Bernie Is Making Me Gaze Into the Abyss

From the beginning of this election season I have supported Bernie because I wanted to send a message to Hillary Clinton to not be so cozy with the financial kingpins who nearly crashed the global economy with their unbridled greed.

Gazing into the abyss.

As we edge closer to the terrifying abyss that is a neofascist Republican Party I am less interested in sending a message and more interested in the United States not falling to its collective doom.

I have noticed Bernie's ambitions have recently trumped his common sense. He now threatens to tear apart the Democratic Party if it does not surrender to him. Burning down the party so he can command the ashes.
  
Bernie's ambitions have blinded him to the danger. Supporting Bernie seems suicidal now. I have changed my mind and will now vote for Hillary when the election comes to California. Bernie is making me look into the abyss, I feel Bernie pushing me, pushing all of us, into that abyss as he selfishly reaches for power that is out of reach.

No message is worth that.

Simply Put

If Bernie Sanders agrees to a "debate" with Donald Trump to mutually trash Clinton then I will switch my vote from Bernie to Hillary.

The Bundy Boys Whining

The Bundy Boys, Ryan and Ammon, are in jail pending trial for their armed rebellion against the government and do they have a lot of demands. Most notable, and most bizarre and funniest, is Ryan Bundy's complaint that he has been deprived of his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms while in jail. (The jail didn't even dignify that demand with a response.)

He can't sleep without suckling his pistol.

They want desks and chairs and other materials that smart anarchists use to build their own weapons. (The jail said no.) They want the government to buy office equipment - computers, printers, copiers, scanners. Again, the smart anarchist can use that equipment to construct deadly weapons. If they got all that stuff they'd probably need bigger cells. (The jail said no, maybe an iPad.)

A jail zip gun built with far less equipment that the Bundy's demand.

They want unmonitored phone access and unlimited internet access, especially Facebook access, that can be used to encourage outside rebellion. (Nope.) The brothers want to meet and plot together unmonitored. (The Bundy Gang is considered a gang of conspirators and it is standard practice at that jail to not let gang members foment plots together.) They want to hold "prayer meetings" where they can forge plots with other prisoners. (Again, no.)

And they want to wear their Mormon underwear. (The jail said sure, but their lawyers are responsible for cleaning it.)

I'm surprised they didn't demand maid service, too.

The Billionaire Buffoon

I'm sick of the Billionaire Buffoon and the thought of six months of his juvenile rants makes me want to hurl.

Irrational, pouty, vain, thin-skinned, hysterical and just not that bright, does that sound like anyone we know today? ~ Bill Maher on Donald Trump

I've decided that I will spend the four days of the Republican convention as far away as humanly possible from televisions, the internet, newspapers, and radios. I shall liberate myself from the tyranny of that ignorant slut.

Which is not to say I am happy recently with the person I will vote for in the California primary. Bernie Sanders has spend too much time attacking Hillary and too little time concentrating on the Billionaire Bimbo with the freaky hair. He keeps aiming at the wrong target.

Congress sickens me too.

The Senate just sits and waits till they find out what the president wants, so they know how to vote against him. ~ Will Rogers

Watching the stupidity of the Republican majorities is like downing a whole bottle of syrup of ipecac.

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. ~ Mark Twain

I hope to recover. I'm not so sure about the country.

How Presidential Is Trump?

Let's compare Donald Trump's traits to former presidents.

Intelligence

 Warren Harding is universally regarded as the stupidest man ever to live in the White House, a fact he was at least intelligent enough to recognize.

I am not fit for this office and should never have been here. ~ attributed to Harding by his friend Nicholas Murray Butler

His speaking style was described as "stale bean soup." He appointed cronies who took advantage of his dim wit to steal millions from the government.

Harding knew he was stupid, Trump doesn't. Harding was way smarter than Trump.

Honesty
People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. ~ Richard Nixon in a press conference, 1973

Nixon is the gold standard for dishonest presidents. In 1971, he ordered his chief of staff to break into the Brookings Institute to steal the Pentagon Papers and encouraged another aide to firebomb the Institute. During the Watergate investigation he told his staff, "I want you all to stonewall--plead the Fifth Amendment, cover-up, or anything else. If that will save it, save the plan."

Trump would have to do a lot to be more dishonest than Nixon but, if anyone can do it he can.

Vengeance

Tricky Dicky Nixon again. He had a famous enemies list that included politicians, journalists, and actors. Nixon used the power of the government to punish his enemies.

I want to make sure he is a ruthless son of a bitch, do what he's told, that every income tax I want to see I see, that he will go after our enemies and not our friends. ~ Nixon on what he wanted in his IRS commissioner.

Trump is more paranoid than Nixon, takes offense more easily, and is even more vicious towards the people he deems to be his enemies. I have no doubt Trump would be the most vengeful president in history.

Racism

Woodrow Wilson was a total racist. Besides blacks he hated Asians (whom he called "coolies"), Poles (Slavs and Jews), and Italians. If you weren't of Northern European heritage, old Woody hated you. Like Wilson, Trump is a champion of and championed by the Ku Klux Klan. Trump adds hatred of Muslims and Hispanics to the standard KKK malice. That means Trump would challenge Wilson as the most extreme racist president in history.

Mafia
Donald Trump has known ties to both the Italian and Russian mafia. Other presidents with mob ties were Harry Truman who was sponsored and a longtime friend of Kansas City mobster Tom Pendergast, Nixon (again) was a close friend of alleged mob fixer Bebe Rebozo, and John Kennedy was having sex with the girlfriend of mafia don Sam Giancana.

Casino mogul Trump certainly has the deepest financial ties to organized crime of any presidential candidate in history.

Narcissism

All presidents are narcissists, it goes with the job. Self-effacing people seldom get elected (Jimmy Carter excepted). There is no evidence that Donald Trump proudly displays his "little donny" to business competitors but that's probably because it's tiny and not as impressive as President Johnson's johnson.

The clinical definition of narcissistic personality disorder reads like the biography of Donald J. Trump. Trump will be the biggest narcissist to ever hold the office of President of the United States.

Paul Ryan's Coquet Dilemma

Speaker of the House Ryan was just being coy. He wanted Trump to politely ask for his support, maybe even beg a little, you know, like Ryan did with the Freedom Caucus to get the Speakership. But The Donald don't ask. The Donald snaps his finger and politicians are supposed to come running, sort of like Danny Zuko or The Fonz.

Ryan was being Midwestern prim when Trump expected a slut. So Ryan unexpectedly finds himself symbolic leader of the #NeverTrump movement when all he wanted was to preserve the illusion of virginity for a little longer.

It's like he didn't let Trump grope him at the drive-in movie and suddenly he's a prude leading the Political No-Sex League. Ryan's dilemma is how to surrender his self respect to Trump without looking like a common whore.

Trump's Plan for Hyperinflation

Hungary (1946), when money was trash.

Donald Trump today announced his plan to reduce the American debt through hyperinflation.

Previously, he had proposed to pay off the debt through giving bondholders "haircuts." Rather than paying the full value of the bonds he would "negotiate" deals where bondholders would be forced to accept partial payments for the debts they hold.

In simple financial terms, that would be declaring bankruptcy and defaulting on the debt or, as Trump called it, "playing with debt."

That didn't go over too well with the global financial market.

A ten billion mark German postage stamp, worth about 50 cents.

Trump's new plan is to make every American a billionaire by inflating the currency so the US debt is nearly worthless, making it easy to pay off. Because that worked so well in 1920's Germany and modern Zimbabwe.

How Trump Wins in November

I desperately want to believe that Hillary will trounce Trump in a landslide of biblical proportions. But I am a natural pessimist who is always looking for the dark cloud behind every silver lining. I'll leave it to the professionals to analyze the polls (Clinton leads by 13 points in the latest poll) and the bookies to press the odds (Paddypower gives Trump odds of 2-1, a 33% chance). I want to look at two bizarre alternatives that will make a Trump victory likely.

The Reichstag Fire Scenario

A major terror attack causes a spike in American's fear and Donald Trump is a master at manipulating fear. In 1933, Nazis (probably) set fire to the German parliament building, blamed the Communists, and used the resulting furor to take total control of the country. A civilian drone destroying the Lincoln Memorial or the successful assassination of Trump's Vice-President would dissolve any Clinton lead as the nation turns to the strongman candidate. Importantly, Trump wouldn't have to wait for an outsider attack, his own supporters could pull off either event and Trump merely has to blame Muslims or Hispanics.

The Double Reverse Scenario

When people are ripe for a mass movement, they are usually ripe for any effective movement, and not solely for one with a particular doctrine or program. In pre-Hitlerian Germany it was often a toss up whether a restless youth would join the Communists or the Nazis. ~ Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

Trump starts running to Clinton's left. As long as he sticks to his wall, mass deportations, and banning Muslims Trump's supporters don't care what else he advocates. He has already come out with anti-Republican positions like a $15 minimum wage, LGBT rights, and wanting to appeal to Bernie Sanders supporters. None of this has affected Trump worship among his followers. If he can attract enough Sanders loyalists to split the Democratic Party then we could see a Trump takeover of the entire nation.

I won't relax until Trump's political career is dead and buried with a stake through his heart and salt in his mouth. 

The Horror ... The Horror

The photo in the poster above was taken, unedited, from a neo-Nazi website, Daily Stormer. If fascists add Trump to their pantheon of idols who am I to disagree? The reactions to last night's Indiana voting is astonishing.

Movement Conservatives

When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. ~ Esther 4:1

The tears and gnashing of teeth from movement conservatives is actually a little heart rending. For generations, the Republican Party has been the only home they had known. Their beloved Party has nominated a man many of them hate worse than Hillary Clinton. Some are vowing to leave their Party, others say they will vote for Hillary.

Surrender Monkeys

Rise before Zod. Now, kneel before Zod. ~ Superman, the Movie

For every movement conservative standing by his commitment to #NeverTrump there will be a dozen who will debase themselves before their new lord and master. William Kristol was one of the leaders of #NeverTrump even vowing to run a third party candidate. Until yesterday. Now he is meekly hinting that he will eventually worship at the altar of The Donald. Bobby Jindal capped his short, aborted presidential run with a full throated denunciation of Trump. Yesterday, even before the voting was over, Jindal kowtowed before Trump and promised his support.

The highlight of the Republican convention will be when Ted Cruz humiliates himself by pledging his everlasting fealty to Donald Trump.

Poor, Poor Pitiful Ted

I have seldom seen a candidate have a more miserable week before an election than Ted Cruz in Indiana. It almost makes you feel sorry for the man. I said "almost."

• His blockbuster move to anoint his Vice-President landed as hard as a turd down a 20-foot pit toilet. Literally. (Carly falls off stage) 
• The former Speaker of the House called him "Lucifer in the flesh." Ted response that he barely knew John Boehner was quickly proven to be a lie, Cruz was Boehner's lawyer in 1996.
• His embarrassing seven minute debate with Trump supporters outside Indianapolis proved again the old adage, "Never mud wrestle with a pig; you'll both get dirty and the pig will love it."
• While being heckled by a ten year-old at a rally (bad enough), he proudly announced that he hits his own children.
• The absolutely absurd story his father conspired with Lee Harvey Oswald to kill JFK has gained traction. 
• So did the story that Ted himself was the Zodiac Killer even though the first Zodiac slaying was two years before Ted was born. That's damn precocious.

I expect poor Ted to be trounced by Trump in today's election.

Stages of Trump Grief

I've seen a subtle shift in the tone among movement conservatives in recent days. Denial (Ted Cruz will win Indiana and use that momentum to sweep to victory at the convention.) is fading as they realize that his act of desperation, Carly, looks less like a brilliant strategy and more like a pathetic act of desperation.

Anger at Trump stealing the Republican Party from them is still boiling but what is trending is the third stage, bargaining. Maybe Trump will put "Lying Ted" on the Supreme Court. Maybe his advisors will talk him out of nuking Syria. Maybe we'll be able to work with him. Maybe it won't be so bad. This isn't acceptance, they are negotiating with themselves.

Movement conservative depression won't peak until the convention, where Donald might decide to boost ratings by adding bikini ring girls to the podium for his acceptance speech. (More showbiz.) I'd be reveling in the Schadenfreude right now if it weren't for the nagging fear that something horrible may happen and Trump takes the White House.