Author Archives: OneSmallVoice

Trump Times Entry 282 – Always Darkest

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Always Darkest

August 18, 2017

Pensive

It’s been a gloomy week, especially in Charlottesville, where an alt-right riot injured 19 and killed one anti-Nazi demonstrator. The Donald reacted with simpleton equivocation: the alt-left is just a guilty as the alt-right. The alt-left charged peacefully demonstrating Nazis – interrupted free speech. #BothSidesGuilty #SoUnfair #YeaNazi

Ever the showman, Trump prolonged the agony for half the week by contradicting himself twice before landing back at the “both sides are at fault, but we really need a closer look at the alt-left” position. The Donald really knows how to milk a controversial opinion with victim blaming and bravado.

Today, Friday, we’re looking at more terrorism in Europe, and Trump’s asinine reaction. After an initial civil communique to the Spanish government, Trump followed up with a suggestion: do what General Pershing did and kill Muslims with pig’s blood coated bullets. (Pershing didn’t do that; the story’s an urban myth.)

So, from one point-of-view, the week’s moved from white bigots attacking us with cars to non-white bigots attacking us with cars – and the Donald wants us to stop disrespecting the white bigots, but kill the non-white with magic bullets.

Getting pretty dark, don’t you think?

The national mojo’s been getting progressively darker over the last two-hundred-eighty-three post-election, pre-apocalypse, days. The republic feels that if it’s always darkest before the dawn, we got to be damn close.

Awaiting crescendo,
osv

Trump Times Entry 281 – Will it Stick?

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Will it Stick?

August 17, 2017

Wary

Trolling Trump is suspiciously easy. Every time he speaks we’re gifted with new material – obvious whoopers and logical absurdities abound. One need only reach out and select from the myriad of absolute bullshit this guy craps out. (Bad image? Sorry.)

(Speaking of crap, how about the Donald sharing his sadness at seeing those beautiful confederate statues removed? Beautiful? Really? Well, from the guy with a taste for solid gold toilets what should we expect?)

So, my choice for today is: Trump addressing our neo-Nazi problem by not talking about it. Instead he talks about the alt-left (which doesn’t exist, yet) and, like I said, shares sadness over statuary. He’s taking a well-earned public beating over giving the alt-Nazis a pass. On the other hand, David Duke’s publicly thanked Trump for his support. So, there’s that.

The Nazi association thing seems much deadlier then palling around with Russians. So much so that some pundits are calling game over – predicting he won’t recover from granting tacit approval to white supremacists. His unhinged, contradictory, responses to the Charlottesville riots and murder cost him a ton of political capital. His millionaire associates are jumping ship. Even some Republicans senators have expressed measured outrage – perhaps there are limits to loyalty.

Nazis?  No politician ever recovers from something like that. Right?

Well, we’ll see. We thought he was done back when that sexual predator tape was released, but, as it turned out, even the evangelicals voted for him.

For the last two-hundred-eighty-two days, ever since the election, we’ve watched the Donald bounce from one scandal to the next, from Russian collusion, to conflict of interest, to nepotism, to Nazi sympathy. Yet he survives because his supporters stay with him, regardless. And chances are they’ll stick longer than the neo-Nazi stigma.

The republic suspects that special counsel Mueller’s is more likely to get something to stick to this slippery bastard than public outrage. The Donald thrives on outrage, but an indicted and convicted Donald – now, that would be something beautiful.

All in the eye of the beholder,
osv

Trump Times Entry 280 – We Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

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We Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

August 16, 2017

#SAD

Finally out of the closet, the Donald took up the neo-Nazi cause in earnest yesterday. In a shameless display of bullshit equivalence and pandering Trump defended the fine people who demonstrate by torchlight while chanting anti-Semitic and racist slogans.

The fine people who physically attack those holding opposing viewpoints.

The fine people who murder with ISIS tactics.

The fine people who fly the swastika alongside the American flag.

Yeah, those fine people.

So, we now stand warned. Fighting back makes us as “just as bad”, but not fighting back makes us marginalized or dead. Some choice, hey? And to be sure, the Donald’s stamp of approval guarantees an up-tic in alt-right activity. Why not when Trump’s not just a neo-Nazi sympathizer, but an actual neo-Nazi?

We definitely ain’t seen nothing yet.

The social plague named Trump is moving fast. In a mere two-hundred-eighty-one days since the fake election the Donald has taken us from the audacity of hope to the litany of fear – feared by our friends, enemies and citizens alike.

The Republic stands on the brink – of what, remains to be seen.

May as well fight back,
osv

Trump Times Entry 279 – Now He Knows, Nazis Piss Us Off

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Now He Knows, Nazis Piss Us Off

August 15, 2017

Agitated

So, Trump finally said the words! Finally conceded that neo-Nazis, white supremacist and KKK members should be held accountable. And it only took him a couple days to work it out.

While the rest of us figured swastika banners flown alongside of stars-and-bars flags and all those white guys carrying shields adorned with white-power symbols were a dead giveaway, apparently the Donald felt it more complicated. Ever the deep thinker, he thought the problem came from many sides and required study.

But after a few days of continuous critique for all sectors of America (except for the alt-right, of course), he conceded that, perhaps, neo-Nazis, white supremacist and the KKK may harbor blame. This is a big step forward for the Donald. What next, love beads and peace rallies?

Probably not.

While the Donald finally said the requisite words, even the alt-right doesn’t believe he meant it. David Duke, the racist’s racist, tweeted, “It’s amazing to see how the media is able to bully the President of the United States into going along with their FAKE NEWS narrative.” Yeah, he thinks poor Trump was bullied by the press.

In an anti-Semitic, racist Periscope video rant, Duke went on to say, “President Trump, please, for God’s sake, don’t feel like you need to say these things.” It should be mentioned that during the same rant Duke defended the Nazi who ran down counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer. “When you’re under attack … you panic and you do things that are stupid and you do things that are wrong,” Duke said.

Nice…

Nevertheless, on one point I must agree with Duke. While I don’t feel the Donald was bullied, I also don’t think he meant a word of his second statement. Trump simply responded to political pressure and read boilerplate words. Remarkably, he even stayed on message.

So, now Trump knows, when the republic sees Nazis attack and murder other Americans we get pissed off. While this notion may seem intuitively obvious to most of us, apparently, this is new territory for the Donald. After all, it’s only been two-hundred-eighty days since he used the alt-right to win the election, how could he know they would be so unpopular?

WTF,
osv

Trump Times Entry 278 – Begging the Obvious, He Doesn’t Give a FK

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Begging the Obvious, He Doesn’t Give a FK

August 14, 2017

Feeling scattered, getting angry again

This is my third try at writing today’s blog. Took a swing at highlighting Republican responsibility for gifting us the Donald – seemed trivial, went nowhere. Took another try with mocking Repubs for not realizing what Trump was, but upon reflection, decided they did know what he was. They just didn’t care. Both ideas fizzled, neither felt right.

Instead I kept flashing back to: they killed another one of us this weekend. And now the alt-right spokesmen are slut-shaming her and Donald Fucking Trump can’t bring himself to talk about the murder, no less condemn the perpetrators, or even mention her name – Heather Heyer.

While at the same time, Trump could specifically name and attack Ken Frazier when Ken resigned from the Donald’s council on manufacturing this morning. Mr. Frazier, head of Merck pharmaceuticals, quit “as a matter of personal conscience” and “to take a stand against intolerance and extremism.” Seemingly in response to this weekend’s events.

Trump, of course, attacked him on Twitter and threatened to “LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” (The caps are the Donald’s – he’s such an alpha-male.)

So, Trump’s still attacking, just not the alt-right. (CEO quits the Donald’s club – attack, Nazi kills demonstrator – meh.)

The Donald’s gentle behavior regarding the alt-right (and Putin, for that matter) begs the question: why? Does the Donald fear them? Is he, somehow, beholden to them? Does he think they’re too small to be concerned with? (Even when they commit murder.) Or is he sympathetic with their racist world view?

Does it even matter? While answers to those question might be of some interest, the fact that we’re compelled to ask them is telling. The reasons why notwithstanding, Trump just gave another pass to the alt-right, after a murder. And they loved it – they’ve been blogging about how cool he is since his non-condemnation Saturday.

The election, two-hundred-eighty days ago, was the first step towards Heather’s murder. Trump’s implicated and will continue to ignore alt-right violence against the republic – as surely as Trump lies or alt-right cowardice.

Resist,
osv

PS-
12:00pm:
The Donald just publicly condemned neo-Nazis and racism after two days of criticism for not doing so. He did not make a direct reference to the weekend’s violence, mention the killing or say her name. Just more generic political-speak. Perfunctorily.

Trump Times Entry 278 –

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Summer Reruns

August 13, 2017

Unsettlingly Nostalgic

Trump attacks. That’s how the Donald responds to conflict. We’ve witnessed enough iterations to generalize: CNN shares an embarrassing story about Trump – Trumps attacks, Mitch McConnell fails to get a bill to the Donald’s desk – Trump attacks, Mueller investigates Trump financials – Trump attacks, Jeff Sessions won’t help with containing the investigation – Trump attacks, terrorists strike in France or Great Brittan – Trump attacks the terrorists and the victim country. There’s lots more, he’s blasted Democrats, Republicans, Muslims, Mexicans, disabled people, Judges, women, Australia, Venezuela, Korea and California.

He’s a one trick pony in a great big tent. (metaphor intentionally mixed – I like the image)

Trump attacks.

Except for two very specific things: Vladimir Putin, and the far right.

For example, just last week, the Donald thanked Putin for expelling 750 U.S. diplomats. (His communication staff clumsily spun his thanks as ironic.) Then, yesterday, he blamed “many sides” for the violence in Charlottesville. Violence that led to the death of a Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old local anti-racist demonstrator, and injured nineteen other anti-racist demonstrators. Violence by a twenty-year-old alt-right follower.

Many sides.

The Trumpster laid a generic “We’re in this together” message on us as his response to the incident. He offered no mention, no less critique, of the alt-right, white supremacists or, even, Nazis. He, instead, implied an equivalence: all sides are at fault, Nazis and anti-racist – the same, many sides.

So, why? Why’s Trump so quick to spread around the guilt regarding alt-right related violence, when he instantly attacks pretty must everything else that offends him. (Except for Vladimir, of course. That’s a special case.)

Perhaps, he’s not offended.

My compulsive counting of days since that fucking election has reached two-hundred-seventy-nine. It’s not even been a year, but feels like we’ve been dragged back to sixties, back to when racists wore their colors with impunity and hid behind monikers like John Birch or the American Independent Party rather than alt-right.

But, roses by another name…

The republic knows it’s no Summer of Love out there, but with protests erupting over issues thought settled back then, with our protracted foreign war and VA failing vets again, with political leadership pandering to the same, old white male, population as back then, it’s beginning to feel like a summer 1967 rerun.

And nineteen sixty-eight sucked,
osv

Trump Times Entry 277 – At Wits End

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At Wits End

August 12, 2017

Dazed and Confused

I need a Trump reset. Think the I overdosed yesterday when I read the Donald would not rule out military options for Venezuela. One would think, after watching Trump for the last two-hundred-seventy-seven post-election, pre-apocalypse, days nothing could surprise me. But, wrong again – military options? Venezuela? WTF?

At first, I thought he was just saying shit to get a reaction, but there was a familiar overtone. Seemingly from out-of-nowhere, the Venezuela option felt just like back when Trump accused Obama of tapping his phones. Too absurd to take seriously, but that very absurdity drove discussion, attracted attention. The phone-tapping story lives today, despite being debunked by the FBI last March.

And other shit keeps piling up: Korea, Russia, open warfare within the GOP, back-stabbing within the DEMs, white supremacist rallies, anarchists forming organizations and practicing dress codes, trigger happy cops abound, healthcare still a mess, voter rights under attack, allies don’t trust us, hate crimes are up, gun control is down, economic division continues to widen and our planet’s thermostat’s broken.

So, of course, invading Venezuela is on the table.

I don’t know about the rest of the republic, but I need to rethink how I perceive the Donald. Commonplace classifications haven’t worked. He’s not an effective politician, regardless of how much he lies. He’s not a great businessman, no matter how much money he cheated from people. He’s not even a good conman, his stories are clumsy and, frankly, he’s not that attractive. Yet, he sets the tone and nearly forty percent of us still support him.

And that makes as much sense as attacking Venezuela.

Must be missing something,
osv

Trump Times Entry 275 – Locked and Loaded Lunatics

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Locked and Loaded Lunatics

Anger seeping through providence

August 11, 2017

As expected, the Donald escalated the war of words with North Korea this morning by tweeting the U.S. military was locked and loaded. He went on to brag that America and South Korea would move forward with large-scale military exercises – war games, later this month.

Earlier in the week, North Korea announced their own plans to target missile strikes near Guam – not at Guam, but near – in a different sort of war game, later this month.

Great, a couple tough-guy wannabes, too chicken to serve, are publicly screaming at each other as they position to play war in the same neighborhood, later this month.

But, Rex Tillerson and what’s left of the State Department assure us we have nothing to worry about. Rest easy, they tell us – don’t read too much into it. Trump’s just using language Kim Jong-un will understand. Yet, today’s tweets, sound more like language only Trump understands.

Hell, speculation about Trump’s mental health is now even coming from Republicans. Speculation on Kim’s mental state has never been good. So, later this month, we’re gonna have two crazy tough-guy wannabes circling each other brandishing phallic weapons.

Perhaps, we should just let the lunatics fight – each other, but without the phallic machines. If the Donald and Kim really want to get into it, let’s put them into a cage wearing speedos (phallic enough) and make an event of it. A mixed-martial-arts, last man standing wins, grudge match. No rules, just a testosterone versus testosterone primal war game. Shit, we could even let Trump brand and promote it – you know, schedule it at a Trump property, later this month.

That way perhaps, since these”leaders” would have something personal at risk, skin in the game as it were, maybe they wouldn’t be so willing to risk the rest of us in their cockfight, later this month.

It only took the Donald only two-hundred-seventy-six days, since the election, to raise the specter of nuclear war – negating nearly three decades of, post-cold-war, de-escalation. Good job asshole!

The republic needs to institutionalize the Donald before he picks a fight with someone willing to fight back. Rest assured, when all-hell breaks loose the Donald will be Tweeting from somewhere safe while we live and die with the consequences. As will little Kim.

Later,
osv

Trump Times Entry 274 – Trump Brand Fight Club

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Trump Brand Fight Club

August 10, 2017

Kind of numb – perhaps, punch drunk.

We’re all members of the Donald’s fight club. Sure, some of us don’t realize it because, well, you don’t talk about fight club – rules one and two. But membership’s been mandatory since the election, two-hundred-seventy-five days ago because rule three of Trump’s Fight Club is: everyone’s a member. The last rule: the Donald gets to pick the fights, is another variation on the original, but consistent with the Trump corporate policy. Hence, fair enough for the Donald, so fair enough for the country.

The notion that Trump always wins is not so much a rule as a social construct. Over the years, we’ve found that when playing with the Donald, it’s best for the Donald to win – it’s only polite. And he gets crabby if he doesn’t.

While discussing the club is not allowed, discussing the fights is encouraged. After all, every mention of a fight will include mention of the Donald and that’s the point – the Donald.

The fights have been numerous: Trump vs the press, Trump vs the FBI, Trump vs Rosie, Trump vs Australia, Trump vs Germany, Trump vs Clinton (still), Trump vs Trump golf club members, Trump vs Trump University students, Trump vs real university students, Trump vs trans people, Trump vs. Comey, Trump vs the EPA and Trump vs Kim Jong-Un – just to name a few.

Of late, the Donald’s  even started up with fellow Republicans. His latest go-round with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, while off to a slow start, promises to get ugly fast and may entertain us clear through the holidays. Can’t wait for the Donald to whip out the frog insults.

Of course, none of the fights have ever come to actual fisticuffs. If they had, Megyn Kelly would have kicked his overweight ass last Fall (Trump vs Megyn Kelly, October 2016). But to be fair, we can’t expect the Donald to physically fight, what with his bone spurs and all. So,Trump gets to stick with rhetoric and leave the dangerous stuff to the rest of – yeah, I know, another variation from the original rules.

To be sure, the Trump branded fight club rules differ significantly from the original. Nevertheless, the republic recognizes that the Donald’s fight club is based the same base principle: the desire to destroy something beautiful.

Defend yourselves at all times,
osv

Trump Times Entry 273 – A Fool’s Fire and Fury

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A Fool’s Fire and Fury

August 9, 2017

Scared, but resigned.

The man who didn’t serve in his generation’s war seems determined to drag this generation into another. The news feeds are pounding the drums, sources in high places say the Donald’s threat was “unexpected, but it wasn’t surprising” – a fine distinction. Other officials tell us, “Don’t read too much into it”. Secretary of State Tillerson says, “Americans should sleep well at night”. The legitimate government, such that it is, quotes “Don’t Panic” mimes to us.

Yet, the orange clown with the red button tweets about our nuclear arsenal as if it were one of his gold commodes.

It’s been only two-hundred-seventy-four days since the unexpected, but not surprising bullshit election and the republic is unlikely to sleep well tonight regardless of what the Exxon CEO disguised as our top diplomat says.

The Donald’s Republican support is retreating, the grand jury is closing in – and there’s nothing like a war to sway public opinion. So, dragging us into a military distraction seemed likely. Still, it was unexpected (but not surprising) when Trump opened with the nuclear option.

The mistake was, once again, giving him too much credit.

Overthrow the Tyrant,
osv