Donald Trump issues memorandum to ban most transgender soldiers.

Courtesy of Politico:  

President Donald Trump on Friday issued orders to ban transgender troops who require surgery or significant medical treatment from serving in the military except in select cases — following through on a controversial pledge last year that has been under review by the Pentagon and is being fought out in the courts. 

The memorandum, which drew swift condemnation from gender rights groups, states that while the secretary of defense and other executive branch officials will have some latitude in implementing the policy, “persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria — including individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery — are disqualified from military service except under limited circumstances.” 

The memo also said that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, “in the exercise of his independent judgment, has concluded [the policies] should be adopted by the Department of Defense.” It added that “the Secretary of Homeland Security concurs with these policies with respect to the U.S. Coast Guard,” which would also be affected by the policy. 

The decision comes after a number of top military officials over the past year-- including most members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- have gone out of their way to defend the thousands of transgender troops who are believed to be serving in the military.

Remember there is a tweet for everything. 

I somehow doubt that too many LGBTQ folks were fooled by this, but if there were some, don't you feel silly now?

Personally I think that Trump is simply using this as another diversion to keep us from talking about that huge omnibus bill he signed yesterday and that Stormy Daniels 60 Minutes interview tomorrow.

Trump is the kind of guy who would poison the family dog to keep his parents from finding out that he stayed out past curfew.

I seriously doubt that this memo will have any real impact, and fully intend to pay attention to all of the things that it was designed to distract me from.

Colorado middle school teacher on paid leave after being accused of assaulting a student for sitting during the Pledge of Allegiance.

Courtesy of the Times-Call:

A Lafayette middle school teacher is on paid leave pending the outcome of a police investigation into allegations that she assaulted a student who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance on Thursday. 

Boulder Valley School District spokesman Randy Barber said that Angevine Middle School physical education teacher Karen Smith, who he called a 20-year veteran of the school district, is on paid administrative leave.

Beating students into showing respect for their country, gee that's a good idea. 

Having grown up in the 60's and 70's I know that approach to behavior modification quite well.

As it turns out the Boulder Valley School District has a policy which allows students to sit during the Pledge, but apparently physical education teacher Eva Braun did not get the memo.

Clearly Donald Trump's poison is spreading through the country.

With no help coming from the Trump administration Governor Bill Walker signs bill creating Alaska's own climate change strategy.

Courtesy of the Fairbanks News Miner:  

Gov. Bill Walker signed an administrative order Tuesday creating the Alaska Climate Change Strategy as well as forming a leadership team to address climate change in Alaska. 

The order also calls for state departments to review previous work on climate change and identify immediate responses they can take. 

Walker said the time was now to take a stand against climate change. 

"Alaskans should be at the forefront of innovation and response," Walker said. "In addition to developing solutions that ensure community and economic resilience while mitigating environmental harm, we must also engage with national and international partners to strengthen Alaska's voice in global decision-making."

Walker identified the challenge of moving toward renewable energy sources for a state that is so heavily dependent on fossil fuel production, both practically and fiscally.

Walker noted that, while the Legislature continues to struggle to balance the budget, issues related to climate change cannot wait for fiscal stability. 

"It’s certainly a challenge in the fiscal situation we’re in right now to go out and look for new money," he said. "There may be ways we use the existing funds more efficiently, and I think we just need to be thinking a little more long term in some of the decisions we make."

As an Alaskan I am very heartened by this proactive attitude coming from the state government, but as a progressive I worry that this is still much too tentative of an approach and decades too late to make enough of a difference.

It should also be noted that President Obama laid out very comprehensive plan for helping Alaska tackle this issue, but when Trump came in he trashed the entire thing.

The same certainly could happen with this if Alaskans are ignorant enough to replace Walker with a GOP governor.

Remember, elections have consequences.

Cop who illegally arrested Utah nurse loses at least one of his jobs.

(Just a video reminder for those who may have forgotten this incident.)

Courtesy of KSL: 

A Salt Lake police detective whose arrest of a University Hospital nurse sparked a worldwide outcry was fired Tuesday from his part-time position at Gold Cross Ambulance. 

Gold Cross officials said Jeff Payne's termination was effective immediately. 

"Although Jeff was not working for Gold Cross Ambulance at the time of the incident, we take his inappropriate remarks regarding patient transports seriously," the company said in a statement. "We acknowledge those concerned individuals who have contacted us regarding this incident and affirm our commitment to serving all members of the community with kindness and respect. We will continue to maintain our values of outstanding patient focused care, safety and the complete trust of the communities we serve." 

Payne also remained on paid administrative leave from the Salt Lake Police Department on Tuesday for his role in the arrest of nurse Alex Wubbels on July 26. 

That's right this guy was actually a paramedic, and he STILL mistreated a nurse like that.

I also hope he loses his job as a cop, because the guy is clearly a menace to society.

But just in case he doesn't the hospitals are taking steps to protect their medical staff.

Courtesy of Wapo:

The University of Utah Hospital, where a nurse was manhandled and arrested by police as she protected the legal rights of a patient, has imposed new restrictions on law enforcement, including barring officers from patient-care areas and from direct contact with nurses. 

Gordon Crabtree, interim chief executive of the hospital, said at a Monday news conference that he was “deeply troubled” by the arrest and manhandling of burn unit nurse Alex Wubbels on July 26. In accord with hospital policy and the law, she had refused to allow a Salt Lake City police officer to take a blood sample from an unconscious patient. Wubbels obtained a copy of the body cam video of the confrontation and, after consulting her lawyer, the hospital and police officials, released it last week. 

“This will not happen again,” Crabtree said, praising Wubbels for “putting her own safety at risk” to “protect the rights of patients.”

If you still think that the police are not out of control in this country, just remind yourself that this hospital, in freaking Utah, just had to create a policy to protect their doctors and nurses from the local police. 

Barack Obama's statement on Trump's repeal of DACA.

Courtesy of Obama's Facebook page: 

Immigration can be a controversial topic. We all want safe, secure borders and a dynamic economy, and people of goodwill can have legitimate disagreements about how to fix our immigration system so that everybody plays by the rules. 

But that’s not what the action that the White House took today is about. This is about young people who grew up in America – kids who study in our schools, young adults who are starting careers, patriots who pledge allegiance to our flag. These Dreamers are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents, sometimes even as infants. They may not know a country besides ours. They may not even know a language besides English. They often have no idea they’re undocumented until they apply for a job, or college, or a driver’s license. 

Over the years, politicians of both parties have worked together to write legislation that would have told these young people – our young people – that if your parents brought you here as a child, if you’ve been here a certain number of years, and if you’re willing to go to college or serve in our military, then you’ll get a chance to stay and earn your citizenship. And for years while I was President, I asked Congress to send me such a bill. 

That bill never came. (It is important to point out here, because I see even visitors to this blog who seem confused, that President Obama did not just suddenly decide to introduce DACA, He tried for quite some time to get Congress to pass a reasonable immigration policy, and when that did not happen he took it upon himself to do something.) And because it made no sense to expel talented, driven, patriotic young people from the only country they know solely because of the actions of their parents, my administration acted to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people, so that they could continue to contribute to our communities and our country. We did so based on the well-established legal principle of prosecutorial discretion, deployed by Democratic and Republican presidents alike, because our immigration enforcement agencies have limited resources, and it makes sense to focus those resources on those who come illegally to this country to do us harm. Deportations of criminals went up. Some 800,000 young people stepped forward, met rigorous requirements, and went through background checks. And America grew stronger as a result. 

But today, that shadow has been cast over some of our best and brightest young people once again. To target these young people is wrong – because they have done nothing wrong. It is self-defeating – because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel. What if our kid’s science teacher, or our friendly neighbor turns out to be a Dreamer? Where are we supposed to send her? To a country she doesn’t know or remember, with a language she may not even speak? 

Donald Trump officially bans transgender folks from enlisting in the military.

Take that Obama!

Courtesy of The Hill: 

President Trump signed a presidential memo Friday instructing the Defense Department to stop accepting transgender people who want to enlist in the military. 

The memo details Trump's previous Twitter announcement last month that he would reinstate a ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military, and officially requests the Pentagon begin implementing the ban. 

Trump’s memo bars transgender people from enlisting, but instructs Secretary of Defense James Mattis to further explore how to handle transgender people currently serving in the armed forces. 

The memo also orders the Pentagon to stop paying for gender reassignment surgeries, except in cases that are already in progress to “protect the health of an individual.” 

It also requests that the Pentagon develop an implementation plan for the ban by Feb. 21 2018, to be put in place on March 23, 2018.

This was just another terrible thing that Trump did yesterday while most of the media was distracted by Hurricane Harvey.

Trump argued that his decision was based on "national security concerns" but we all know it is just another Obama era policy that he feels compelled to rollback.

Trump's entire presidency is just one giant FUCK YOU to President Obama, and I think it all goes back to that White House Corespondent's Dinner where Obama mocked Trump and had the whole room laughing at him.

Because other than that there is literally no reason that Trump would do something like this.

New Trump campaign ad identifies Democrats and the media as the enemies of success.

WATCH: DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, INC. RELEASES NEW CAMPAIGN AD #MAGA pic.twitter.com/pV2G9u64be

— Official Team Trump (@TeamTrump) August 13, 2017

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

“Democrats obstructing, media attacking our president, career politicians standing in the way of success. But President Trump’s plan is working,” the advert stated.

“One million jobs created, more Americans working than ever before, unemployment: lowest since 2001, the stock market: all time record high, the strongest military in decades. The president’s enemies don’t want him to succeed, but Americans are saying ‘let president Trump do his job’,” the advert added. 

The campaign advert, whose message was approved by President Trump, reiterated the message put out by the president, particularly in recent months, that he is being blocked by Democrats despite having a majority in the White House, the House and the Senate.

So Trump approved this ad huh? Well that's interesting.

So he has no problem accusing Maxine Waters, Joe Scarborough, Elizabeth Warren, and Anderson Cooper of being un-American, but he can't bring himself to say the same about the Neo-Nazis? 

Well that's pretty telling.

Personally I don't call the media and Democrats blocking Donald Trump's plans "obstructionists."

I call them HEROES.

Remember, Harry Truman had the Republicans' number almost 70 years ago.

"Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home — but not for housing. They are strong for labor — but they are stronger for restricting labor’s rights. They favor minimum wage — the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all — but they won’t spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine — for people who can afford them. They consider electrical power a great blessing — but only when the private power companies get their rake-off. They think American standard of living is a fine thing — so long as it doesn’t spread to all the people. And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it. Now, my friends, that is the Wall Street Republican way of life. But there is another way — there is another way — the Democratic way, the way of the Democratic Party." 

(Source.)

According to Snopes this is from a speech that President Truman gave back in 1948, but it could just as easily be given by a Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, or even Bernie Sanders today, and be just as timely.

The Democrats have had a powerful message for decades, and yet often we seem to be the worst people imaginable to actually deliver it to the American voters.

It is not so much our policies that need to change, but rather our ability to brag about how awesome they are for everyday people in this country.

British Prime Minister accused of being mole for Donald Trump.

Courtesy of The Independent:

Theresa May has been accused of being Donald Trump’s “mole” in Europe after leaked documents showed the UK attempted to water down EU policies designed to tackle climate change. 

While other European politicians have made clear to the Republican billionaire that his denial of climate science is a problem, the Prime Minister has remained resolutely silent on the issue. 

Her visit to Washington – when the two leaders were pictured holding hands – was widely regarded as an attempt to build a strong relationship with Mr Trump, despite concerns about his attitudes towards women, migrants, Islam, Vladimir Putin’s Russia and other issues. 

The leaked documents, obtained by Greenpeace’s Energydesk, show the UK tried to make a policy designed to improve energy efficiency – reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making goods cheaper to run for consumers – voluntary rather than mandatory.

It also essentially argued EU member states should be allowed to make no progress at all towards a 2030 target on renewable energy until the last moment.

I actually have very little difficulty in believing that Theresa May is a mole, I have not trusted that woman from day one.

But she is certainly NOT Donald Trump's mole, because Trump himself is also a mole.

No if she is a mole, she is Vladimir Putin's mole, just like Donald Trump.

The leader of Britain and the leader of the United States of America secretly working for Vladimir Putin, if that doesn't keep you up at night then I don't know what will. 

Trump EPA fires at least five scientists on review board, considers replacing them with representatives of industries impacted by board's decisions.

Would be the perfect organization if it only had fewer smart people.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

The Environmental Protection Agency has dismissed at least five members of a major scientific review board, the latest signal of what critics call a campaign by the Trump administration to shrink the agency’s regulatory reach by reducing the role of academic research. 

A spokesman for the E.P.A. administrator, Scott Pruitt, said he would consider replacing the academic scientists with representatives from industries whose pollution the agency is supposed to regulate, as part of the wide net it plans to cast. “The administrator believes we should have people on this board who understand the impact of regulations on the regulated community,” said the spokesman, J. P. Freire.

Gee, what a great idea.

Perhaps next they should have known terrorists advising Homeland Security on how to keep this country safe.

Or perhaps we should make sure that there are criminals seated on every jury to ensure that the individual on trial is being adequately represented.

And while we are at it perhaps we should allow folks who have colluded with foreign governments to undermine our democracy to be seated in the president's admini.....oh....that's right.

Well then, I guess a precedent has been set.

Last night Bill Maher said that "Republicans need to learn the difference between being conservative and just being a dick." Wait, there's a difference?

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

In the New Rules segment of HBO’s Real Time, host Bill Maher tore into the Republican Party for rolling back safety and environmental regulations simply because “they’re d*cks.” 

“So much of what they have done since Trump took over isn’t moving the party in a more conservative direction. It’s also not Libertarian. It’s just a d*ck move,” Maher began. 

“Republicans have to learn the difference between being a conservative and just being a d*ck,” the HBO host said before adding that conservatism has become “just about some warped idea that the way to show strength is by being a d*ck and that, in a nutshell, is what Republicanism has become – looking at any problem and saying, ‘What would a d*ck do?’”

The examples that Maher provides are brutal, and make it virtually impossible for most of us to believe that anything motivates the Republicans other than greed and abject sadism.

I mean seriously, asbestos?

It's like we are living in a country where half the politicians are fighting to protect as many people as possible, and the other half are attempting to loosen the gun laws so they can walk around arbitrarily shooting people in the head.

And I have to say it really makes me worry about the future of this country.

Caught between a rock and a hard place Sarah Palin attempts to defend both Donald Trump and the Freedom Caucus, but throws Paul Ryan under the bus without a second thought.

Okay, stay calm, I can do this.

Courtesy of the Wasilla Wendigo's Facebook page:

1) Freedom Caucus members who opposed the Trump Movement in 2016 were dead wrong to do so, as proven by we who are on the front lines of the real (hurting) world knew from the start that only Donald Trump could defeat Hillary Clinton and her liberal media minions. Thank God, literally, Trump won, or we'd hit the rocks under Obama 2.0 with Hillary at the helm. Guarandamnteed.  ("Guarandamnteed?")

2) But they learned... and the Freedom Caucus just saved us from Obamacare 2.0, which would have codified the unaffordable, unsustainable, unwanted government-controlled medical Ponzi scheme that the vast majority demanded be stopped. (Only an idiot would call that train wreck Obamacare 2.0. Oh that's right, I forgot.) If Barack Obama had proposed that government-forced unfunded insurance mandate, not a dang Republican would have voted for it.

3) Since when do the duly elected - actually standing on Republican planks to empower the people and build a great nation via government shrinkage (Is that what Todd calls it?)- deserve to get clobbered by RINOs, liberals and neophyte public servants all at once, without Conservatives and Independents stiffening the spine and proclaiming we've got their back? Freedom Caucus members need to hear it. Especially those who since the Trump Movement roared across the country realized we're dead serious about D.C. fulfilling campaign promises to create a smaller, smarter government to salvage our sovereignty and solvency. ("Smarter?" Has she seen the intellectual lightweights this man has appointed to his cabinet? Oh I forgot, that IS her peer group.) I'll bet they hear loud and clear we'd suffer under TPP, blown up debt ceilings, bogus "stimulus" packages full new government entitlements created by politicians picking winners and losers in our fragile economy, and other boondoggles they may have previously been conjoled (Not a word.) into supporting under GOPe leadership. (Okay is she not aware that Trump has his own "stimulus package" coming in the form of  a trillion dollar infrastructure package? I mean it will likely fail, but that is still his plan. So is she encouraging them to block that plan?)

4) Interesting the Freedom Caucus is hammered for previously going along with Big Government types acting as Congressional leadership. Well, so did everyone else in their ranks! Lesson learned. I'm sure they now realize Speaker Paul Ryan - who's only adult life experience is growing government - does not speak for pro-private sector freedom-loving Americans. (Look I am all for piling on Paul Ryan, but he was only doing Trump's bidding with that healthcare plan. Whether Palin wants to admit it or not.)

Now, get it together, GOP. We didn't spill our blood, sweat and tears building tracks for the Trump Train to lead to a land of disarray and democrat empowerment. (Oh come on! That was where it was headed before it even left the station.) Those of us who spent our political capital to usher in positive change - losing jobs and friends along the route - will use obstruction as fuel to barrel through the next election too, ensuring even more D.C. shake-up. (So to be clear, even though HER president is now in the White House, and the Republicans are in charge of both the House and the Senate, Palin continues to encourage her supporters to work as obstructionists and to undermine government efforts at every step. Good to know.)

- Sarah Palin

It looks as if Palin is taking a page out of the Jeanine Pirro playbook and attempting to excuse Donald Trump, as well as the artist formerly known as the Tea Party, of any wrong doing while laying all of the blame on Paul Ryan whose job is only slightly less enviable than Sean Spicer's.

However defending BOTH the Freedom Caucus AND her orange tinted boyfriend is going to prove increasingly difficult if Trump keeps tweeting things like this:

The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2017

I see a very explosive head on crash coming in the near future.

I wonder if Palin will become a casualty of that, or if she will jump off the Trump train before it happens?

The majority of Americans disagree with nearly every single one of Trump's policy positions save one.

New post

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Among the many questionable claims that have come from the White House over the past month and a half, one of the most questionable came from an unexpected source: Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month, Priebus asserted that the policies President Trump had outlined to that point met with the approval of 80 percent of the American public. We considered that claim and determined it to be true — if you considered only Republicans to be Americans. 

An expansive new poll from Quinnipiac University allows us to look at the question more closely. The pollsters gauged public opinion on a broad range of issues that have already emerged from the Trump White House — policy on Russia, transgender school bathroom use, deportations. On only one did more people agree with Trump’s position than oppose it.

Gee, Trump and his spokespeople lie, had no idea. 

I am also on board with spending more on infrastructure.

My only caveat is that I would like somebody besides Trump and his corporate buddies to be in charge of that spending.

Just the idea of the guy who repeatedly filed for bankruptcy and is famous for not paying his debts being in charge of spending billions of taxpayer dollars makes me very uncomfortable. 

As for every one of his policies you can put me down as a big fat "NO!"

Obama comes out in support of anti-Trump protests.

Courtesy of Politico: 

Former President Barack Obama’s office released a statement Monday supporting the protests going on around the country, and speaking out against discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion, saying “American values are at stake.” 

Kevin Lewis, spokesman for Obama in his post-presidency, said that Obama — who has been threading the balance between the tradition of presidents deferring to their successors and coming out against President Donald Trump on specific issues he considered core values — “is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country.” 

“Citizens exercising their Constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake,” Lewis said. 

“With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve heard before, the president fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion,” Lewis said.

Well that was carefully worded, but it still made the point that Obama is horrified by what Trump is doing to this country.

I have to imagine it is killing President Obama to stay silent on everything that is happening since he left office. 

In fact I imagine that it is breaking his heart. 

And I have to believe, despite the unwritten rule about ex-presidents not criticizing current White House occupants, that he may not be able to do so much longer.

President Obama was above all a patriot with a great and abiding love for this country, and its citizens.

Right now his country and its citizens are suffering immensely, so how long can unwritten guidelines and a sense of decorum keep our greatest President from coming to the aid of his people? 

Trump gets handed his first defeat over Muslim ban.

So yesterday started out like this.

Courtesy of Slate:  

There appears to be lots of chaos and confusion in airports around the world after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that effectively bans travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries— Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—from entering the United States for 30 days.(Update at 4:30 p.m. Eastern: Contrary to initial reports, the ban is for 90 days.) It also places a four-month halt to the country’s refugee program. There are now scattered reports that the order is affecting those who already have green cards and visas. 

Some travelers are being turned away at airports around the world and not allowed to board flights to the United States despite having valid travel documents. Reuters, for example, hears word from sources at the airport in Cairo that six travelers—five from Iraq and one from Yemen—were forbidden from boarding a flight to the United States even though they had valid visas.

Hours after Trump signed the executive order a mosque was set on fire in Texas.

All of this inspired multiple protests.

And caused world leaders to condemn his actions: 

European leaders, the United Nations and international groups have condemned US President Donald Trump's measures against refugees and travellers from several Muslim-majority countries. 

Oddly enough Trump's executive order only included countries that he does NOT do business with.

Interesting, don't you think?

Ultimately the ACLU and others filed a class action lawsuit, and this was the result: 

The American Civil Liberties Union announced Saturday evening that a federal court in New York had issued an emergency stay on President Trump’s executive order banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The court’s decision, which will affect people who have been detained in airports, came after the ACLU and other activist groups filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of two Iraqis who were held at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as a result of the order. 

“I hope Trump enjoys losing. He’s going to lose so much we’re going to get sick and tired of his losing,” ACLU national political director Faiz Shakir told Yahoo News shortly after the decision was announced.

I think I agree with that statement.

The America people are fired up like I have never seen them before, and it seems very likely that they are willing to fight Donald Trump every step of the way on his agenda to destroy our country and undermine its values.

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Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski breaks with her party's president over new abortion restrictions.

Courtesy of ADN: 

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski expressed dismay in President Donald Trump's decision this week to revive a rule that prohibits federal spending abroad on organizations that also perform abortions or provide information about such procedures. 

Murkowski also signed on to a bill, with 46 other senators, that would permanently rescind the so-called Mexico City Policy, which bans federal funding for any nongovernmental organizations abroad that even provide information about abortion. The move was the moderate Republican's first move of public dispute with the Republican president, whom she denounced during the election.

I had pretty much given up on Murkowski showing any backbone whatsoever to the Trump administration, even though she was very critical of Donald Trump after hearing about his "pussy grabbing" tape.

So this is a somewhat pleasant surprise. 

I would love to see our two Senators standing up for their constituents on a whole number of Trump policy decisions, such as repealing ACA, building that stupid taxpayer money wasting border wall, and possibly lifting those sanctions on Russia.

But I know Lisa too well to think that she will defy the Republican leadership for long.

She is nothing, if not a good little GOP soldier.

Final tally, President Obama created 11.3 million jobs.

You're welcome America.

Courtesy of CNN Money: 

The final tally is in: 11.3 million new jobs were created under President Obama. 

The president is claiming a big victory on getting Americans back to work again. 

"Businesses that were bleeding jobs unleashed the longest streak of job creation on record," Obama wrote in a letter to the American people this week. 

He's right: The economy has added jobs for 75 straight months, although his overall jobs gains aren't as strong as some prior presidents.

Sure other Presidents had more success at creating jobs, but then those guys did not enter office with the country losing 800,000 jobs a month, and hurtling towards a second Great Depression.

Nor did they have to contend with an opposition party that was determined to undermine EVERY SINGLE policy that they put forward.

In light of all that President Obama's achievement is historic.

In what can be no surprise to anyone Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia is ready to restore ties with America.

Courtesy of Reuters: 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia was ready to fully restore relations with the United States following the election of businessman Donald Trump as the new U.S. president. 

Receiving credentials from new foreign ambassadors to Russia, Putin said he had heard Trump's campaign statements about improving ties with Moscow. He said Russia was ready do its part to achieve this but recognised it would not be easy. 

Improved relations would benefit both Russia and the United States, he added.

Well of course Putin wants to restore ties.

In fact he has essentially been working along with the Trump campaign all along.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

The Russian government was in touch with members of President-elect Donald Trump’s political team during the U.S. election campaign and knows most of his entourage, one of Russia’s most senior diplomats told the Interfax news agency on Thursday. 

Accused by defeated Democratic contender Hillary Clinton of being a puppet of President Vladimir Putin after praising the Russian leader, Trump has dismissed suggestions he had anything to do with the Russian government during the campaign. 

But in comments that could prove politically awkward for the president-elect, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said there had indeed been some communications. 

We are also getting confirmation that Russia was using Wikileaks to release the data that they hacked from various American servers in order to steal with election away from Hillary.

Courtesy of Americablog:

In a bombshell that is all too familiar to most of us, a Kremlin adviser admitted to CNN today that Russia worked with Wikileaks to get Donald Trump elected. 

So yes of course Putin wants to reestablish ties with America. Why else would he have done all that he did to get his useless idiot elected?

Bristol Palin (Ghostwriter) is going to educate all of us as to what is wrong with Hillary Clinton's family leave plan. Oh, this should be good.

Courtesy of some blog that I doubt Bristol Palin even reads anymore: 

Last week, I was sitting at my desk, working hard (Let's all pause here to let the laughing subside.), when I came across Hillary Clinton’s latest campaign talking point. Her latest way to steal our freedoms and crush our businesses involved something near and dear to my heart – family and motherhood. (Take note that by "steal our freedoms" Bristol and her ghostwriter are referring to a family leave plan to benefit working mothers and fathers.)

And I was blown away. I shook my head in awe of this stupidity. (Well we are all familiar with that feeling, aren't we?)

Honestly, I’m not a political expert (Snort! Sorry.) but I do have common sense. (Okay if I keep choking back my laughter this post might actually kill me.)  And motherhood, working hard, and small businesses are things that are key to my family and my life. 

Hillary’s proposed plan guarantees 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave to care for a new child or seriously ill family member. Beyond this government mandate, it also mandates that the person taking leave get at least 2/3 of their current wages. It claims to impose no additional costs on small businesses. How is this even possible? (I am going to go with raising taxes on the wealthy.)

It’s going to “make the wealthy” pay “their fair share.” (Ha! Knew it!) Whatever these words mean… (Pretty self explanatory actually.) which usually just means justifying socialist policies that harm hard workers. 

Trump’s latest plan also would mandate six weeks of paid leave, but it has nothing on Hillary’s. I would love to see private businesses be able to voluntarily offer this tremendous, unheard of benefit, but never should we support government forcing this uneconomic, unrealistic boondoggle. (Boondoggle?)

 Does Hillary Clinton plan to enforce this latest mandate on every single business? Even the small businesses that truly make this country great and employ most of our people? 

How does she plan on putting all of this in effect? (Uh policy is kind of her thing. She has undoubtedly already figured it out.)

I think of my husband, who owns a construction company, and how much that would affect his business. (Not much at all actually. The pay would come from a fund set up by the Clinton administration, and paid for by a tax hike on the wealthiest Americans, so all the company would have to do is hold the job for the returning employee.)

I think of the small doctor’s office I have been employed by for the last seven years, and I think of how much something like this would change us here. (Once again, not much.)


My husband and I were talking, and figuring out the math and logistics behind this (Holy shit! Could you even imagine that kind of a brain trust tackling math? It would be like a blind person leading a mentally challenged person into oncoming traffic.), and here is a basic way to look at Hillary’s proposed plan. 

If this was in effect – and say I make approximately $60,000.00 (easiest math) and I had a baby. That is AT LEAST $9,200.00 and 12 weeks off of work that I would be “guaranteed” to have with Hillary’s plan. 

CAN YOU IMAGINE?????!!!!! Where is this money going to be coming from? (Clinton already answered this question on her website.)I know I will get bashed for this, but no one deserves that! I have been at my job for over seven years now (Once again, snort!), and I was thrilled to have even two weeks paid vacation time to use toward my month long “maternity” leave. Where is the common sense in any of these plans? Where is the connection to reality? 

We should all be capitalists!! We need to get back to the basics. We need to work and not feel entitled to everything in life. We live in a world where everyone is looking for a crutch, where we compare everything to every other person and what they have, and trust me, I can be guilty of this at times too. (Yeah, just ask Sunny.)

But when we keep up this “poor me” attitude and an attitude of entitlement, our country will go nowhere but down. (Actually we are WAY behind other industrialized countries, some of which offer as much as 26 to 40 weeks of paid maternity leave.) And we have been going down fast! I look at what my kids will be growing up with, and what their society will be EXPECTING, and it really does leave me speechless. 

All of these people yelling everything from “free birth control” to “free college.” Do they not realize that when things are guaranteed, the prices actually go up, and all of our taxes go up along with it in order to pay for it? Where is the work ethic? Where is the incentive to do it on your own? (Says the woman who has literally had EVERYTHING handed to her.)

This is just further proof that Hillary Clinton wants to continue to “spread the wealth” just like Obama’s main plan was – make us all EQUAL no matter what our work ethic really is. (What? No comment about "welfare queens?" I'm disappointed.)

This goes beyond maternity leave plans, or medical leave plans. It’s a bigger issue than all of that. We need to get back to the basics as a country and we as Americans need to realize not everything in life should be handed to you.

SO MUCH BULLSHIT!

Okay so it looks like Bristol is once again lending out her name so that her mother can push these intellectually dishonest attacks against her political enemies.

I imagine that in her opinion this somehow makes it more palatable, but considering that Bristol is the spoiled rotten offspring of a nationally detested professional troll, who is constantly taking her baby daddies to court, that seems highly unlikely.

Besides are there really people out there who seriously believe Bristol can jot down a reasonably coherent grocery list, much less a long blog post like this one?

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on gun control.

So CBS News has a new feature where they post the policy positions of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on various issues.

I think that is very helpful and cuts through a lot of ridiculous rhetoric and circus like atmosphere of this political season.

Today's topic is gun control, which just so happens to be one of my top concerns.

First up Hillary Clinton: “I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets,” Clinton said in June. “We may have our disagreements on gun safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few things.”

Here are her proposals: 

Clinton advocates for “common sense gun laws” 

She wants to expand background checks 

She is pushing for comprehensive background check legislation, which would include banning all domestic abusers or the severely mentally ill from buying or possessing guns. 

She wants “no fly, no buy” policies, which would prohibit people on terror watch lists from gaining access to guns. 

Clinton pledges to close loopholes in existing firearm laws 

She wants to close the “Charleston loophole” which allows a gun sale to proceed without a completed background check if that check is not complete within three days. According to the FBI, it’s how Dylann Roof -- the shooter in Charleston, South Carolina who killed nine parishioners at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church last June -- was able to get his gun. 

She would ask Congress to close the so-called “gun show loophole” and require any person engaging in a high volume of gun sales -- particularly at gun shows and on the internet -- to be held to the same standards as sellers at gun stores.

Clinton would repeal immunity protections for the gun industry 

She would repeal the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which prevents victims of gun violence from holding negligent manufacturers and dealers accountable for violence perpetrated with their guns.

I find many of these stances to be pretty courageous considering that they are guaranteed to fire up the NRA and 2nd Amendment types to work against Hillary's campaign.

Now let's see what Donald Trump has to offer:

Trump pledges to defend the Second Amendment 

His campaign website says he would “enforce the laws on the books” 

Trump wants to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court that would also uphold the Second Amendment 

Trump is open to “no fly, no buy” policies (Well that's something at least.)


In a “Face the Nation” interview in June, Trump said he was open to “no fly, no buy” policies to prevent people on terror watch lists from buying firearms, in a seeming break from his party. Of discussions with the NRA, Trump said “I’m talking to them about the whole concept of terror watch lists. Should we take somebody directly off it -- if there is a terror watch list and if somebody is on, should they be allowed to buy a gun? Now, we understand there are problems with that, because some people are on the terror watch list that shouldn’t be on. You understand that. And that’s happened. Maybe you can reverse it.” 

Trump wants to expand mental health treatment programs 

He wants to create a “national right to carry” 

Trump believes concealed carry permits should be valid in all 50 states. 

His campaign website says that “a driver’s license works in every state, so it’s common sense that a concealed carry permit should work in every state.” (The hell it is!)


Trump would get rid of gun-free zones (Oh shit!)


Under a Trump administration, military bases and recruiting centers that are now “gun-free zones” would allow the use of firearms. 

Trump would do the same for schools. After Oregon’s Umpqua Community College shooting where nine people were killed last October, Trump suggested that the outcome would have been better if teachers had been equipped with firearms. “It was a gun-free zone,” Trump said at a rally shortly after the shooting​. “I will tell you -- if you had a couple of the teachers or somebody with guns in that room, you would have been a hell of a lot better off.” 

He would enforce existing laws. (The President actually explained why this does not happen:"One of the most frustrating things that I hear is when people say -- who are opposed to any further laws -- 'Why don't you just enforce the laws that are on the books?'" Obama said. "And those very same members of Congress then cut (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) budgets to make it impossible to enforce the law.")

So does this mean that Trump is planning to override the GOP led Congress and force them to increase the budgets for these law endorcement agencies so they can do their jobs more effectively? Of course not.

I am not a single issue voter by any measure, but if I were this would likely be one of the issues at the top of my list. And after seeing these two compared side by side, there is no doubt who I would vote for in a heartbeat.