A Happy and Prosperous New Year To ALL!!!

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

The Attention Craving POTUS...

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 The 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 is ludicrous. Despite the frenzied paranoia of the Fox News crowd, the Times doesn’t determine election winners. If it did, he wouldn’t be president. Indeed, if the Trumpists thought the Times had such power, it wouldn’t be the “Failing New York Times,” but rather the “All-Powerful New York Times.”

The comment is also revealing of Trump’s obsession with the media. While decrying the “fake news,” he’s intoxicated, addicted even, to the attention. No president has been obsessed with TV as Trump is. (He reportedly watches up to eight hours a day.) He runs to the Times to unburden himself on a regular basis, just as he seeks refuge in the comfy environs of Fox News prime-time shows. He seemingly makes pronouncements and decisions based on news coverage, not on his own administration data. While he imagines the news media “needs” him, it is Trump who craves approving coverage and rages at their criticism.

All that said, at some level he must know that without CNN’s nonstop coverage of his rallies and Fox News’s incessant cheerleading, he never could have dominated the news cycle, deprived nearly 20 GOP opponents of coverage and won the GOP nomination on a shoestring budget. If he thinks the media can deliver for him again, it is in part because he got such a tremendous boost from the media in 2016. And to the extent that he is allowed a forum in which to babble on without fear of interruption, follow-up questions or contradiction, he’s figured out that no other politician would be allowed to get through an interview like the one he gave on Thursday without a scrape.

But alas, his notion that the media will be “nice to him” — a childlike prism by which he judges and personalizes all interactions (They love me! Great guys!) — bears no relationship to reality.

Continue reading BELOW THE FOLD.

Is the Mueller Investigation Increasingly Worrisome for the POTUS?...

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 almost come to expect by now, when Trump speaks at length without a script, he skitters back and forth along the line that divides the comical from the terrifying, telling one obvious lie after another, making endless digressions that devolve into incomprehensible word salad, and generally sounding like someone with only the most tenuous grip on his faculties.

But there’s one thing he’s very clear about wanting everyone to know: He and his campaign did not collude with Russia during 2016. In fact, without being prompted he returned again and again to the topic, repeating the word “collusion” no fewer than 23 times:

“Frankly there is absolutely no collusion…Virtually every Democrat has said there is no collusion. There is no collusion…I think it’s been proven that there is no collusion…I can only tell you that there is absolutely no collusion…There’s been no collusion…There was no collusion. None whatsoever…everybody knows that there was no collusion. I saw Dianne Feinstein the other day on television saying there is no collusion [note: not true]…The Republicans, in terms of the House committees, they come out, they’re so angry because there is no collusion…there was collusion on behalf of the Democrats. There was collusion with the Russians and the Democrats. A lot of collusion…There was tremendous collusion on behalf of the Russians and the Democrats. There was no collusion with respect to my campaign…But there is tremendous collusion with the Russians and with the Democratic Party…I watched Alan Dershowitz the other day, he said, No. 1, there is no collusion, No. 2, collusion is not a crime, but even if it was a crime, there was no collusion. And he said that very strongly. He said there was no collusion…There is no collusion, and even if there was, it’s not a crime. But there’s no collusion…when you look at all of the tremendous, ah, real problems [Democrats] had, not made-up problems like Russian collusion.“

It should go without saying that no Democrats have said there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Some have said that we don’t yet have definitive proof that there was a conspiracy at work, but none have proclaimed Trump exonerated in the way he’s claiming. And Trump’s claim that Democrats were the ones colluding with Russia is simply nonsensical, likely plucked from an attempt Republicans and the conservative media made a couple of months ago to execute an “I know you are but what am I” strategy on this scandal that was so ludicrous it isn’t worth revisiting in any detail (you can read about it here if you care).

This is one of those moments when you are reminded that the president has the majestic resources of the U.S. government at his disposal, yet prefers to learn the truth of what’s going on in the world from the trio manning the couch on “Fox & Friends.” So perhaps it’s unsurprising that he thinks he can convince America of his innocence by merely repeating the words “There was no collusion” again and again. What is blindingly obvious is that Trump is very, very concerned that people might be thinking he and his campaign colluded with the Russians.

Maybe Trump and his campaign didn't collude with Russian authorities and maybe he and his campaign did. At this point no one knows for certain one way or the other. Which is why the Mueller investigation must proceed to its conclusion. Whatever way it turns out.

More BELOW THE FOLD.

Expecting the Trend to Continue...

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 Refreshingly True Poster...

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's Vision For The USA's Place In The World...

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 relinquishing of power and responsibility. It is brought about more by choice than by circumstances either at home or abroad.

Abdication is not isolationism. Donald Trump’s United States is not isolationist. He has authorized the use of limited military force against the Syrian government in a manner his predecessor rejected. U.S. military operations have gone a long way toward defeating ISIS in both Syria and Iraq. The Trump administration might employ force against Iran or North Korea, or both, and has pressed for and secured new international sanctions against the latter. It could well act (most likely unilaterally) in the economic realm, applying tariffs or sanctions as it sees fit against one or another trading partner. It is trying its hand (thus far without success) at mediating several disputes in the Middle East. The U.S. military effort in Afghanistan is to be extended and possibly augmented.

But abdication describes U.S. foreign policy all the same, as the United States is no longer taking the lead in maintaining alliances, or in building regional and global institutions that set the rules for how international relations are conducted. It is abdication from what has been a position of leadership in developing the rules and arrangements at the heart of any world order.

For three-quarters of a century, from World War II through the Cold War and well into the post–Cold War era, the United States was the principal architect and builder of global rules. This is not to say that the United States always got it right; it most certainly did not, at times because of what it did, at other times because of what it chose not to do. But more often than not, the United States played a large, mostly constructive, and frequently generous role in the world.

Under Donald Trump, however, U.S. foreign policy shows clear signs of significant departure. Support for alliances, embrace of free trade, concern over climate change, championing of democracy and human rights, American leadership per se—these and other fundamentals of American foreign policy have been questioned and, more than once, rejected. Trump is the first post–World War II American president to view the burdens of world leadership as outweighing the benefits. As a result, the United States has changed from the principal preserver of order to a principal disrupter.

Read more BELOW THE FOLD, then, feel free to weigh in. Just keep comments on topic per site guidlines.

Will 'Never Trump' Be the Only Survivors After He's Gone?...

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 his predecessors are his willingness to stoke animus against minority groups for political gain; the energy he has given to white supremacists; the indiscipline of his public statements; the frequency with which he blatantly lies to the public; and the unsavory characters that he brought with him into the federal government—including Stephen Bannon, Stephen Miller, and Sebastian Gorka, for starters.

Only Never Trumpers can credibly claim to stand against the moral abominations that suffused Trump’s political rise and the first year of his presidency. They alone are conserving a faction on the right that stands against deplorability in the face of a president who remains a cruel, mendacious egomaniac. They alone can credibly claim to oppose racial demagoguery.

Insofar as most Republicans celebrate Trump as a success story, rather than repudiating him as an affront to basic standards of decency, they transgress against the Founding belief in the importance of character in leaders while disgracing themselves and doing shortsighted violence to the GOP’s long term prospects. To the question, “Did you oppose the man who repeatedly stoked hatred of us?” they will have to tell Hispanics, Muslims, and African Americans, “No.”

In fact, Pro-Trumpers are sullying the fiscally laissez faire party for a generation, a tragedy for those who believe in free-market economics and small government. Neither George W. Bush nor John McCain nor Mitt Romney deserved criticism they got from some quarters for alleged racial animus. But I don’t blame voters who are rooting for Republicans to be routed in Election 2018: The GOP no longer passes the threshold test of opposing open bigotry.

Just last month, my colleague David Graham offered a mere snapshot of Trump’s most recent deplorable behavior. “He retweeted inflammatory and misleading anti-Islam videos from a bigoted far-right British politician,” he wrote. “He baselessly implied that NBC host Joe Scarborough, a onetime informal adviser, might have been involved in the death of an intern years ago in Florida. And several outlets reported that the president privately continues to claim preposterous things, including that it wasn’t him on the Access Hollywood tape and that Barack Obama really wasn’t born in the United States.”

All alone, spreading propaganda directed at a religious minority group would’ve been a shocking act for any past president. For Trump, more tweets like it could come any moment and no one in the United States would be surprised. Insofar as a voter backlash can repudiate the bigot in the White House and his choice to stoke racial and ethnic divisions for power, the country will benefit.

For now, the man responsible for so much bigotry is the same one that the RNC is declaring a historic success, and the same one Roger Simon wants to form a “united front” behind. If a Democratic president ever behaved half as irresponsibly as Trump the entire right would explode in righteous indignation. Yet Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, Tucker Carlson, and many more besides stand with Trump no matter how nakedly he engages in character assassination or how often he openly stokes ethnic tensions.

America is decidedly NOT what Trump and his surrogates are attempting to turn our nation into.

Happy Holidays!!!

A Very Merry and Safe Holiday To ALL.

Some Things To Think About...

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 outside the Universal Laws.. Every Action(including thought) has a reaction or consequence "We reap what we sow"

Law of Compensation- The Universal Law is the Law of Cause and effect applied to blessings and abundance that are provided for us. The visible effects of our deeds are given to us in gifts, money, inheritances, friendships and blessings.

Law of Attraction - Demonstrates how we create the things, events and people that come into our lives Our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions produce energies which, in turn attract like energies. Negative energies attract negative energies and positive energies attract positive energies.

The Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy - All persons have within them the power to change the conditions of their lives. Higher vibrations consume and transform lower ones; thus, each of us can change the energies in our lives by understanding the Universal Laws and applying the principles in such a way as to effect change

Law of Relativity - Each person will receive as series of problems (Tests of Initiation/Lessons) for the purpose of strengthening the light within each of these tests/lessons to be a challenge and remain connected to our hearts when proceeding to solve the problems. This law also teaches us to compare our problems to others problem into its proper perspective. No matter how bad we perceive our situation to be, There is always someone who is in a worse position. Its all relative.

Law of Polarity - Everything is on a continuum and has and opposite. We can suppress and transform undesirable thoughts by concentrating on the opposite pole. It is the law of mental vibrations.

Law of Rhythm - Everything vibrates and moves to certain rhythms.. These rhythms establish seasons, cycles, stages of development, and patterns. Each cycle reflects the regularity of God's Universe. Masters know how to rise above negative parts of a cycle by never getting to excited or allowing negative things to penetrate their consciousness.

Law of Gender - The law of gender manifests in all things as masculine and feminine. It is this law that governs what we know as creation. The law of gender manifests in the animal kingdom as sex. This law decrees everything in nature is both male and female. Both are required for life to exist.

More if you click on the link above.

In summary, all this points to one thing, Accepting Personal Responsibility For Our Own Lives. We All Have the Power to Change Our Live For the Better.

All sincere, thoughtful, and respectful comments are welcome. Negative comments about ANY other blogger WILL be deleted on sight.

Sane Republicans Recognize the Danger To Their Slim Margin of Power...

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 and paralyze the president’s legislative agenda

... those closest to Trump are bracing for a possible bloodbath in the 2018 midterms... Rational folks are preparing for and working hard to make this happen in 2018. And, 2020 to follow.

America is too good to let a madman destroy the best of our nation.

Faux News, Official Propaganda Outlet of the Trump Administration

“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

Trump Admits Deceit... Lying To The American People, AGAIN...

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 Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Fox News on Tuesday

And polls show Republicans have bought into this, with around 6 in 10 believing the bill favored the middle class over the wealthy — despite the biggest cuts going to the wealthy and the corporate cuts being permanent (unlike the personal tax cuts).

SOURCE

Them there adoring 30%-40% folks sure like being snookered and lied to. Just watch how they defend him and charge FAKE NEWS. Republicans really do need to get a clue.

All Hail the King!...

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) “Thank you for seeing, through the course of this year, an agenda that truly is restoring this country.”

2) “You described it very well, Mr. President.”

3) “You've restored American credibility on the world stage.”

4) “You've signed more bills rolling back federal red tape than any president in American history.”

5) “You've unleashed American energy.”

6) “You've spurred an optimism in this country that's setting records.”

7) “You promised the American people in that campaign a year ago that you would deliver historic tax cuts, and it would be a 'middle-class miracle.' And in just a short period of time, that promise will be fulfilled.”

8) “I’m deeply humbled, as your vice president, to be able to be here."

9) “Because of your leadership, Mr. President, and because of the strong support of the leadership in the Congress of the United States, you're delivering on that middle-class miracle.”

10) “You've actually got the Congress to do, as you said, what they couldn’t do with [the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska] for 40 years.”

11) “You got the Congress to do, with tax cuts for working families and American businesses, what they haven’t been able to do for 31 years.”

12) “And you got Congress to do what they couldn’t do for seven years, in repealing the individual mandate in Obamacare.”

13) “Mostly, Mr. President, I’ll end where I began and just tell you, I want to thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank you for speaking on behalf of and fighting every day for the forgotten men and women of America.”

14) “Because of your determination, because of your leadership, the forgotten men and women of America are forgotten no more. And we are making America great again.”

Pence paused from praising Trump only briefly to also praise the other people seated around the table. But in doing so, he made clear that it was because Trump would want him to — and that these were members of a team that Trump was savvy enough to have assembled.

“I know you would have me also acknowledge the people around this table, Mr. President,” Pence said, calling them “your outstanding team” and “your great legislative team.”
Then he got back to the most important bit of business: praising Trump more directly.

SOURCE

Wow, just Wow! Something we would expect to see from, North Korea? Something the world witnessed in the 1930's and 1940's in Germany. And something we could expect from any country run by a tin pot dictator.

Aside from the this being tailor made propaganda intended for Trump's "adoring 30% public" to hear, it telegraphs what this nation will become if the population doesn't see to it that, barring impeachment and removal by the senate, he is trounced in 2020 at the pools.

As Trump Cruises To Yet Another Low Swampland Distinction...

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 approval rating in December of a first year in the White House, finished his first calendar year at 49%. (Note: There's time to recover; Reagan cruised to a landslide reelection despite this distinction.)

This is according to a half century of available polling data from CNN, CNN/ORC, CNN/USA Today/Gallup and Gallup.

Trump maintains strong approval numbers among those in his own party — 85% — but struggles with independents at 33% and Democrats at just 4%.

Keep up the "great" work Mr. Presnit! We look forward to meeting you on the political field of battle soon. 2020... Can't Happen Soon Enough!

Graph HERE

The Age of Aquarius...

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 more that you can go through all of the changes without losing your balance and stability.

What can you do to help make this transition into this new age of information and consciousness? Here are some suggestions:

1. Have a daily spiritual practice. Every spiritual tradition has one thing in common: a daily practice. This can be many different things: yoga, meditation, chanting, prayer, contemplation, exercise, journaling, etc. It is not important what you are doing, but that you do something almost every day, and do it with an intention to let go of your blocks and focus your consciousness. Kundalini yoga and meditation are the most powerful tools that I have found, but everyone must find their own pathway and collect the tools for their own toolbox.

2. Don’t give in to fear, despair, or anger. There is so much happening that can trigger these emotions: the media, the environment, politics, terrorism, etc. If you understand that these emotions are all symptoms of the Aquarian shift, then you can go through them without losing your center.

3. Don’t be a victim. You have the power to change your life. Don’t give that power away to anyone through blame or resentment. You are responsible for your happiness and grace. Don’t buy into any view of reality in which you are not 100% responsible for making your life work. The Aquarian Age is all about empowerment and consciousness.

4. Be a source of light. The more people who consciously choose to embrace the Aquarian shift, the easier this transformation will go for humanity. It is a spiritual truth that a small percentage of people who have shifted their consciousness can influence the rest of humanity. If you are reading this, then you are most likely one of these pioneers. Find a way to spread your light: teach, heal, create community networks, serve, sacrifice, love. Welcome to the Aquarian Age!

Full article, The Aquarian Shift: What will be Different?
When does the Age of Aquarius begin?

Other links... When does the Age of Aquarius begin?, and The Age of Aquarius Traits are Building as the Next Great Age Begins.

The Public's Trust In Government on the Decline...

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 least most of the time. 

With a new president in the White House, the lower ratings for the federal government’s performance are driven largely by Democrats, who are much more negative today than they were two years ago. 

Among the public overall, positive ratings for the government’s handling of ensuring access to health care have declined 20 percentage points since 2015; today, just 36% say it does a very or somewhat good job in ensuring access to health care, down from 56% two years ago. 

Over the same period, there have been 15-percentage-point declines in positive evaluations of government performance in protecting the environment and responding to natural disasters.

Entire article can be found HERE.

The Vote Is In, the Outcome Righrt...

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 with laser sharp focus and a right agenda for America because the next one ain't gonna be easy. The movement conservative forces that are aligning to reshape America into an oligarchy or plutocracy and will continue to work overtime.

(CNN)Secretary of State of Alabama John Merrill said it was "highly unlikely" that Democrat Doug Jones would not be certified as the winner of Tuesday's special election for the US Senate.

"I would find that highly unlikely to occur, Jake," Merrill said, when asked by CNN's Jake Tapper if he expected anything other than Jones being the next senator from Alabama.
Merrill's remarks came after Republican candidate Roy Moore's campaign chairman directed the media to Merrill to understand final result procedures and after Moore himself, who was not conceding, suggested he wanted a recount.

"When the vote is this close ... it's not over," Moore told supporters after Jones declared victory.
But Merrill, who is charged with certifying the results, suggested he did not at this time see grounds to contest the results.

Article continues HERE.

From The Washington Post:

Obama, a Real American President - Trump, a Fake American President...

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!

RIP Congressman John B. Anderson...

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.

But 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's death and unrest so close to the Capitol prompted Congress to take up the Fair Housing Act, which, as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, would prohibit racial discrimination in housing.

Under pressure from both parties, Anderson broke with his fellow Republicans on the House Rules Committee and cast the deciding eighth vote to send the bill to the House floor. During debate in the House, he gave a rousing speech that championed the bill and led to its passage.

"We are not simply knuckling under to pressure or listening to the voices of unreasoning fear and hysteria if we seek to do that which we believe in our hearts is right and just," he said on the House floor. "I legislate today not out of fear, but out of a deep concern for the America I love. We do stand at a crossroad. We can continue the gadarene slide into an endless cycle of riot and disorder, or we can begin the slow and painful ascent toward that yet-distant goal of equality of opportunity for all Americans, regardless of race or color.

The vote heralded Anderson's arrival as a voice on national affairs. He remained a fiscal conservative but sided with liberals on social issues.

Continue reading BELOW THE FOLD.

America sorely needs men and women of principle and truth. Men like the man described below. A Republican with values, integrity, and a conscience. Where have they all gone?

An Unsettling Reminder of the Past in the Time of Trump,,,

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.

What Are the Most Important Characteristics of a Good Leader... In Your Opinion?

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 up HERE.

Flynn Charged With Lying to the FBI...

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" after sanctions were imposed against Russia by the Obama administration during a December 29, 2016 conversation.

Flynn "did not recall" that Kisylak told him that Russia planned a moderate response to the sanctions thanks to that conversation.

Flynn claimed that he did not ask Kislyak to delay or defeat a pending vote on a U.N. Security Council resolution during a conversation on December 22, 2016.

Another big thing:

Flynn's charging document states that his false statements to the FBI came on January 24, 2017 — after Trump's inauguration and during his service as national security advisor.

Read the full story HERE.