Wishes

I wish trump would just drop dead.

I don't worry about Pence taking over.  We could just get some guy to dress up as Jesus and have the secret service let him sneak into Pence's White House bedroom every night.  Then Jesus could tell him what to do along the lines of common sense and charity.  I wish that would happen.

And please read this.

TV Killer

My breakfast mate this morning agreed that after investing so many years in the TV drama "House of Cards", that we were no longer watching it.  Mainly, because watching the trump administration is even more outrageous.  trump hasn't pushed a reporter in front of a train yet, but he has pushed the whole concept of a free press in front of it.  And then there is Giuliani, Cohen, Pruitt and the rest of that gang to provide daily examples of how our country has branched into an alternate dystopian universe.

Stuff That is Bothersome Today

People being offended by the First Amendment being used at the White House Correspondent' Dinner.  Get over it.

trump's EPA giving a financial hardship status to a billionaire, Carl Ichan, so he can escape regulations at his refinery that protects public health and safety.

Pope Francis being pilloried by the right-wing faction of the Catholic Church for being a left of center Pope.  But they all still wear funny looking clothes.

Baptist leaders insisting abused women must stay with their husbands and ask god to help out with their spouse.

The Shit We See

Local TV news has morphed into a police blotter. They run at least half a dozen security cam or lapel cam videos a day. (All photographers can forget about a profession in TV news any longer.) The news directors and reporters are not journalists, they are ET tonight wannabees. If you took them all and gave them an exam on government and civics I am betting 90% of them would get Fs and the others a D minus. I feel for sorry for the TV and radio reporters of from earlier decades who must watch this trash and wonder what happened. But we know what it is, really, it is greed from the broadcaster's Corporations who see money as everything. Murrow and Cronkite roll in their graves every night at 6 and 10. They lay beside the "fairness doctrine" which corporate right wing money destroyed too.

Scorecard

Senator Udall--no statement on assault weapons ban, but he always wears a cowboy hat.

Congressman Ben Ray Lujan--no statement on assault weapons ban,  but likes photo ops.

Senator Heinrich--supports an assault weapons ban and likes to go bow hunting.

Congressman Pearce--a bad guy with a gun but wants to be Governor.

Congresswoman Lujan Grisham--supports a ban on assault weapons and wants to be Governor.

Udall and Lujan appear to be cowardly.

Missing for three months!

Veneklassen for Land Commissioner

There are some Democrats who are upset that Gene Veneklassen, the perfect fit for being elected Land Commissioner, was once a republican.  He switched because he could see the depravity of the GOP, but people like Ralph Arellanes Sr., a former Obama appointee and young Party member Israel Chavez seems to think that one should vote against him anyway.  This is the Democratic Party at its worse.  There is a gutter level attack going on against Veneklassen that is modeled on trump attacks on his opponents.  It is shameful and sophomoric.  Arellanes and Chavez shame the party for this stance by narrowing the opening to the tent, much like trump does.

Veneklassen is eminently qualified for this position and I am supporting him with money and other help and advice.  If you care about conservation, wildlife, climate change and other pressing issues that face us then Veneklassen is the guy to vote for.  Many good Philanthropic organizations have given to his non-profit because of his inspired leadership.

Countdown

I feel so relieved that Susana Martinez just made her last speech to the Legislature.  Really, of all the Governors I have worked for or observed she has been the most visionless, the most vicious and the biggest failure.  I honestly could not point to one thing she has accomplished that would help the long-term success of New Mexico.  Even Gary Johnson built a few things that were positive.

Really though, the thing that has stood out about her administration is the nastiness emanating out of the fourth floor in the capitol.  Her minions never talked issues, they just trashed anyone who disagreed with them.  Maybe trump used her as a model.  It looks like it to me.

She has just been a part of the meltdown of a moderate and reasonable GOP.  One wonders if they will ever recover their ethics and morality.  Of if they will even continue to exist.

A Relevant Quote

I got into a senseless argument with right-wingers on the deportation of that 40 year old father of three kids who had been in America since he was ten years old.  I stretched it a bit by saying the Homeland Security officers who escorted him out were like death camp guards, who fell back on the excuse they were just following orders.  It did remind me of that famous quote,

 "First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Perspective

Remember when?  It used to be that other countries would respect the United States.  A time when a sitting President didn't need to call black and brown people as residents of shitholes.

Take, for example, Cuba.  This is a photo I snapped while there a few days ago in Havana.  It is a park that honors Cuba's heroes.  Yes, that is Abraham Lincoln.  The man who emancipated slaves in our nation.  That meant something to Cubans who have no small experience with slavery in their history.

trump overstepped this time to the point where articles of impeachment are certainly warranted.  But the morally bankrupt republicans in this country will march against it.  Frankly, anyone in the Republican party is complicit.

A BLM Movement

Bureau of Land Management moving out of DC?  As a former Director of the BLM, this only makes sense if the BLM is regionalized, much like other Interior Departments and the Forest Service.  Instead of having a State Director in every western state who is beholding to Governors and Senators supported by the extractive industries,  the Department could be split up into identifiable ecoregions.  Take for instance the Colorado Plateau states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.  But wait, that would make too much sense, wouldn't it?

Cuba Si!

We had a great stop in Havana for a couple of days.  One can really see the effects of the Embargo and the fall of the Soviet Union here.  The Cuban people are resilient and hope for a better future and of course, they are disappointed in trump going retro from Obama's opening of better relations with the country.  The country needs a major infusion of capital and a lessening of government authoritarianism.  But, the people we met seem to be patient even if they cant see the light at the end of the tunnel.  We had a great time touring around in an old Buick with a Mercedez engine and homemade radiator.

Sailing away from a very polluted bay.  The water had a lot of sewage and fuel oil in it and the air was bad until there was a nice shower.

Sailing soon to Cuba

Outta Here

We are off to Havana, Cuba, and a few other stops.  Our house sitter has invested in Claymore mines so we will still have cars in the garage when we return.

We booked this trip on July 16th and it became harder over time to be able to enjoy Cuba because of an asshole named trump.  If we had booked two weeks earlier we would not have been affected because we would have been grandfathered under Obama rules.  trump is turning this country into a backwater.  We will watch Europeans and Canadians saunter off the ship on their own and explore Havana, while we Americans must be escorted so that trump can think his little penis has gotten bigger.  Well, he is a big dick, isn't he?

Out of the Wilderness

I have just come out of the Wilderness of the worse cold/flu virus I have dealt with in years.  Most of our friends have been dealing with it also and we were all together at a party, so I guess that is where it spread.  Some friends had to go to urgent care and they said it looked like a triage center from all of the human wreckage laid low by little microbes.  Hours of waiting to be told to go home and tough it out.

It is kind of like dealing with trump/pence for the last year.  Except they are still around tearing the democracy apart since the antibodies you would usually rely on to kill their policy crimes, (that would be the Senate,) have been absent due to a GOP majority.  We can only assume it can't get any worse.  Right?

Sheeesh

Well, why do I feel as if this Pence visit to Afghanistan really is meaningless? This Christian Fundamentalist understands little of the issues facing the world. He thinks jesus will save us and that end of days are coming. That is leadership in our country today. Burdened with dogma while intellectually bankrupt.

Grandkids Lament

Think of it this way.  An old white GOP member of Congress decides he needs a new $5 million dollar house.  He buys it with a huge mortgage.  He works the deal so that his grandchildren have to pay off the debt after he his dead.  That way he gets all the rewards and they get bankruptcy and then start living in a third world nation.

That is the tax cut viewed in a different way.

More to Come

If you think things are falling apart in government now, just wait.  Case in point.  A  train derailment on a new route kills and injures passengers because Congress keeps cutting funding of Amtrak.  And then their strangulation of the IRS will make it nearly impossible to collect owed taxes, even under the new tax con job by the GOP.

Bobbi and I stand to gain from this tax cut and we shouldn't.  We would rather the money go into fixing the nation's infrastructure so we at least stay in the low rankings for first world economies.  Take a look at our streets and highways if you think things are working right now.

The bankruptcy of the government and the morality of the GOP go hand in hand.

No Regressive Taxes

It never fails.  Republican officer holders leave deficits for incoming Democratic office holders.  Mayor Berry with the help of the city council covered up the anemic revenues coming into ABQ's city coffers.  And now a progressive office holder, Tim Keller, is left with a mess.

Certainly, the ax must come out on frivolous projects.  One I can think of is the Roundabout at Rio Grande and Candelaria and the ridiculous strangling of that street at the behest of Councillor Benton. That money might well be diverted to ART anyway if the Feds don't send what they said they would.

But about the last thing we need is another regressive increase in the gross receipts tax.  Anything but that might be feasible, but only as a last resort.  One of the first things I would do is to get a good audit going to make sure NM state government is sending ABQ what is actually owed.  When I was Mayor that was the first place we would look and we always hit paydirt.

Every City Councillor should be watched carefully in this process.  As well as every County Commissioner.  They have a finger in this pie too.

Divided

The real takeaway from Alabama should be the huge divide between rural and urban America.  And it just isn't in that Southern State.  One can only wonder at the factors that cause this split, but I think it is education, economic potential, religious fundamentalism, and innate stupidity when it comes to knowing what is really in one's own self-interest.

I don't know how this gets healed, but I have a feeling that education and eradication of christian fundamentalism is the answer.  The first would be easy to solve.  The second would be hard because those evangelicals really love their imaginary friend who lives in the clouds and will give them wings.