Autocrat

Cambridge English dictionary definition: A ruler with unlimited power, or someone who demands that people completely obey them. Google definition: Someone who insists on complete obedience from others; an imperious or domineering person.

Do these definitions remind you of anyone? How about Donald Trump?

Vice President Mike Pence proffered four years of loyalty to everything Trump said and did. He kept his mouth shut and praised Trump frequently. Then Pence decided to do his duty in counting the electoral ballots. Pence did the right thing. Trump attacked Pence for not having the ‘courage’ to overturn the election as the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol.

Trump has demanded total loyalty from everyone in his cabinet and others like the director of the FBI. If they dared to contradict him they were fired.

Trump fired Chris Krebs, director of CISA, after the agency released a statement that called the 2020 election “the most secure in American history.”
Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Twitter and replaced him with National Counterterrorism Center Director Christopher Miller.
Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, fired via tweet. Tillerson had called Trump a moron.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions was replaced with a loyalist who has echoed the president’s complaints about the special counsel investigation into Russia’s election interference and would take charge of the inquiry.

The list is much longer but you get the idea.

With 80 million Tweet followers Donald Trump is in his glory. Those people believe that despite his faults he deserves the admiration they give him. That is what is frightening about today.

Hubris and the Wizard of Oz

The word is a noun meaning Excessive pride or self-confidence. Used in a sentence: Hubris leads to the downfall of many celebrities and politicians.

That is what we saw at the RNC displayed by Donald Trump. His words four years ago, “I alone can fix it” is still his opinion of himself.

His supporters are blindly supporting his view of himself.

“Empires always have the hubris to think they are indestructible, when in fact they are always unsustainable.” Marianne Williamson, former presidential candidate

“The silent killer of all great men and women of achievement – particularly men, I don’t know why, maybe it’s the testosterone – I think it’s narcissism. Even more than hubris. And for women, too. Narcissism is the killer.” Conservative James Woods, actor, producer of both movie and television programs

“Incumbent White House parties have won 10 of the last 18 presidential elections; the odds are tight, but they favor Obama in 2012. And so gloomy Democrats, check your despair; gleeful Republicans, watch the hubris.” Jon Meacham, author and former Newsweek editor

“We live in a world in which data convey authority. But authority has a way of descending to certitude, and certitude begets hubris.” Bret Stephens, Pulitzer Prize winning American conservative journalist, editor, and columnist.

The Wizard of Oz was not all powerful nor is Donald Trump. Trump has not fixed violent rioters in Portland, Oregon or Kenosha, Wisconsin. The corona virus continues to spread with about 900 new deaths daily. The economy is in shambles with 1 million new unemployment claims weekly. “Justice for all” has become a slogan not a reality.

The president is a blustering bully similar to the Wizard.

Painting Lipstick on a Pig

To put “lipstick on a pig” is a rhetorical expression, used to convey the message that making superficial or cosmetic changes is a futile attempt to disguise the true nature of a product or person.

That is the job of Donald Trump’s campaign manager. Trump Replaced Brad Parscale as Campaign Manager, Elevating Bill Stepien. Both men are loyal Republican Party operatives with many years of campaign management experience.

However, Stepien will be confronted with the same issue that challenged Parscale. Trump thinks he is smarter than everyone else and he knows how to run his campaign.

A Washington Post article by Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Robert Costa summarizes the Trump campaign dilemma.
The Trump administration so far has no clear national plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 135,000 in the United States. The president has continued to defend the Confederate flag — a symbol of slavery and racism to many Americans — and, in the wake of national protests over the death of an unarmed black man in police custody in Minneapolis, played an actively divisive role, trafficking in racist and other offensive statements.

That leaves Stepien with only one task. Make Joe Biden appear so bad that Americans will decide that no matter how bad Trump is, Biden will be worse. As a smart campaign manager Stepien will do everything he can to make the president look good. His challenge will be difficult since Trump has painted himself a victim of a media led war against him. Trump repeatedly veers from his planned presentations as he did just a few days ago when he held a press conference that was supposed to be about China.

Since Stepien has just stepped into the job yesterday, July 15, we don’t know how he will accomplish his task. It will be difficult because most people already know Biden’s life history both in politics and his personal life.

Painting lipstick on Donald Trump will not make him pretty because he won’t behave and he is a pig.

Hypocrisy On Display

This is the perfect example of a two faced individual who has managed to sell not just Democrats but all Americans a very big lie.

I am definitely not a supporter of Donald Trump. Joe Biden may be marginally better as president of the United States but at best he will return America to a world of broken promises that have been a hallmark of the Democratic Party.

In the 1970s, Biden opposed busing black students to desegregate schools and sponsored anti-busing legislation — a position that California Sen. Kamala Harris highlighted in a scathing exchange in the first Democratic presidential primary debate last year.

Biden defended not only busing but segregation in a 1975 NPR interview. “I think the concept of busing … that we are going to integrate people so that they all have the same access and they learn to grow up with one another and all the rest, is a rejection of the whole movement of black pride,” Biden said, adding that desegregation efforts are “a rejection of the entire black awareness concept, where black is beautiful, black culture should be studied, and the cultural awareness of the importance of their own identity, their own individuality.”

On a radio interview today, May 22, Biden,

“You’ve got more questions?” Biden replied. “Well I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

NBC News pool reporter said she was able to listen to Biden’s opening remarks but was “quickly kicked off the phone call” once the likely Democrat nominee opened the floor to questions.

This youtube video cannot be denied. I will be voting for Biden as I hold my nose.

The Intercept is an online news publication of First Look Media, owned by Pierre Omidyar. Its editors are Betsy Reed, Glenn Greenwald, and Jeremy Scahill.

Dither

The one thing you can say about Donald Trump is his opinions, ideas, and plans will be reversed within minutes. Although sometimes it might be days. These changes apply to both domestic and foreign affairs.

It’s called dithering or indecisive behavior.

The latest is his decision to end the coronavirus task force. Yesterday his plan was to ‘wind down’ the force by May 30. Today Trump, reverses course and says coronavirus task force will continue ‘indefinitely.’

As recently as the end of March Trump praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping on his handling of the growing coronavirus outbreak. On March 3 Trump said “He’s now president for life, president for life. And he’s great,” “And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday,” Trump said to cheers and applause from supporters. Now Trump says China’s handling of the coronavirus is part of a plot to make him lose re-election.

At the end of June 2019 Trump announced that Chinese manufacturer Huawei will be able to once again purchase goods from U.S. technology companies.

After a public backlash, President Donald Trump has changed his mind on US immigration after signing a new order ending the controversial family separations at the US border.

Jun 20, 2019 – President Trump reportedly gave the order to bomb Iran in response to its alleged downing of a US drone before eventually changing his mind.

What will tomorrow bring? Like any entertaining soap opera. Tune in!

Extortion

Donald Trump is guilty of extortion. He should be removed from office.

The proof is his pressure on Ukraine on that government to investigate Joe Biden and is son Hunter Biden in exchange for $400 million in aid. Once his attempt became public knowledge he released the aid.

The definition of extortion is Obtaining money or property by threat to a victim’s property or loved ones, intimidation, or false claim of a right (such as pretending to be an IRS agent). It is a felony in all states, except that a direct threat to harm the victim is usually treated as the crime of robbery. Blackmail is a form of extortion in which the threat is to expose embarrassing, damaging information to family, friends or the public.

Nixon’s ’68 and ‘72 running mate, Spiro Agnew, resigned in disgrace in 1973 after being accused of bribery, extortion, and tax evasion during his tenure as Maryland governor.

Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J. “Imagine your house is on fire and you call 911, and the dispatcher says to you, ‘Oh, my gosh. Your house is on fire. That’s terrible. We’d love to help. We need a favor, though,’” he said. “At every stage of our interaction with the government, there’s a quid pro quo, there’s a favor demanded in exchange for a service that’s supposed to be in the public interest.”

As to Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch the president’s words left her “shocked” and “devastated,” told lawmakers Friday that when she read how President Trump had talked about her to his Ukrainian counterpart in a July phone call — saying ominously that “she’s going to go through some things” — the color drained from her face. “It sounded like a threat,” she said. Trump’s response to criticism of his attack on her, ‘I have freedom of speech.’

Hypocrite on Display

Let’s start with Merriam-Webster definition of a hypocrite.
1 : a person who pretends to have virtues or qualities that he or she does not have
2 : a person whose actions contradict their stated beliefs or feelings

Article 1, Section 2 “The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.”

While this posting is on Senator Lindsey Graham, it can be applied to other Republicans who are defending Donald Trump.

Graham can propose a resolution condemning an impeachment inquiry and members of the GOP can storm private hearings obtaining information that might lead to an impeachment, but the constitution gives the power to impeach to the House of Representatives without qualifications.

In his Thursday news conference, Graham couldn’t quite bring himself to exonerate Trump: “I don’t want to comment on substance,” he said. “I’m not here to tell you that Donald Trump has done nothing wrong.” He merely raged against procedures, arguing, “The process in the House today, I think, is a danger to the future of the presidency.”

ABC News’s Terry Moran reminded him that during Watergate, lawmakers took depositions behind closed doors before there was an impeachment resolution, just as the House is doing now.
Graham did not dispute this.

CNN’s Ted Barrett reminded him that during the Clinton impeachment, House Republicans took private depositions before public hearings. “Why was it okay then and not now?”

“The inquiry itself became very public,” Graham replied.

And so will this one — leaving Graham looking foolish once more.

Mishigas and other Yiddish words that are now a part of the Spoken English language

FERSHTAY?: Do you understand? Most of the time I didn’t.

My parents were fluent in Yiddish. They would talk to each other in that language but never to my sister and me. The consequence is that I learned a few words but not enough to hold a conversation. With the passing of time I have come to realize that many of those words are now part of American English.

Most recently it was brought to my attention when a Businessweek article about a Japanese business man was referred to as a Maven in his area of expertise on advising his clients on investments. Maven is a Yiddish word for expert. How many of you knew that?

I used the word Mishigas to describe Washington today. It means craziness in Yiddish.

What other Yiddish words are now part of the American English vocabulary?

Chutzpah – Extreme nerve or arrogance; confidence with a negative connotation. “Donald Trump’s campaign is all chutzpah.” Or Donald Trump has lots of Chutzpah.

Spritz or Shpritz – comes from Yiddish meaning a spray

Klutz – Directly translates to “block of wood”; commonly used in English to describe a particularly clumsy person.

Schlep – To carry something heavy, or to make a long and tedious journey. “I schlepped all the way to class, only to find out that it was cancelled.”

Kvetch – To complain or whine. “We know that you have a lot of work to do, but quit kvetching about it.”

Schmooze – If you schmooze you Chat, make small talk, converse about nothing in particular.

Mensch – A person of integrity and honor.

Nosh – To eat or nibble, as in “I’d like something to nosh on before dinner.”

Spiel – a sale pitch or an otherwise (un)persuasive speech. Alternatively spelled shpiel, this comes from the German word spiel, meaning “play”.

Oy Vey – exclamation of dismay, exasperation, or surprise. “Oy, Jessica is such a pretty and smart girl. Why can’t she find a husband already?”

Putz – A jerk, or a self-made fool, but this word literally means penis.

Shmatte – A rag or old garment.

Tookis (tuchis) – Butt, behind, sometimes shortened to tush or tushy.

Care to add to this list?