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Just When You Think It Couldn't Get Worse, It Does.

This is the beginning of week eleven of my personal quarantine.

I was reminded during my weekly visit with CBS Sunday Morning, that we are in the midst of World War with a virus. Think about it, every human being on the planet is fighting the same enemy. With that encouraging thought in mind, this week may go down as one that hosted the most disasters in seven days ever

There is no surprise here. The instigator is our current President. While it is true that sometimes what Trump does leads to chaos, his preferred atmosphere of operation, it is often when he fails to do what is necessary and what we expect from a president that fans the flames of confusion, anger, and outrage.

Why is Trump pulling out of The World Health Association? 

By badgering Republican state governors and threatening Democratic governors so they will relax stay at home regulations, and by not following his own administration rules on health safety practices during the pandemic COVID 19, Trump is not hard to figure out if you've been watching him operate over his life. 

Trump is building a case that shows it wasn't his blind dismissal of the facts, presented by his own experts that were shown to him early in the pandemic's arrival in the US, that resulted in the deaths of one hundred thousand people in the United States and the destruction of decades of economic growth. No, it will be someone else's fault, such as the World Health Organization, China, The CDC, The Democrats in Congress, former President Obama, and, more than likely, Hilary Clinton.

Trump's constant lying and misrepresentation of the facts or for that matter any form of reality about the pandemic, has strengthened the antivaccination movement, the white supremacy movement, the libertarian wing of the Republican party, and the beating heart of racism in our country. 

What do proven occurrences voter fraud and the confirmed sighting of unicorns have in common?

Trump's reason why mail-in voting shouldn't be legal is bogus as well. Time and time again, investigation of alleged voter fraud has been disproven. Results that show minuscule or no occurrences of fraud were reported from Republican and Democratic-run state investigations, and investigations by news organizations of every stripe. Yet the Trump dream machine continues to pump out this balcony. 

Studies of past elections show that Republicans suffer at the polls when there is a large turnout. Statistically, Republicans can compete when they suppress the vote of minorities. Their base consists of motivated conservative older voters, non-college graduate white males, and Evangelical Christians. Democrats do better with the younger voters, minority groups, and increasingly women. It's the non-aligned voter that can swing an election one way or the other.

In one case, younger voters were the big reason Obama did so well. In 2016 it was the failure of the Clinton campaign to get the minority vote, young people, and women to vote for her in significant numbers that opened the door for Trump.

Mail-in voting has been successful in a lot of states for a lot of reasons. It is convenient, safer during the pandemic, and cost-effective. Recently, Wisconsin got unwanted national attention for forcing our citizens to vote in person during the pandemic. Officials have been reluctant to place blame on the event for an increase in reported COVID cases, but the upswing in the numbers can't be ignored. 

For the April 7th election in Wisconsin, there was a record number of requests for absentee ballots. The demand overwhelmed the officials and their staff. As a result, many people complained about not receiving a requested ballot. Others got them, made them out, and mailed them only to have them not counted because they were not date stamped by the Post Office and arrived at the polling stations to late.

Note: Postal Authorities pointed out that the state provided prepaid postage on the return envelopes, which do not need to be canceled; therefore no date stamp. The state had requested they be date stamped. USPS agreed to do this; however, implementation was spotty. Some offices did stamp the ballots, others did not.

Fear about what is going to happen in our next two elections is a two-headed monster. The Democratic head is wondering if the same lack of ability by election officials to handle the anticipated tsunami of mail-in votes will result in some votes not being processed or counted as occurred in the April 7 election. The other Republican head is worried that because of the expansion of mail-in ballots, the larger turnout will run the vote count up and deny them victory and control.

And then that cop in Minneapolis took a knee.

Dale Chauvin, a Minneapolis cop and part-time bouncer, was part of a team that was called to arrest a man for trying to pass an apparent counterfeit $20 bill. George Floyd, an African American, was approached by this four-man team of Minneapolis policemen as he was sitting on his car. It's reported he was intoxicated and did resist being taken into custody. Think of this. At this point in the timeline, nothing he was alleged to have done, if found guilty in court, would result in a death sentence. 

While Floyd is a big man, he was not able to physically overcome the greater number of policemen. For reasons not in evidence, Floyd was placed in the squad car, then was taken out and pinned to the ground. An ambulance was summoned.  Officer Chauvin restraining Floyd by kneeling on his neck as he was lying in the street. This occurred while bystanders and one of the other police officers heeded Floyd's request for relief when he stated numerous times he could not breathe. But Chauvin said, "He can still talk." Meaning if Floyd couldn't breathe, then he wouldn't be able to talk. This restraint method was administered for over eight minutes. Floyd ceased moving for approximately two minutes before he was rolled onto a stretcher. Floyd was declared dead at the Hospital.


The four police officers were immediately fired. Chauvin was later arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. The incident caused massive turnout of protest, not only in Minneapolis but around the country. Unfortunately, some of the protesters got out of control and caused considerable damage, including the vandalizing of a police station. 

After almost no comment regarding the conduct of the police and the death of Floyd, Trump took the low road and called the protestors "thugs" and implied they should be shot. Trump has resisted speaking about the death of Floyd and the demands of the peaceful demonstrators. Instead, he has concentrated his statements on the protestors and lumped the peaceful protest in with the violent demonstrators. 

Who needs Twitter More Trump or Jack Dorsey?
Jack Dorsey is the creator and CEO of Twitter, a social media app. The answer to the question is a toss-up. To a great extent, both of them would be nothing without it. Dorsey would be unknown, and Trump would be playing one-armed golf. 

(Full disclosure I believe that Twitter discriminates against Irish people. No Irishman is comfortable with any restraints on how many words he needs to express himself. It's like an Italian trying to talk in a phone booth. There isn't enough room for the hand gestures he needs to illiterate his arguments)

The event that brought this conflict out in the open was a perfectly normal day in the world the press. The President used Twitter to spread his usual fable about voter fraud. Visualize it now. This Twitter is like a tennis ball served by the President and, therefore, in play for the press. Like the tennis player receiving the serve, they know it's coming. They point out that his statement is a lie since there is no evidence, and the ball goes back into the President's court. He allows it to sail out of bounds. This creates a  feeling of who cares? Ho Hum Another day at the office. 

This is until complaints from the press about Twitter allowing this posting, on the basis, it is against their stated rules, gets traction. Twitter allows the posting but puts a notice on the post that points out that the statement is unproven and, therefore, not accurate.


Trump erupts in true Mount Saint Helens fashion. Not only does he claim Twitter committed dubious first amendment rights violations, but he also states that he is going to issue an executive order that would hinder further intervention by Twitter on his or any other posting. Forget that this threat is powerless and more likely against the First Amendment

Here is a clear case of the bastard child complaining that his mother didn't marry the rapist that impregnated her. Trump needs Twitter. He has used it from the first day of his campaign. It is his tool for his "... direct access to the people."

From their viewpoint, Twitter is enjoying the success they wouldn't have if Trump weren't posting every day and requiring a retort to this madness by responsible journalists. It gives them gravitas and attention beyond their normal function.

Just as Trump has no power to rescind the stay at home regulations in states, he hasn't any power to regulate how states conduct their elections, nor does Trump have any authority to regulate the press, or for that matter, Twitter. Even though Twitter is not a news company, in case, you didn't know that.

Leaving em laughing or if not laughing at least feeling good.

Let me leave you today with a bit of wisdom passed on to me by my oldest friend Johnny B. who got this clip from his friend Robert Klien.
Because of technical difficulties, I am going to have include the file in the email. I can not upload it to the blog post. Look for it in the email before you delete it. It's not political (yet). 
 



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