I don’t want to say “I told you so,” about Trump. But really, I do

One sentence said again and again by the supporters of our new co-presidency of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin really chaps my hind quarters. You guess it, it is that damned “get over it.”

I still say there is something wrong in our country when the losing presidential candidate garners something close to 3 million votes ahead of Trump. Just “joking”” about the co-presidency. Sorta kinda.

This country already had one election in recent times stolen by the Republicans and the Supreme Court.

Make no mistake about it, the Hillary Clinton team appeared clueless when the results came pouring in for that Super Comb-over Orangutan.

The Clinton campaign could never win over the barrage from the Republicans and the media in what former Democratic primary candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called “those damned e-mails.”

Trump was able to fly into cities and fill up an arena so the angry white voters could be led into a frenzy by Trump and his continual lies.

But while the Clinton team have themselves to blame, that blame can be passed around as well to FBI Director James Comey, Julian Assange and Wiki Leaks, and Vladimir Putin.

So for you people who say the Democrats should stop whining about the election, the Republicans need to stop their whining about the Democrats. All the noble GOP-ers have called for unity now that Trump  has  finally secured the votes by the Electoral College.

Trump is a classless swine who is being played by Vladimir Putin and is being looked upon by our nation’s enemies as their gift from wherever.

I was not very prescient concerning my presidential predictions. Hell, I was way, way out there. I never expected that ass to win the presidency. I don’t think, however, that Trump will have an easy ride. We really should worry about what Trump tweets or what happens when is awakened at, whatever time he sleeps. I am sure no one will mind if he snorts some coke to help him make it through the day. Of course, if you are black and are caught with a tiny amount of any drug their asses will go straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

I think Trump and his group of millionaires and generals will turn out immaculately attired, but when it comes to running a nation they have a lot to prove.

I don’t believe that if Trump fails, America fails. It all depends on context. I hope for the sake of our nation that he doesn’t fail at something which is a life or death decision. I hope he doesn’t screw up our economy. Of course, he is inheriting a great economic situation despite what Trump or his minions, and those who are under the Trump spell, say.

But should this fruit cake mess up royalty, to the point of impeachment, or worse. Please my Republican friends, don’t whine about the Trumpster. It would just be too much fun to say “I told you so.”

Welcome to Barrack’s world, Mr. Birther-in-Chief

Donald Trump is puzzling those in the news media over his refusing to consider that his Russkie pals may have tried to tilt the U.S. elections toward the president-to-be.

China called Trump a child for other reasons. But Trump is certainly acting like a kid who covers his hands with both of his ears and repeats a mantra of “no no no no no … ” The real estate mogul and reality TV star seems to be building his future presidency over whether  he can sit at the cool lunchroom table with Vladimir Putin. I bet Barron Trump, the 10-year-old son of The Donald, has more sense than his old man.

One minute Trump is saying the talk about the Russians hacking activities is all a figment of the Democratic Party because they lost by the biggest sizeable amount in history. That isn’t true, by the way. The next minute he says that if all this hacking was being done by Russia, why weren’t people told about it during the election. Uh, look at this big guy:

Joint Statement from the Department Of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security

Release Date:
October 7, 2016

DHS and ODNI Seals

For Immediate Release
DHS Press Office
Contact: 202-282-8010

The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. Such activity is not new to Moscow—the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.
Some states have also recently seen scanning and probing of their election-related systems, which in most cases originated from servers operated by a Russian company. However, we are not now in a position to attribute this activity to the Russian Government. The USIC and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assess that it would be extremely difficult for someone, including a nation-state actor, to alter actual ballot counts or election results by cyber attack or intrusion. This assessment is based on the decentralized nature of our election system in this country and the number of protections state and local election officials have in place. States ensure that voting machines are not connected to the Internet, and there are numerous checks and balances as well as extensive oversight at multiple levels built into our election process.
Nevertheless, DHS continues to urge state and local election officials to be vigilant and seek cybersecurity assistance from DHS. A number of states have already done so. DHS is providing several services to state and local election officials to assist in their cybersecurity. These services include cyber “hygiene” scans of Internet-facing systems, risk and vulnerability assessments, information sharing about cyber incidents, and best practices for securing voter registration databases and addressing potential cyber threats. DHS has convened an Election Infrastructure Cybersecurity Working Group with experts across all levels of government to raise awareness of cybersecurity risks potentially affecting election infrastructure and the elections process. Secretary Johnson and DHS officials are working directly with the National Association of Secretaries of State to offer assistance, share information, and provide additional resources to state and local officials.

I’d say read it and weep but I am not sure that the president-to-be can read something unless there are pictures. Our intelligence agencies should remember that when he finally asks for a classified briefing.

And here is another thought. Trump steadfastly refuses to hear anything bad about Putin. Perhaps one reason is because of his man crush on Putin. Then again, perhaps Trump worries that if people believe these charges it could undermine his presidency.

Welcome to Barrack H. Obama’s world, birther-in-chief.

 

“Busy as a bong on Willie Nelson’s bus.”

There is no need mentioning that I have been quite lax in writing in (or is it on?) my blog.

Part of the reason is that I have been busier than a bong on Willie Nelson’s bus. Part of it is work. My office is down to just me after as many as three people had been staffed out of it. It’s a long story. There is nothing to get upset about. You do all of the work you can do until you can’t do any more.

The medical side of my life has also been busy. I’ve had trouble sleeping. My neck hurts more than it has. My lower back pain has increased in pain by twos. To top all of this off, I have cataracts. My sight hasn’t been too hot, it is horrible at night. I see “starburst” halos on all lights that make it difficult to see where you are going. After finally getting to see an optometrist who seems to know what she is doing as well as consulting with an ophthalmologist, I have been scheduled to have cataract surgery almost three weeks from now. My left eye will go first. I haven’t heard about the right eye yet. I’m hoping it will be done fairly soon to have some stable eyesight. We’ll see how it goes.

I am also enrolling in a VA weight and wellness program. I need it. I have been successful with diets in the past. But chronic pain cut the walking I did every day with an occasional hike. I really miss that. I doubt I can get back to what I consider as “normal” weight. That is about 190-195 lbs. That is about 90-95 lbs. away.

In past times, when I was younger, I lost weight primarily to feel better and to look better. I would like to look better, although that is not a primary concern at 61. I definitely would like to feel better.

So, there is an update of my life. We shall see what happens. I have never been good at New Year’s resolution, maybe I will make one this year. If not, it is a personal resolution, to write more. Get a book done. Find a place to live. Get a dog. Maybe a cat.

That all sounds reasonable, right?B

Trump: What next?

Our President-elect started his “victory lap” today in Indiana where he reportedly saved “thousands,” “1,000,” “800” some Carrier plant jobs from exile to Mexico. Of course, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, the outgoing governor of Indiana, got a little personal thanks since it was, after all, in the state where he will remain in office until, well, who really cares?

Trump is the new shiny object for the media so the national, especially TV media stars, must all sit up with their paws poised like little dogs ready to lap up the next treat. All the while, Trump gets his standard little, and yes it is very little, laugh, when he denounces the media.

I had the mostly misfortune of being thrown into the traveling media pool of White House reporters who were, they felt, thrown into Hell by covering President George W. Bush and his entourage in Crawford, Texas. Note to future presidents: Just because you bought a ranch in the backwater where August vacations are spent in 100-plus-degree temperatures, doesn’t mean that reporters will ditch you.

You can look back to many of the posts since I started this blog in the Spring of 2005 and you will tend to think I hated George W. “Dubya” Bush with an unbridled passion. That is far from the truth, however. The passion was, many times, bridled.

No, I will say that George W. handed me a lot to write about both as a reporter and as a blogger. You will probably find, if you search and not particularly hard, of my recounting  when I interviewed “Shrub” before he was ever elected to office. I may have interviewed him twice without his press handlers or Secret Service agents. I can’t remember how many pressers I attended when Bush was governor. I do know I attended his events as governor at two different newspapers. I also covered four events at another newspaper when Dubya was president, one was at the “Ranch” and the others were at Fort Hood.

One particular policy put me at odds with Gee Dubya forever as president. That was his decision for us to invade Iraq. It doesn’t matter whether he was doing what his Daddy hadn’t at the end of Gulf War I, or whether he started a war because Iraq not-so-strong-man, the late Saddam Hussein, had reportedly plotted an assassination of George Herbert Walker Bush, or Bush Sr.

I was pretty ticked off at that decision to invade Iraq. I wasn’t very happy when his Dad invaded Iraq the first go-round. I thought Iraq I was fool-hardy. I though Iraq II was insane. My reasoning was that, even I — a former Navy mid-grade non-commissioned officer, and no big whiz in foreign policy — could see that Iraq II was a war from which we would never extricate ourselves, American + Allies. Perhaps one day but no time soon. Yes, I’ve been right about that so far.

This brings us to the most foolhardy president-elect in my lifetime. I thought Nixon would be the one. Then I figured Ronald Reagan would bring us to nuclear war. Then there was George W. Bush. Holy frijoles, man, none of those seem bad at all — compared with, The Donald.

We have this lucky con-man on deck, who lacks intellect and intellectual curiosity, Donald J. Trump. Unless a miracle happens and it is found out the 2.5 million-margin in popular voting somehow, crazy as it seems, finally elects Hillary Clinton, then Trump is our president.

And finally, it comes down to Trump and his, supposed animus for the media. Hell, Trump should kiss the ass of every reporter or photojournalist who graces his presences. Or at the very least, he should engage in ass-kissing of every news executive he knows. Trump won his primary contests against the top of the Republican candidate food chain — more or less. He probably spent a couple of thousand bucks for those cheap-ass “Make America Great Again” ball caps.

But the leaders of the big American media, led by a menagerie of gutless wonders, feel their lower-paid employees should let Donald knock the reporters into the water. Hell, we won’t get wet, those honchos would say.

I can only hope someone with the balls to do so, will foment a mutiny. Just stop covering that obnoxious son-of-a-bitch Trump at his “press” ops. That won’t prevent the news people from doing their jobs. I mean, I found out I didn’t have to worry about copying every word of a presidential speech. Why it was posted online, you just had to check spelling, etc.

Perhaps one day we might see a grovelling Donald Trump begging for news coverage. I doubt it. But, at least we can hope he will be indicted. Or maybe he will take his bro-mance with Vladimir Putin to even a greater extent. I can just see it. Donald breaks up with Melania, and he runs off to Moscow where the very odd couple will live in holy matrimony. Or macaroni. It doesn’t really matter does it?

The eyes have it!

Hello ladies, gentlemen and otherwise. I plead guilty to my lack of posting lately. My attentiveness to EFD is so much worse since the last month or so, and much less so than a couple of years and much, much less than 10 years ago when I first started this endeavor.

I could go on and on explaining why I haven’t posted much. I use work as an excuse. Or perhaps I might try to use my health card. The truth is that both of those reasons make sense. The reason is probably more of a combination the aforementioned causes and maybe more than just one or two.

Lately, within the most recent few weeks to be exact, I have experienced very debilitating pain from my lower back. My cervical spine problems have also increased. These are just spinal conditions. Today, I visited VA ophthalmologists in Houston. These doctors and technicians went through a bunch of veterans who look much more bad off than I.

The truth is, there are many vets who are worse off than I am. But I have also found the potential for some serious quality of life issues that can only prove worse if they aren’t tackled as soon as possible.

Today, the residents and their head honchos, were in agreement with an optometrist visit I had at my local clinic a week or so ago. The O.D. said I had cataracts that needed surgery. Today, the medical doctors who deal with eye surgery, or ophthalmologists, confirmed the earlier diagnosis. That is, my left eye has some pretty bad cataracts and we scheduled surgery a month from today. My right eye will also need surgery but not until my left eye gets the repair it needs.

The resident with whom I talked and who ran a couple of eye tests, took me aside and told me that they had found another problem with my left eye. I am not certain as to its particulars. The doc did say this condition, which is a problem in the back of my left eye, could be acerbated by surgery on that eye for cataracts. From what the doctor said, the condition could be easily fixed with surgery, it is just a pain in the e*e,

I just felt the need to talk with my friends from this site, however few they might be these days.

If any of you folks who read this or have seen it before, I would appreciate a message from those of you all who so desire.

Be cool, all!

Mr. EFD