More Kool-Aid Fueled Accusations

Took a long drink of the Kool-aid, did we? A believer in all of the conspiracy accusations and lies, are you? Just like you believe that Republicans are fiscal conservatives and believers in freedom. Allow me to waste your time, though I know you would prefer to believe in scandals and other "insider" info that makes you feel special.

Treason? Because of Uranium One? Really? Another GOP hoax never proven.

Fast and Furious?  ATF Phoenix Field Division.  Part of a broader program with a similar operation in 2006. Attorney General Holder cited for contempt only for failing to turn over some documents for which Obama asserted Executive Privilege. Documents were later supplied. Lower DOJ officials who had knowledge were forced to resign. Nothing like Trump's blanket refusals to cooperate, his suppression of all evidence, his failure to produce any subpoenaed documents, and his refusal to allow any witness testimony.

Doubled the debt? Obama took office AFTER the economy tanked under Bush and yearly deficits were already set to be 1 trillion per year no matter who won. And a recovery kept in first gear by the "Just Say No" and "One term president" Republicans. Sabotaging recovery efforts followed by claims that they have the solutions.

Benghazi. How many hearings? At least 10. How many convictions? None. Failures by the State Department and the Military? Yes. Senior administration officials ordered preparations and assistance which were delayed. A scandal? Yes. An Obama White House scandal? Hardly.

Illegal FISA warrant? The FISA warrants started out with calls involving Russia with no knowledge of who was on our end.

Politicized DOJ, FBI? No. Um, Trump's Barr and his getting rid of Comey to stop the Russia investigation. Now, that's political.

$85 million on 29 vacations. Compared to Trump and offspring and golfing and payments to Trump properties? Miniscule.

Weaponized intelligence communities. Yeah, one or two opinions in private e-mails. Compare that to Trump's refusal to even pay attention to briefings, and his disclosure of top secret info to Russians.

Fake birth certificate? No, fake scandal. Both short form and long form birth certificates provided. Giuliani's proof never materialized. Years-long accusations never proven.

ISIS support? Really? BS. Prove it.

Hillary's illegal server. Um, there were over 100 servers (not the alleged one hidden server) involved in supporting one non-government e-mail account. And every member of Trump's administration and family does the same "illegal" thing for which Hillary was never found guilty despite all of the congressional hearings.

Solyndra? The Inspector General's Office concluded that Solyndra officials used inaccurate information to mislead the Department of Energy in its application for a $535 million loan guarantee. The report also found that there were shortcomings with the DOE’s process of managing and approving the loan guarantee to Solyndra. Nothing like the systemic corruption and intentional sabotage by Trump's appointed agency heads.

How about accusations that Obama is a secret Muslim? As opposed to our amoral tear-gassing for bible photo-ops president.

Wake up and smell the stench coming from your own party. BTW, how's that cheaper, better, covers-everyone health care plan coming? Or Middle East Peace? Do you like the idea of defunding Social Security retirement insurance? A program with 3 billion in reserves (for baby-boomers) that the GOP has spent years sabotaging already because they want to profit off of it? Grow up.

Trump's Accomplishments

Violent crime dropped somewhere between 51% and 71% (FBI vs BJS) from 1993 to 2018. It rose between 2004 & 2006 and again between 2014-2016. So it fell for 6 of the 8 years of the Obama presidency. Ooh, but it rose for two years. The bum.

In 2019, El Paso (a border city) remained one of the safest cities in the United States. However, in 2018 22 people were killed in a massacre perpetrated by a white supremacist, doubling the annual number of homicides. As for undocumented immigrants, they are less likely to commit violent crimes than U.S. citizens, no matter what lies Trump would have you believe.

As for the First Step Act, while sentence reductions have been approved by judges, the Department of Justice (DOJ - part of Trump's administration) has attempted to block hundreds of eligible beneficiaries. The First Step Act was years in the making, and clarifies an act passed in 2010. The First Step Act was passed by Congress; Trump merely signed it. One signature versus active administration actions against the Act.

Trump signed a bill making CBD and Hemp legal? It was part of the 2018 Farm bill, and CBD is a derivative of low-THC hemp. It also only removed them from the definition of marijuana in the CSA. But CBD remains under the purview of the FDA, and in interstate commerce the FD&C Act (Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) makes transportation across state lines illegal. Again these are low THC derivatives, THC being the component which gives people a high. And the FDA has only approved limited use of one CBD drug for medicinal use, which also prohibits it from being added to food products. I hardly think Trump would have vetoed the Farm Bill over the inclusion of the low-THC hemp provision. Counting this as an accomplishment is a farce. It's not like he legalized marijuana.

"Trump signed a law to make cruelty to animals a federal felony so that animal abusers face tougher consequences." The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (PACT) is a bipartisan initiative that bans the intentional crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, impalement or other serious harm to "living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians." But all states already had laws prohibiting cruelty; the legislation merely made it easier to prosecute across state lines. Again, this was a bipartisan Act passed by Congress, hardly an accomplishment, especially since Trump only works with one party, not both. His influence in passing the act was not present; he merely signed it.

"Trump’s EPA gave $100 million to fix the water infrastructure problem in Flint, Michigan." The Environmental Protection Agency fixing an infrastructure problem. Let's ignore the vast majority of the current EPA's agenda - removing regulations protecting our air, water, and soil so that businesses can ramp up pollution in the name of profits. That action was to protect people from a man-made problem in a highly publicized scandal.

"Under Trump’s leadership, in 2018 the U.S. surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of crude oil." Oil production has been rising steadily since 2009, and the U.S. became the world's leading producer of natural gas that same year. What Trump's administration did was to relax rules, one of which was designed to limit methane pollution from oil and gas wells, and to implement the 2017 tax law which allows oil drilling in parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Trump's leadership is in destructive acts, not constructive ones. The petrochemical plant he toured was planned in 2012, not during his term. His trade battles have limited energy exports, including to China. Any increases in production are in spite of his efforts, not because of.

"Trump signed a law ending the gag orders on Pharmacists that prevented them from sharing money-saving information." Once again, just a signature on a bill passed by Congress. The Senate passed it 98-2. Should Trump have vetoed it? Sure, let's let his signature count as an accomplishment.

"Low-wage workers are benefiting from higher minimum wages and from corporations that are increasing entry-level pay." State minimum wages. Federal minimum wages have not changed since 2009. Office of Management and Budget opposed a House-passed bill that would more than double the U.S. base wage to $15; it did not get by the Senate. Republicans have long opposed minimum wage increases, and have even proposed eliminating them. Trump taking credit for this is laughable. Just like his taking credit for an economy that he inherited. That's like blaming Obama for the 2008 stock-market and housing market crash. Just because Obama was elected in 2008 does not make it his recession.

Shall I go on?

If you really want to check out Trump's accomplishments, read transcripts of any of his off-the-cuff speeches and interviews. The man is a moron, hates briefings, lies constantly, doesn't read much, spews hate and racism, calls the press the enemy of the people, loves fascist and communist regimes and their leaders, orders departments to withhold aid from Democrat-led states and cities, doesn't recognize US territories as a legitimate part of our country (too many brown people), and has only accomplished his wall in the sense that most countries are now prohibiting travel to and from the US due to his mismanagement of COVID-19.

He has installed incompetent people as heads of departments whose main goals are the trashing of their agencies. He regularly insults people and calls them names, insulting their ethnicity, their perceived origins, and in general acts like a potty-mouthed child. His word means nothing. His promises of cheaper, better health care coverage that will cover everyone? Not even a plan for it. Instead, he is fighting the ACA every chance he gets. Oh, boo-hoo, a Republican Health Coverage Plan (RomneyCare) with 170 changes that the GOP demanded, yet signed by not one single Republican. Their own health care plan. The ACA. Not even a public option. And no, it didn't pass the Senate with 60 votes because the Democrats never had that super-majority because my Senator couldn't take his seat for six months due to his challenger dragging his election through court. It passed through reconciliation, a once-a-term 51 vote procedure.

His secret plan for defeating ISIS? Turned out to be a plan to put 100 generals in a room for 30 days and have them come up with a plan. Oh, yes, sheer genius. How about his shutdown of government that he promised he would take full credit for? He blamed every one else, just like he always does. 3 million illegal votes in 2016? By people voting, going out and putting on a mustache or hat, and going back in and voting again? Illegals that were supposedly bused in? Sure. Try 4. Including one person convicted of voter fraud for casting a provisional ballot. But let's now talk about his efforts to interfere with mail-in ballots. More voter suppression. Gee, I live in a place that has had only mail-in-ballots for years. Yeah, let's cut costs by removing sorting machines that do in one hour the work of multiple people for a day. Let's remove polling places and voting drop-off boxes. Don't want them minorities voting against the GOP, right?

Trump's incompetent relatives given jobs in a classic display of nepotism. How's that Middle East peace thing going, Jared?

Trump blaming Obama for not developing an antidote for a virus that did not even exist until 2019. What happened to All Lives Matter? Terri Schiavo had conservatives ripping off their pearl necklaces in their rage against pulling the plug. Now, old people should be proud to sacrifice themselves for the economy. An economy that will take far more damage because of Trump's inability to handle a health crisis.

On and on and on. Sure, keep touting them there accomplishments. I'm sure his ignorant base will eat up all the lies.

Conservative Democrat?

Alycia Gruenhagen. "Conservative Democrat." "Freedom-loving, patriotic, pro-life, pro-2nd amendment[sic]." 

Can you say, Republican? There are three candidates running for the U.S. House District MN-7. All are Republicans masquerading as Democrats. This is known as depriving voters of a choice at the ballot box. I would rather vote for a losing Democrat than a winning Republican calling themselves a Democrat. The radical conservatives have been perfecting voter suppression for years, and this is one more tactic in a long list of tactics.

I have followed "Conservative Democrat" Collin Peterson's voting for years. I have seen him vote for countless Republican bills with titles that are in direct opposition to the bills' contents. Two more "conservative Democrats" to choose from are two too many.

As a conservative, I'm sure you are all in favor of the recent shakeup at the USPS designed to slow down mail. I guess you would be in favor of the type of election we had in 2016, which your Commander-In-Thief said had 3 million illegal votes (people voting, leaving, returning wearing a mustache or hat, and voting again). He wanted to dispute the popular vote? Will he now claim fraud because of mail-in ballots if he loses in 2020? Tell him to make up his mind.

Do you know what it means to be a "conservative"? Do you pretend to be a fiscal conservative just like the bogus Republican claims?

This is what it means to be a conservative.

The Second Amendment is an absolute right. (How convenient to ignore the militia clause in the Second Amendment. Any drunk with a machine gun constitutes a militia.)

Global Climate Change is a hoax. (Do you know the difference between weather and climate? Do you even believe in science?)

Making Churches/Mosques/Synagogues tax-exempt is not a law regarding religion. (You don't want them to be tax-exempt on the basis of being a charity or an educational institution?)

Gay marriage is wrong. (Then don't marry someone of the same sex.) Regulations on businesses and corporations are wrong. (Then stop regulating against same-sex marriages and regulating women's bodies.) Better check people's DNA as they enter public bathrooms. LGBTQIA are deviants and undeserving of the same rights as others. 

Gender is not a continuum. People who are asexual are faking it. People with both sex organs are science fiction. Only one gene regulates gender. (How would you feel if straight sex was outlawed?)

We are a Christian nation. Dems want to take everyone's guns away. Women are second class citizens who shouldn't be allowed to make decisions about their own bodies. 

Conservatives are pro-life. (Pro-fetus, yes. After that, forget it.) COVID-19 is just the flu. 150,000 dead people are okay as long as the freedom to ignore public health guidelines such as social distancing and masks is not infringed. (Yeah, that's real pro-life. So much for Terri Schiavo.) 

Social Security is broken and in need of reform. Minorities should go back to their own countries (as if whites were not also immigrants)? Republicans are fiscal conservatives. 

Universal healthcare coverage is a socialist plot. (Do you even know the difference between socialism, communism, and fascism? Or what Democratic Socialism is? Hint: it's not anti-capitalism.)

The free market is inherently moral and self-correcting. Anti-pollution efforts are job-killing. Worker and consumer protections are evil anti-capitalist anti-profit plots. Financial advisors do not have to put their client's interests first. Leftists are amoral atheists.

Our budget woes are caused by entitlements and especially by Social Security. (Except that it is insurance which is separate by law and has its own revenue stream. BTW, those interest-bearing U.S. Treasury Bonds in the Trust Fund are not instruments of theft.)

Tax cuts for the wealthy will trickle down onto the peons (pronounced PEE-ons). It's okay for companies to pay so little that their employees need government assistance (a form of corporate welfare). One out of five major corporations paying zero in federal taxes is okay.

Maybe conservatives should be for Medicare for All. With its premiums, deductibles, restrictions, co-pays, doughnut holes, no coverage for Vision/Hearing/Dental, and a ban on negotiating drug prices. Or maybe just no Medicare at all. (Most western industrial western nations have some form of universal healthcare, with a combined population greater than the U.S.) 

We should allow an insurance representative between ourselves and a doctor. (Oh, sorry, that procedure is experimental. Sorry, you didn't disclose that you had acne as a kid, even though it was outside of the 10-year history we asked for. Oh, sorry, we deny a large percentage of claims with bogus reasons in the hope that you won't argue even if you are healthy enough. For-profit health insurance is great for healthy people.)

And here are a few other conservative choices. Student debt, myths about welfare queens, medical coupons masquerading as insurance, suspending children because they dared to reveal the lack of COVID protections in their schools, private prisons, for-profit courts, debtor's prisons ("Can't pay that? Oh, Contempt of Court and jail.").

Conservative lies just go on and on and on and on. Look us in the eye and tell us that you are a Native American or that treaties with indigenous people are meaningless. Tell us mass murders are a price of freedom. Explain how sex is binary. Tell us how our not wanting to be (or inability to be) a corporate CEO or business owner or hedge fund manager or inheritor of vast wealth makes us undeserving of health care. 

Explain how our troubles making ends meet is a result of laziness or poor lifestyle choices. Tell us how unpatriotic we are when we think things can be improved, or when we protest injustices or the slaughter of innocents. 

Explain why the kidnapping and misplacing of people's children on our southern border for the misdemeanor offense of illegal border crossing is justified (never mind that people wanting asylum are legally allowed to cross). And why migrant workers are not granted work Visas so they could just travel back and forth (oh, right, then employers would have to follow labor laws and pay more).

Conservative Democrat? And you want us to believe you?