The Capital Riot (Understanding why and how things happened)

 I've been seeing a lot of crazy posts about the big DC riot where a horde of Trump cultists decided to storm the capital building. A lot of theories and statements are flying back and forth. 

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First of all, let's lay one of them to rest right from the start. This was not Antifa people in disguise. Don't even try that with me. It's bullshit. There are now enough people positively identified to throw that crap right out the window. And crying "fake news" won't help anything either or make Trumpsters regain face (like they had any in the first place). So let's just toss all that  in the trash where it belongs and get onto the real deal.

Comparisons are being made to BLM protests/riots. 

People are also criticizing the authorities for not arresting everyone, not holding everyone, or letting them out or in or whatever. 

First let's take a look at how BLM is being compared to and used. I says 'used' because some people think deflecting to things that happened in the protests and riots of BLM actually justify the attack on the capital. But it doesn't. It just doesn't. Nothing in any of these events justify violence and destruction. Let's set that straight right now. You can point out similarities all day long and you still won't have a valid point. You also cannot just ignore all the things that make those events different. 

First of all there are several points ignored about the BLM events. Let me list a few for you..

- Google "bricks on protest routes" and see all the reports of mystery pallets of bricks pre-delivered to protests routes in more than one state to instigate violence (what else could they have been for). 

- The claim that people weren't being arrested in the BLM events is completely false. Not only that, several arrests turned out to be Trump supporters causing damage to blame on BLM. 

-The majority of protestors were peaceful and even then were met with near military force. That is the one major difference worth taking into consideration; not to justify the BLM events, but recognize the racial difference for what it is beyond this.

-In none of the BLM events were government buildings stormed and internally ransacked. I will also point out that it wasn't BLM who decided to strap on rifles and take up state capital building to "protest covid shut downs" (because for some reason that requires guns). 

-BLM protestors did not storm city parks to beat up every non-black person they could find like the Proud Boys did on more than one occasion. 

-Finally, BLM protests by size and numbers make Trumpsters look like a corner street gang in a small town. BLM protests numbered participants in the hundred thousands in 2000 American cities and 60 other countries. That means that law enforcement could no more hope to "stop" the protests in any of those cities than they could hold back the mob at the capital. 

And dead last but arguably more important, BLM had more reason to protest. Real reasons to protest. Trumpsters keep claiming they've lost their rights but have no evidence to compare. Either they refuse to acknowledge they are in the same boat as the rest of us (covid) or can't handle that they lost the election no matter how many investigations fail to find any wrong doing. Meanwhile there is 400 years of historical evidence that black people have been the most trod up on people in our country over any other. The only people who had it worse were the Jews from the Holocaust and that didn't last 400 years with new ways to destroy them at every turn and didn't happen in America. I may not have all of Jewish history on the button here, so give me a break. I'm not diminishing their pain. It's an example.

Now let's take a realistic look at the DC riot. First, yes, what they planned to do they have been forecasting for weeks. We all know this. I think, for some reason, they weren't taken seriously. Yeah, that's still a screw up because we know they are willing to strap on rifles and take up state capital space, so why not DC? We know factions of Trump supporters are willing to beat up black and gay people in city parks. We know they are capable of being violent. That being said, the decision to not beef up response was not made by the ground security forces already on duty. Please realize that is well above their pay grade. Those poor saps, for whatever excuse you'd like to enter were left to face down what turned out to be 3000 plus people forcing their way in a human tidal wave into a single building. But there is more to it than that.

What did they really know about this gathering? They knew there would be a gathering and likely didn't think anyone would actually take it further than that, because no one has before. Think about that for a second. If all they did was gather and wave their flags (as was likely assumed) nothing would have happened. Yes, I said they took up state capitals, but even then with their display of guns, they didn't do anything like this time. This was very different from all the other Trumpist gatherings, violence recognized. So this gathering started out like all the others, and then shifted gears. 

That left the base security force so outnumbered that there was literally nothing else they could do. Yeah, they shot someone and beat up a few others, but they had no chance of stopping this event. Zero. This mob abandoned all sanity and reason except for one purpose, destruction. They could no more hope to keep everyone there to arrest them on the same point. One officer might have two pairs of cuffs on him and while some were arrested on the spot, the safest thing to do was exactly what they did. Let them leave. As it turned out, so many posted to their social media, waved at security cameras, posed for additional pictures, that arrests are slowly snowballing. And to once again compare that to BLM, don't even try. Over 300 arrests were made at the height of the BLM protests and they were all over the country, this is just one location. So lets stay realistic in our comparisons.

So far, almost 70 arrests have been made and nearly as many people have lost their jobs over the DC event. So I would say that the wheels of justice are definitely moving and would even go so far as to say that if you took the arrests in BLM to their separate locations, you would see comparable numbers per incident. So would the result have been different if it were BLM?

Well, BLM did protest at the capital building. But they they DID NOT try to overtake the building and were not all shot dead. Was there more security? Maybe, but I submit that, had they wanted to do what the MAGA crowd did, they could have with just as destructive results. 

So, in closing I make a suggestion. Let's stop comparing in order to villainize and deflect and work on stopping ALL the violence? How about that? 

Response to a new Facebook letter claiming Republicans are justified and victims.

 

There is a new list of ‘we are victims’ woes being circulated as Republicans vs Democrats and it’s time to debunk it. Too easy. Mind you the “victim mentality” is a tactic of retaliation and nothing else. For everything in this list, I offer a counterpoint as the Republican tries to sound like they are all saints who do no wrong. I would further mention that any side doing this is why we are still divided. I will put my responses in parenthesis.

 

"I tolerated 44 (Obama) for 8 years and kept quiet.

(Uh that’s wrong. I distinctly remember lots of horrible attacks against their family not only for being black but because Michelle dared to let people see her ARMS. Look that up. And those kind of jabs went on all 8 years with “thanks Obama” to everyone Republicans didn’t like. Positively hate fueled.)

Here is my issue with the whole, “let us all be a United States again” that we heard from Joe Biden.

For the last 4+ years, the Democrats have gone scorched earth. You have salted the fields and now you want to grow crops.

(It takes two to make a battlefield, people. Stop pretending you did no damage yourself. It isn’t true)

The problem is 72+ million of us have memories longer than a hamster.

(You forgot the word “selective” because this entire lists proves you only remember what supports your ideals, your own behavior gets a free pass.)

We remember the 4 years of attacks and impeachments

(We remember 4 years of increase in hate crimes made in Trumps name (spray painted even), alternative facts, morbid denial of facts, “fuck your feelings” tshirts, “you can grab me by the pussy” tshirts, violations of the first amendment passed of as attacks on fake news with no evidence, and incoherent babbling on twitter, I could go on and fill ten pages here)

We remember “not our president” and the “Resistance…”

(We remember you being equally horrible winners as you accused us of being losers, see my prior point)

We remember Maxie Walters telling followers to harass us in restaurants.

(We remember, “beat that guy up, I’ll pay your court fees”)

We remember the Presidents spokesperson being kicked out a restaurant.

(We remember that person publicly calling an entire professional occupation stupid idiots on national television as part of the demonizing of the media violating the first amendment)

We remember hundreds of Trump supporters physically attacked.

(We remember similar scales of black and gay people physically attacked)

We remember Trump supporters getting Doxed, and fired from jobs.

(Trump supporters have done the exact same thing in their “get all the liberals” campaigns)

We remember riots, and looting

(Those were not targeted at Trump. They were over racism. We remember legal protests sabotaged by Trump supporters who were arrested in the process and people armed with rifles taking up our capital buildings.)

We remember “a comedian” holding up the President’s severed head

(We remember not being happy with that any more than you. I sure wasn’t)

We remember a play in Central park paid with public funding, showing the killing of President Trump

(We remember effigies of Obama burned in the streets)

We remember Nancy Pelosi tearing up the State of the Union Address.

(That was particularly childish and many of us agreed with that.)

We remember the total in the tank move on the mainstream media

(Uh, that was not Democrats. Democrats didn’t coin the term “fake news” that was all you and all Trump all the way)

We remember the non-stop and live fact checking on our President and his supporters.

(Live fact checking has always existed.)

We remember non-stop in your face lies and open cover-ups from the media.

(Cover ups of what? The only party with anything to cover up was the party in power. And that’s where the term “alternative facts” came from, remember?)

We remember the President and his staff being spied on.

(Obama was spied on too. Name a president that wasn’t)

We remember every so-called comedy show turn into nothing but Trump hate fest.

(Every president has been targeted by satire. Every single one. You are not special in this regard.)

We remember 95% negative coverage in the news.

(Good luck proving that. That’s a wild number and no where near accurate or factual.)

We remember the state governors asking and getting everything they ask for and then blaming Trump for their problems.

(Such as? Once again, this needs factual support because you may have one or two but not nearly what you think. And if you think states haven’t been at issue with presidents before, you are mistaken. The Bush administrations was sued several times)

We remember a Trump top aid verbally assaulted in two DC restaurants.

(You literally have no room to talk about verbal assault when there are fuck your feelings tshirts that came out instantly after the election of 2016)

We remember people banging on the Supreme Court doors.

(Because no one has ever done that before… wrong)

We remember that we were called every name in the book for supporting President Trump.

(Remember those tshirts I mentioned? THOSE are the things you are called names for. Also for supporting people who commit crimes in his name that aren’t hard to find at all. Meanwhile I’ve been called baby killer, libtard, snowflake, fucktard and the list goes on only because I don’t support Trump and I didn’t have to make a statement about it either. Just make the mistake of saying I don’t support his ideals. That’s all it took. So tell me again who is being truly nasty there)

We remember that Hollywood said they would leave after Trump was elected but they stayed.

(A select number of celebrities is not all of Hollywood. When you can’t make a realistic statement, it’s no wonder you don’t get a realistic reaction)

This list is endless, but you get the idea.

(Yes and it shows you are just as guilty as you accuse anyone else when real comparisons get made. So stop making it out like Republicans never do anything terrible and they are all perfectly innocent, but it’s a blatant lie.)

My friends will be my friends, but a party that has been on the attack for 4 long years does not get a free pass with me!"

(And to that I say the same for the party that acted nasty for 8 years of Obama with burning effigies and slander only to act even worse as soon as you “won” and proceeded to be horrible “winners” for the last four years on top of it.)

And that’s the whole post asking people to copy and paste and spread it around. Feel free to show them this response to make their heads explode.

Why some people wear their mask in the car

 I recently posted on my facebook page about some painted rock art some cruel ass did that you can see here. I'm not giving that person any credit either but their post had over 2000 likes. That's 2000 people that agree wearing your mask in your car makes you retarded. It's a sad turn that a chunk of our society has taken. These are the same people who have run off to Parler to create an echo chamber so they only hear what they agree with. But for the rest of you who still have any compassion or really want to understand, I'm about to share some reasons we wear our masks in the car. Many of these echo responses to my facebook post. So shoutout to those who shared their reasons. Here is the image I'm talking about.

Calling people retarded for taking any level of precautions when you fucking won't is so classy. In case you hadn't figured, this post is not going to be forgiving of people who follow this lack of logic and level of cruelty. Because if you are mocking people for this, you may as well be mocking the kid in the wheelchair. You suck. So about those reasons you can't fathom (or actually want to know).

1: Less hassle: If I have more than one place to go and I'm trying to move quickly, I will leave the mask on. It's just less hassle and I move quickly and efficiently to get done and get home. But according to this person, efficiency is retarded.

2: Sanitary reasons: As one friend put it to me, she doesn't take her mask off until she gets home and can wash her hands before touching her face. She has medical issues she can't take risks with (like a lot of us) and can't just "stay home durrrrr" because we have to live our lives too and can't count on someone else to do it for us. Safety measures are smart, not retarded. You want to know what's retarded? Playing Russian roulette with a disease that picks its victims with a blindfold and dartboard because we still don't know enough about how it kills some people.

3:  On the job: Some people drive Lyft and Uber and they have to wear a mask as well as have fares wear one. In case you can't comprehend that, it's a matter of having complete strangers in your vehicle with you for any amount of time and well less than six feet away from you in an enclosed space. And for reason number one, they may as well leave it on between fares until they can get somewhere to disinfect the car and themselves. 

But kneejerk motherfuckers who point and laugh don't use enough of their gray matter to figure any of this out without a damn list. You don't know shit about that person or their life to point and laugh or call them retarded. 

These are people who have taken to showing off their shitty side since 2016 and they haven't gotten any nicer since. But I tell you what, I would so much rather know what kind of asshole I'm avoiding than not at this point in time. So go ahead and show off your shit side and think you're really clever for it. You aren't. You are showing a decided lack of empathy and intelligence and you should fix that. 

It distresses me to further say that I have relatives who apparently think this way. How disappointing that is. How disappointing it is that we can't be kind and respect people anymore. 

My minor review of Presidents I have known

 

Now that the election is basically decided, I want to talk about my personal experience and view on Presidents. I’m only going back to 1988 when I became of legal voting age. I don’t know enough about the Presidents before that but can tell you that just about every POTUS has done something I didn’t like.

Ronald Reagan was in office before I started voting. All I ever heard about was Reaganomics and how he had the beginnings of Alzheimer’s. People made fun of him, but I never really understood it. A little secret for you, I wasn’t an active voter at first. 1988 was an election year and it was George Bush Sr vs Michael Dukakis. I definitely remember the “dookie” jokes. But I didn’t understand it, and no one ever explained it to me. I had to learn about them on my own. I do remember the unbridled hatred against gay people of any kind. I remember gay hate crimes in the news. There were definitely bad things that were applied to politics just like today. Oh, but what did Reagan do that I didn’t like? Well, he closed mental hospitals across the country but didn’t make up anywhere for the patients to go. No programs for them of any kind other than go to jail.

Republicans ran EVERYTHING back then and there were only 9 blue states at the time based on the votes for George. The one thing I remember about him is the words “Read my lips, no new taxes”. Words he later ate with an abundance of salt. Words that echoed when he ran against Bill Clinton. George Sr was a strong President abroad in working with other countries and ending some conflicts before they began. But Americans paid for every bit of it and then some. I remember jobs being hard to find and colleges being predatory. Some still are. Bigotry against about every kind of person other than white and straight and without mental illness were everywhere.

Bill Clinton has a documented record of fulfilling the most campaign promises for a President of the age than any other. Economic reports showed job growth across the board and taxes eased up on the poor a bit. Then came the whole Monica Lewinsky ordeal. I remember everyone acting like this is the first time there has ever been a sex scandal in the White House. Not true of course with accounts against Jefferson, Cleveland, Nixon, Reagan, both Georges and Trump (Trump being the only one with multiple allegations). I did vote for Bill and I was quite disappointed when he did that. Still, I have come to learn that the honor of the White House was tainted long ago. That doesn’t mean I excuse it or even accept it. I hated that he did that and still do. But overall, on the rest, he was a very successful President. And he still left the office after two terms with the highest in office approval rating of any President in history. Try to figure that out.

George Jr really left me torn. He did some good things early on with No Child Left Behind (scrapped by Trump) and Medicare part D made to support AIDS treatments (I have heard mixed reviews on that though). He responded to 911 with flair and sought justice, but ultimately that was where things spun the wrong way. He is criticized for going after WMDs that were never found, while usurping Saddam had to be done, it was the wrong way to do it. He got in bed with the oil companies, had a hand in the housing collapse and a major recession worse the one at the end of his father’s term. And at the end of it all, before he left the house, he laughed and admitted his lies with a follow up of “so what?”. His administration was also responsible for the “forced” back to work programs (like the one I had to go to) that were found unconstitutional and drug tests for food stamps found equally so. The poor were hurt bad and the middle class all but disappeared.

Barrack Obama was something of a showboat in allowing his name to be used in movies and such. His downfalls were early on with bailouts to corporations that used the money to go on lavish vacations and fining people for not affording health insurance. I remember the health insurance website that was riddled with issues when it first hit the internet, and no one could use it but faced penalties anyway. There were people who saw their health care costs skyrocket while others were fully covered. And it made little sense. It has need renovation for some time. Not total annihilation but reform and adjustments. Still, Obama had a lot of work to do and he was trying to mend a shattered economy after the recession and housing collapse. It was a mess that would take longer than he had to be President to fix. And as he left the office, much of his programs were coming to fruition... until Trump dismantled them all just for having his name on it. While I didn’t agree with those early problems, things were coming around from what I saw towards the end. And the Obama blaming would be a chief weapon for the next four years after him.

Now we come to Trump. This is where I end this segment. Because my point is that no matter who the President is, if I don’t like something they do, I will say so and I have that right just like you do. What I have to say about the further actions of Trump good or evil are too much for here. I will say this, something all the other President’s do that Trump does not… they all hang out together; engage in humanitarian projects together, and still advise each other. Trump would not hear from any of them.

Maybe I’ll write what I really think about Trump, maybe I won’t. Because while freedom of speech might protect me from him… it won’t protect me from “you”.

The Discussion of Civil War Today

 

With a third of all Americans believing we are headed for Civil war and constant threats being used in political positions, you have to stop and think about it. It is a potential reality. But what will it look like? Are you in danger in your town? I believe I have a point of view for you. 

Firs I would like to direct you to an article that shares thoughts I agree with and I find it very fair toward both political parties to boot. Read it HERE. 

Got it? Good.

If you google Proud Boys Civil War, you will find reports across multiple media sources quoting a "member" of the extremists to say that there will be civil war if Trump is not re-elected. I do believe there will be violence, but a civil war? Hard to say how that will pan out. What will it look like?

For one, it won't be a two sided fight. It will be multi-sided with several groups all of the mentality of "if you start shooting, I'll start shooting". This will develop pockets of significant violence in many major cities and some medium ones, but it won't be anything remotely organized over a large area. One thing is for certain, it will be absolute chaos.  A lot of innocent lives will be lost because none of these groups will have a solid grasp of who their enemy is. Lines will blur and any place there is a protest or any form of political gathering will be a prime target. This thought doesn't even include the presence of any law enforcement or military.

Law enforcement will be bent over a barrel in the hot zones and Governor's will likely have to activate their state's National Guard. But who of any of those organizations will also be compromised? Martial law is a good possibility in various areas as well. If you think you're little pocket militia is fit to face our fully trained military in combat, you have another thing coming. And remember that our military personnel all took and oath to protect from all threats foreign and domestic.

Any group that presents enough of a military scale threat can be erased with things like jets, tanks and drones. I doubt it will come to that for these groups, but you can be there will be military response. But what is "enough of a military scale threat"? To be honest, I don't know. That just tells me it's a bad gamble.

I think at the end of the day, for any of us, it will be most important to protect our own homes and families. I will share with you some things I'm watching for around me and online. On these, I could be wrong about anyone. I will not engage with any of these people, this is for mental note only. It is not a battle plan for people to go start shooting. So if you take anything I say here as a means to start building targets for your guns, you are part of the problem.

The biggest thing to watch for is any scale of excessive behavior or belief. There are two houses on my block with over abundance of signs and flags. One house has 2 flag and 5 signs while the other recently increased to 7 signs in a tiny front yard. Number two has signs that are inflammatory and a car with about 40 conspiracy bumper stickers all over the back end. One of the residents of house two, recently got a flag he takes to busy streets to wave at passers by.  I will be watching both houses around election time and up to for their reactions. I have overheard conversations from both that are equally inflammatory like "we'll see what happens if they come for my guns". I don't talk to them either. We had a street get together for all neighbors hosted by another neighbor of mine and those two didn't show for the ice cream and root beer floats like the rest.

Anyone who dismisses current losses of life as any form of insignificant for any excuse (IE the people Kyle R. shot, people dead from covid, or people who have died that were part of any social or political party) is someone to keep an eye on under the circumstances. This includes any belief that all of "name that party" should be killed. The more a person says they are ready to kill so and so, the more you should either keep and eye open or keep your distance. 

Now, since the excess of threats are coming from extreme right wing pro white conservative groups, you have to know who is currently endangered. This is two fold. First and foremost, anyone who isn't white is endangered. Second, anyone who is LGBTQ is endangered. This has been proven and prompted public warnings in Portland and surrounding areas. There is no reason to think that won't spread if not already. Proud Boys were filmed ransacking a city part beating gay pride demonstrators or black lives demonstrators with clubs and bats. Some were arrested. I have also seen quite a few posts on the lines of "kill all liberals".  So be sure to keep yourself safe. What can you do?

If you don't want anything to do with any fighting and you want to be safe, there are things you can do. You don't have to be paranoid, but a safety plan is a good idea.

Talk to your family about what you all need to do if fighting erupts on your street. This is especially important for your children. Discuss where they need to go if something dangerous is happening right outside or coming closer. Some ideas would be to go under beds or to a spot in the basement or bathroom. The idea is to get out of potential lines of fire because a bullet can go through at least one wall or window. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. The best place for your child is either flat on the floor, or below ground level with as many walls between them and any violence as possible. Call for help via 911. Turn off all interior lights. Adults should also stay low if there is shooting. 

Pay attention to local news alerts and avoid areas that are reported as having dangerous activity. This is especially true if your city has already suffered violence. You may have to go out of your way to safely get your household needs. Without going into high crime areas, know locations that are away from the high traffic danger zones. Be ready to go to those places and only if you are in absolute need. 

Now I'm not telling you not to defend your property, but apply this wisely. Do not go outside your home to brandish a weapon at a crowd of people who are also armed. This is a good way to get shot. Stay inside where you have applicable cover in the case of a firefight (that I would hope no one has to worry about). In reality, neighborhoods that are in the midst of or connected to high traffic city areas where violence breaks out are in the most danger. The further out you are to the edge of your city (as theory goes) the safer your neighborhood should be unless it's a high crime area already. A politician's home may create a target neighborhood as we already know.

Remember, this will not be a large mass organized national civil war like the first one. It will be large clusters of violence by varied groups. If you don't want to be part of that fighting, stay away. If you can't stay away, learn how to protect your home and take precautions.

So now.. what will you do if we have a "civil war"? What do you think it will take to be declared a "civil war"?  Good luck to you.

Why I am against politics and will never vote Republican (trigger warning)

 

I shouldn’t say never because it is narrowly possible that a Republican may come along proving to be a real leader and not just a businessman or politician and someone who actually gives a damn about the people enough to fight for real change in our country. I don’t see it happening in my lifetime but it is what it is. I also say everything here with full knowledge that plenty of you out there won’t care what I think. That’s just fine. Feel free to walk on by, because if you attack me, invariably prove me right. But if you want to know how you lost my vote, I’m going to spell it out here.

I’ve lived through some of what I recognize as Republican cruelty and indifference by growing up in Nebraska, arguably one of the most anal retentive excessive Republican states in the country. Lincoln is my hometown. It’s a college town and also an immigration hub. Being that, it’s a mess of racial intolerance in its base society. If you are colored, gay or just a woman, you get shit on. If you are loaded, you’ll do just fine. If you are white and find a steady job, you’ll be mostly fine. But Lincoln and Nebraska overall don’t forgive you for not being what they prefer. Oh, and if you are mentally ill or disabled, you’re screwed. You’re a pariah.

I suffered some pretty terrible misfortunes in Lincoln and they started from my very childhood. The school system labelled me retarded and I was forced to endure a lengthy hospital stay when I was 13. There was some justice when I returned because the doctor in charge of my care collected all my teachers together and some of the administration and called them the worst excuses for educators he had ever seen. I was found in testing to be advanced, but they allowed such severe bullying over my differences that there was no way in hell I could ever be successful in their shitty school environment. A couple of the teachers changed their ways toward me, but the rest hated me because they got called out. Then we moved to Utah, where it started all over again because not only was I still different, but I wasn’t Mormon. That’s a whole different story. I came to understand that the whole system was run under a very Republican belief system swim or drown.

I don’t know why my life kept bringing me back to hellhole Nebraska, but I finally got a career there. But MS started to mess with me and I was also diagnosed as bipolar/aspergers and that started to mess with that career. I tried to get help but it was decided by a few certain people that I no longer was worthy of that career. Those four people went out of their way to investigate the deepest corners of my past, scrutinize every single solitary action I took to do anything beyond wiping my ass and forced me into a position where my Union rep said I needed to quit because I was dealing with sharks that smelled blood. I tried to get legal recomp against them and even got a “right to sue” letter from the Equal Opportunity Commission that was summarily ignored by a judge and my case was thrown out. Their actions also moved into my public life where I was harassed by police and neighbors. I was diagnosed with loss of identity and psychological break down. It took me years to recover and I became permanently disabled with MS though official diagnosis would come years later. What’s the point of this? There was a time in the middle of it that I was forced to accept welfare and the Republican system enacted a work program that took away all benefits if you didn’t “go to work” where they told you. My wife and I both were forced to work in a warehouse. I worked right next to a 74 year old woman on permanent oxygen. Yeah, they didn’t care what her doctor had to say, she needed to WORK. This program was not only cruel but was found unconstitutional and shut down. Let me point out again, that this program didn’t care what your medical conditions were, you would move heavy boxes of bottled water all day because “work dammit!”. That was a Republican program, and they have always been Republican programs.

I have finally left Nebraska and have family there that I love, but I will never live there again. So I have a whole lifetime of experiences with Republican run ideals that burned my life at every turn. I suffered. But my story doesn’t end there. Now we see another aspect that made me not only anti-Republican ideals, but anti-politics as well. Politics are destroying our country with civil unrest but there are some comparisons that I have noted that further push me away from ever going Republican. Here are some more ways they lost me.

When Michelle Obama was called a man, they lost me. Who stoops to shit like that? You get one guess.

When Michelle Obama was ridiculed for showing her arms, but Melania Trumps nudes were found “tasteful” they lost me.

When they found ways to excuse “grab em by the pussy”, “I’d do my daughter”, and “I walked right through that room of undressed teen girls at that pageant because I can do that”, but now Biden is a creepy old man… they lost me.

When they ridiculed a man for taking a knee in protest but men armed with semi automatic rifles taking over capital buildings was okay, they lost me.

When peaceful protestors were blamed for and condemned for property damage but a 17 year old who crosses state lines, has a weapon illegally due to age, and puts himself in a position to KILL two people is cheered as some kind of folk hero, they lost me.

When the Proud Boys and other far right extremists got cheered for running in the streets beating up black people and gay people with sticks and bats, they lost me.

They also lost me when they ended head start for my son with special needs and when the same school system put him in a corner and left him there for the same needs.

Every time I see someone blaming all Dems or Libs for things I know Republicans are at least doing “too”, they lose me again.

Don’t get me wrong. I hate our entire political system. When I saw Nancy Pelosi tear up a speech behind Trump, I found it childish and stupid. When I heard Biden tell a crowd to “clap you dumb bastards” I shook my head. I know it isn’t just Republicans, but I see the level of hypocrisy and which way it is really going. I see the unprecedented levels of Republican hatred and delight in just being fucking cruel to everyone they can find. I see violence by Republicans cheered while any infraction of  any kind by anyone else is condemned. I see a leader with a cult of followers that I don’t even consider Republican because they are now something far beyond that. I see a leader who is shunned by the rest of the world and who could commit any level of atrocity and be cheered for it by his base.

If you are a Republican reading this and you don’t embrace the ideals or behaviors I am condemning here, you are okay with me. At least you see humans and  humans. If you embrace these ideals in any way, you can fuck right off. I don’t care if you never buy my books or like my artwork or anything else. That is what this situation has pushed me too and I’m not even going into the Pandemic on top of it.

So do you hate me now? Fine.

I destroy this Facebook copy pasta (Trigger and Language Warning)

This is garbage. This is irrational, exaggerated, hate promoting, and illegitimate garbage. I wasn’t going to write against it, but I just can’t help myself because I’m so sick of misinformation like this shaping minds and hurting people. A friend of mine called this gish galloping and he is absolutely right. I posted on Facebook that I could debunk every single point and how it is either totally false or just doesn’t work. And I’m going to and you know what? I’m going to be awful fucking blunt about it. You have been warned. I will put my responses in parenthesis so you can tell what I have to say to each section. Now let’s get started with the first paragraph:

I'm not starting a fight, but it is something to think about. This may open up a ton of outraged comments by some. Many who will argue how "wrong" this post is. My suggestion, save your time and effort! You're not changing the reality of what we are living by trying to somehow justify this insanity. Nevertheless, I couldn't resist because we are becoming the Twilight Zone. We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind!

(Where to start with this. So many issues. I guess my biggest take is on the suggestion that if you don’t agree wit this you are automatically trying to justify on the terms of the writer.  A kind of “Aha! You can’t rebut this now!” which is bullshit. The one point I do agree with is saving time and effort because anyone who really thinks this way is beyond reproach and doesn’t want to be told they are wrong at any level. Hell, they can’t accept that they are wrong at any level. So why am I writing at all? General audience and someone has to stand up to this line of thinking and try to correct it. And hell, some people will even get a laugh at both writer’s expense and that’s just fine too.)

• If a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.

(Says who? Not one trans person that I know or gay person or any LGBTQ+ has ever asked me to pretend one fucking thing about them. To make it clear, you don’t have to do one damned thing. You can walk away from anyone you want and leave them the fuck alone. If you can’t accept someone for who and what they are (especially when they do no harm to anyone else) then you will do yourself and them a huge favor by walking right the fuck on by. I can claim I identify as a wombat and I personally do not give two shits if you pretend I’m a wombat or not! “Oh but what about the people and their picket signs and demonstrations?” you ask. My answer… so fucking what? Did something in your life stop working because someone held up a fucking sign? No? Then get over it. Their issues are officially none of your fucking business. Go somewhere else or change the damn channel.)

• Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.

(Not only is this an exaggeration, but it’s patently false because the census is meant to count everyone living in American whether they are an “American citizen” or not. And that is where the debate comes in. Oh no, a debate! That’s un-American! Right? What the real problem is here is that whoever wrote this cannot stand the idea that every single immigrant in the country doesn’t get a massive flood light shined up their ass by way of the census. Oh, does that sound like another exaggeration? How does it feel? Let me put this another way… if all you want is our government’s nose up every immigrants ass to see what they had for lunch (IE are they legal or not), you are going about it the wrong way. YOU do not have an inherent right to demand who is legal and who isn’t. Collective society? Sure. The law? Sure. Just you and handful of racist assholes? No. )

• Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals voting in our elections are good.

(False. Literally no one thinks this. Fucking NO ONE. This is 100% contrived bullshit and just immigrant hatred spewed by people who have no fucking idea who is voting and who is not. And don’t even throw Fox news at me or any underground media because you’ll call any I post “fake news” like you’re any kind of judge. You have no evidence to support this blistering ridiculous claim.)

• It was cool for Joe Biden to "blackmail" the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquires about it.

( You have problems with Biden’s past? Well guess what, if you defended “grab em by the pussy” you have no fucking room to talk. You have no ground what so ever to stand on. You have burned yourself right out of the discussion. For every bullshit thing Trump has done that you cheer for (while condemning Obama for doing even less) you haven’t got a gawdamn thing to say. NOTHING. Not one fucking thing.)

• Twenty is too young to drink a beer, but eighteen is old enough to vote.

(Two things that have absolutely nothing to do with each other; age to drink and age to vote. I find it funny how some people think an 18 year old criminal should be tried as an adult and 18 years olds should pay their way as an adult, but have not one single legal fucking right as an adult. Well, what do you want here? Younger drunk drivers or older voters? Admit it, what you really want is to control who other people vote for.)

• People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.

(Another thing no one is asking for. But it’s hard to explain to people who just don’t fucking care. And since your face is probably contorting in rage over the mere suggestion that you’re wrong, you actually prove me right. This is what you choose to believe and refuse to listen to the people talking and then you wonder why their behavior gets worse. The riot is the behavior of the unheard according to the words of Martin Luther King Jr. And you know what some families should get reparations for? If anyone in their family was hung from a fucking tree until dead by a white mob that was allowed to bypass all laws and courts. Stop pretending that slavery was the only problem and learn something or go the fuck away)

• Inflammatory rhetoric is outrageous, but harassing people in restaurants is virtuous.

(Once again… according to who? What youtube videos are you watching? You want to talk about harassing people in restaurants? How about screaming at employees over mask policies? How about that? How about shouting at someone trying to eat in peace to go back where they came from? Do you really believe this is a one sided issue? Well you seem to think the rest are and only you are somehow affected.)

• People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.

(Yet another thing no one is asking for. But then it will be hard to get any headway on the issue since you’re okay with cutting student meals, closing down the federal branch of the Department of Education who would be the ones to enforce anything you wanted done. On the flip side, no one who is going to be working manual labor with their degree should have to be in debt for the rest of their fucking lives over it. Not only that, but what about colleges that do more predatory recruiting for their own bottom line than following on their own promises? What people want here is reform and they are willing to pay a bump in taxes for it, not just pay off everyone’s way. If you don’t agree, what have you done to suggest a better way? Anything? No? Then shut up.)

• Immigrants with tuberculosis and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.

(Here we have another comparison that doesn’t work and is literally something no one as said at all. No one has said, “hey, you got tuberculosis, well shit boy, get on in here!” Nope. But I forget, your idea of vetting immigrants is stripping them of their children and doing cavity searches and blood tests, never mind what you would do if any country wanted to do that to YOU. Uh oh, did I just post another exaggeration that you don’t like? Well no shit. And comparing to your dogs vaccines is fucking stupid. Have you ever seen anyone die from rabies? No? I wonder why? Maybe it’s because we developed a fucking vaccine decades ago to stop people dying from rabies. But fuck, you think covid is a fairy tale, so you probably don’t think rabies ever existed either.)

• Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.

(This has become a trend in this list of things no one wants or asked for or claimed. Not one fucking person has ever said, “boy, I hope we get more illiterate gang bangers in our country this year”. How about this reversal: We need to worry about Mexican gangsters coming into our country, but the thousands of white and black gangs committing the same fucking crimes are A gawdamn OK with us! That’s how you fucking sound.)

• $5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.

(See, here goes the trend again. Because you think building a fucking wall will stop illegal immigration in its tracks. It won’t. The majority of illegal immigration to the tune of around 95% come in via vehicles, not fence climbing. They come in with visas and stay after the visa expires. So yes, your useless eyesore of a fucking wall that can’t even be built legally or physically across the entire border is a complete waste of money. At least healthcare assistance at any level could save lives. And let’s get realistic, thanks to insurance companies being rooted in our political system with every other corporation, “free” will never happen. So just stop.)

• If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.

(Bullshit once again. Most people who cheat to get into college just get thrown out (most) and more immigrant hatred because immigrants are destroying our way of life. Bullshit. Name one thing you can’t do anymore because of an immigrant and then tell me how they physically stopped you from doing it. You just hate the sight of them and the best part is that you don’t even know who is legal and who isn’t. So long as you can’t support that, you have nothing to say.)

• People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female President.

(Who gives a shit? Does this affect your power to vote? Will you go hide under your bed because someone wants something you don’t? Stop letting irrelevant bullshit control your life. There are people out there who want to fuck bats in the asshole. Are you all bent out of shape over them? Better question is why do YOU have a problem with a female President no matter who wants to vote for her?)

• We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.

(Another exaggeration over something that simply can’t happen. That is, if you are a consistent voter. But then there is another question that I’ve posed before. If you have all the answers, what have you done to show them and suggest a better way? Nothing. You just want to rage over it and you think “voting for President” is enough action for you. Wrong.)

• Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.

(No shit. They’re called POLITICIANS and CORPORATIONS. But you’re talking about racism again and I already explained that point. Meanwhile, we the people pay for the politics.)

• Criminals are catch-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it's a violation of THEIR rights.

(By what actual facts? Who? Where? How many? No one thinks failing to stop criminals is bad. Another fucking stupid assumption. I don’t even know where this is being aimed but it fails horribly. Too many ways to kill this because it’s a stupid comment.)

• And pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us "racists"?!

(Not quite. And most of this is not hypocrisy because the compared points have nothing to do with each other in any way. They are just smashed together in incoherent rambling like each one is some kind of major revelation. It makes you ignorant because you fail at critical thinking enough to make those ridiculous comparisons as if they do anything for you. They don’t. I could get into the real hypocrisy here but I’ve already made a couple of points to that effect. Pop quiz, can you find them?)

Nothing makes sense anymore, no values, no morals, no civility and people are dying of a Chinese virus in the media, but 99.8% will survive if infected.

(They aren’t dying in the media, you assholes, they are dying in hospitals. And dying isn’t even the only issue to be concerned with. Why are you listening to media that you don’t want anyone else to listen to? We get it, you don’t think Covid is an issue and you don’t see dead bodies lining your personal street, so you can’t be bothered. But try going to your local hospital and telling them about it. Oh wait, you can’t be bothered. That would mean fact checking yourself.)

We are living in an upside down world for sure.

(Here’s some fucking irony, it’s because of you)

Not my words but very accurate and disturbing!

(If you posted this because you blindly believe it all, then they are absolutely your words. You may as well fucking own them.)

Feel free to copy and paste. I did!

(Yeah, fuck this shit for the shit it is.)

Did you make it this far? Good for you! Now remember this, if you shared this copy pasta because you agreed with it, it was your opinion. If you believe you're entitled to your opinion but you don't think I'm entitled to mine, then the problem doth not lie with me.

We should Abolish Politics

Today I am going to ruffle feathers and make heads explode. Today I will be called a heretic and today many of you are going to hate my bloody guts. But this is an opinion I did not form overnight. It is not casually that I post it. I have been thinking about this for years. This year, of all years, tells me that my opinion has merit more than ever.

So just what am I talking about? No more politicians? No. There will still be politicians, however it is high time we held them to a standard befitting the station. The ethical compass of politics has been fractured for a very long time, yet ever since "grab em by the pussy" was okay I would say it's dead, dead, dead.

It's time to tear down and rebuild how we elect our leaders at any level, especially the Presidency. It's time becoming a leader means you are actually just that, a leader. So how?

Well, get ready to pick your jaw up off the floor because my number one step in this is to eliminate political parties. That's right. No more Democrats and no more Republicans. No more political titles used only to turn every life subject into a battlefield. Think about it, how every single thing in our country is decided comes right down to the political party backing it. It could be an idea that would save millions of lives, but if it's from a Democrat, Republicans will call that guy a libtard and vote against for that reason alone (at the start- more excuses will come up later). And the exact same playbook is used the other way. Healthcare, education, and the economy all suffer because they become a congressional game of field hockey.

I'm not saying they won't keep fighting over it, but it's only the start of what I see correcting our political problems. When you can no longer claim a political party, the merits of what you are as a leader change. No longer can you just blame all Republicans for that problem in Flint, Michigan, but you can go straight to the names and they only have themselves to blame.

In the next point, we take away the money game used to run for office. No more publicity stunts and grandstanding. Make getting into office start out like any other job...

APPLY FOR IT, get accepted based on your merits and qualifications and then get voted on. Hell, this would probably be about the best part of it all. But who decides who is qualified? Well, that will require actual qualifications to be drafted (and they actually have before) but real ones, like leadership, commerce education, law education, etc. You have to have SOMETHING that educationally qualifies you as President.  I mean, let's look at the current top 3 requirements:

1: Natural born citizen
2: At least 35 years of age
3: Have lived in the US for at least 14 years.

Then you have to raise obscene amounts of money, money, money that would serve so much better in a hundred other places. Campaigns for President raise hundreds of millions of dollars and at the end of the campaign, they are allowed to put any unused funds into "general campaign expenses" with no idea where any of it really goes. I know this shows you have the support of the people, but this is far into the information age where getting that support could be streamlined and technology could be applied. There is no reason for this having such a cost application.

I don't have all the answers and I'm sure I'll get hate mail. Chill, it's an opinion. You have them too. But politics are turning human issues into weapons and it's a morbid abuse of power at all levels.  Take away the names that make the weapons, make them really apply for the job, and then hold the accountable right down to ethics. That's another thing, it's ridiculous how both sides scream out about the ethics of the other, while simultaneously committing the same sins and claiming it's okay because its 'insert political party here'. For example, Republicans are all about how unethical Biden is and how he's a sexual letch but forget that just 4 years ago they didn't mind "grab em by the pussy" and even made tshirts. It's either okay or it isn't and make it no longer a political stance. Wrong, right, simple.

Don't believe there's T-shirts? Google it.

Finally, just one more thing. Throw out corporations. No more corporate sponsorships or hands in the cookie jar. Corporations need to be completely removed from politics because they have no interest in the people, only their bottom line. By the people for the people... it hasn't been that in generations and corporations are why.

So there you have it. Hate me all you want. Flip out over your political identity if you want to. I'm sure I'll be called un-American too. But you know what? It's an idea and I have my rights to have ideas just like you do. Oh well.

So you like the idea of a SPACE FORCE eh?

But the budget! That's the outcry of any political party when they don't like a proposed program or bailout or whatever. Both sides play that game and I could take up time citing evidence on the matter but that would be a whole new blog post. One thing is for sure, when it comes to something they want to do, the budget can just go screw itself.  Nothing screams of this more than Space Force and I'm going to show you why.

Never mind Trump's wall that has little to no effect on immigration as a whole and just makes us look bad, Space Force is going to outdo any costs a nation-long wall could produce. And let me remind you that the administration is having trouble finding money to finish it. Just look it up. But the wall is only an example toward costs so lets not get stuck on it for this discussion.

Trump said he wants a military force in space. Not satellites, not a laser defense system (which is all Reagan's Star Wars would have been and it couldn't be finished either), no, he wants a military force. That means soldiers and military equipment in space. Let me start by explaining to you that, to be a military sized force, it will need at least as many people as in our Coast Guard (the smallest of our forces) and that's currently about 40,000 people.

"But they just need to be available to go to space." No. Then they aren't what Trump wants. He wants a presence in space. Not on the ground. He said so himself. Even if that's what he settles for, it won't change the astronomical costs of the issue. Pun intended. Here is the video of his statement if you are still confused.



So what's the deal with the cost? Well, since we are talking about military, let's do some comparison.

It costs an average of 50,000 dollars to train on US soldier for the average training time of 16 weeks. That includes basic training and advanced individual training. Many AITs go longer than 8 weeks however so the cost can up to as much as 100,000. But for basic infantry, it's about 50k.

You can't send basic infantry into space. Here's why.

They all have to be pilots and have at least a thousand hours flight time. That costs about 9 million dollars. Multiply by 40k and you have 360 billion dollars. That's just for learning to fly. You see, you're agreeing with a military force of astronauts and that's a whole lot of money that just isn't there.

From what I can tell, and exact numbers aren't easy to find, full training of an astronaut that requires 2 years costs around 50 million dollars per person. That's factoring in 9 million to flight train and the costs of launching them into space in the first place. What it costs to send up a space shuttle? About 500 million dollars.  That's just for one flight crew and all their equipment and living supplies mostly by weight and fuel. That's maybe as many as 12 people. And no matter how you rearrange it, it's going to be about that cost per 12 people. Because you can't just send a person into space without the things they need to survive.

So, 500 million per 12 people and you want to send up a force of 40k. 40k divided by 12 is: (my calculator comes up with a row of 3s so you round down and get:) 3300 shuttles going into space (and that's actually not quite enough) with a price tag of over 16 billion, 500 million dollars. That's just to actually PUT them in space.

But wait, that's only if all they are trained to be is astronauts. That' won't work. They have to be a full arrangement of military specialists as well. You have to take construction engineers and rocket scientists, train them to be astronauts and send them up. You have to have all the skills of any ground military additional astronaut trained to go into space and just float there for their service requirement. Then you have to arm them.

Do you know why they don't take guns into space? Uh oh. Can't do that so we'll be setting up orbital missile stations instead. And if we pull it off, that means everyone else will pull it off too. That brings me to my next point.

Satellites and space debris. There are 1100 active satellites in space and 2600 defunct ones right now. That's a total of 3700 chunks of various metal floating up there right now. Each has to have a very specific flight path or they risk running into each other. Now, we depend on those satellites for an awful lot of stuff, like phones, television, information technology of all kinds and in some places internet. Quite a few of those support active military forces on the ground.  Can you imagine the levels of interference putting a military force of 40k up there would cause. Because, like I just pointed out, we won't be the only ones. China, Russia, and the UK would be right behind us and both China and Russia would want to show us up by putting double as many people up there.

Let me just mention that 40k people is about the population of any small city. So, we are basically looking at just tossing four or five small cities into orbit. Think about it. They all have to move along with the planet and have to be adjusted constantly to no one slams into each other or any other debris because we also have billions of tons of wasted debris floating around our planet as well. Did you know that? It's absolutely true.

So, I don't know how many orbiting missile stations that puts in our atmosphere, but sooner or later, the more you put up there, the higher the chance that something screws up and comes back down. You better hope it's not a missile station with God knows how much ordinance on it, and that it never makes it to the surface. Oh, you don't think they would make it? Now why would we put missiles in orbit that can't reach their targets on the ground? THINK ABOUT IT.

"Oh they would have failsafes for that and detonate them."  Uh huh, go ahead and bet your life on that. I won't. Nothing is infallible. Sooner or later there will be fights in orbit and that means death in orbit and more debris in orbit and more falling to the ground than we or our atmosphere can handle.

Mark my words, we will destroy our atmosphere and risk millions to billions of lives. If the money factors aren't enough, the livelihood of the world should be.

REFERENCES:
What NASA pays to ship people into space

So you want to be an astronaut

United States Armed Forces Wikipedia

Space junk circling the Earth in real time

Reflecting on the Presidents of my Lifetime

I was born in 1970 during Richard Nixon's run as President of the United States. Naturally, since I was a mere child, who he was mattered for zilch to me. I had no reason to care. But lots of people did care since the man resigned over the whole Watergate thing. But I wouldn't learn about that for 10 years yet, give or take a couple. You know,because of a thing called History class.

I had no reason to care about Gerald Ford either. I was in kindergarten and my circle of focus was very small. As it is for any kid really. What matters to you at that age anyway? Food, clothes, school, a few friends, and that's about it.

But if you look at Ford's presidential report card (so to speak) you see something interesting. I'm going to take a quote from the page, but you can read all about it HERE.

Ford's presidency, then, was marked by three elements. First, Ford faced extraordinary challenges, especially involving the nation's economic woes, which he struggled to solve. Second, Ford had difficulty navigating a demanding political environment in which Democrats (from across the ideological spectrum) and conservative Republicans found fault with his leadership and his foreign and domestic policies. The combination of these first two elements helped bring about Ford's defeat in 1976. Just as surely, though, a third dimension of Ford's presidency deserves recognition: Americans, by and large, believed that Gerald Ford was an innately decent and good man and that he would (and did) bring honor to the White House. Although this sentiment proved too little to bring Ford to victory in 1976, it is an assessment that most Americans and scholars still find valid in the years after his presidency.

Take note that Congress was controlled by Democrats and that created severe adversity for him as President. Take special note of that, please. It bears historical significance.

I was 6 years old in 1976 and here was Jimmy Carter (actually took office in 1977). I remember seeing him on television, but that's about all I remember of him. Of course I was in maybe 1st grade by this point. So once again, who this man was mattered not at all to me. But to look back from today, Jimmy Carter inherited a very similar state that Obama did. How? Well HERE and here: 

Carter took office just thirty months after a President had left the entire federal government in a shambles. He faced epic challenges—the energy crisis, Soviet aggression, Iran, and above all, a deep mistrust of leadership by his citizens. He was hard working and conscientious. But he often seemed like a player out of position, a man more suited to be secretary of energy than president. Carter became President by narrowly defeating an uninspiring, unelected chief executive heir to the worst presidential scandal in history. The nomination was his largely because in the decade before 1976, Democratic leadership in the nation had been decimated by scandal, Vietnam, and an assassination.

Because of this and his struggles he was viewed as a "weak and inefficient" President. But today, I hear people say "Now that was a real President." It's funny to me how most of those people aren't any older than I am. Many of them are younger. That means they had no idea what the world situation was like and it sucked. I know that Carter tries to advise Presidents of today based on his experiences, but they usually ignore him. That's what you get for being a moral man in an immoral world.

In 1980 I was 10 years old and Ronald Reagan took over. Now here was a man everyone thought would get things done because "he's not a politician". Sound familiar? He wasn't a politician either, until he ran for President. I don't care who you are, if you run for President, you are a politician. Congrats! Yeah, he was an actor. Well, guess what actors do for a living? Being a politician is a snap next to that. One point still stands that he didn't really matter to me. He mattered to my parents. He mattered to adults. But I really saw no differences in life. 

But you know what? That man actually did get things done. Thanks to the meetings between him and then Russian leader, Gorbachev, the cold war essentially ended. Read about that HERE.

Quoting:  

Reagan's economic legacy is mixed. On the one hand, tax reduction and a tightening of interest rates by the Federal Reserve led to a record period of peacetime economic growth. On the other, this growth was accompanied by record growth in the national debt, the federal budget deficit, and the trade deficit. Defenders of Reagan's economic record point out that a big chunk of the deficit was caused by increased military spending, which declined after the Soviet collapse and created the context for balanced budgets during the Clinton years. Even so, the supply-side tax cuts did not produce the increase in revenues that Reagan had predicted. The economist Robert Samuelson has suggested that Reagan's main achievement in the economic arena was his consistent support of the Federal Reserve, which under Reagan's appointee Alan Greenspan, followed monetary policies that kept inflation low. Reagan also succeeded in a principal goal of reducing the marginal income tax rate, which was 70 percent when he took office and 28 percent when he left.

Before anyone jumps on me, yes I know that there were a lot of people fighting for rights of all kinds during these administrations. Take notice that those subjects are NOT what this post is about. 

Reagan held his post for 8 years and did well enough that when George Bush (prior Vice President) it seemed like the way to go for voters. I was 19 and joining the Army at the time. Again, I give you a link to read up about his Presidency and it's legacy HERE. 

But this quote seems to say it all for how that went, never mind his famous "read my lips" business:

Generally the Bush presidency is viewed as successful in foreign affairs but a disappointment in domestic affairs. In the minds of voters, his achievements in foreign policy were not enough to overshadow the economic recession, and in 1992, the American public voted for change.

For me, I remember a lot of complaining about ol George, even from fellow soldiers and drill sergeants. But I wasn't involved in politics. I wasn't even voting yet. I didn't even register to vote until the Clinton era (if memory serves). No one taught me that I should vote. I knew next to nothing about it. But I did see strife in the common person. That was enough for me. 

Ask yourself this question: How do you earn a second term as President? By doing something right by the people. You have to admit that if a President really did screw up that badly, the common person would not vote for him again. History seems to support this. It's why Reagan held his post for 8 years and why Clinton held his for 8 years. Clinton wasn't your typical democrat as you can read HERE. 

And to quote a section:  

Clinton managed to remake the image and operations of the Democratic Party in ways that effectively undermined the so-called Reagan Revolution. His "New Democrat" Party co-opted the Reagan appeal to law and order, individualism, and welfare reform, and made the party more attractive to white middle-class Americans.

Clinton was the first President that actually mattered to me. He was reported to have held up more campaign promises than any President since JFK. And I still didn't know much about what being President really meant. I was young yet, in my early twenties. What do you care about in your early twenties after all? It seems interesting to me, as I look back, that we have a repeating history of someone who makes a mess of domestic affairs (who only gets one 4 year run) followed by someone who has to play clean up and earns two runs. Trend? Who knows. The Clintons may have been a family of great scandal, but they did do some things right. It was that scandal that changed things back to the Republicans when Al Gore ran for President. That paved the way for a whole new set of disasters.

Let's face it, if Clinton could have kept it in his pants, he and his wife would probably never have been scrutinized so closely, destroying their reputation completely. And we would have a very different political environment today. 

I have to admit, in his first four years, George W whupped some ass. No, he did. Of course LINK. 
He was responsible for the No Child Left Behind program that set way for astounding changes in our educational system. He responded to 911 without hesitation (do NOT start throwing conspiracy theories at me).  But this quote probably says it best:

As President, Bush became a lightning rod for controversy. His controversial election and policies, especially the war in Iraq, deeply divided the American people.

He's still heralded a hero to the upper class because he made things rosy for them. But everyone else was really feeling the pain by the time of his second term (that he earned by his war mongering). How? Well they refused to call it a "depression", but that's about what it was that went hand in hand with the housing collapse that our country still hasn't fully recovered from. You know, the one that put millions of families out of their homes with no legal recourse? It was Bush Jr. who set my views of the Republican party. His forcing of welfare recipients to "work" whether they were physically able or not paved a way to distrust from the entire disabled community. It was found unconstitutional and discontinued (thankfully for a lot of people). These events practically destroyed the middle class and were the beginnings of the divisions we see people blame Obama for today. It was after seeing people in wheelchairs with oxygen tanks forced into slave labor that I decided I would never vote for  a Republican. NEVER. Mind you I don't like either side of the system, but I've been hurt by the Republican party personally so... let's get on with it.

That's what really taught me how politics can affect people. So when Obama came along and I learned about him. I voted for him. But then I would see new disappointments. Unfortunately the Miller Center didn't have a page for him for me to link. Of all the elections of any level that I had witnessed, I never saw political mudslinging like I saw directed at Obama. Even now, people are still screaming that he wasn't and isn't an American citizen. It's been proven that he is and was, but it continues. That behavior and my past experiences only served to concrete my vote for him both times. 

But he did step on some toes to put it lightly. The Affordable Care Act was not received well by insurance companies, so they turned around and screwed a lot of people to save their own budgets. That, of course, received no corrective action. Like Jimmy Carter (remember the historical significance I mentioned above?) he came into office with a Republican controlled Congress that shut down the government twice with their temper tantrums over Obama. Was there also racism or religious hate against him? Absolutely. People on the net still blast him for being "Muslim" when we are supposed to support Freedom of Religion. He did piss people off though, especially the upper class with the whole "redistribution of wealth" idea. Socialism is a very scary word, especially to the extreme Republican. Oh, but please note the educational pic I'm adding. Very interesting and accurate. 

Yeah, he pissed people off, but he was also the most opposed President in office in our recent history. Opposed more than Jimmy Carter was. Every single thing he did was automatically blown out of proportion and rebelled against. But you didn't see him tweeting about it.

That's how it all came to be for me. I don't like our current political system. I think the whole Dems versus Reps is exactly what's tearing the country in half, like it did for the Civil War. As I look back at past Presidents and their elections, it seems to me that at least there was a candidate worth looking at. I didn't want Hillary any more than Trump. Neither side can be reasoned with without degenerating into slurs and fighting. I'm sure someone will attack me for what I've written here and I'll be called a Libtard (I am not a Liberal) or Obama lover (also not). But I know that those attacks seem to come exclusively from Republicans, and to that I will say, while I don't agree with the Democrat side either, I have never been attacked by them, bullied by them, put down by them, etc. Yes, I see what they've done in riots and I don't agree with that either, but my point stands. If you want me to listen to you and you call me names, it won't happen.

Sorry this is so long, but it seemed to need it. Peace out.