You can check out the latest installment of the None-yun here.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Saturday, May 5, 2018
When is a Republican not a Republican?
Wisconsin's sole GOP wunderkind (now that Reince Priebus and Paul Ryan have been put out to pasture) is Governor Scott Walker. Although his star does not shine nearly as bright as it did seven years ago when he led the surprise attack on public workers by stripping their negotiated benefits and eviscerating their unions by engineering legislation known as Act 10, Walker's little light still flickers as he attempts to garner re-election in the face of the GOP/Trump fiasco.
Obviously, he's figured out that the best way to do so is to embrace more humanitarian measures--ones actually proposed or backed by Wisconsin Democrats.
That doesn't mean he believes in them, it only means he believes that doing so will get him his coveted re-election.
In doing so, he's proposed such humanitarian things as putting money back into Wisconsin education (albeit after record-setting cuts through his tenure and dilution of public money now going to private schools), and addressing (finally) severe problems at juvenile detention facilities around the state (after originally creating more problems by consolidating them in an earlier budget).
Oh, yeah, he's also introduced what economists have called "a mystifying piece of tax policy that has no clear long-term economic purpose." As the Washington Post recounts, many merely call it an election year bribe. Which is not to be confused with the bribe of gutting Wisconsin environmental considerations to get potentially thousands of jobs with Foxconn.
And, perhaps most damning of all, Walker has gone from disdain for Trump to acceptance and now love for the ethically-challenged and morally-corrupt President of the United States. And why not? Trump has helped champion some of the non-humanitarian policies that Walker truly embraces (think NRA, anti-immigration, anti-union, anti-public education, anti-environment, over-the-top-pro-business, etc).
Obviously, he's figured out that the best way to do so is to embrace more humanitarian measures--ones actually proposed or backed by Wisconsin Democrats.
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| from jobsanger.blogspot.com |
That doesn't mean he believes in them, it only means he believes that doing so will get him his coveted re-election.
In doing so, he's proposed such humanitarian things as putting money back into Wisconsin education (albeit after record-setting cuts through his tenure and dilution of public money now going to private schools), and addressing (finally) severe problems at juvenile detention facilities around the state (after originally creating more problems by consolidating them in an earlier budget).
Oh, yeah, he's also introduced what economists have called "a mystifying piece of tax policy that has no clear long-term economic purpose." As the Washington Post recounts, many merely call it an election year bribe. Which is not to be confused with the bribe of gutting Wisconsin environmental considerations to get potentially thousands of jobs with Foxconn.
And, perhaps most damning of all, Walker has gone from disdain for Trump to acceptance and now love for the ethically-challenged and morally-corrupt President of the United States. And why not? Trump has helped champion some of the non-humanitarian policies that Walker truly embraces (think NRA, anti-immigration, anti-union, anti-public education, anti-environment, over-the-top-pro-business, etc).
So a vote for Walker is a vote for humanitarian causes.
Well, until he gets re-elected and starts governing again like he really believes.
Saturday, April 28, 2018
New Entry from the None-yun
The None-yun ...some say it's amusing, some say it's insightful, and some say "That's two minutes of my life I'll never have back..."
No Place for False Allegations
(um, click on the above heading)
Trump calls out those making false allegations in office
No Place for False Allegations
(um, click on the above heading)
Trump calls out those making false allegations in office
The House GOP picks some cherries
To celebrate the DC Mall cherry-blossoms, it appears the House Intelligence Committee GOP has continued with its quest to cherry-pick findings for its Donald Trump/Russia investigation. In the recently released findings, they found--SPOILER ALERT--no collusion (or as Trump--the most proficient cherry-picker of them all--would say, NO COLLUSION!! NO COLLUSION!! NO COLLUSION!!). The full story here.
The most important phrase of the report: ...the GOP committee members found that "none of the interviewed witnesses provided evidence of collusion, coordination, or conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government."
Um, that's not exactly definitive that nothing happened, is it?
I mean, one morning, my newspaper was missing from the driveway. I asked my wife if she had retrieved it earlier. I asked my neighbors if they saw anyone take it. I asked the paper carrier if she neglected to deliver it. and "NONE OF THE INTERVIEWED WITNESSES PROVIDED EVIDENCE" as to what happened to my paper. But, still, something really had happened to my paper, right?
I just didn't ask the right people, didn't ask the right questions, or maybe, heaven forbid, somebody lied? (Note: I have since cleared my wife)
BUT STILL SOMETHING HAPPENED, RIGHT?!!! (Sorry for shouting--I've been reading too many tweets from Washington).
And even this staunchly let-the-President-say-or-do-anything (as long as he passes our agenda) committee didn't say everything was squeaky clean.
Far from it.
It called the Trump Tower campaign meeting with a Kremlin-representative to receive dirt on a political foe as "poor judgment," and it also "found the Trump campaign's periodic praise for the communications with WikiLeaks--a hostile foreign organization--to be highly objectionable and inconsistent with U.S. national security interests."
(Wow. Kind of makes Comey's "extremely careless" remark about Clinton's handling of emails seem pretty tame, huh?)
So, yeah, it's not over. The GOP has cherry-picked the people and the questions they asked. And now they've cherry-picked their findings.
Fortunately for our country (and not so much for Trump and the rubber-stamp GOP), Mueller's investigation is waiting until the cherries are ripe.
Um, that's not exactly definitive that nothing happened, is it?
I mean, one morning, my newspaper was missing from the driveway. I asked my wife if she had retrieved it earlier. I asked my neighbors if they saw anyone take it. I asked the paper carrier if she neglected to deliver it. and "NONE OF THE INTERVIEWED WITNESSES PROVIDED EVIDENCE" as to what happened to my paper. But, still, something really had happened to my paper, right?
I just didn't ask the right people, didn't ask the right questions, or maybe, heaven forbid, somebody lied? (Note: I have since cleared my wife)
BUT STILL SOMETHING HAPPENED, RIGHT?!!! (Sorry for shouting--I've been reading too many tweets from Washington).
And even this staunchly let-the-President-say-or-do-anything (as long as he passes our agenda) committee didn't say everything was squeaky clean.
Far from it.
It called the Trump Tower campaign meeting with a Kremlin-representative to receive dirt on a political foe as "poor judgment," and it also "found the Trump campaign's periodic praise for the communications with WikiLeaks--a hostile foreign organization--to be highly objectionable and inconsistent with U.S. national security interests."
(Wow. Kind of makes Comey's "extremely careless" remark about Clinton's handling of emails seem pretty tame, huh?)
So, yeah, it's not over. The GOP has cherry-picked the people and the questions they asked. And now they've cherry-picked their findings.
Fortunately for our country (and not so much for Trump and the rubber-stamp GOP), Mueller's investigation is waiting until the cherries are ripe.
Saturday, April 21, 2018
The Difference
When GOP favorites are in the crosshairs of criminal investigation, they cry, "WITCH HUNT!" and create unbelievable conspiracy theories to defend their own.
Now that the Inspector General has referred former Acting FBI Head Andrew McCabe (who, although a registered Republican and the man Trump considered naming to head up the FBI, has become a pariah for conservatives and a pseudo-hero for progressives) for criminal investigation, the Dems, unless I missed it, haven't been tweeting, complaining, opining 24/7 on news outlets, that this is a "witch hunt."
Although, yes, there may be some political motivation, most progressives (including me), seem to be thinking, "Let this run its course. If there is criminal intent or action, let justice be served."
So when you sit back and take a look at how both sides deal with situations and threats to our democracy, who would you really rather have running the country?
Now that the Inspector General has referred former Acting FBI Head Andrew McCabe (who, although a registered Republican and the man Trump considered naming to head up the FBI, has become a pariah for conservatives and a pseudo-hero for progressives) for criminal investigation, the Dems, unless I missed it, haven't been tweeting, complaining, opining 24/7 on news outlets, that this is a "witch hunt."
Although, yes, there may be some political motivation, most progressives (including me), seem to be thinking, "Let this run its course. If there is criminal intent or action, let justice be served."
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gif from vanityfair.com
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So when you sit back and take a look at how both sides deal with situations and threats to our democracy, who would you really rather have running the country?
Sunday, April 15, 2018
"Disgusting comments"
Kentucky's Governor Matt Bevin has hit a new low. It wasn't enough for him to disagree with protesting teachers, or label them (as Wisconsin's legislators did about my state's educators) slobs, lazy, or thugs.
No, he said protesting teachers were to blame for sexual assaults, child poisonings and students starting drugs because a strike closed school for a day. Read it here.
Let that sink in.
He blamed the teachers for child sexual assaults, poisonings and drugs that happened Friday in his state. Because the schools were closed, Bevin said, he "guaranteed" that a child had been sexually assaulted, ingested poison, or had been otherwise physically harmed because there was nobody left at home to watch them. (Side note: not surprisingly, Bevin, in bed with the NRA, did not claim children found a parent's gun and shot themselves).
And that's an incredibly horrible thing to say.
Kentucky state Senator and Education Committee chairperson Max Wise tweeted
No, he said protesting teachers were to blame for sexual assaults, child poisonings and students starting drugs because a strike closed school for a day. Read it here.
Let that sink in.
He blamed the teachers for child sexual assaults, poisonings and drugs that happened Friday in his state. Because the schools were closed, Bevin said, he "guaranteed" that a child had been sexually assaulted, ingested poison, or had been otherwise physically harmed because there was nobody left at home to watch them. (Side note: not surprisingly, Bevin, in bed with the NRA, did not claim children found a parent's gun and shot themselves).
And that's an incredibly horrible thing to say.
Kentucky state Senator and Education Committee chairperson Max Wise tweeted
The disgusting comments by Gov. Bevin insinuating that a peaceful protest by teachers would lead to sexual assault are reprehensible.
Stephanie Winkler, President of the Kentucky Education Association, likewise tweeted
There are no words for this other than I am appalled!
Yeah, we all should be appalled.
Links you might want to check out:
btw...the budget proposal from Bevin--such a watchdog for children--included cuts to a children's poison control center, early intervention programs for developmentally delayed children, and even textbooks.
The Kentucky House of Representatives sent to Bevin an official condemnation of his remarks
The Kentucky House of Representatives sent to Bevin an official condemnation of his remarks
The Kentucky Education Association https://www.kea.org/
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