Earthtalk

Nov. 16 tweet by Trump:

Another Vaccine just announced. This time by Moderna, 95% effective. For those great “historians”, please remember that these great discoveries, which will end the China Plague, all took place on my watch!  (Nov. 16 Trump tweet at 9:19 AM)

If I could talk to Donald this would be my response:

Right.  Fair enough but let’s not forget the other things that took place on your watch:

-an estimated 150,000 Covid-19 deaths due to POTUS inaction early on.

-an estimated 130,000 lives would be saved if everyone wore masks, something you do not do or support.

-Iran has more nuclear materials now than before you pulled out of Obama’s and our allies’ nuclear agreement with Iran.                              

-North Korea is still producing new long-range missiles in spite of your love affair with Kim.

-China is moving to fill the void left in Africa, South America, and elsewhere by your isolationist policies.

-You have no plan for mitigating the impacts of Climate Change and you support the fossil fuel industry.

-You are undermining democracy by refusing to concede and refusing to have a smooth transition.

-You have divided the country to a degree not seen since the Vietnam War.

-our allies no longer trust us thanks to your threats and wild gyrations of policy.

-You have undermined most department missions, especially the EPA which has negated over 100 environmental regulations.

I could go on but this is a short list of some of the major blunders perpetrated by you or your appointees.  So man-up and take credit for these as well as the vaccines which were produced by private corporations with zero funding from you.

# posted by Rockdoc @ 12:59 PM 0 comments

                                                         Trump Supporters

What does Trump receiving nearly half the votes say about this country? Americans have always considered themselves and the country to be the best on earth.  Well, we know that is not true and now we know we are not even in the running.  I have always been aware of the existence of what Hillary called the "deplorables" but their numbers are surprising.  It will take a long time to cram this genie back in the bottle if it can even be done.   

I was raised in a hard-scrabble mill town that went 59% for Trump which does not surprise me, the town has not changed much and, if anything is more right wing after mills have cut back or shut down.  Having lived nearly 27 years in rural areas or small towns in The Northwest and Midwest, I have a pretty good idea of who these Trump supporters are and how they think. Trump's hardcore supporters are white males without college educations.  

These men imagine themselves as tough, no bullshit, plain-spoken guys and they do not respond well to perceived slights and detest elitists who they feel look down on them, which, I think, most do now.  Over the past several decades their perception of what constitutes real manhood has been seriously challenged.  Many are losing jobs or are earning less than their working class fathers did.  Trump's fake macho gibberish appeals to them while Biden's and the left's softer language annoys the hell out of them.  Being poorly educated, they have not learned to look deeper into issues and question what they are being told unless it disagrees with their biases.  They live in an echo-chamber of right social media, Rush Limbaugh, and FOX News.  If challenged they bristle and harden their resolve to support this lunatic.  The women who live with them and support Trump are grand enablers and are just as bad as the men. They want their men to be tough and to hell with the liberal, politically correct snobs.  Trump has tapped into this with great skill.

Trump has shown that lying and bullying are winning strategies for the minority party.  Assuming Biden wins, in four years the GOP will field a candidate with the Trump's politics but 

who is not crazy and so will be far more effective at pushing the GOP desire to minimize government, maximize profits, kill off Social Security, Medicare, and Obamacare, lower taxes on the rich, and deregulate everything in sight.  I hope Harris, assuming she is the nominee in 4 years, is up to the task, but so far her performance has not been encouraging but the glare of Trump's outrageous behavior made it hard for her to break through with the media and, along with Biden, the strategy was to lay low and let Trump hang himself.  Hopefully she will shine as VP. 

We should know today that Biden is the winner. Waiting it out is agonizing.  Trump's lawsuits will go nowhere, even with the Supreme Court which might refuse to even hear them.

If this flag-hugging flame-thrower really loves America, then he must step aside with the

dignity expected of a president, the so-called leader of the free world.

# posted by Rockdoc @ 7:19 AM 0 comments

That openly carrying firearms for the purpose of intimidation is an act of terrorism was clearly the case at Charlottsville. And now we have truck loads of Trump supporters, some armed,  harassing Joe Biden's campaign bus on a Texas highway.  How is this not an act of terrorism?  Trump merely laughs at the incident, clearly indicating his approval.  How is that not an act of terrorism?  

Since most states have no laws regarding open carry, now is the time for them to enact prohibitions.  We all should be free to peacefully vote and express our opinions in public without being threatened by armed opponents. To allow these hate groups to continue unabated, and for our President to not condemn them in no uncertain terms, propels us down the path toward totalitarianism and chaos.    

# posted by Rockdoc @ 2:55 PM 0 comments