"TRUMP WOULDN'T, WOULD HE?"

I had a horrible thought today. Well, actually one has horrible thoughts every day now that Trump is in the presidency. But this thought was particularly hideous. Trump has not yet announced his choice for the Supreme Court.What if it's Rudy Giuliani? That's the only person I can think of who's even more repulsive than Antonio Scalia. It makes perfect sense, even if he's not confirmed. Trump can say, "See Rudy I told you I would nominate you." Then when he's turned down, Trump's excuse is, "I had no choice." And finally any future choice will seem acceptable after Giuliani. But what if he's accepted? This slimy, satanic, obsequious, pussy-whipped cretin? And will he sometimes serve on the court in full drag while punishing transgenders. It's too horrible to think about. But these days anything

is possible.

CRADLE OF LIBERTY CROWD.

I grew up in Boston. So I am very familiar with Copley Square. In fact, at one time I was fortunate enough to live within two blocks of this famous location. Over the years I have seen many gatherings at Copley Square, but never anything like this. This is a crowd protesting a growing a growing dictatorship. A mass in fear of ever-increasing restrictions from a sadistic and senile septegerian. This Cradle of Liberty assembly is just one of many demonstrations across America expressing fury and outrage at our moronic new president and his hateful, ill-conceived executive order banning the admission of foreign persons, partly because he is a paranoiac coward, but mostly because he is anti-Muslim bigot. Will we continue to bear the shame and danger of having this bizarre autocrat leading our nation into ruin? Or demand his removal and return to being a safe, sane and peaceful nation with no need for such protests?

HOW CAN REPUBLICANS CALL THEMSELVES PATRIOTS?

The GOP is supporting a dictator. They are shitting on The Constitution. They are turning a blind eye to racism and bigotry. They are ignoring the separation of church and state. They are following Trump's lead with lies and deception. They are ignoring the needs of the American people in their own personal pursuits or more power and wealth. They are shredding  the fabric of America. If this madness continues and if some patriotic Republicans do not come forward, we are lost. We have got to rid our nation of ass-kissing cowards like Paul Ryan and all the frauds who have been nominated for Trump's incompetent cabinet of billionaires. We have got to have Congressmen who will admit that the emperor has no clothes as well as no integrity. We have only to look at what happened in Germany during the reign of Hitler to appreciate the slippery slope on which we are poised.

"WALL? WHAT WALL?"

I just heard the most wonderful news about Trump's wall. It seems that once it is finished (if that ever happens) Mexico is planning a huge celebration: The Tijuana Balloon Festival. There will be more than 500 colorful five-passenger balloons piloted by American "Freedom Flyers" and carrying Mexican families eager to make their home in the United States. Not only will these balloons easily soar high above the meager metal monstrosity, but they will land in American fields miles away from any border patrol. The two-day festival will feature mariachi bands, photo booths for i.d. papers, and fully fueled used cars at various destinations donated by wealthy Muslim sheiks, all with the bumper sticker, "Thank you, Donald Trump."

THE RESULTS ARE IN.

Sarah Palin has finally lost her crown as the most despicable woman in America. The new winner is the  utterly repulsive Kellyanne Conway. This was a tough decision for the more than 20 million voters who generally agreed that Conway is smarter than the dimwitted Palin, but even more disagreeable and dishonest. Both women came out even in the integrity competition, each with a score of zero. They also  had close scores on the "annoying voice" category. But Ms. Conway far surpassed Palin in feistiness, evasiveness, misplaced loyalty and Total BS. Fortunately for Ms. Conway, attractiveness was not considered or the haggard blonde would never have won.

TRUMP'S PRIORITIES.

As we all know, America is in disrepair. We need to restore our bridges, roads, tunnels, and coastline. Obama tried to get these jobs done, but the Republicans fought him at every turn. Obviously they are prepared to kiss Trump's ass on anything he recommends. So instead of bridges to safely carry millions of workers across America's rivers, we're about to build a wall. Well actually we're not. We're really about to spend a trillion dollars to start a wall, which can't possibly be completed and isn't necessary in the first place. Why? Because the problem of emigres crossing the border isn't that serious. Add to that the ladder has already been invented, and the Mexicans are brilliant at building tunnels. This is just another example of the GOP trying to convince us that Trump is sane when it's obvious he isn't, but what else have they got? I mean we're talking about a president who has been obsessed with the size of the crowd at his inauguration at a time when there are bigger things to think about, literally. He also keeps repeating that about 4 to 5 million people voted illegally, a claim that causes even the ass-kissing
GOP to unpucker their lips for a few stunned moments. Still he has his coterie of liars and sycophants including Paul Ryan, and the despicable Kelleyanne Conway. So if you imagined that you would soon see a construction crew paving that area of rutted road on the edge of town, don't hold you breath, A ridiculous, impractical, exorbitant, scalable, spiteful, laughable, and certain to be unfinished border wall comes first.

Shown above: The Minneapolis Bridge collapse.

You can take the girl out of Fox News, 
but you can't Fox News out of the girl.

CLUELESS.

I have no question that Marco Rubio is a lazy, ineffective, shallow, worthless senator with a shady past that might surprise and offend many of us. But recently hdid have one chance to redeem himself, at least partially. He was the only Republican that held back on approving Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.  But alas this Cuban cretin has even caved on that. Finding conscience too uncomfortable, he has approved of the arrogant Putin puppet being another weak shelf in Trump's cabinet of wealthy cronies. Well, Marco, you had your chance to gain some respect and you. as usual, failed miserably.

DOES THE WHITE HOUSE HAVE A RUBBER ROOM?

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States is mentally ill. This is a fact he proves every day with his insane rants, his paranoid attacks, his inability to recognize reality. But if you still doubt it, consider this one example. For months Trump attacked Hillary Clinton, referring to her as Crooked Hillary, constantly insulting her, accusing her of crimes, and suggesting that as president he would put her in prison. At the same time he attacked her husband Bill Clinton, questioned his morality, lied about his record of president, and tried to publicly embarrass him by inviting his ex-lovers to a debate. He couldn't have been crueler, nastier, and more disapproving of the Clintons. Yet yesterday he toasted them and declared that they were a couple he truly admired. Now that's mental illness. And just one of hundreds of inconsistencies.

"I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
so help me, Santa Claus."

With apologies to my religious friends, I, as an atheist, am especially offended today by the shocking rejection of the separation of church and state during today's inauguration. Never before has a ceremony been so Christian-based and Jesus-riddled. Jews, Muslims, and any other non-Christian believer must surely realize how much respect they can expect with this new administration. And while I support freedom of religion, I cannot see how any country can flourish who still believes in 2017 that there is a magical being somewhere in the sky or elsewhere who has personal knowledge of everyone and everything that occurs in this complex world and yet can be addressed on a one-to-one level. The idea that we still swear on a bible blows my mind.

ANOTHER DATE THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY.

An American nightmare. Hitleresque crowds on the mall.  An almost immediate complete rejection of the separation of church and state with the essential message, "Non-Christians not welcome". Gestapo-rigid Mike Pence sworn in by Clarence Thomas the weakest and laziest Supreme Court Justice in America's history. Trump, with his usual Nutsy-Squirrel tie sworn in by the closeted Chief Justice. Cheers as Trump reads a speech which he couldn't possibly have written, but swears he did, his trophy wife nearby nearly as expressionless as he is. In the privileged audience, war criminal George W. Bush, dozens of Eva Brauns, perplexed but polite admirable ex-presidents, an army of the new S.S. eager to serve America's first Fuhrer. In the mob, a wide variety of the vacuous, many wearing red Trump hats, all giddy in their ignorance or refusal to recognize that insanity before them. So phantasmagoric, but happening actually happening, with no guarantee of waking up for four years—that is if were still here.

A MAY RELEASE.

Many Republicans, including John McCain, Paul Ryan and Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, are up in arms because President Obama has rightly commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning.  Manning, a transgender woman, was serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, an all-male prison in eastern Kansas, despite her request to transfer to a civilian prison. This sentence was too severe to begin with, but it made military brass happy as they considered Manning a traitor for revealing military secrets. But how odd it is that Manning, considered a traitor, was tossed into prison and, from reports, tortured, while other traitors like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are free and often feted and all the Republican traitors who falsely vilified President Obama, like Mitch McConnell, are still holding jobs and collecting government checks? Apparently treason like beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Note: I include this pre-sentencing photo of Manning when she still identified as Bradley as there are few actual photos of Chelsea and the ones that are available are deliberately unflattering.

Where can I go
To escape life's insanity?
The South? Too much humidity.
The North? Too much humanity.

SHAME ON BOSTON

Well shame on America which is becoming increasingly and shamelessly elitist.  I just came from a solo winter vacation to Washington, Boston, and New York and am very bothered by the gulf between the rich and the poor. While Washington certainly had far more homeless and panhandlers (sorry, I can't think of a PC word right now), each of these cities had their share of indigents. But I found Boston to be the most smugly privileged. Rents are insane, everything is costly, and the middle class must, for the most part, have their noses pressed against the window of luxury or be in credit card debt. But the most shameful example of greed and privilege was the Prudential Center . The Prudential Center is an enclave of restaurants and shops in the middle of Back Bay. For a long time it featured a wonderful food court. This food court featured a wide choice of affordable outlets of popular favorites in a spacious and attractive setting with a wide choice of comfortable and private seating areas. It was an ideal place to have breakfast, meet friends for lunch, have an early dinner, or just sit and relax. In the winter, it was a warm retreat from the cold where, on stormy days, you could watch the snow falling on Boylston Street through huge picture windows. In short, it was a friendly, affordable retreat where everyone was welcome. But it is now gone, replaced by a claustrophobic collection of costly retailers—no, purveyors— of pastries, wines, cheeses, and other gourmet-only items as well as a central Italian restaurant where you can see and be seen by all other diners who can afford this pretentious center with the ridiculous name Eataly. So now, instead of boasting a wildly democratic eatery where those of every race and social condition could experience the beauty and comfort of a truly open and spacious food court, you can now snake your way through this windowless enclave of parvenus praising the exquisite wines, imported cheeses, high priced gift items and, of course, the gelato (ice cream is for peasants).