Tag Archives: Paul Ryan

Trump Times Entry 191 – Special Witch Hunting Counsel

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Special Witch Hunting Counsel

May 18, 2017

Apparently, the Donald feels picked upon – the victim of the “single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history”. The poor baby.

Ever the voiceless sufferer, Trump’s been tweeting in response to the Justice Department appointing Robert Mueller as Special Counsel for the Trump-Russian investigation. While not saying it out loud, Trump’s elegant Tweets beg the unfairness built into a system that never cuts white male billionaires a break.

But the Donald doesn’t back down. So, as if to parry the thrust of this latest investigative probe, he slashed back at two politicians who have never had to endure the humiliation of being falsely accused and tried in the court public opinion: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

(You know, he makes this too easy. The Donald’s repeated use of the childish “Jimmy did it too” excuse makes me, as a parent, reflexively want to put him on a time-out after lecturing, “Listen Donny, the behavior of others does not excuse your bad behavior. You need to stop blaming others, man up. Now, go stand quietly in the corner.”

Of course, as the Donald’s parent, it would be more important to work on the lying – and the way he treats girls.)

But back to the point. This new Special Counsel guy actually has good credentials (obviously, Trump didn’t appoint him), a long record of being a tough investigator and knows the FBI. So, we have a good start, but a couple questions remain.

First, will the Donald be able to buy him? (Or has he already been purchased?) So far, Mr. Mueller looks like he brings integrity and honesty with him to the job. But, we shall see. While it’s not his first choice, Trump has been known to occasionally purchase rather than bully.

Secondly, will Counsel Mueller be able to bear up to the pressure Trump will apply? Actually, this is the Donald’s first choice for persuasion. We can expect fucking crazy fake news from the alt-right media, exaggerated slanted coverage on FOX and a plethora of disjointed accusatory sentence fragments from the Donald himself on Twitter. The mega-lie machine will go after Mueller if he says anything other than, “Nothing to see here.”

I haven’t followed Robert Mueller’s career, but since he was a Bush 43 hire it’s safe to assume he’s republican. So, his political background is a little suspicious. Nevertheless, there’s no reason, right now, to feel he won’t conduct an honest investigation. And I sure don’t envy him the truckload of Trump shit heading his way.

Credit given where credit’s due, at merely one-hundred-ninety-one days since elected, the Donald has earned a special criminal investigation way earlier than any president preceding him. Regarding that investigation, the republic sincerely wishes Special Counsel Robert Mueller good hunting.

In Peace and Justice,
osv

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Trump Times Entry 124 – Begging the Obvious

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Begging the Obvious

March 12, 2017

Oh please! Are we really debating the “merits” of Paul Ryan’s health care plan? Come on! The purpose of the bill it to kill Obamacare. That’s it. Any policy offered in the legislation is there to provide cover while slaying the evil social program.

For years now, our conservative captors have made it very clear they don’t think government should be involved in healthcare – it’s a private matter, meant to be handled privately. They already hate existing programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. So, why would we expect them to earnestly build another big national social welfare system? They don’t believe in social welfare systems.

Face it, they don’t buy any of that libtard stuff like welfare, climate change and women’s suffrage – stuff that keeps America from greatness. What they do believe in, is a time, not so long ago, when a guy who couldn’t afford to see a doctor would just quietly die. You know, back when we had individual freedom.

The Republicans have repeatedly tried to kill the ACA for nearly eight years, this time they’re going to do it. After the initial attack, any surviving policy will wither from lack of funding. Obamacare gone is the only objective.

Sure, Republicans admit to problems with our healthcare system, but insist it’s not the government’s responsibility. The government exists for the greater good, like subsidizing oil exploration and executive golf junkets.

The republic would appreciate leadership clearly stating intention. If you plan to end a program – say so. Own it, you cowards.

In Peace and Justice,
osv

PS –
As the Inevitable Trump Termination Event draws closer, we find that chemical poisoning from deregulated hair-growth products making a remarkable uptick.

PPS –
Can you believe it’s only been one-hundred-twenty-four days since the election? Only about four months – feels like ages, doesn’t it?

Trump Times Entry 120 – An Act of Mercy

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An Act of Mercy

March 8, 2017

First off, happy International Women’s Day! Ladies, the reins of power are yours for the taking – so, please take them, now. Sorry about the mess. (Bet, you never heard that sentence from a guy before.)

After one-hundred-twenty days of struggling with the Trump phenomenon, I suspect I’ve been asking the wrong questions. Been taking a bad angle, as it were.

Mostly, my focus has been on the Donald himself. After all, Trump is both symbolic and symptomatic of the dysfunction. And he presents an easy target – garish sanctimonious anti-intellectualism packaged in a dumpy balding package. It’s tough to ignore a target so deserving.

To a degree, I’ve touched upon the Trump voter. And while my characterizations of these fine people may have been over generalized and unkind, they nevertheless hold true. But unkind truths should, at least, lead somewhere and this path just winds. The working class, Nazi tolerant, Russian supportive, pervert complaisant, white Christian demographic can’t possibly exist. But further generalization seems to always yield categories like the stupid and the greedy. (See, unkind and leads nowhere.)

So, either, I missed something obvious or the line of inquiry had stalled.

Then, from an unlikely source of intellectual stimulation, Paul Ryan, came possible insight. Who would have guessed? Yeah, Paul, taking a cue from the Donald, tried his hand at reducing complex ideas into a short slogan came up with “Act of Mercy” as description for killing Obamacare. Nice – more importantly, telling.

Mercy is granted by the victor to the victim. It describes mitigated punishment in an adversarial relationship. You know, have mercy on the poor sinner.

While Paul’s chauvinism is amusing, the assumption that mercy is his to give is informative. Did we lose a battle with congress and now he’s compassionately granting mercy? This begs the nature of our relationship with those who govern. Mercy requires adversaries. Do we elect adversaries? That would be fucked up. Or does Paul think himself kind, benevolent? That would be a different problem.

Hmm, this line of thought requires further reflection… Time to clear my head, a walk in the woods with the dog – the late winter mud could serve as a small mercy.

Unlike the Donald, Paul Ryan’s clumsy attempt to slogan like the Donald may have revealed some hidden truth. The republic is grateful for his candor.

Resist,
osv

Trump Times Entry 66 – Acceptable Loss

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Acceptable Loss

January 13, 2017mefront2

It’s been sixty-six days since the Donald was thrust upon an unsuspecting majority by an angry relentless minority. In keeping with the exceptional American expectation that “if you ignore it, it will go away”, forty percent of us sat out the selection process. And they were right, things are going away.

Obama Care, for sure, dead as Paul Ryan’s soul. Congressional ethics, oh please – it’s only merciful to kill off anything already that weak. Free speech, hold on partner – what about the white guy’s free speech right to tell everyone else to shut the fuck up! Gender related anything – shut the fuck up!

Some would call this phenomenon collateral damage. But, that would be an understandable mistake. Collateral damage refers to what is inflicted upon an unintended target. But in this case, the deliberation and remarkable accuracy indicates only intended targets. The ruin is intentional, not collateral.

Perhaps, acceptable loss, is a more properly descriptive choice. You know, like when Speaker Ryan, tells a cancer survivor that republicans will replace the Obama Care that saved the man’s life with something better, he means it.

It will be better for the top income people who won’t be spending so much or their money on health care that is unnecessary, for them. And if a small number of people suffer in some nonspecific way as a result of righting this horrible economic wrong… Well, that’s an acceptable loss.

Paul looked right at the guy and danced around the issue throwing out terms like “high risk pools” (commonly referred to “high cost pools”) to obfuscate the fact that the insurance business is only interested in low risk customers.

The insurance lords don’t want the high-risk cases. So, the public would be compelled cover them, but that would take tax dollars. Taxing to help the sick, a minority group, is not interesting to Paul and the austerity orthodox.

So, more likely, they would create a program, but not fund it. Then, make the rules to participate so complex that no one qualifies. The formula gives the appearance of social responsibility without the cost and has worked nicely before.

There would be some acceptable loss, but the cost saving will be worth it. Just ask Paul.

The republic stands because we all accept loss in favor of the common good. Well, everyone except our leadership. Can’t expect them to take any collateral damage.

In Peace and Justice,
osv

Trump Times Entry 50 – Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

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Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

December 28, 2016paul-ryanhorns

The book Fifty Days of Solitude by Doris Grumbach is not so much about solitude, but more about distractions to the perusal of solitude. On the other hand, these first fifty days of Trump are all about the Donald as both subject and distraction. He catches our attention by screaming something ugly, but when we turn to look, he’s not there. Either he’s moved on to yelling new ugly things somewhere else or has magically transmuted into a different, less coherent, Donald – self-righteously yelling self-contradictions.  It causes one to yearn for solitude.

The Donald tracking can be very confusing. While alcohol doesn’t really help, it does dull the pain. If I were the republic my stance would be unsteady due to the dizzying Trump rhetoric and the medicinal wine required to internalize that rhetoric. But I’m sure we’ll be fine; that’s not what I really want to talk about.

I’m more concerned with that we are being distracted from. While Trump presents a danger to both himself and to us, Paul Ryan and his merry gang of sycophants are preparing to blitzkrieg those reviled entitlements. They see an opening to strike a blow for selfishness and hope to do it in private.

In order to expedite the “People’s Business”, Paul Ryan and the gang have proposed a congressional rule change. He would prefer that no cameras or other recording devices be allowed during debate. After all, dismantling public institutions could go much quicker if done in private. Unfiltered public reaction is such a bother.

Paul Ryan, a product of our social welfare system (SSI), is an embarrassing example of how the system can fail the greater good. Understandably, he thinks a system that produced him should be dismantled. But, I don’t think it appropriate to penalize everyone in that system just because one of them became alt-right strumpet. That’s overkill, Paul!

Yup – behind the curtain. Where there’s one, more will follow – that’s how this kind of parasite rolls. Unlike the Donald, they are quiet and prefer the dark.

(Cheery, hey?)

That’s all I got today. Take care of yourselves and each other,
osv