Good Muslims v. Bad Muslims

 

(2.25 minute read)

Money Buds

            For the 2024 Presidential election Trump is campaigning against Muslims again.[1]  Yep!  He’s agin' ‘em.  Said he doesn’t like them blowing up our buildings!  Going to reinstitute his travel ban when elected President.  Except for the Saudis!  Trump loves talking up the Saudis, especially their LIV golf events for which he gets money.[2]  Trump loves the Muslims that give him money.  He’s best buds with a lot of them.  Well, maybe not best buds but buds. 

It’s almost like he doesn’t remember that it was Saudis that crashed planes into the twin towers.  Oops.  Well, it turns out that Trump isn’t sure that’s true.

“Well, nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately.  They should have. As to the maniacs that did that horrible thing to our city, to our country, to the world, so nobody’s really been there.”

Donald Trump[3] 

            So, in addition to being an election denier he’s also a 9/11 denier in some respects.  It’s like he didn’t realize that when he was President, he could have looked into what happened on 9/11.  Perhaps Trump should have tweeted less and governed more.

Nah!  Governing is hard!

Money talks. 

            Arizona is in the midst of a major drought as well, along with having record breaking temperatures.  Something that they don’t have a lot of:  WATER.  The state is struggling to develop and manage enough water sources to meet their future needs.  The future isn’t looking good in that regard.

Guess what?  There’s a foreign owned company in Arizona that wetland farms thousands of acres of alfalfa.[4]  They export what they raise as feed.  A foreign owned company.  Wonder what country that could be?  Did you guess Saudi Arabia?  Yes, it is Saudi Arabia.  They grow alfalfa to send back to Saudi Arabia to feed their dairy cattle.  Irrigating in the desert.  Using millions of gallons of water.  Raising alfalfa.  For Saudi cows.

            Nothing speaks to MAGA Republicans like Muslim money and Chinese money.  Now I want to make it clear that it isn’t the government directly that owns the land but rather business enterprises.  

            MAGA Republicans have a couple of faces.  One of their faces loves Saudi money while their other face maligns Muslims.  In Missouri the Chinese also own farmland.[5]  They don’t own near as much as other foreign nations. 

            The reality is that foreign nations don’t own that much land compared to the total amount of land that the United States has.  But is it good policy to allow foreign ownership of land?  MAGA Republicans may bash foreigners in public but they will sure sell them some land and businesses. 

The great unifier for MAGA Republicans?

Money, NOT religion.

             I do want to add some comments in closing lest I give people the mistaken impression that I am opposed to Muslims or any faith for that matter.  This piece was written to showcase the hypocrisy of MAGA Republicans along with their leadership when it comes to singling out Muslims.  Freedom of religion applies to all religion NOT just the Christian faith.  People have the right to be free from religion as well. 

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[1] https://news.yahoo.com/trump-recommits-banning-muslims-entering-053132694.html

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/sports/golf/donald-trump-liv-saudi-pga.html

[3] https://www.newsweek.com/trump-saudi-arabia-911-liv-golf-bedminster-1729070

[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/16/fondomonte-arizona-drought-saudi-farm-water/

[5] https://www.npr.org/2023/06/26/1184053690/chinese-owned-farmland-united-states

Whites Only

 

Rescue me.

 (3.75-minute read)

How you doin’?[1] 

            On a personal note, the increase in Social Security payments made a big difference in our monthly budget.  Now, this has nothing to do with the administration of President Biden.  It was a COLA increase.[2]  But there is a bigger picture of what is taking place.  A lot of people vote based upon how they are personally doing in life.  Millions of seniors are doing better right now.  Those circumstances, in all likelihood, will hold until 2024.

Overall, the bipartisan infrastructure package probably has made the biggest impact on creating jobs for the construction trades.[3]  There are a number of lists available touting Biden’s accomplishments.  Some of them will contain some inaccurate information that was accurate at the time they were created.[4]  Like the student loan forgiveness that the Supreme Court shot down.  MAGA Republicans filed suit against it.  They don’t usually support things that don’t give money to the wealthy.  I think that calling legislation bipartisan because a handful of Republicans broke ranks to vote yes is somewhat misleading though technically correct. 

One of the absolute most dishonorable as well as dishonest things that MAGA Republicans do is when they’re back in their home districts they take credit for what they voted against.  I realize that they are just following in the footsteps of their Ducé Trump but that doesn’t make it any less dishonest.  They have a deep and abiding understanding of the ignorance and gullibility of MAGA heads.  The danger to our nation isn’t as much Trump or Trump wannabes as it is the MAGA heads. 

It's the combination of the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the American Rescue Plan that is and will continue to create all the investment that is taking place in America along with bringing manufacturing jobs back. 

For practically every accomplishment there will be a downside that people will focus on.  Just as an example President Biden, unlike Trump, did withdraw all of our troops from Afghanistan BUT we lost 13 service members and the final withdrawal was to put it mildly a clusterfuck. 

War is like that.

Me, me, me.

At some point we can only hope that there are considerations a voting public will make that supersede ‘what’s in it for me’ or ‘how am I doing’ considerations.  The recent Trump Supreme Court decision where a woman’s right to have a say about our own body was done away with is one such consideration.

I wish that maintaining our form of government was more important to the general population including the tens of millions that never vote. 

Time will tell.

The things

            I have been watching clip after clip of MAGA heads going on about the magnificence that was/is ex-President Trump.  Normally, I wouldn’t have to use “ex” before President when talking about a former President but millions of these people believe that Trump is still President that I feel it necessary in order to maintain historical accuracy.

            They are often asked about why they love their Ducé and they respond that they like everything about him.  I believe that they are completely sincere.  They have more difficulty when answering a question about what Trump accomplished beyond saying “everything.”  Even when asked to just give one example.  In other words, they just couldn’t do it. 

            The ironic part is that they can’t cite what the Trump administration did accomplish.  Any administration will accomplish positive and negative things.  Trump’s administration was no different.[5]  There are lists available on the internet listing his accomplishments.  But it isn’t about his accomplishments for his supporters.  It’s about him.  What it comes down to is the perception of the population that thinks Trump and his beliefs and character are things to strive for.  Whether it’s true or not will be debated.

            President Biden’s accomplishments are also being tracked.[6]  At the end of his Presidency everything will be tallied up just as they have been for previous administrations.  Then people will argue about all the results about …

All the things.

 

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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BjA9tI7V2Q

[2] https://www.ssa.gov/cola/

[3] https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-biggest-achievements-first-year-president-1670763

[4] https://thesmilenews.com/2022/09/30/joe-bidens-23-greatest-achievements-as-president-of-the-united-states-so-far/

[5] https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/

[6] https://www.factcheck.org/2023/01/bidens-numbers-january-2023-update/

 

Butthurt

(4-minute read)

Pay up!

            Did I miss that it was time to set the Supreme Court clock back a few decades?  Overturning Roe v. Wade took us back almost 50 years.[1]  Regardless, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is all butthurt because people, including liberal justices, are talking trash about the Trump court after their recent decision concerning student loans.[2]  Or was it Affirmative Action?  Could be over the abortion decision that has thrown so much of country in chaos. 

Let’s talk about the decisions being made by men wearing black dresses like the women.  That makes me wonder if anyone has accused them of putting on a drag show.  I suppose they’re all consenting adults.  Sounds like a discussion for a later time.

Anyway, let’s get on with it. 

            From Roberts: “We do not mistake this plainly heartfelt disagreement for disparagement.  It is important that the public not be misled either.  Any such misperception would be harmful to this institution and our country.”  He kinda skipped the part about the Trump Court decision/s being harmful to the country. 

            Roberts was referring to the Trump Court decision to stop President Biden’s Executive order to provide student loan debt relief (Biden v. Nebraska) to around 43 million Americans.[3]  Or as Trump’s “Old Crow” Senator, aka Senator McConnell said, “The American people know that the Biden Administration's student loan socialism plan would be a raw deal for hardworking taxpayers.”[4]  For Republicans anything that helps the working class is socialism but are fully supportive of socialism for the rich that they gave trillions of dollars in tax breaks to during the Trump years.[5] 

            College is already out of reach for the poor and a lot of the middle class.  An educated population is dangerous to Republicans.  It’s one of the many reasons that they’re making it harder for young people in college to vote.  It’s also one of the many reasons that they are passing laws to change curriculums in red states (looking at you, Florida).  Like Trump says.

They love the uneducated.[6] 

No cake for you! 

            In 303 Creative v. Elenis, the Trump Court has also ruled that it’s okay to discriminate against people, especially gay people, in the public sector as long as it’s being done for the right reason!  You might remember the Trump Court’s previous decision, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, where they upheld the right of a Christian NOT to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple.[7] 

Justice Sonia Sotomayor had this to say about the 303 Creative decision: "Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class."  BTW The guy cited in the suit didn’t know anything about the case and was married to a woman.[8]  The case was make-believe.

Yup.  That’s what they did.  The Trump Court jumped through hoops and came up with the term “expressive” in regard to the service being provided in order to allow discrimination for religious reasons by claiming it’s a “freedom of speech” issue involved.  Yes.  Expressive.  We now have expressive commerce. 

Conservative White Nationalists people be lining up now to find creative ways to discriminate against people they don’t like.  A judge in Texas who doesn’t want to perform rainbow people weddings has jumped on that colorless bandwagon already and filed a lawsuit.[9] 

Think she’ll be the last?

But wait!

            So right-wing Christians can now continue following their anti-Jesus beliefs.

BUT wait! 

Wasn’t the bible used to justify racism?  You betcha.  Still is.  It was also used to defend slavery.[10]  When I was in the Army, I served under a first lieutenant that would defend his racism with passages from the bible.  He did not believe that people of color had any right to tell him what to do.  He was very “expressive” about it. 

            How long do you think it will be before racists use their deeply held religious beliefs to refuse service to people of color because of the Trump court decision?  That will go over real well don’tcha think?  

            But wait once again!

            The Trump court decision on affirmative action can also be used to help the “lost cause.”[11]  Race can no longer be used in a predominantly white country in order to get people of color into Ivy League schools like Justice Thomas did.[12]  Yeah, that’s going to end well for minorities.  They can go back to looking in through the window to a better life.

New Jim Crow laws.

Let there be light!

            Ever heard of the Supreme Court shadow docket?  It’s a way that the Trump Court can make decisions in the shadows without transparency.[13]  A justice makes a decision about a case that doesn’t go before the entire court.  What’s more they don’t even have to be signed.  These off the books decisions increased under the Trump Administration and had a dramatic outcome on cases without ever seeing the light of day. 

Evil can haunt the shadows.

 

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[1] https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1102305878/supreme-court-abortion-roe-v-wade-decision-overturn

[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/04/28/chief-justice-john-roberts-wife-made-over-10-million-as-legal-consultant-report-says/?sh=744d49701e9a

[3] https://www.npr.org/2023/06/06/1180175155/supreme-court-decisions-affirmative-action-voting-rights-student-loans

[4] https://www.businessinsider.com/republicans-celebrate-supreme-court-scotus-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-decision-2023-6?op=1

[5] https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/511492-after-trillions-in-tax-cuts-for-the-rich-republicans-refuse-to-help/

[6] Love the poorly educated:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3DIaUHySuM

[7] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/06/the-court-slices-a-narrow-ruling-out-of-masterpiece-cakeshop/561986/

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/303_Creative_LLC_v._Elenis

[9] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/texas-judge-who-doesnt-want-to-perform-gay-marriage-ceremonies-hopes-web-designers-supreme-court-case-helps-her-fight/ar-AA1dUz6R

[10] https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/883115867/white-supremacist-ideas-have-historical-roots-in-u-s-christianity

[11] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lost-Cause

[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Thomas

[13] https://www.britannica.com/topic/shadow-docket