Monday, March 27, 2017

This is Political, So You Can Move On


I have been paralyzed by politics. I have been a "snowflake" being held over a candle. The fact that the far right held their ground and stopped millions (more) from losing health care has given me hope.  I have tried really hard to understand those who voted for a man whose speeches sound like an angry grade school bully.  He has claimed he graduated at the top of his class, but this is certainly not reflected in any of his rhetoric or his endless golf.  He has no favorite books, interesting American history quotes, or rich pals that are intellectual businessmen.  He has no detailed vision of how to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.   He has no plan of how to spend the increase in budget for the Defense Department which even the Generals agree they do not want now.


He claims he is a good businessman, but my broker (whom I just called to adjust my investments to make them less risky as this market adjusts) just told me that according to their experts (this is one of the largest brokerage firms in the country) he did worse than possible based on his investment and all his bailouts from his dad over the last two/three decades.  If he had taken that money and just invested it, he would be worth far more than even he could imagine.  But he did not beat the market in 3 decades with the money he was given!

But just being wealthy would not give him the endless visibility he demands.  Watch almost any popular New York TV show and he was walk-on over the years.  He finally had to create his own shows.  He demands attention.  

He is not a Republican or a Democrat and I keep thinking this is some wry God's humor as he will use this President to bring both parties together on at least a few functional bits of legislation.  Far stranger things have happened this year.

Imagine a Congress that actually meets, compromises, and SLOWLY get stuff done!!
 

OK.  No more political rants.  Next post is about my Peruvian English student...not necessarily much happier though.

25 comments:

  1. It's starting to look like Trump can't accomplish anything without Democratic support so perhaps bipartisanship is possible.

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  2. He is a strange personality. I was reading the Washington Post piece about his recent discovery of Lincoln being a Republican and it occurred to me that it is a good thing he didn't appear on the show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.

    i just made the same adjustment with investments, less aggressive, more stable.

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  3. I think we've entered strange new ground, and all the old rules don't apply. Trump trying to cancel the next election when he has a 5% approval rating wouldn't surprise me, nor would a coup of sorts. With Alice, we've dropped down the rabbit hole, and 59 fucking million of us said "Yeah, let's go there."
    Well, here we are, and it's just the beginning.

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  4. It seems like he's been there forever and it's just two months!

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  5. He can't have a favorite book because he doesn't read.

    Love,
    Janie

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  6. While I try not to be paralyzed by politics, I do constantly have my antennas pointed in that direction, just waiting to hear "what next". With such a predictably unpredictable man as president, it is hard to know what will happen, but I do see some hope of Democrats having some influence now. It all depends on how much their attention flatters that guy and gives him the potential of an increase in popularity and an opportunity to "win". For DT it is all about him.

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  7. Since you provided this forum... Couldn't agree with you more! He's just weird. I was telling a male family friend (about Trump's age) how he shows no real affection for anybody; that he looks so fake with his grandchildren and Melania. Now Ivanka is another story...
    I digress.
    The male friend responded to me as if he were having an epiphany. Some don't think these things matter; that he's there to do a job and that his personality/temperament shouldn't matter. But, he can't even do the job!
    I think many of my friends/neighbors voted for him. They are die-hard Republicans and voted for Trump on a hope and a prayer. I heard through the grapevine that one neighbor believed he was a "baby-Christian" (new Christian) and justified her vote based on that. Many are also anti-abortion and expect Roe v Wade to be overturned. I understand people's allegiance, but if I were them and hated Hillary that much, I would have just stayed home on election day or done a write-in.

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  8. He just wanted the title and applause, he never thought he would have to think or work. So sad - for us all.

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  9. I read about his antics and wonder if somehow this will all end up being a net positive for the country. I can only hope so. I can barely stand to listen to him, though. I wonder if those who didn't like Obama felt the same way. Sigh. :-(

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  10. I just left you a long cranky note and lost it....left hand typing doesn't quite make it. So many sick friends here that I have been distracted from the child in the White House. I can't stand to listen to him at all.

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  11. We have to hold on to some kind of hope, or at least i do.

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  12. Some of how we see him or Obama relates to where we get our news. With concern for leadership (and the GOP would not vote for that bill, about half of the ones saying no, because they wanted ACA ended period. Half were moderates and were concerned it'd hurt the poor in their states (and it would have). It was a bad bill and we are lucky it didn't become law BUT ACA is not working and hasn't been in increasing amounts. So either it gets fixed or we will be facing more disasters like my friend and her husband when he had a catastrophic stroke (6 months before he'd have been eligible for Medicare). They have been forced to sell their home and a rental (they were ones doing well before this disaster struck them). Friends set up a go-fund me for them but so far it hasn't helped much on the $200,000 medical bill they had over what their insurance would cover. If we don't find some better answers to spiraling health care costs, premiums that are reasonable for a family to pay, we all could be one disaster away from facing what they are-- being homeless with one of them crippled. I think most Americans now feel health care should be affordable and available for not just the rich and the poorest. How do we do it though and whether it was Obama or Trump, they have to get past the lobbyists and Americans need to make known what they want-- and that means in Congress not just the Presidency.

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    1. I have an almost identical story of a friend whose husband ran his own trucking company and suddenly was faced with tremendous health problems. They sold much of the company to keep ahead, but the ACA has made all the difference in their lives and they are back running a business again. I think it is a state based (biased) thing.

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    3. (had a disastrous typo in that one. Here it is without the typo, I hope) Maybe but they are in Oregon and it's democrat run. My daughter said in their veterinary business, in the beginning, ACA helped by helping co-ops get started with federal dollars. They joined it but then it needed more federal dollars and they weren't forthcoming (she blamed Repubs). Co-op went bankrupt and they were forced to pay a lot more for their employees (they are small enough that they would not have to but have considered it a matter of ethics). They are also in Oregon. Maybe your friends got into the early end of ACA where more federal dollars were making the difference. Mine had it happen last year and so toward the end. My other friends in Texas, where their premium, this year, went to $20,000 with $6000 deductible are in Texas, maybe less inclined to take what was offered but still, how many can pay that high a premium? The word is premiums will go higher this fall if ACA stays with its current limitations on bargaining for lower prescription costs and the inability to buy insurance across state or even county lines. I have another friend in Idaho, also not friendly to federal programs, and her husband, with a disabling chronic condition, has been unable to get health care. I don't think dems should be crowing over the success in not allowing through a bad bill and instead need to get to work on offering something better and let the repubs show their lack of concern for Americans when they reject or try to block it. It's not like dems have no power at all. There is plenty out there with demonstrations etc. For Congressional dems to sit back and only block, makes me not inclined to vote for them next go round and maybe look to a third party that cares about Americans.

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  13. I believe this is the era where the what goes around, comes around, as in what has gone on behind closed doors is being represented by a person who stands out in the open when many rather the door remain closed.

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  14. Not pink at all. The plastic bag is clear....oh so boring, and the sock is old and grey. LOL

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  15. I only think it was possible because of the Russian factor, leaning on Comey to do Clinton in and the fake news about her. He does not represent anything near a majority. It's like a coup of conspiracy theorists, corporations, white supremacists and religious zealots. Now we will see what we and the rest are made of. I was heartened that the Republican moderates also did not want the healthcare repeal. I have never been so continually disturbed.

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  16. It helps to vent.

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  17. as far as I can tell he is intent on undoing everything that Obama did because he is a vindictive little pissant who is mad because Obama made fun of him at the Correspondents Dinner. and the Republicans, all they did for 8 years was obstruct and now they don't know how to govern. I think the defeat of their health care bill had more to do with that than anything else. they obstructed it because that's all they know how to do. and now this whole Kushner thing, creating a special office for him to act as an unelected president. is that even legal? I only hope that the intelligence communities have more spine than the republicans who are obstructing the investigation.

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  18. It has always been about working together, n a bit of compromise to please enough votes. Undersdtanding the system can be key. He is learning the hard way.

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    1. I do not think he is capable of learning big things.

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  19. Here in the UK we can only watch and wonder - it seems the whole world has gone mad, but then maybe it is just me getting older. Blessings from Dalamory

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  20. "The fact that the far right held their ground and stopped millions (more) from losing health care..." I wouldn't say that. Their goal was to reduce federal spending, and they were more than willing to let people lose coverage to accomplish that goal. They just could not muster the votes to do it. Demanding the whole pie, they lost the slices that they could have gotten. But they'll be back. Like termites in the foundation, they'll be back.

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  21. All the weeping, the gnashing of teeth, the name calling, and the doom and gloom saying must be terribly wearing...

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.