Is Trump Your President?

Of course he is. He won the election to be president of your country, an election in which you voted. You don't like the current president? Welcome to the club. I did not like Obama, either Bush, Clinton, and a few others. I don't like Trump either. The media is stunned at how Trump could have been elected. The left says it's because most Americans are racist, misogynistic deplorables. The right says it's because Trump listens to the voice of the people.

Both are deluded by their own propaganda. This is anecdotal, but most of the people I know who voted for Trump didn't like him, and still don't. They merely found Clinton's criminal activity and her complete arrogance and disdain for the American people to be so distasteful they voted to stop her. The real winner of the election is "not Hillary." But Mike, you say, didn't Trump win the primary? Doesn't that mean that Republicans wanted Trump? In my opinion, Republicans voted for Trump for one of two reasons. 1) He was rude or 2) The media published stories about him daily. Let me explain.

1) The other candidates tried to play nice. Trump was the bully in the room. A lot of people I know thought a bully was the only way to push back at the bullying of conservatives that had been going on for the past 8+ years.

2) They say the only press is to be ignored. Trump was in the news day after day. Some say that Hillary coordinated some of that because she thought she could beat him the easiest. Maybe so, maybe not. But seeing his name in the news every day sure helped to make the public aware of him.

So, what can we expect from Trump as president? I know what he's promised to do, and what the right says he will do, and what the left says he will do. The truth is... not much. Here's why.

Although the Republicans have majorities in both the house and senate, they have a slim majority (54% in the house, 51% in the senate). It takes more than that to get things done (by design). For instance, Trump will nominate constitutional-minded Justices to the Supreme Court. It only takes 41 senators to block that. If past performance is any indicator, not more than maybe one or two democrats will ever break from what their party tells them to do. Republicans, on the other hand, will easily jump the fence. We've seen this on every major vote in the past 8 years. With Trump in the white house you can bet the Democrats will dig in their heels even more.

So, no SCOTUS justices - we'll live with a reduced court. Same with the budget. It takes more than a simple majority to do almost anything, and that's not going to work. The only way congress will get bills passed is to compromise with the Democrats, and as I've said, the Democrats are not a compromising bunch at the best of times.

So we're going to see two years of not getting things done, followed by the senate, and maybe the house, going to the Democrats because the idiots who voted for Trump don't understand how government works. Then 2 years of Trump vetoing every bill and then a Democratic party sweep in 2020.

That's how I see it at this time. I pray that I am wrong, because I'd like to see this nation heal after the divisiveness of the past eight years, but I think the haters are gonna continue to hate.

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But are they innocent?

Source: New Brunswick Patch

No charges will be filed in the Oct. 29 punching attack of Emily Rand. Rand, a 19-year-old, was punched by a man at a party at Rutgers. She sustained brain bleeding, a skull fracture and a concussion. As of Wednesday night, Rand's breathing tube has been removed, but she remains on an oxygen drip and a feeding tube. Rand is still having trouble speaking but will begin therapy on Thursday.

 

No charges will be filed in the Hillary Clinton email scandal.  The investigation looked into whether Clinton violated the Espionage Act of 1913 by allowing national defense information to be “lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed” through “gross negligence.” Clinton team emails have now ended up in the hands of Julian Assange — a man who lives sequestered in an Ecuadorian embassy — and in the hands of detectives in the Anthony Weiner sexting case.

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Dear Rioters

So I'm reading all sorts of stories about people rioting. Even in my son's high school there are people who were so devastated they had to stay home, or were crying, or cursing at people. This is an election, people. I don't like the outcome either, but the proper way to deal with it is to work with people, not hate them.

Remember the election of 2008? Democrats controlled all three branches of government. Remember all the vandalism, massive protests, people leaving the country, setting fire to things in the streets after president Obama won? No? That's because it didn't happen. Our nation was not the mess it is now. But president Obama wasn't horrible, like Trump, and so why should there have been riots? Let's take a look.

You're rioting why? Because Trump is a misogynist? If it is true, what difference, at this point, does it make (to coin a phrase). Do you honestly think the president has the power to force women into slavery? No. The worst that this means is that he is an embarrassment to the office. And we've had misogynistic presidents before (think bill Clinton). I don't recall riots when Clinton was elected.

Are you rioting because Trump is anti-LGBTQ? Look again. If it is true, what difference, at this point, does it make? We have three branches of government, and the president is only one. And we've had anti-LGBTQ presidents in the past (think Barack Obama in 2008). I don't recall riots when president Obama was elected.

Are you rioting because Trump is racist? Didn't we just get through eight years of a racist, divisive presidency, and weren't you voting for a woman who talked about those needy Latinos, and those blacks who will never succeed, who are "super predators"?

Are you rioting because Trump is anti-Obamacare? It's one single bill out of literally tens of thousands. Wake up and realize that this is a democratic republic and most of your fellow voters are against it too. As an experiment it has been found wanting. Like all government programs written by corporations it funnels money effectively from the taxpayers to those corporations. But what if Obamacare went away today?  Yes, some people would lose coverage, but others would get coverage who don't have it now. Of the people Obamacare promised to save, millions are still uninsured. We can do better, and at a lower cost than $8,000/head. Instead of rioting, why don't you think about solutions? Before Obamacare we had the highest level of health care in the world. And I don't recall you rioting about it.

Are you rioting because Trump wants to enforce immigration laws? I don't recall you rioting when those immigration laws were being enforced by any other president (think Reagan). And if you don't like the immigration laws, you are free to lobby or vote to have them changed. Unless you are in the country illegally, this does not affect you. And if you are, again, realize that you are breaking the law NOW - you just haven't been caught and convicted. That's like rioting because you were speeding and a cop says he wants to enforce the speed limit.

As I see it, you are rioting because you didn't get what you wanted. You have not had any rights taken away. On the other hand, had Clinton, not Trump, won, you could not have said the same. Clinton vowed to force taxpayers to fund unlimited abortion (including partial birth abortion) in violation of their religion, the consciences, and the first amendment. She vowed to remove second amendment protections. Her vice presidential pick wants to change senate rules so that checks and balances would be removed to give Clinton the power to overhauls the supreme court by a single vote. Clinton and Kaine both told Christians their religion had to change, and Kaine went so far as saying Catholics would be banned form the US if they didn't change their beliefs. Note that these are not positions conservatives fear she might have had, these are articulated points of her campaign.

That loss of basic human rights and freedoms would have been something to riot about. And yet, had Clinton won, I don't think there would have been rioting, because the people who would lose those rights would fight for them in congress and in the courts. Of course, we'll never know, so what difference, at this point, does it make?

We won't even get into the massive corruption, fraud, and crime that Clinton is involved in. As I have said, I don't second guess investigators, prosecutors and grand juries, because they have access to evidence and we don't. But in this case, the evidence is all public, and has not been denied or debunked. In fact, the emails are digitally signed and are authentic.

And yes, you can Snopes a lot of these stories and be told they are wrong, but go back and listen to the words in context, look at the original emails - they are not wrong - they fit a pattern of contempt for , well, just about everyoe. Stop relying only on sources that believe what you believe and start looking at primary sources.

The fact is, this country has existed for 240 years, through all different kinds of presidents. It has checks and balances, and the voice of the people. One man does not (and should not) have the power to destroy it. As I see it, history has a way of correcting things, and if the pendulum is swinging one way it's because it was pushed too far the other way.

So calm down, and make peace with your neighbor. Instead of cursing your representatives, sit down and dialogue with them. Let's make American great again (sincerely spoken).

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State of the Kingdom

On this election day I thought I'd look not at the state of the nation, but on the state of the kingdom, aka the Catholic Church. With Pope Francis appointing some "left leaning" cardinals, a lot of people are worried about the shepherds and the flock. So I decided to look into the matter.

Frankly folks, the Catholic Church is in bad shape.

I've been doing research into the policies and history of the leadership (aka bishops). By my reckoning less than ten percent of its them (more like eight percent, but I'm rounding) are actually faithfully standing by Jesus Christ. The vast majority profess to be Catholic, but under duress they bow to the laws of the state over following Jesus Christ. Another ten percent of bishops openly deny the faith and are more concerned about public opinion and their own popularity than God's law. In fact, the Pope himself is in this category!

And worst of all, another roughly eight percent of bishops have completely betrayed the faith, openly speaking out against Christ in exchange for government money. Yep, it's the end of the church. With things like this going on, I'm not sure I can even remain Catholic.

Oh wait, I got my dates a little mixed up. Those figures are from 33 AD. Jesus I trust in you.

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