prayers certainly did not help the victims at Sutherland Springs Baptist Church. And they won't help future massacre victims, as our Congress and its enabler, the National Rifle Association, continue to spin the fairy tale that guns aren't the problem here.

Mental Health. It's a Mental Health issue, the NRA says. Newtown. Orlando. Virginia Tech. Las Vegas. Sutherland Springs and Killeen and Austin, Texas. San Ysidro and San Bernardino, CA. Edmond, OK. Fort Hood. Certainly nearly all of these "Top 10" shooters seem to have had significant mental health issues. Deranged, one might say. Maybe they were taking the wrong psychotropic drugs that accelerated their murderous zeal for slaughter. Or not being treated at all.

Earlier this year President Egg Nog revoked the Newtown-inspired regulation that prevented severely mentally ill people from purchasing guns. Yet he, too, claims that mental health issues are at the core of these slaughters. Huh. Just another shoulder shrug moment? "What ya gonna do?"

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-signs-bill-revoking-obama-era-gun-checks-people-mental-n727221

That one didn't age well. The fact remains, though, that the use of semiautomatic military style rifles compounded the body count in these events and caused grievous life long wounds for the survivors.

The Daily Kibitz has friends and family who are gun owners. We're comfortable hanging with them, even though at times some possess gun zealousness that enters into the realm of the fantastical.

And guns aren't going away. The government is not going to go door to door and confiscate them. Nobody needs to bury them in the backyard - it's just not going to happen, no matter what our NRA buddies may say - Second Amendment, and all. Heck, even Mrs. Kibitz enjoyed a day at the shooting range with a high-powered semiautomatic. Guns are fun to shoot.

But we do need to be a helluva lot smarter about how and what kinds of guns are sold to the public. And why it's so vital for current gun control laws to be stringently enforced. So, let's take a look at Guns in America, and how the NRA evolved from a gun marksmanship and safety group to a gun manufacturer advocacy lobby.

First, there is the role of money. Gun Business is Big Dough in our economy: 50+ Billion dollars last year, when it's all accounted. It provides some 300,000 jobs. Check out the not-liberal-at-all National Shooting Sports Foundation 2017 report on Firearms and Ammunition economic impact:

https://www.nssf.org/government-relations/impact/

Then there is the bird's-eye view of how gun violence affect our society:

Naturally, with stats like these it shouldn't surprise that the USA leads all developed countries in gun violence - the "competition" can't even be seen over the horizon. We're Number One!

The NRA - the gun lobby - is a highly politicized group that counts 5 million members in its fold. It ensures that Nothing advances in Congress or state legislatures that will impede the ability to purchase nearly any kind of gun. There are 50 billion reasons for this. What once was an organization that was more concerned with gun safety training than anything else has over time evolved into a Big Business advocate, while keeping its membership radicalized with agitprop. For a fascinating look at how the NRA changed, check out this masterful look by The Washington Post from a few years ago:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-nras-true-believers-converted-a-marksmanship-group-into-a-mighty-gun-lobby/2013/01/12/51c62288-59b9-11e2-88d0-c4cf65c3ad15_story.html?utm_term=.18d948b81953

"I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I seldom carry one... I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses... I believe in regulatory methods." said Karl Frederick, NRA president during the 1930s. An Olympic target shooter, Frederick would not know his organization today:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/10/05/the-forgotten-nra-leader-who-despised-the-promiscuous-toting-of-guns/?utm_term=.da37061f9d31

In fact, until the late 1970's, the NRA worked with Congress to help regulate gun control and safety. Then it was taken over by hard-liners and gained rivers of lobbying money. Read this terrific overview of how the NRA changed into the raging behemoth it is today. It explains the transformation far more succinctly than the Kibitz can:

https://www.npr.org/2017/10/10/556578593/the-nra-wasnt-always-against-gun-restrictions

And to help with its lobbying efforts in Congress and state capitols across the country, the NRA pushes a mind control agenda with its membership that would make George Orwell's Big Brother proud. Fear is a big factor. Fear of The Other. Fear of having guns taken away. Fear of being made helpless. Fear of uncontrolled change, and of a undetermined future. It galvanizes, creating a monolithic body that marches lockstep to whatever NRA leadership decides.

From an advertising perspective, here is how the NRA keeps its flock active, engaged and enraged:

https://www.fastcompany.com/40477572/how-nra-advertising-changed-the-second-amendment-and-american-gun-culture

The NRA's long-time president, Wayne LaPierre, is an expert in gaslighting his membership. Here he addresses a conservative political action group about the need for more guns:

http://www.businessinsider.com/nra-wayne-lapierre-cpac-2017-2

Following this speech, the NRA released a bizarre ad that seems to advocate a civil war-style violent advocacy against "the opposition." Again, it's American Taliban agitprop all the way. If it doesn't give you the "willies",  nothing will. Also, it's interesting that the use of "They" is left ambiguous, so as to fill in whatever grievance the NRA viewer may have:

http://www.businessinsider.com/national-rifle-association-ad-call-to-violence-2017-6

Where does all this lead? To places like Sutherland Springs, Texas. If you can bear it, read the whole tale of how the church slayings unfolded, because it is worth the awful heartbreak:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-sound-of-hymns-drifted-from-the-country-church-then-came-gunfire/2017/11/08/4bd191b4-c4b7-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_texastictock-937pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.9934c8f7bab5

So... how do we change things for the better? Maybe if gun advocates could see the horrifying results of such high-powered gun mayhem, a chance for moderation might ensue. There was a video recording of the shootings. Should we have a mandatory viewing of the church video? Should we review the insane and grisly details of the Newtown Sandy Hook massacre? Both involved upclose mass murders that reveal the terrible shooting power of the semiautomatic rifle and the special bullets used. The Newtown guy lined up the first-grader kids and blew them into little pieces. The Sutherland Springs nut did the same, pew by pew.

Today the NRA remains on the side of the gun, not with the victim. And if you own guns and think that the NRA is watching out for your interests, think again about the 50 billion reasons they have other interests in mind.

Before jumping off, here again is the finest piece of satire produced since Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." God Bless The Onion:

https://www.theonion.com/it-s-an-honor-to-continue-being-valued-over-countless-h-1819585030

And let's close this set out with the sultry sounds of Nancy Sinatra, singing the Sonny Bono classic, "Bang Bang":

Do Fossil Fuels Prevent Rape?

This is what happens when our President hires "the best people": we get the very best whoppers. The  gaffes roll down like water, and the inoperative statements like a mighty stream. Not sure what this all means? Well, the Trump Swamp is over-the-head deep with examples, so... let's go!

Our first example is the excellent Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry. During his appearance at an American Petroleum Institute-sponsored event, Perry was interrupted by protestors who suggested that fossil fuels are accelerating climate change, which will cause global food shortages, resources collapsing, wide-scale massive and uncontrolled refugee/immigration, and wars - things that our own military is preparing for. The nonplussed Perry responded:
Huh. So... sexual assaults go away when the lights are on? And expensive-to-import-and-refine fossil fuels are the best bet for developing poor African countries' infrastructure development? Why not solar? Far cheaper, and no need for creating costly pipelines, grids and polluting power plants. Oh, that's right - this is the former Governor of Texas Rick Perry, Mr. Oil and Gas. The same guy who ran for president and famously stumbled during a debate when he declared he'd eliminate three federal agencies - but couldn't name the third.

Naturally, he is now the head of that hard-to-recall agency. But he didn't even know what the Energy Department really does! He was surprised to discover it mostly did things he thought it did not:

https://newrepublic.com/minutes/139961/rick-perry-didnt-know-energy-department-month-ago

Sheesh, what an utter doofus! Recall that his predecessor was a Nobel Prize winning physicist. At least he's bringing back some dignity to Washington, DC after that Obama guy stunk it up for eight years... yes, this guy:

"The perfect Energy Secretary for a nation that requires a "Do Not Eat" warning on a box of nails," said one commenter. Okay, you might say, like Donny Osmond, "one bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch, girl." But that's where you and Donny would be wrong. The whole barrel is rotten! It's a comprehensive collection of Idiots, Sycophants, Grifters and Creationists. Exaggeration? Not hardly:

The Cabinet represents the best and brightest of an Administration. We have Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a gentleman with no diplomacy experience but spent decades with Exxon.  Rex called his current boss "a fucking moron." He has hollowed out the State Department, is fond of napping, and is overseeing the diplomatic diminishment of our country. Also, good to note that during this whole North Korea kerfluffle, we still have no Ambassador to South Korea.

Another great catch is Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin. As a never-before public servant, Mnuchin was a hedge-fund major domo in Goldman Sachs, a reviled place for Trump supporters. Then he became chief of OneWest, a mortgage lender renowned for its aggressive foreclosing practices on folks like Trump supporters. He has done lots of murky stuff. And he married a modern-day Marie Antoinette.

Other Cabinet question marks include:

Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The good doctor has no experience with anything that his agency oversees. Except he lived near a housing project when he was young. And he believes the pyramids were built by the Bible's Joseph to store grain.

Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior. "Fracking is proof that God's got a great sense of humor and He loves us," Mr. Zinke claims. He spends too much on his own special transportation, he cuts back on Interior's budget/workforce, and he wants more fossil fuel companies to work public lands. He also doled out a $300 million contract for Puerto Rico power restoration to a two-man outfit from his hometown in Montana. A neighbor. Where his son had worked. The best, though, is this:

Wherever/whenever Zinke travels, the Interior Department building that he happens to be in must fly a special flag that indicates he is inside. Salute the elite!

Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA protects our air and water. Under Pruitt's watch, we have coal power plant wastewater re-introduced into nearby lakes and rivers. This should not be a shock for Pruitt-watchers - as Oklahoma Attorney General, he launched numerous lawsuits against... the EPA.  He's bringing on a new advisor who believes... that the air is too clean. He also has decided to reorganize the department, citing the Bible's Book of Joshua to explain things (it also opens the door for more Big Business influence).

Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education. DeVos went to private Christian schools, as have her children. As did her creepy brother Erik Prince, the head of what used to be the infamous Blackwater Security (of Iraq War notoriety). Now she runs the department that manages public school direction and funding on the federal level. And as a wealthy religious zealot, it is her calling to make public schools build "God's Kingdom" here in the US. She also made news during her confirmation hearing when she expressed concern that bears present a problem to schoolchildren, so guns should be kept in schools. She is a visionary, of sorts.

But enough of the Cabinet, as this examination would drag on beyond our tolerance for pain. Although it is worth mentioning that there are nine Fundamentalists in the Cabinet... not that there's anything wrong with that, unless one takes in the in-house "Spiritual Advisor" for them, the influential Ralph Drollinger. He shepards them and numerous other sheep in the GOP Congressional Caucus. He advises them that the  US Government is "an avenger of wrath," that Trump is "an adjudicator of wrongdoing," that "women can't teach men" and won't be in a room alone with another woman not his wife. Yes, he's a Mike Pence guy and a Creationist! He seems nice.

Well, you might say, these are bad, crooked and inept people... but surely they can't ALL be like this? That's true! But it does seem like most are:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-other-huge-scandal-mueller-brought-to-light-this-week/2017/11/01/5e05a458-bf4c-11e7-959c-fe2b598d8c00_story.html?utm_term=.20d90c6834d0

and this:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/vote-controversial-trump-epa-nominee-delayed-n811836

and this:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/02/trump-nominates-some-club-members-plum-government-jobs/823231001/

and this:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-pledged-to-drain-the-swamp-instead-he-filled-it-with-industry-sharks

and this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41655117

Oh, and this, too:

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/01/jim-bridenstine-nasa-confirmation-hearing-244416

Hoo boy! Nominating high level folks with experience like being a member of Mar-a-Lago, a Meineke muffler shop manager, a bartender, and a wedding consultant. And, of course, the grifters and unbridled nutty zealots. Looks like we can't keep winning for losing.

For what it's worth, our most favored of all ridiculousness exhibited by this Administration has to be that of White House Counsel, Don McGahn. This position is the primary legal counsel for the White House. It's among the most important jobs, especially for this particular president. But according to recently departed Director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub (who couldn't stand it anymore), Mr. McGahn was, well, kinda incompetent:

McGahn displays his ignorance

Wow, what a howler!! For more on how the competent fled and what their views are on what remains behind, check this out:

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/trump-quitters/

"That set the tone for, Oh boy, this is really bad." Yes, indeed. It did, does and will continue. And it is reflective of the partisan base that sent Trump to do his good work. Here is our final link, from the highly respected Annenberg Public Policy Center, regarding a study made of how Americans don't know squat about their government. This is frightening and revealing how someone like Trump could get elected:

https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/americans-are-poorly-informed-about-basic-constitutional-provisions/

"I love the poorly educated!" exulted candidate Trump. Little did we know that he spoke about most Americans. Betsy DeVos, bring on the Kingdom of God!

Finally, to end on a high note, consider the ongoing efforts to ridicule and satirize this government. On Halloween night, someone put a Jack-o-Lantern in front of the residence of recently indicted former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. The visage, of course, is that of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Got him! And the pipeline is ready to flow...