Rational Nation USA

We begin the New Year with an Open Thread . Please keep it respectful!

We all know by now, or should know anyway, that DJT is a reality show POTUS. He is one who craves the attention that the media falls all over itself to give him. Trump is addicted to the limelight cable news, print media, and electronic media provide him 24/7. Bluntly stated Trump is a media whore who needs the media every bit as much, if not more, than the media needs him. From Th e Washington Post : In President Trump’s interview with the New York Times, he declared: Another reason that I’m going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I’m not there. Because without me, their ratings are going down the tubes. Without me, the New York Times will indeed be not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times. So they basically have to let me win. And eventually, probably six months before the election, they’ll be loving me because they’re saying, “Please, please, don’t lose Donald Trump.” On one level, the comment i...

Donald Trump has been obsessed with talking about the absence of any collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. We're no expert here but people that find it necessary to repeatedly, and often, defend themselves against allegations sound like they're trying to convince themselves. Which creates the thought in others that they indeed have something to worry about, and, if possible hide. From The Washington Post : You know how if you repeat a word over and over, eventually it starts to sound strange to your ear, like merely a random collection of sounds? That is apparently what President Trump is doing with the word “collusion.” Say it often enough, and perhaps it will lose all meaning. That’s just one of the things that comes through in this bizarre and disturbing interview Trump conducted at the Trump International Golf Club with Michael Schmidt of the New York Times, apparently on the spur of the moment and with no aides there to protect him. As we’ve alm...

We note that even when erring on the plus side and giving all categories the +2.9% only Republicans and White Evangelicals approve of the way Trump is handling his job as of November 2017. The trend line has been heading south (in all categories) since February 2017 and there are no indications that will change anytime soon. Hopefully the American people continue to grow in understanding Trump lacks maturity, understanding, integrity, vision, and so much more. As leader and head of the Republican party it is deserving of absorbing the disillusionment of the majority of the American people in 2018 and 2020. Article BELOW THE FOLD .

A most truthful statement. Found on a consevative weblog . In this age of Trumpisms a lie is the truth, even when its not . Just ask 30%-40% of Americans that continue to supprt the BLOTUS.

Trump is reshaping America's role internationally. Do the possible perils in doing so outweigh the perceived benefits? The Atlantic - When great powers fade, as they inevitably must, it’s normally for one of two reasons. Some powers exhaust themselves through overreach abroad, underinvestment at home, or a mixture of the two. This was the case for the Soviet Union. Other powers lose their privileged position with the emergence of new, stronger powers. This describes what happened with France and Great Britain in the case of Germany’s emergence after World War I and, more benignly, with the European powers and the rise of the United States during and after World War II. To some extent America is facing a version of this—amid what Fareed Zakaria has dubbed “the rise of the rest”—with China’s ascendance the most significant development. But the United States has now introduced a third means by which a major power forfeits international advantage. It is abdication, the voluntary r...

When the Republican Party’s current coalition falls apart, those who stood up to bigotry will be the only ones with the credibility to rebuild. Excerpt from The Atlantic . Conservatives and republicans need to read, reread, and fully understand the following as well as the ramifications of their failure to stand for right rather than the misguiuded right wing of their party . Of course, Trump has presided over many policy failures. Any president could pass a tax bill or confirm federal judges given a Senate and House that is controlled by their party. And Trump’s tax bill failed to simplify the system while his federal court appointments include embarrassingly unqualified choices. But even without those caveats to the two policy achievements that conservatives cite most often, there are sound reasons to justify opposition from Never Trumpers. Some relate to incompetence, others to lack of transparency. And the most important and damning traits that distinguish Trump from hi...

A Very Merry and Safe Holiday To ALL .

Laws of the Universe The Law of Divine Oneness - everything is connected to everything else. What we think, say, do and believe will have a corresponding effect on others and the universe around us. Law of Vibration - Everything in the Universe moves, vibrates and travels in circular patterns, the same principles of vibration in the physical world apply to our thoughts, feelings, desires and wills in the Etheric world. Each sound, thing, and even thought has its own vibrational frequency, unique unto itself. Law of Action - Must be employed in order for us to manifest things on earth. We must engage in actions that supports our thoughts dreams, emotions and words Law of Correspondence - This Universal Law states that the principles or laws of physics that explain the physical world energy, Light, vibration, and motion have their corresponding principles in the etheric or universe "As above, so below" Law of Cause and Effect - Nothing happens by chance or outsi...

POLITICO - A few weeks before Alabama's special Senate election, President Donald Trump’s handpicked Republican National Committee leader, Ronna Romney McDaniel, delivered a two-page memo to White House chief of staff John Kelly outlining the party’s collapse with female voters. The warning, several people close to the chairwoman said, reflected deepening anxiety that a full-throated Trump endorsement of accused child molester Roy Moore in the special election — which the president was edging closer to at the time — would further damage the party’s standing with women. McDaniel’s memo, which detailed the president's poor approval numbers among women nationally and in several states, would go unheeded, as Trump eventually went all-in for the ultimately unsuccessful Republican candidate. The backstage talks provide a window into how those closest to Trump are bracing for a possible bloodbath in the 2018 midterms, which could obliterate the Republican congressional majorities...

“The President of the United States regularly starts his day watching Fox & Friends and then tweets about whatever they cover, and however, they cover it.” Mediaite He promotes their show, tags them by name, and sings their praises. That alone makes [them] three of the most influential media people not just in the United States, but in the entire world.” Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump Was @foxandfriends just named the most influential show in news? You deserve it - three great people! The many Fake News Hate Shows should study your formula for success! 7:45 AM - Dec 21, 2017 “That is influence like few other media figures have ever enjoyed." Trump regularly praises the Fox News show's coverage, as well as other coverage from the network and Fox Business. Since taking office, he has sat down for more than a dozen interviews with the network, but has mostly avoided other outlets. SOURCE

President Trump was so excited about passing his first major piece of legislation Wednesday that he blurted out that the Republican Party had misrepresented the entire bill, handing Democrats some potentially troublesome talking points for the 2018 midterm elections. ... Trump basically admitted that the GOP's talking points on the bill weren't exactly honest in two major ways. While talking about the corporate tax rate being cut from 35 percent to 21 percent, Trump said, “That's probably the biggest factor in our plan.” The problem? Republicans have been selling this legislation as a middle-class tax cut, first and foremost. A sampling: “The entire purpose of this is to lower middle class taxes.” — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) “Primarily, and priority number one, is middle-class Americans.” — White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders “The theme behind this bill is to get middle-class tax relief for most people in the middle class.” — Senate Majo...

This is what our once great republic has fallen to. Back in June, President Trump allowed almost his entire Cabinet to speak, one by one, in praise of him. And praise him they did, with each being more effusive than the last. They called it an “incredible honor” and a “blessing” to serve him. They said they were “humbled” and “privileged” to be part of his team. They talked about how much Americans loved Trump. At Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, Vice President Pence decided he'd just handle praising Trump for the entire team. Over nearly three minutes, Pence offered plaudit after plaudit after plaudit, praising Trump's vision, his words, his strategy and his results in light of the passage of tax cuts. By the end, Pence offered 14 separate commendations for Trump in less than three minutes -- math that works out to one every 12.5 seconds. And each bit of praise was addressed directly to Trump, who was seated directly across the table. Here's the full list: 1) “T...

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's approval rating sank to a new low in CNN polling on Tuesday, earning the approval of just 35% of Americans less than a year into his first term. That's a significant drop from the 45% approval rating that Trump had in March, shortly after taking office. It marks the worst approval rating in a December of any elected president's first year in the White House by a wide margin — and only the second time since the dawn of modern polling that a president's approval rating sank under 50% at this point. A broad 59% of Americans said they disapprove of how Trump is handling his job as president. George W. Bush ended his first calendar year at 86% approval, John F. Kennedy hit 77%, George H.W. Bush reached 71% and Dwight Eisenhower hit 69%. Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all finished their first calendar year with approval ratings in the mid-to-high 50s. Ronald Reagan, previously holder of the worst ap...

As a change of pace as well as tone, we offer the following for your consideration and comments. This shift is bringing out the best and the worst in mankind . Some people are preparing for this shift by opening their hearts and minds and embracing this new age, and some people are intimidated by the changes that they don’t understand and want to return to a “golden age” in the past, or to circle the wagons and trust only those who are like themselves. Transformation is never a painless process. When you fast or cleanse to purify your body, at first you feel worse, because toxins get stirred up in order to be eliminated. Once these poisons have been cleared, you feel lighter and more energized. Now imagine that every person on planet Earth is going through this shift. We are heading into a time of radical change. It is a time of great potential growth and expansion, but it is also a time of great potential pain and suffering. The more that you understand what is happening, the mor...

A PEW Research Center report shows Americans trust in their government has become less positive and at the same time more partisan. Since 2015, opinions about the federal government’s handling of several major issues have become less positive and much more partisan. Yet majorities continue to say the government should have a “major role” on such issues as defending against terrorism and helping lift people from poverty. And views about government’s role, unlike its performance, have changed only modestly over the past two year.    Public trust in government, meanwhile, remains close to a historic low. Just 18% say they trust the federal government to do the right thing “just about always” or “most of the time” – a figure that has changed very little for more than a decade.  And while more Republicans say they trust the government today than did so during the Obama administration, just 22% of Republicans and even fewer Democrats (15%) say they trust the government at le...

At the end of the day Alabama did the right thing. They elected Doug Jones to the United States Senate. It is true Jones won by a slim 1.5% margin of victory, and, some will say he won because of media bias, irregularities in the voting process, that Moore ran a poor campaign, that the GOP was late in supporting his campaign etc. There may be a very small amout of truth to some of that. Nevertheless Jones won and his winning could very well be a harbinger of the 2018 congressional elections to come. Even with Trump and Bannon stumping on behalf of Roy Moore Alabama voted blue, a most stunning development in one of the south's deepest red states. Many folks, myself included, consider this a landmark election, an election that is as much a rebuke of the Trump and Bannon agenda as it is support for the democratic agenda. Time will tell. For now there is much work to be done. Remenber, gloating and over confidence loses elections. It's time to prepare for the next election w...

CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama says Americans must be vigilant in their defense of democracy or risk following the path of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. At a speech earlier this week, the former president told the Economic Club of Chicago that “things can fall apart fairly quickly” if Americans don’t “tend to this garden of democracy.” During the speech Tuesday, Obama pointed to Hitler’s rise to power in Germany as he implored the audience to “pay attention ... and vote.” Obama also defended the media. He said the press “often drove me nuts” but that he understood that a free press was vital to democracy. The above is EXACTLY how a REAL President and ex President thinks and speaks. Fake presidents like Trump think and act like authoritarian dictators. Which is why Trump admires Hitler ( keeps Mein Kampf by his bedside ) and Russian strong man Putin . Thoughts from REAL Americans welcome!

John B. Anderson, an Illinois Republican who cultivated a free-thinking reputation during his 20 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, and who mounted a serious third-party bid for the White House in 1980, died Dec. 3 in Washington. He was 95. After entering Congress in 1961, Anderson spent many years in lock step with Republican Party orthodoxy and was a supporter of ultraconservative Sen. Barry Goldwater's presidential bid in 1964. B ut Anderson, who had voted against many of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society economic and social programs, gradually came to embrace them. As part of his incremental political evolution, he spoke of being deeply moved while attending funerals for civil rights activists. He began to travel more widely, seeing the effects of housing discrimination and racism. His signature legislative achievement came in April 1968, days after riots sparked by the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. tore through Washington. King'...

The following was reprinted in the Kansas City Star on December 03, 2017 courtesy of the estate of Art Buchwald. Originally published in the The Los Angeles Times in 1973 during the Watergate hearing it certainly resonates today. Click on the Kansas City Star LINK above.

Here you have it folks, a POTUS in name only. One who is perceived as competitive, intense, emphasizes success, and enthusiastic. As to characteristics that predict a good, or great, leader how does he fair? Trump  rightly so scores low on the vision thing, has little if any courage, really doesn't give a hoot about people, isn't very focused, is uninspiring, lacks analytical skills, is horribly inconsistent, and is most often unprepared. Yet America put the "man" in the most powerful position on the planet. Even though all the indicators of this were there shortly following his announcement that he was going to run. Many want to blame Russia, and certainly they were a minor influence given the country's interference. But, the real blame for the man siting in the Oval Office rest squarely on the ill informed or willfully ignorant voters of America. We have ourselves to thank for The Master of Disaster now occupying the White House. Complete poll write u...

Investigation heats up. From AXIOS . President Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty during a court appearance this morning to "willfully and knowingly [making] false, fictitious and fraudulent statements and representations" to the FBI regarding his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's then-ambassador to the United States. Flynn's plea came under Special Counsel Robert Mueller's expanding investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Why it matters: With his plea, Flynn agreed to cooperate fully with Mueller's investigation. In a development that could have far-reaching implications as Mueller's probe moves forward, Flynn admitted in his plea that senior transition officials directed his contacts with Russian officials in late December of last year. The lies that Flynn told FBI agents: Flynn claimed he did not ask Kislyak to attempt to "refrain from escalating the situation" a...