by Paula | Jan 26, 2020 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
The GOP has begun their offensive defense in Trump’s impeachment debate. I use the term debate instead of trial, because (as a former debate nerd), I know that a trial includes witnesses and evidence, and the proceedings focus on facts. So far, this ‘defense’ has no interest in the facts, and their defense consists of screaming: “Witch Hunt! The Dems are terrible!”
This is Trump and his sycophant’s stock reply whenever there are credible accusations against him or with any attempts to hold him accountable for anything he says or does. Multiple sexual assault accusations? Witch Hunt? Mountains of evidence that he withheld approved aide to Ukraine in exchange for a political favor? Witch Hunt! Les Parvas? “Never met the guy – Witch Hunt!”
Mr. Grab ’em by the Pussy never apologizes or backs down. His White House no longer conducts press conferences, because reporters ask too many pesky questions. He insists that only his version of events is relevant — facts be damned. Trump really could shoot someone in broad daylight and get away with it. If any prosecutor dared to bring charges, they would be viciously attacked, trolled and mocked with cries of being part of a politically motivated vendetta.
The GOP has lost it’s soul. Trump is their Supreme Leader, an Emperor for life who cannot be questioned. Anyone who dares to question him will be severely punished!
The Senate will not vote to remove Donald Trump, and in the process they will attempt to defame and destroy the Democrats, and any other person or entity that believes that even THIS President should be held accountable.
The GOP Senate leadership is willfully flexing their majority muscle to destroy any flimsy remnants of checks and balances between Congress and the Administrative branch, which will effectively erase any slim hope that this Administration will act within the bounds of the rule of law and/or the Constitution.
This Senate is handing Trump a blank check, with absolutely no limits to what he can do and how he can conduct himself. He will be even further emboldened to use his office for blatant personal and political gain. We are seeing the making of a dictator in real time.
by Paula | Jun 1, 2019 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
I recently took a break from the news–it started as an intention to cleanse my mind and emotional well-being prior to and during our recent vacation. I enjoyed the break so much that I found it difficult to mentally ‘gird’ myself to join the ranks of the well-informed. Yet, the world continued to turn during my blissfully ignorant sabbatical.
This post reflects the format from Stephen Colbert’s Late Show segment of random disconnected items, which he titles ‘Meanwhile’
Meanwhile…. Republicans are determined to overturn Roe v. Wade, as part of its all-out offensive on the war against women. Unbelievably, a rapist may have more rights than his impregnated victim in these states. The offensive might just work given the current Supreme Court composition. If the intent is to actually reduce unwanted pregnancies, there are mountains of data demonstrating more effective, non-punitive techniques, such as easy-to-obtain birth control and sex education.
I utterly reject the term ‘pro-life’ for anyone who does not actively support (financially and otherwise) policies and programs that ensure adequate food, housing, health care, and freedom from gun violence for all children and their parents.
Meanwhile… There have been more serial shootings, and more civilian heroes have died while protecting others. We are the most heavily armed nation in the world already and we are also the country in which an innocent person is the most likely, by a large margin, to die from gun violence. Yet, NRA advocates, and their bought-and-paid for politicians, continue to espouse the ridiculous notion that MORE guns are the answer; completely dismissing the glaring evidence from countries that do have common-sense gun control and a citizenry that is relatively safe from gun violence.
Meanwhile.… Mitch McConnell sits on all bills passed by the Democratic controlled House, refusing to bring them to a vote in the Senate. Mitch’s sole focus is partisan gamesmanship; he continues to thwart the intended function of Congress–to debate and enact legislation that benefits and protects the American people. He is an odious and hideous man.
Meanwhile… this Administration continues to stiff-arm Congress by disregarding and disdaining subpoenas for information and testimony. These subpoenas are a vehicle to provide transparency and accountability across the branches of government. However, T and his cronies now sit in the driver’s seat for all three branches, The President’s Administration, the Senate and (so very sad) the Supreme Court. This puts them in a position to either honor or display contempt for the due process that is intended to prevent any branch from running roughshod over each other or the laws of the land. This Administration is now emboldened in their flagrant disdain for anything that stands in the way of their obscene quest to endlessly enrich and empower themselves.
Meanwhile... a heavily redacted version of the Mueller report was published. Mueller recently gave a statement recently that his team could NOT charge a sitting President with a crime; but they did not find that no crime was committed. This kind of hair-splitting and ‘waffling’ allows for enough doubt of culpability that it can (and has) been interpreted as exoneration, even though that doesn’t appear to have been the intent.
Meanwhile...summer is almost here: we went to a Brewer game, the grand-girls had another birthday, my son received a degree in accounting, daughter #2 has a new boyfriend, and Serena is rocking another controversial outfit at the French Open. In other words, life continues to unfold… and I need to remind myself to enjoy every moment, even if the news continues to be ugly.
by Paula | Jul 31, 2018 | Paula Persists
Recent news reveals a slew of professional baseball players who are being held accountable for hateful tweets from their youth; yet our President regularly spouts hate speech and lies to the American people without any (apparent) consequences. Why is our President held to a lower standard of conduct than a relief pitcher?
Trump takes gas-lighting to new heights… he veritably gushes gas every time he opens his mouth. To clarify the term–Gas-lighting is “a form of mental abuse in which information is twisted or spun, selectively omitted to favor the abuser, or false information is presented with the intent of making victims doubt their own memory, perception, and sanity.”
The Orwellian Present:
Just last week the Twitter-in-Chief told a crowd of veterans: “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” This outrageous statement prompted comparison to George Orwell’s novel, 1984. Written in 1949, the novel describes a Dystopian future, in which big-government (the party) maintains constant surveillance and control over every aspect of everyone’s life.The following excerpt is chilling in its similarity to Trump’s statement: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
Trump doesn’t even attempt to be subtle in his manipulation; he is steadfast in his delusion that his own (most current) version of events is the one we SHOULD believe–regardless of irrefutable evidence to the contrary. He simply makes up shit that is convenient at the time; selling his perspective with great bravado and shamelessness, considering that often– the evidence to the contrary includes his own previous statements.
Trumps political career started with a whopper – the assertion that Barrack Obama was not born in the U.S., and his Presidency began with a lie about the size of the crowd as his inauguration–also easily proven to be false. Yet, Trump’s base, egged on by Fox News and Russian trolls; exhibit a blind, deaf and dumb loyalty that appears to be impervious to the very concept of objective truth.
Trump and Fox News
This recent article in Esquire posits that Trump’s worldview has been narrowing during his Administration. He increasingly relies on Fox News as his primary source of information–a self-congratulatory and self-fulfilling approach, since Fox regularly parrots Trump’s own words, rants, musings and policies as ‘news’ back to him. It is a troubling co-dependent relationship– with a mutual interest in discrediting all other news sources.
Truth or Consequences:
A key point from this CNN Video is that the number and breadth of Trump’s lies are increasing, in large part because there have been few negative repercussion for his past lies–there simply are no effective checks and balances on his behavior. How is it that we are not all in the streets with pitchforks right now? How is it that the Republicans can still support Trump with a straight face?
In Richard Nixon’s day — the GOP still had some integrity; Congress members on both sides of the aisle held Tricky Dick accountable for his actions, showing courage that is incompatable with our current crop of spineless, groveling GOP sycophants.
If Trump were a toddler he would be given a time-out to ponder his bad behavior. Hopefully, the Mueller Investigation will end with a much-deserved extended time-out.
by Paula | Jul 18, 2018 | Paula Persists
I have such an aversion to a certain person, that I rarely use his actual name in my blog. I tend to use aliases such as The D, the toddler-in-chief, The Orange One, and Reality Star Buffoon. Yet, the creative juices sometimes run dry.
So–I was very excited to see that a host of creative nicknames have arisen from the latest round of embarrassing shenanigans abroad. The British are particularly known for their wicked sense of humor, and they did not disappoint. I share a modest collection garnered from the headlines and various TV shows…. enjoy:
- DoucheNozzle (Is this a real thing?)
- Bellend (which apparently, is a British word describing the head of a penis)
- Bumbaclart (A Jamaican swear-word that sounds really cool-especially with a Jamaican accent)
- Tangerine WankMaggot (This might just be my favorite)
- Westminster Flabby
- Traitor-in-chief
- Decomposing jack-o-lantern
- Dissonant bagpipe powered by farts
- Cranial bee sting victim
- The Lyin King
- Benedict Donald
Feel free to share your own favorite nickname for Putin’s Orange Poodle.
Tonight, I am taking childish pleasure in the name-calling; partly in hopes that the twitter-in-chief’s behavior has gotten so absurd that even the GOP can’t continue to turn a blind eye to this mockery of an Administration. The question remains – How much worse does it need to get before we find a way to finally remove this Angry Dreamsicle from office?
by Paula | Jul 4, 2018 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
This Fourth of July is a good time to issue congratulations to us for our important role in recent political events.
Our Role in the 2016 Election:
Although the majority of all women voters in 2016 voted for Hillary; 52% of us voted for Trump, undeterred by his pussy-grabbing ways. Some of us cited reasons such as: “I can’t vote for a woman that would stay with a cheating husband”; ” I really like his style’; and Finally: “I dunno, I just don’t like Hillary or didn’t vote at all–citing a dislike of both candidates.
We broke ranks from our black and brown sisters, preferring to elect a serial philanderer rather than a woman who is married to one; electing a man who regularly degrades women and minorities– because he is entertaining to watch; we chose a man with zero experience or qualifications, because we just liked him better than the boring, staid, hard-working lady with the pantsuits.
In fact, we liked Trump so much, we helped give him a super-majority in Congress–effectively ensuring he could do whatever the heck he wants to, with few checks and balances in place. What a fantastic turn of events for a man who openly admires dictators!
Reporting suspicious activities
Now that we have adequately reinforced that persistent glass ceiling; what else have we been up to? A few of us have been calling the police to report black people performing suspicious activities such as: sitting in Starbucks, sleeping in dorms, swimming at the pool, moving into apartments, barbecuing at the parks, staying at AirBnBs, and mowing the lawns of our neighbors. Perhaps wearing a “Make America Great” hat frees us to voice concerns that we may have been too embarrassed to articulate previously.
Yet, for all that: we are not of one-mind. There is an active resistance in our midst: several of us DID join our non-white sisters and brothers for the Women’s March in January 2017; and continue to protest the unprecedented amount of misinformation (formerly known as lies) and corruption that has infested our national politics.
Trump’s Trade Wars
Here in the Heartland, it is getting personal in a hurry. Family members are already losing their jobs as companies move or go out of business due to the Trump-induced trade wars. But, perhaps knee-capping global trade and damaging our own economy is a small price to pay for putting America First! We will be able to see more of our extended families as workers lose their jobs and are forced to move back in with their parents.
Thanks to the GOP tax cut, we can now afford that Costco membership we’ve always wanted. Those discounts will come in handy as we continue the long wait for the promised ‘trickle-down’ benefits of slashing taxes for the ultra-rich; and as our Social Security and Medicare benefits are re-directed to fund those same tax cuts. It’s a good thing that we are a hard-working group–who really wants to retire anyway?
White Women and the 2018 Mid-Term Elections
So ladies; the 2018 mid-term elections are coming up. Some of you may be experiencing buyer’s-remorse with the Trump Presidency. After all, those images of young children in cages at the border are pretty disturbing. Maybe, just maybe, a more balanced Congress would be a good idea. More Democrats in office would force an actual debate before Trump’s next erratic rant or tweet becomes law.
Ladies, the time is now. Our Democracy depends on us.
Sources: This Washington Post article and Quartz article about voting demographics
