Stonepounder
Stonepounder's Journal(Margaret & Helen) If Only The Trump Presidency Could Be Counted In Dog Years.
https://margaretandhelen.com/2017/08/29/if-only-the-trump-presidency-could-be-counted-in-dog-years-my-apology-to-dogs/From Helen:
Margaret, I used to assume that the majority of racists were probably Republican, but now I am beginning to wonder if the majority of Republicans are actually racists. How else do you explain a party still standing behind this Make America Great Again Asshat of a President? And while I know that I am painting with broad strokes, I still just see a canvas of predominantly white people making up excuses for the racist things coming out of Trump’s mouth. The man is 12 shy of a dozen and we need to get him out of office. Hurry Mueller. Please hurry.
Earlier this week I did that Twitter thing and said that I wished Trump would not come to Texas. And for that, one of Trump’s supporters called me a c**t. Listen. It’s not a nice word but I’ll take being called the C word over being called a Trump Supporter any day. And I have good reason to not want Trump to come to Texas.
Before we all turned our attention to Harvey there was a lot of talk about Trump’s handling of Charlottesville. In case you forgot a white supremacist… neo-Nazi… white separatist… hell let’s just call it like we see it… a member of the Trump base drove a car into a group of counter protestors in Charlottesville killing a young woman named Heather Heyer. Trump said he needed time to determine how he felt about what happened. His initial reaction was to blame many sides. Then two days later he condemned hate groups only to then flip again and show us what he really thought by saying there was blame on both sides. Both sides. On one side there were Nazis and one of them took a car and ran over a young woman. On the other side there were no Nazis. None. Not even one on a bicycle named Rolfe. Nazis on one side. No Nazis on the other. But somehow our President came down in the middle, unable apparently to take sides even though we literally fought and won a war about the No Nazis thing. This isn’t a Mel Brooks play. These Nazis didn’t dance and sing. They marched and chanted death to Jews.
And then a few days later another horrible man – this one seemingly not a Nazi – drove a van into a bunch of people in Barcelona killing thirteen. Almost instantly Trump blamed Radical Islamic Terrorists. No sides. Just an entire religion to be blamed. Of course, that Nazi in Charlottesville being a Christian and all has no bearing. Maybe if more Muslims were Nazis… I don’t know. Just thinking out loud.
Second half of letter at link.
Trump takes time out from Harvey to tweet Mexico will pay for wall:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/901802524981817344With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.
Arpaio Pardon is Impeachable Offence
(Note: This article was written before Trump announced the pardon of Arpaio.)
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-08-23/arpaio-pardon-would-show-contempt-for-constitution
Arpaio Pardon Would Show Contempt for Constitution
And there would be only one remedy for Trump's disrespect: impeachment.
If President Donald Trump pardons Joe Arpaio, as he broadly hinted at during a rally Tuesday in Arizona, it would not be an ordinary exercise of the power -- it would be an impeachable offense. Arpaio, the former sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County, was convicted of criminal contempt of court for ignoring the federal judge’s order that he follow the U.S. Constitution in doing his job. For Trump to pardon him would be an assault on the federal judiciary, the Constitution and the rule of law itself.
....
An Arpaio pardon would express presidential contempt for the Constitution. Arpaio didn’t just violate a law passed by Congress. His actions defied the Constitution itself, the bedrock of the entire system of government. For Trump to say that this violation is excusable would threaten the very structure on which is right to pardon is based.
...
When a sheriff ignores the courts, he becomes a law unto himself. The courts’ only available recourse is to sanction the sheriff. If the president blocks the courts from making the sheriff follow the law, then the president is breaking the basic structure of the legal order.
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When a sheriff ignores the courts, he becomes a law unto himself. The courts’ only available recourse is to sanction the sheriff. If the president blocks the courts from making the sheriff follow the law, then the president is breaking the basic structure of the legal order. From this analysis it follows directly that pardoning Arpaio would be a wrongful act under the Constitution. The Constitution isn’t perfect. It offers only one remedy for a president who abuses the pardon power to break the system itself. That remedy is impeachment.
James Madison noted at the Virginia ratifying convention that abuse of the pardon power could be grounds for impeachment. He was correct then -- and it’s still true now.
Much more analysis at link. Well written and well reasoned.
Good people doing good things.
http://www.reshareworthy.com/homeless-man-sleeps-outside-shelter-to-find-dog/Homeless Man Sleeps Outside Of Animal Shelter Hoping That They Have Found His Lost Dog
A worker at DeKalb County Animal Services in Georgia arrived at work in the morning to find the man lying on the sidewalk out front of their shelter. When they woke him up they learned that he had spent the last of his money to take the bus over to them after his dog had gone missing. He was waiting for them to open to see if they had found her.
It turns out that they had. The shelter had picked up a stray two weeks earlier and taken it to their new facility on the other side of town. That’s when the kennel technician did an act of kindness that is going viral. The shelter worker paid for his train ticket so he could get to the other location and reunite with his dog, Tata. Their reunion was captured on camera and the shelter wrote, “We see some amazing reunions here at LifeLine’s DeKalb Animal Services, but this one was extra special.”
The shelter was so moved by the touching reunion that they waived all of the fees and offered the man assistance through their outreach program – it’s a program that helps the homeless with their dogs.
Video of reunion at link. Well worth a look.
President Trumps list of false and misleading claims tops 1,000
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/08/22/president-trumps-list-of-false-and-misleading-claims-tops-1000/?utm_term=.6e31663d039aWe have been tracking President Trump’s false or misleading claims for more than seven months. Somewhere around Aug. 4 or Aug. 5, he broke 1,000 claims, and the tally now stands at 1,057. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here.)
That’s an impressive number by any standard. In fact, we are a little late with this update because we have simply been overwhelmed keeping track of the deluge of claims made by the president in the later part of July. Things slowed down during the president’s “working vacation,” so we have finally been able to catch up.
At the president’s current pace, he averages nearly five claims a day. Many are repeats of claims that have been previously debunked. We also include statements that are unacknowledged flip-flops from previously held positions, such as touting new highs in a stock market that he previously derided as being a “big, fat bubble.”
More than 30 of the president’s misleading statements have been repeated three or more times.
Trump 'seriously considering' a pardon for Joe Arpaio.
So much of what has been written about the 'possible pardon' has been along the lines of 'this will be a shout out to the alt-Right'. Or that it will be a signal that you are above the law if you are on Trump's side.
But, my opinion, is that it would be much worse than that. It would be a signal to the entire court system that Trump doesn't care about them and will overrule them whenever he, and he alone, thinks they are wrong, regardless of law or evidence. Remember that Arpaio was convicted of Criminal Contempt of court. What message would a pardon send to the judicial system, when Trump is willing to pardon Criminal Contempt - for perjury and refusing to obey a court order? It would be an absolute slap in the face to the entire judicial system. Perjury? No problem. Refusing to obey a judicial order? Never mind.
Trump has decimated the State Department, appointed the most singularly unprepared Cabinet, and in a number of cases appointed people who are actually opposed to the mission of the department they are supposed to be running. He is actively attacking members of his own party, attacking the press, attacking anyone who doesn't 'bend a knee' to King Trumpsie.
Now with the Phoenix 'rally' coming up, is Trump actually trying to start a national 'civil war' between the left and the alt-right? A upswing in violence to the point that he felt he could declare Martial Law? With the number of generals in the White House advising Trump, how far are we from a military 'take over' - whether via Martial Law, or an actual coup where the generals and the military deem it a necessity to take over the White House until they can 'restore order'?
I am afraid. I am very afraid.
CNN: Jared and Ivanka are failing a basic moral test
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/19/opinions/jared-and-ivanka-failing-moral-test-opinion-golinkin/index.htmlI first heard the silence late Tuesday night, while pecking at my phone, waiting for Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to denounce President Donald Trump's latest comments on neo-Nazis after the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the death and mayhem that resulted.
After the President tried to compare neo-Nazis to what he described as the "alt-left," saying "I think there is blame on both sides," there was still no outcry from Jared or Ivanka.
Slowly, as the hours ticked away, the silence descended.
Many think of silence as the absence of noise, but that's only one type of silence. There is a different, darker variety, one Jews and African-Americans have gotten to know well over the centuries. This silence doesn't suppress sound -- it amplifies it. It is the boom of the MS St. Louis departing for Nazi-threatened Europe after being denied entry by port after port. It's the whisk-whisk of Southern belles fanning themselves at the slave auction. It's the presence of apathy amid injustice and horror.
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But the silence emanating from Jared and Ivanka was exponentially more powerful than any I'd heard before. To me, as a Jew, seeing nothing but two tweets from Ivanka brought the kind of pain I'm sure is echoed by African-Americans anytime Ben Carson defends the President, and Asian-Americans in the wake of Elaine Chao's and Nikki Haley's equivocations: condemning hate in general terms while carefully avoiding criticizing the very administration they're part of.
Read the entire opinion at link above. Powerful. Makes you want to cry, scream, your breath catches in your throat, and it shows, once again, how bereft of any moral compass or conscience that any Trump has.
Post Nation Jerry Lewis, comedian who became one of the most unforgettable entertainers of his time,
Source: Washington Post
Few comedians have been so beloved and so derided as Jerry Lewis, who amassed devoted fans and stunningly hostile reviews from critics. Few have been so accomplished as humanitarians — his annual muscular dystrophy telethons had raised almost $1.5 billion by the late 2000s — or so polarizing as personalities. Lewis appeared in more than 50 films during a career marked by dizzying summits and desperate lows.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/20/jerry-lewis-comedian-who-became-one-of-the-most-unforgettable-entertainers-of-his-time-dies-at-91/?pushid=5999ccf1a1ccab1d00000034&tid=notifi_push_breaking-news&utm_term=.a6ab72fefa13
Another great comedian gone.
Woman Protects Trump Supporters From Crowd, Showing Us How To Combat Hate
Source: Huffington Post
A woman demonstrated perfectly how best to tackle hate, as she helped supporters of President Donald Trump navigate through a crowd that was yelling and spitting at them during a rally in Boston Saturday.
The woman, a 19-year-old named Imani from Connecticut, told the Boston Globe she couldn’t think of a better way to counter much of the hate that’s bubbled to the surface in America than helping people with whom she disagreed.
“You know, I don’t believe in this right-wing narrative of the alt-left and how we are crazed and looking to get nonviolent,” she told the Globe. “What better way to show them they are wrong?”
Imani, who is black, told the Globe she didn’t think white supremacists would give her the same kind of help she gave on Saturday, but that didn’t matter. “I couldn’t get through a KKK rally with the same treatment,” she said. “But we shouldn’t be like them.”
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/woman-protects-trump-supporters_us_599888c6e4b0a2608a6cabd9?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
This is how you do it!
This is who we are!
Fund raising for demonstrations in Boston
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/boston-rally_us_59963564e4b0e8cc855cbb42Black Lives Matter Boston ― one of many groups of counterprotesters that helped organize the “Fight Supremacy” group ― said in a statement to HuffPost that they were attending the rally to “stand in defiance” of white supremacy and “amplify the voices and truths of the marginalized.”
“We encourage individuals intent on combating white supremacy to be deliberate and purposeful in supporting those who are most affected,” BLM Boston said. “This means following the direction of Black and Indigenous leadership — including and especially Black queer and femme leadership.”
As of Friday night, the “Fight Supremacy” group had raised more than $34,000.
The “Boston Free Speech” group, meanwhile, asked on its Facebook page for donations to purchase an audio system for the event. A link to its fundraising website showed just two people had made donations totaling $9. The page was later taken down.
Long article in Huffington, but this part, way down in the article is inspiring!
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