News from the Front

A few minutes ago I received an update from the front. The text message reads "No riots so far, but it's before 10am and don't know if the weed-heads have gotten up from the Dorito hangovers."  I knew they weren't talking about Afghanistan. It was about Washington, D.C.

Wow, I'd say things seem a bit messed up. But these people all like a good party. On this day in 1814, during the War of 1812 between the United States and England, British troops entered Washington, D.C. and burned the White House.  I understand Madonna stated today that she wants to burn the White House down. "I have been thinking a lot about blowing up the White House."

This has been as much fun as some the of the elections here at BLMH. I've learned a lot in the last couple of years and an expanded repertoire of political terms. Keeps me on my toes. I'd better watch out. With all of the dirty politics and tricks revealed in the past couple of years, we might have anarchists coming to the next association election.

"I think the American people can change Washington.....But I think that it is not going to change, because somebody from on high directs that change." - former Pres. Obama on "60 Minutes" January 15, 2017.


A look at recent developments

"If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost."......Barack Obama. There have been quite a few Pres. Obama quotes thrown around in recent weeks, by various politicians and media people of all types and beliefs. These were used to condemn and to promote the "Obama Legacy". I'll include a few of the better ones that surfaced, yet again. However I don't recall quite a barrage except when Pres. Obama was campaigning against H. Clinton.

Even Mrs. Obama got into the act. What a free for all. One thing that impressed me recently about the Obama's was the combination of arrogance, hubris and inability to take their own advice. They really are in a class of elites all by themselves, and they know it. I suggest you read former Pres. Obama's position that "somebody from on high directs that change."

H. Clinton considered about 50% of American voters to be the "deplorables." Romney wasn't forgiven for his comments about 47 percent dependent on government. Why would H. Clinton be expected to be given a pass for her remarks?

There were other oddities in the past weeks, too:

• The Piano Guys played a mash-up of "Fight Song" and "Amazing Grace" at Trump's Inaugural Ball.  The Piano Guys put up a video of "This is your fight song" on YouTube about a year ago. The video opens with this line displayed "Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares,  I have already come; 'Tis Grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home." However, it seems that the "Fight Song" song was considered by some to be H. Clinton's unofficial campaign theme song.
• The insult term "Snowflake" was also used in Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 movie "Fight Club": “You are not special. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same organic and decaying matter as everyone else.” Now it is being applied to an entire generation. And they don't like it. I guess it hurts to realize there are another 7.5 billion human beings on the planet.
• Former President Obama promised the incoming administration that the No. 1 priority in his last days in the White House would be ensuring a smooth transition of power.  Pres. Obama then went about setting up as many policy and ideological roadblocks as possible, with the apparent intent to save his legacy and make his will the law of the land.  
• Mrs. Obama did her part, too, giving her own stump speeches and tearing into Trump while she was campaigning for H. Clinton. After H. Clinton's election loss, Mrs. Obama then went on "CBS This Morning" and declared: "We feel the difference now. See, now, we’re feeling what not having hope feels like, you know,........ I feel that Barack has been that for the nation in ways that people will come to appreciate........Having a grownup in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil: ‘Hey, it’s gonna be OK. Let’s remember the good things that we have. Let’s look at the future. Let’s look at all the things that we’re building.’ All of this is important for our kids to stay focused and to feel like their work isn’t in vain, like their lives aren’t in vain. What do we do if we don’t have hope, Oprah?”   
• Obama's campaign was "Yes We Can" and Trump's was "Make America Great Again." I really don't see all that terrible a difference, but then, maybe not all of us were to be included in Obama's "we" and I suspect that is what the "deplorables" came to realize. That they were the "forgotten men and women" as Trump said.  
• As the Obama's left the White House yesterday, they literally flew toward the west "into the sunset" and were on their way to California. Have no fear, they will be back, like the Clintons before them. 
• On this day in 1814, during the War of 1812 between the United States and England, British troops enter Washington, D.C. and burned the White House. Yesterday the anarchists arrived and began "to resist" as they had been instructed and/or paid to do. 
• Today the "Women's March on Washington" in marching in cities including Washington D.C. Their published mission?  "On January 21, 2017 we will unite in Washington, DC."  The mission of the March? "We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families, recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country......In the spirit of democracy and in honor of the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world, that women’s rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us. .......We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities. We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all. HEAR OUR VOICE." Gee, Helen Reddy would be proud I guess. Or perhaps not. Apparently the organizers have not allowed certain women's groups to officially participate. 
• Many entertainers said they would permanently leave the country, but they didn't. They shed their crocodile tears and complaints, cashed their checks, but decided to stay. Darn.
• In the name of Political Correctness we can beat or intimidate others, but don't you dare call me a "snowflake." Furthermore, it is okay to spew hate in the name of "political correctness." How bizarre is that! 
• While some of the politicians promoted how wonderful the economy is today, in fact the middle class continues to shrink, after years of attack by politicians and wealth transference. Those on the top are doing very, very well (like the Obama's who are now reported to be worth more than $25 million). The bottom has also expanded but has 49 million on freebies such as Medicaid, food stamps (SNAP) and subsidized Obamacare. We voted for change in 2008 but it seems many got "chump changed." 
• In recent weeks as part of the "back and forth" of the political process, some interesting Federal budget numbers came to light. Oddly, to give all of those freebies the federal government collected about $3.3 Trillion in 2016. In the eight years 2009-2016 it actually collected about $21.5 Trillion and borrowed another $10 Trillion. 
• In other words, for every dollar the Federal Government collected in taxes, it had to borrow another 50 cents to give away all of those freebies. 
• Where did the taxes come from? About 80% of the amounts collected are from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. 
• Continuing the above, the amount collected in Federal tax dollars in 2014, 2015 and 2016 was the highest ever collected by the Federal government, and this is taking into account inflation. 2013 was almost equal in revenue to the earlier highest tax collection year. That's four stellar tax collection years under the Obama Administration and Democratic leadership. And yet we still have to borrow $10 Trillion. 
• Yet, given all of this money, since 2009, almost $31.5 Trillion, our infrastructure is crumbling, our space program almost non existent, we have more poor today than prior to 2008. By nearly any measure we are failing. Unless we are one of the "elites" and the living in the richest counties in the US, which surround Washington DC. 
• It is probable that the annual expansion in "poor" probably includes those in the middle class who suffered under the economic disaster of 2007-8 and the economic malaise ever since. The politicians have gotten around this by talking about how the "macroeconomic" things have done well (think the stock market; but if you have no money you can't invest in the stock market, can you?). 
• The "improved" middle class has only happened by politicians who "extended" the definition of "middle class" further downward toward the poverty level.  In other words, if we include the poor in the middle class, why then the population of the middle class is ballooning! However, the facts are this. The number of households who are "Middle Class" continues to shrink since 2000, we amazingly still have about half of U.S. households in the middle class.  In fact, the Pew Research Center stated in December 2015 that "The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground - No longer the majority and falling behind financially". Where did the middle class go? since 1971, there are 11% fewer of us. Today the lowest (poorest) income tier is 9% larger than it was in 1971. The highest (richest) income tier grew from by 5%. In other words, twice the numbers of Middle Class families are dropping into poverty than are making it to the top. There are exceptions, of course. Today the Obamas are worth about $25 million with $200,000 in retirement income. The Clintons who stated they were "poor" in the 1990s are worth more than $200 million. So the political class is doing quite well and has risen to the top. As Pres. Obama said "You (business) didn't do that, government did that."  He really didn't mean that. did he? Think again.  
• Pres. Obama says "If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost."
• Pres. Obama also says:" We didn't become the most prosperous country in the world just by rewarding greed and recklessness. We didn't come this far by letting the special interests run wild. We didn't do it just by gambling and chasing paper profits on Wall Street. We built this country by making things, by producing goods we could sell."
• Pres. Obama also said: "If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together." He was quoted or misquoted. On the other hand, Pres. Trump was also misquoted and gleefully by some in the mainstream media. 
• Pres. Obama also said “Elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I won.” – this to House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, January 23, 2009. 
• Pres. Obama also said “If you want just 100 percent and the notion is that the winner really does take all—all the spoils—sooner or later that government is going to break down.” – this to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, August 8, 2014. 
• The most interesting campaign attacks on H. Clinton included those which paraphrased an Obama campaign ad of 2008. You can get the transcript over at Snopes. Obama: "I’m Barack Obama, running for president and I approve this message." Announcer: "It’s what’s wrong with politics today. Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected. Now she’s making false attacks on Barack Obama. The Washington Post says Clinton isn’t telling the truth. Obama 'did not say that he liked the ideas of Republicans.' In fact, Obama’s led the fight to raise the minimum wage, close corporate tax loopholes and cut taxes for the middle class. But it was Hillary Clinton, in an interview with Tom Brokaw, who quote 'paid tribute' to Ronald Reagan’s economic and foreign policy. She championed NAFTA — even though it has cost South Carolina thousands of jobs. And worst of all, it was Hillary Clinton who voted for George Bush’s war in Iraq. Hillary Clinton. She’ll say anything, and change nothing. It’s time to turn the page. Paid for by Obama for America."  
• Perhaps it is only me, but I find it interesting how members of the Democratic Party (DNC) do their best to backstab each other, sometimes even with the help of the DNC, They say all of these terrible things about each other while scrambling to get power, Not much different than Republicans. However, when the "alpha" male or female gets to the top in the DNC, then the Democrats all fight over getting a spot in the rear. Most recently that paragon of Democracy, Sen. Bernie Sanders. He slammed H. Clinton stating that she "wasn't qualified" to be president. “Are you qualified to be President of the United States when you’re raising millions of dollars from Wall Street whose greed, recklessness and illegal behavior helped to destroy our economy?” and this gem "“I proudly stood with the workers. Secretary Clinton stood with the big money interests” and my favorite “Well, I don't think Hillary Clinton can lead a political revolution”
• When H. Clinton was handed the nomination Bernie Sanders jumped right on board. He reversed course and said "Hillary Clinton must become our next president" . Even pseudo's like Green Party candidate Jill Stein quickly fell over backwards to get on board the H. Clinton Train. 
• After two years of the fun and games, I have concluded that the swamp is far, far deeper than Pres. Trump can imagine. Or perhaps he can. 

Here are a few of the political terms I've learned in recent times:

• Deplorable
• Deploraball
• Snowflakes or more properly "Snowflake Generation"
• Snowflake justice warrior
• Regressive Progressives
• Libtard

Why, they'll have to print a new dictionary at this rate. I found the "Urban Dictionary" definition of a Libtard to be fascinating. Here is what they say 'As repetitive as it sounds, it stands for "liberal retard." A libtard wants to live in a fantasy world (in which life is the way that they WISH IT WAS) as opposed to dealing with life the way it actually is."

And then there are all of the slogans, too:

• The end of hope
• Make America Great
• Yes We Can
• Stronger Together
• Pillary Hillary
• Trumpster in a Dumpster

etc.