Category: Orphans

The man who claims to be our president continued his “chamber of commerce” ploy this week. I speak of Trump claiming credit for various job-adding projects. The ploy I speak of is when the local C of C promotes a new industry coming to town and touts the “thousands” of jobs that project will bring.

People of all political parties and walks of life will often dance in glee when some big business is eyeing their community. I have seen this happen time and again. The Trumpsters and locals both care little about the consequences when some earth-polluting industry announces their intention to locate hither or yon.

Let’s take for instance, the XL pipeline. I have friends who worked and some still work on pipeline jobs through their various labor unions. I have served as a local officer in two separate public service unions. I feel for my Union brothers and sisters. But the 10s of thousands of jobs that will supposedly benefit many, including my friends, in pipeline construction jobs, might just be sleight of hand. The money is very good in construction. But these folks end up going from job to job. And permanent work — one estimate says — will be no more than from 50-to-150.

In my neck of the woods, two LNG terminals being built on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas and Louisiana has booster putting forth unbelievable numbers of jobs that these projects will bring. They are right. I don’t believe those numbers.

I have seen these numbers games all of my life. First seeing the number of jobs from timber production plants and oil and gas plants. While some of these jobs provide some good construction employment, permanent jobs always seem to be lacking. And industries always seem to have a habit of eventually disappearing.

During my last couple of years in high school, we  had a bunch of new faces in town. A large plywood plant was built in our county, only 10 or so miles away from me. A number of older friends, maybe those who graduated a year or two ahead of me, worked there. Several of these construction workers, mostly from Louisiana or Arkansas, became friends of my friends.  One friend whom I met moved back to New Orleans while I was stationed with the Navy on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I used to spend an occasional weekend with my friend and his then-wife. These were both great people.

I was and remain happy to see good friends with good jobs. However, construction jobs, by nature, last only as long as it takes to build a project.

My friends in construction, many are getting long in the tooth although they wouldn’t like to hear that, are generally very good at their jobs. I wish only the best for these folks. I just can’t hack the president when he claims all the jobs for a certain project and those are not jobs he brought about. I don’t like Trump. I think he is a jackass and possibly a dangerous one at that.

Most likely, I should not go into detail about the president’s failings when it comes to jobs and statistics

I think most people whom I know realize the restrictions on the number of jobs that might be really be at the end of the rainbow. Especially when those jobs are construction. Why people believe everything this president says, I can’t fathom. I feel eventually the majority that matters, those who are involved in the political process, will come to realize that Trump lies. And he is probably one of the most prolific liars in American politics. That is not a good thing, Donald. Wacko!

Something is happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. I am trying to find my way around on layout of this blog. Once I can find my ass from first base, I’ll let you know. But this is still a project under construction. Just picture someone working on a road construction job who is slouching over a shovel. There you have it!

It certainly gives me no pleasure to write about the kind of crap your president invents. The guy is a serial liar. He has dealt in conspiracy theories for years. Now, he has really outdone himself.

I am sure those number of Trump voters that provided an electoral victory — oh, have you heard anymore about the 3 million illegal immigrants who voted for Hillary? — have his back. For those who tell us non-Trumpettes to “get over” Hillary’s defeat, I could give a rat’s ass.

Trump has yet to preside over a crisis, that is not of his making. From what I hear about his behavior I am not looking forward to any situation of significance in our nation.

I do not believe President Obama ordered wiretaps on Trump. I know of many people who disliked the former president although he enjoyed much more support than this minority. I am convinced a great portion of those who hate Obama based their opinion on racist grounds.

But I also do not expect a mea culpa out of these sleazeballs of this administration. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Will the world see a more focused Donald Trump tonight when he speaks before a joint session of Congress? Who knows what the First Crackpot will do.

Today, for the first time in his month-plus as the person who was elected — perhaps with the help of Russia — Trump sounded somewhat humble in an interview on Faux and Friends. Although he gave himself good marks for achievement he evaluated his messaging as a “C or C-plus.” Really, I thought it more like an F-minus.

The news programs and headlines seem to think Trump will attempt to compromise with Congress on immigration reform. Compromise is a word he doesn’t know but perhaps should with his proposed cuts of more than $50 billion to offset the same amount of expenditures for his welfare program for defense contractors and his precious “Great Wall.” Trump has apparently signaled he is willing to allow the so-called “dreamers” and immigrants who have committed no crime to stay in the U.S. If that is so, why even bother with the wall? Or better yet, why even bother with the wall at all?

Even the most secure wall will not keep everyone out of our southern borders. You look at some of the canyon walls on the Rio Grande in the Big Bend National Park and can see that the wall would be impossible, or if not impossible, at least nonsensical to build. Will Mexican coyotes load boats full of more illegal immigrants on the Gulf of Mexico or Gulf of California?

I don’t think Trump will make much dent in his time in office if all he does is sign executive orders. In the meantime, his family members are getting a free ride courtesy of Uncle Sugar. Eric and Don Jr. and Ivanka and Melania all have Secret Service protection as they go around the world selling their Dad’s name to the highest bidder.

I won’t be watching the speech tonight. I just get too irritated hearing the Trumpster, a person whom a Pennsylvania legislator called a “Loofa-faced shit-gibbon.” We shall see what happens.

I woke up this morning and damned if Donald Trump was still president. So much for the dream theory.

There is so many problems I have with this president I cannot speak to them all. I will say this, he seems to never be far from a camera, even though he loudly contends he is at war with the media.

Trump, if we mortals can understand his gibberish, has made some statements that portend really disturbing events that could harm our republic. An example:

 “And the crime, and the gangs, and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential,” Trump said. “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”

What he sees as carnage, if I can understand correctly, might telegraph that Trump would like the federal government to intervene in local matters. The president has presented himself as a “law and order” president. Some of this description is meant to put groups like Black Lives Matter on notice that they will be dealt with under the Trump regime. Who kn0ws where that will go.

Banana republics like Trump would like to establish have a habit of arresting people who are never to be seen again. His CIA choice has wavered on the question of waterboarding practices. If the secret foreign intelligence agency can use this form of torture, then why not the FBI, or ATF, or the local police department? This could lead to a situation that happened in my area of Southeast Texas in which local police officers were imprisoned for torture techniques such waterboarding in order to get false confessions from college-aged kids who were busted for insignificant marijuana arrests in the early 80’s.

The Black Lives Matter movement emerged when black Americans finally said that they “have had enough” of the growing number of  young black Americans who were killed in questionable shootings by police. In some cases the police officers were either no-billed by grand juries, were acquitted in trials or not even charged.

Trump also made another frightening pronouncement on Saturday at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Va. While the new president announced his war on the media and he was miffed with the news that many more people attended the Obama inaugural speeches than his. His hit man, press secretary Sean Spicer — a professional flack throughout his adult life including service in the Navy reserve as a public information officer — went through a litany of lies in an excoriation of the news media. It was a move that has generally flopped. Trump counselor and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway dug the Trump wagon deeper in the ground on Sunday telling Chuck Todd, NBC “Meet the Press” moderator, explained Spicer was speaking of “alternative facts.” That is a spin-doctor’s way of saying he lied but we won’t admit it.

Also, Trump, seemingly out of thin air, declared that the U.S. should have taken Iraq’s oil fields during our wars there.
“If we kept the oil [in Iraq], we wouldn’t have had ISIS in the first place,” Trump argued. “The old expression, to the victor belong the spoils…. We should’ve kept the oil. But, okay, maybe we’ll have another chance.”

That is even though such an action violates a number of U.S. and international laws. Sticking with Trump’s campaign musings that our military and government should not telegraph what they might do. Spicer said he would not tell the press what the government might do.

An update: I just saw an ad from some PAC on CNN that asks for people to call their senator to express support for the senatorial nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as attorney general. One of many concerns over his nomination should be aired. Sessions is a foe of marijuana or any outlawed drug. More than half of the United States have legalized marijuana in some form or fashion. That doesn’t count states like mine here in Texas that have taken steps to allow for medicinal purposes a  marijuana oil with a low THC content.

Still, federal regulations treat marijuana as a dangerous drug in the same class as heroin. The medical benefits and the taxes pot will generate in local governments will mean local governments will not need to rely so heavily on federal dollars.

Sessions will likely become attorney general. If he goes after marijuana he might find himself taken to the woodshed by our now conservative (to put it kindly) government. Going after pot will be going after what is becoming a huge economic boom. Plus, I know a number of grown-up, conservative types, even professionals who smoke pot, although they disagree with their politicians over weed.

There is so much more I can write and rave — mostly negatively — about the new president. But it seems he will, unfortunately, be with us awhile.