Political Circus

The political circus was in town on Tuesday, drawing a crowd of ye 7,200 adoring fans to a rah-rah ego stroking campaign rally for the Republican POTUS, otherwise known as the Liar in Chief.

Yes, I live in Youngstown and I am NOT one of his adoring fans. In fact, I personally do NOT know ANYONE who lives within the city limits of Youngstown, Ohio, who is a fan.

Correction: I think one of the shopkeepers that I talk to downtown is a Republican, so odds are that he voted for Trump, but doesn’t talk about it.

I do know a guy who lives in Boardman who voted for him… so did some friends and family down in Columbiana County, mostly small town or rural folks who believed half the propaganda nonsense they read online about Hillary involved with child pornography and killing off her husband’s lovers.

Yes, some votes were influenced by REALLY FAKE news… their votes for Donald Trump were more or less just votes AGAINST Hillary Clinton. Some didn’t even like Trump, but voted “for the party, not the man” claiming that who the man is doesn’t really matter. I wrote about that in Political Fish.

And, to be straight up honest about it, there are a LOT of quietly racist people in rural Ohio who voted for Trump because they wanted a white man in the White House, any white man would do… except Bernie Sanders, if that makes sense at all. Those are the ones who cheer the loudest as Trump strives to undo Obama’s legacy.

Sure, he does have some supporters who so actually like him… but, just my opinion and observations… the reason why Trump keeps bringing up the election, Obama, and Hillary in his tweets and speeches (which seems to baffle most of us because the election was so last year) is to maintain the support from people who voted for him even though they did not like him… he has to keep those voters engaged.

I went downtown for awhile… passed out some free buttons, but did not stick around for the protest (my legs won’t let me) and made it back home before the main event.

 

 

FRIDAY NOTE:

Reading the full text of Bill Browder’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary today put the investigation into Russia’s meddling in our election into perspective. It’s some deep shit… explains the reasons for the Magnitsky Sanctions. Trump may call the investigation a political witch hunt, but reading Browder’s statement makes it blatantly obvious as to why Putin wanted Trump to become POTUS; he’s got major money on the line… Trump was (maybe still is) Putin’s best chance at getting sanctions lifted.

Questions remain… was Trump aware of the reasons for the Magnitsky Sanctions? Or, is he extremely naive or just downright stupid? Did he cut a deal with Putin, one billionaire to another, accept Putin’s meddling with a promise to lift the Obama era sanctions? Was a promise given, or just implied?

Trump’s pen will tell… will he sign or veto new sanctions on Russia?

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Political Fish

The litmus test for political propaganda swirling tidal waves of raw bull across the internet is as whacked as some of the stories: Is there a photo? OMG, there is a photo… this must be true!

Case in point: some joker out in California claims that he is a postal worker in Ohio in a tweet about shredding absentee ballots. My own sister buys it… argues, “but there is a photo!” She pulls it up on her phone to show me. “Don’t mail that,” she warns. “It will get shredded in Columbus.”

I picked up my absentee ballot application off the table to show her that the envelope is addressed to the local Board of Elections right here in Youngstown, Ohio. Our mail does not go through Columbus. It might get processed in Cleveland, but it is not going all the way to Columbus.

I should wait, just go vote at the polls. No… I mapped the location of my new polling place when I got the postcard confirming my change of address and it is too far off a WRTA bus route for a disabled non-driver like me to walk. Plus, I would have to cross Midlothian Blvd in a high traffic area. I would have to take a cab or find a ride, so I opted to vote via absentee.

If they are shredding in Columbus, they might be shredding everywhere… but, oh? What’s this? They’re only shredding absentee ballots from Trump supporters? How can they tell, with ballots in sealed envelopes? They must be opening them.

Am I dealing with a moron?

No… this is my sister, an otherwise intelligent woman who holds down a full time job, runs a successful business on the side, does volunteer work in her community, serves on committees, does all sorts of things… but when it comes to nonsense on the internet, she believes everything she reads.

Hillary wants to kill off the black population, abort all their babies, that’s why abortion clinics are located in predominately black neighborhoods. Putin will launch nuclear bombs on us if Hillary wins the election. Hillary kills everyone who gets in her way… she killed an airline pilot, she murders women who sleep with her husband, no veterans will vote for her. (Uh, try the vet in the next room… he’s voting for Hillary; I’m the one who has been undecided, considering 3rd parties and Hillary because my candidate of choice – Joe Biden – opted not to run and there is no way in hell that I would vote for Trump, thought he was a pompous ass long before all that “locker room” banter.)  And it’s not just her… I hear other people yak nonsense off the internet.

And ye gads… the rationalizations some people use to support Trump absolutely blow my mind. I’ve heard things like, “we are not really voting for a person… we are voting for a political party, choose the party that most aligns with your views as the president has no power, he doesn’t really do anything.”  Oh… so if we are not voting for a person, then why have a person run? Why not elect an inanimate object, a stuffed animal or a vase or something? Maybe a logo? Yeah, some symbol to represent the party? We could vote for plants… at least they are alive. It might be easier to spot the weeds.

It’s all nonsense. This whole election is kind of whacked. It reminds me of old sayings… take what you hear with a grain of salt… or better yet, it’s like eating fish, spit out the bones.

The last political debate is tonight… viewers might need buckets for the bones.

Thanks for reading!

Ides of March

Beware the Ides of March… ironically, it is primary election day here in Ohio.

No, that is not a portrait of Presidential candidates. It is a glorified doodle… I was coloring with the boys, my 3 and 4 year old grandsons, while their mama ran errands. Surprisingly, it was the youngest who asked me to break out the colored pencils. It is usually their sister, who was at school yesterday.

I don’t know who to vote for… my candidate of choice opted not to run.

The way I see it, I have four choices:

• Let a coin toss decide between Clinton and Sanders on a Democrat ballot, as neither one has captured my attention, must less any sense of anything.
• Ask for a Republican ballot to vote for ANYONE BUT TRUMP as my opinion of him as being an obnoxious pompous ass from years ago has NOT changed regardless of campaign rhetoric. BUT, here in Ohio, voting a Republican ticket would make me a registered Republican.
• Ask for a Green Party ballot… that’s one way of saying “NONE OF THE ABOVE” as no one on the Green Party ticket has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning POTUS.  One the plus side, I could vote for a friend who is running on the Green ballot for some kind of state office.
• Give up my “bitching rights” by opting to not vote at all.  It’s only the primary… I can vote in the general for anyone I darn well please without declaring any party loyalty.

I have until the polls close to decide.

In the meanwhile, today is Mr. Marsberry Cat’s 18th unofficial birthday. I don’t know exactly what date he was born, so the Ides of March is a good guess of ye about when. He was the last of the litter, already two or three months old, when we brought him home in Spring of 1998.

I can’t believe that he is still breathing on this planet. Sometimes, I’m not so sure he still is… he sleeps a lot. I’m told that he “rules the roost” around here, but that’s not true. He just thinks he does.

Thanks for reading!