How Stupid Can Washington Get? You Haven't Seen Anything Yet

by Nomad

Candidate Trump ran his campaign as a protest against Washington. He routinely castigated politicians and bureaucrats in the nation's capitol as being too stupid the run the country properly. It was, as far as a theme, a hit with his supporters. Now, as President-elect, the shoe is on the other foot.

Stupid is a Fun Word

From the clip below, it's fairly clear that Candidate Trump enjoyed calling everybody in government "stupid." To cheers and jeers, Trump regularly worked the crowds into a frenzy all along the campaign trail. Everybody in government was stupid, he told them. They said and did stupid things. Their policies were stupid. Washington was filled to the rafters with stupid, stupid people. 

Trump might have been short on specifics about his smart policies but what did it matter? Those subjects were too boring to discuss or understand. It was all about rounding off all the criticism to its common denominator, reducing it a single word everybody could understand. A virile sort of word loaded with strong consonants- Stupid.

  

Is Trump Already Flip-Flopping on His Campaign Vow to Mass Deport Illegal Workers?

by Nomad

For those who supported the Donald Trump's tough-guy approach on illegal immigration and his vow to begin mass deportation, it's starting to look more and more like Trump was all talk. 

Trump Re-Tooled by Ryan 

On Sunday, the president-elect and House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that, contrary to what Trump had said ad infinitum, there was no plan to begin mass deportations. 

With Trump and Pence sitting beside him, Speaker Ryan explained:

We’re not focused on, we are not planning on erecting a deportation force. Donald Trump’s not planning on that.”

Ryan stressed:

“We should put people’s minds at ease, that is not what our focus is. We’re focused on securing the border.”

Instead, they would be looking for "a solution that doesn’t include mass deportations, that involves getting people to earn a legal status while we fix the rest of illegal immigration.”

Earning legal status? Isn't that another way of saying those taboo words- conditional amnesty?  It all sounds suspiciously like what JEB! was proposing back in August  2016. 

His solution was described as

a rigorous path that requires individuals to pass a thorough criminal background check, pay fines, pay taxes, learn English, obtain a provisional work permit and work, not receive federal government assistance, and over an extended period of time earn legal status."

However, JEB! said, "any plan to address the status of illegal immigrants must be accompanied by a robust strategy to improve border security."

Post-election, Mr. Trump isn't looking so radical. Take away the mass deportation part and there's really not much difference between JEB! and Trump or Trump and Clinton. And make no mistake, mass deportation was the key variable of his campaign.

For all his bluster, Trump is turning out to be a run of the mill politician who makes a lot of promises but promptly breaks them the moment his jet touches down in Washington.
Compare what he was saying exactly one year ago.

Welcome to the New Realities of America's TrumpWorld

by Nomad

Elections, as we all know, have consequences. Unfailingly, it is the one truism that voters seem to overlook. With reportedly 49% of voters opting out, this election, it is no different. 

Excuses

Logically, one would question the legitimacy of any election in which nearly half of the population refuses to vote. The New York Times reported:

Some people were barred from voting by law, and others were effectively blocked by the obstacles put up by new restrictions or stalled by the memories of bad experiences the last time around. For others, child-care and work demands proved too difficult to juggle with going to a polling place. Some decided not to cast a ballot on principle.

There were plenty who just could not be bothered. They found their private ways to rationalize it. Still others argued that between Clinton and Trump, there's wasn't much difference. It was just choosing between two evils. 

 As one voter told the NYT reporter:

“I couldn’t in good conscience vote for president.”

Now we just have to sit back and wait for such people to realize their horrendous misjudgment. 

President-Elect Trump Facing Court Date for Fraud and Racketeering Charges

by Nomad

Trump Heads To Court For Fraud And Racketeering Before Inauguration

Donald Trump may have thought that the 75 current lawsuits filed against him and the Trump Organization would simply go "poof" when he was elected president, but boy is this uninformed president-elect wrong "bigly." The Supreme Court has ruled that becoming president of the United States does not shield an individual from private litigation concerning matters…

Publilius Syrus on the Dangers of One Man's Wickedness

by Nomad