Shit that Pissed me Off – 2/3

I’m sorry I took the last two weeks off.  Life intrudes sometimes.

We all know that we are entering week three of the Trump Presidency.  I am trying to figure out how to write my blog so it isn’t just a weekly rant on all the horrible things Trump says and does.  But I’m two weeks behind and he has been busy.  

There is a lot of other stuff going on that pisses me off.  It’s just that Trump is so fucking noisy.

Donald Trump Didn’t Threaten to Invade Mexico

Look, we all know that I don’t like our current President very much.  I think I have very good reasons for believing he will go down as the worst person ever to run our country.

But I’m feeling like I need to stick with stuff he’s actually done.  And therein lies the problem.

Earlier this week, Trump had a phone call with the Mexican president.  Shortly after the call, news organizations reported that Trump had threatened to send American troops across the border to deal with some “bad hombres.”

“Bad Hombres” is the name of my Los Lobos cover band.

A few hours later, it was reported that such a threat never happened.

Days later, however, a bunch of my liberal friends are still talking about Trump invading Mexico.

In a world where Trump is openly hostile to any news organization that doesn’t kiss his ass, the press actually has a responsibility to make sure what they report is accurate.  Trump is doing all sorts of shady shit.  Hell, this week he said this during remarks about Black History Month

Last month, we celebrated the life of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., whose incredible example is unique in American history. You read all about Dr. Martin Luther King a week ago when somebody said I took the statue out of my office. It turned out that that was fake news. Fake news. The statue is cherished, it’s one of the favorite things in the—and we have some good ones. We have Lincoln, and we have Jefferson, and we have Dr. Martin Luther King. But they said the statue, the bust of Martin Luther King, was taken out of the office. And it was never even touched. So I think it was a disgrace, but that’s the way the press is. Very unfortunate.

If you read the transcript of the speech, it was almost entirely about him.  This isn’t made up.  It’s something he actually said.

And what was he talking about?  The way the press keeps reporting shit that didn’t happen. In this case, of course, it was a mistake the reporter in question corrected almost immediately.

The press has to do better.  In the rush to break stories these days, they don’t take the time to verify what they are reporting.  And that allows Trump and his minions to do all sorts of horrible stuff because they can point to the small number of erroneous reports as a reason why nobody should believe anything the press says.

And to all my liberal friends out there: please let’s all make sure we know what the fuck we are talking about.

So Let’s Talk about Trump’s Muslim Ban

The link here goes to a web site that has a really good video analyzing the parts of the “Muslim Ban” none of us are paying attention to.  Yes, this executive order is horrible.  But those of us who hate it really need to know why.

First, the nations targeted are responsible for zero terrorist attacks on American soil.  So if someone tells you they feel safer, you are entirely justified in asking them why.

Second, the order bans Syrian refugees from entering America for an undetermined length of time.  So anyone who says “it is just 90 days” doesn’t get the point.  Sure, Iraqi civilians may be able to enter the US after 90 days.  Refugees from the Syrian civil war, however, may not get that chance until we have a different President.

Trump himself (and his supporters who don’t actually do research) will argue this is like something Obama did.  It isn’t.

And look – fighting Trump isn’t about fighting for the truth because in a world of “alternate facts,” the truth is a moving target.  At the same time, precision is important.  If you don’t like Trump, you need to be careful to understand exactly what he is doing and what he isn’t doing.

The biggest lesson I’m seeing in all of this is we should wait at least twelve hours before freaking out.  Not because we shouldn’t freak out.  But because we really need to know exactly what is freaking us out.

South Dakota Legislature Repeals Anti-Corruption Law

Here’s the problem: the SD Legislature repealed a law that was voted into effect by the citizens of their own state.

State legislators in SD have one of the worst records in the country when it comes to ethics violations and yet when their citizens voted to curtail those violations, the legislature used an emergency rule to repeal the law.

Now I haven’t read the law and I concede it could be total bullshit.  I will note, however, that there was a lawsuit that had already resulted in a court suspending the law pending the outcome of the case.  So it doesn’t seem like there was a lot of urgency.

I mean, on the one hand, the legislators might have lost.  But if that’s the case, they would have, most likely, lost years from now.  Given the kind of person Trump has shown he will nominate for the Supreme Court, however, I’m reasonably certain they would have won.

Who needs checks and balances anyway?

Thing is, when the people of your state vote for a law, you look like a complete douche when you wave your legislative dick around to tell them you don’t have to follow their fucking rules.

Elected officials need to follow the will of the people.  However, when you are in a state like SD where Republicans overwhelmingly control both houses (only six of thirty-five state senators are Democrats) and the Governor’s mansion, they really don’t give a shit about the will of anyone but themselves.

Pat Robertson Blasts Climate Science By Comparing it to Religion

I guess this doesn’t piss me off so much as make me wonder if Robertson even understands what he is saying any longer.

He basically goes off on climate science by saying that they are unwilling to accept any other view than the one that is supported by actual evidence.  Because they are closed to any other ideas, they are just like religion.

But given Robertson is a televangelist, isn’t he exposing his entire career as a sham by saying that?  If we shouldn’t listen to climate scientists because they aren’t willing to accept any other perspective than the one supported by scientific evidence, should we listen to Robertson when he isn’t willing to accept any other perspective than the one supported by his interpretation of a specific book?

Robertson then goes on to say that the world might not actually be getting warmer.  Which is completely wrong.

But we wouldn’t want to tell him that.  Because then we’d be as bad as religion.

I mean, that’s what he said.  What a dolt.

Oscar Voters Still Don’t Understand Music

Enough about horrible politicians. How about horrible Oscar nominations?

I’ve only seen a couple of nominees for best picture this year, which is pathetic.  Gotta work on that.

However, a category that I care about is the best song category.  Not, mind you, because Oscar voters understand good music (they picked “Can you Feel the Love Tonight” over “Circle of Life” and “Beauty and the Beast” over “Be Our Guest”).  Rather, it was because I was hoping this year they might.

The best song category includes two songs from La La Land.  I guess that makes sense because it’s a strong favorite to win Best Picture and it is a musical.  So that’s fine.

It also includes a song by Justin Timberlake from Trolls, which is a horrible movie.  But I like the song so fine.

And there is a song from Moana.  Good.

Wait – just one song from Moana?

What ‘choo talkin’ bout, Willis?

Well if there’s just one song from Moana, it’s “You’re Welcome”, right?  Because that song is fucking awesome, right???

Nope.  It’s the princess song.  Which is a good song.

But it’s not “You’re Welcome.”

The fifth song is some lame-ass song by Sting nobody has ever heard of.  And that pisses me off because up until I read that list and listened to the song, I liked Sting. Now I just want to smash all of my Police records (yes – I said records).

This would never have happened if we’d elected Hilary!  God damn it, Trump!