Tag Archives: Trump

A Return to: Do What We Want and Pay Us For It!

Politics, US, World, , , ,

Opinion: After reading the following survey report from the Pew Research Center and looking at their graphs, it didn’t take long to see the overall trend of it. As with any Poll or Survey, It is hard to author a purely neutral question(s) or context of a question to allow the person answering to not be lead one way or another. I did find it interesting that they did try to expand it out over several years but I would have liked to see a one hundred year trend to see if it was a constant cycle or a one event now type of survey. Even after reading the whole article the title I chose jumped into mind.

British, French and Germans Give Biden High Marks After U.S. Election | Pew Research Center

Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump was broadly unpopular internationally, and his poor ratings have had a negative impact on America’s overall image, especially among key allies and partners of the United States. By contrast, early reviews for his successor, President-elect Joe Biden, are much more positive, according to a new Pew Research Center survey in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. People in all three countries express confidence in Biden and optimism that relations with the U.S. will improve now that he is moving into the White House.

Biden receives much better ratings than Trump did

Why was President Trump not liked by our allies and enemies abroad? The business sense that Trump used to bring them to the table and made them understand that they needed to step up and pay their fair share for their own defense and really look at they could contribute their own needs rather than get it handed to them with no strings attached.

Reflecting widespread trust in Biden, majorities in France, Germany and the UK are hopeful that America’s handling of various international issues will improve once he takes office.

Many in European countries surveyed expect improvements under Biden

This shows me that they are ready to get back to one world government mentality of we will tell you what we will do and you will pay for it. They really want to see the US fall back into line. With Biden in charge, it will probably happen. I really suggest you click on the link at the top and read the entire article and then make up your own mind.

Till the Truth comes out.

JH

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Same Old Rut

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What is this country coming to? Before the election we had mainstream news reports flying all over telling us that Hillary Clinton, in her position of Security of State, had a private email server and some classified documents somehow got routed to it.  The FBI was not allowed to check it out but somehow everything that was in this server got hacked and released to the public by possibly Russian hackers.  We had people showing us the law that says it is illegal to send classified stuff to or from a private server.  We had hearings in Congress about this and the FBI could not find anything was wrong.  The Press had a field day saying or printing things from known “sources”.  These same “sources” hinted to the Press that there where agents, possibly foreign or domestic, trying to get information on Trump at the time.  I remember seeing or hearing something like this but unable to find any proof at this time, but I digress.

Now we have Congress having more hearings about the possible wire-tap on Mr. Trump before the election and the same Director of the FBI cannot find any truth to this? We have been hearing from “Sources” within the CIA and NSA that officially nothing of the sort was happening but the same “Sources” from both said it did happen.  It is kind of funny because the CIA, from what I have always heard, are supposed to do all their work outside the borders of the United States.

As a private citizen, it is getting to the point where it is time to just shut off any national news coverage and when the next elections come around, vote for anyone not holding office. That is an option.  Congress was scared right after the elections but they are falling right back into that old groove. The Judicial branch is legislating from the bench again and not even trying to hide it.  You thought the results from the last election was bad.  The next one might be over the top.

Why?

The American citizen is getting tired of all that is happening in Washington. We have permanently elected officials that will not change.  They are not there to represent the people that elected them but are only there to fill their own pockets.  We have political groups that have no idea what they are doing.  We have department Directors that are even now checking which way the political wind is blowing before doing anything.  The propaganda machine is getting ready for another round.  The question is: Will the American Citizen continue to sit and wait?

Congress was put on Notice

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A show of hands, for those that watched President Trump’s address Tuesday night?

Did you enjoy the floor show that Congress put on?

Did you know that the President could have done the same thing by inviting the congressional leaders and small groups to the White House and spent the next four years trying to get a consensus for his agenda?

Did you know he could have done a Press conference and we would not have heard exactly how something was going to get done? We would have heard a different version, I bet.

Both houses of Congress were present, along with the members of the Supreme Court and some invited guests. President Trump was not there to talk to them.  He did talk about some of the life changes of the invited guests as bullet points to his speech.  All of this was done on live television without the ability of the Press cutting up all the sound bites.

President Trump was talking to the American People. Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever political affiliation you want to name them.  He presented his plan to the American Public in the name of talking to Congress.  Because it doesn’t matter what the Congressional members political affiliation is, if the people they represent, start yelling at them to go with or fight this plan, when it is time for reelection, you may see many just quit or actually start listening to their constitute.  President Trump has just put the political elite on the proverbial hot seat.

It is the job of the American Citizen to make our thoughts heard by them in a legal way. Not like some of those so called protesters that some say are being paid to riot in the streets in the name of free speech.  Change is not made overnight but if we keep Congress’s nose to the grindstone, we may see the light at the end of the pit we are in.

The Fear of Change

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We have all had to watch that movie where a common man gets elected to Congress. How that person is all full of spit and vinegar to change things and is fully confident that they know how things are going to be.  Upon arrival as a first term Congressperson, is alienated by the old timers, the Press and by the all-knowing bureaucrats.  It takes them a whole term just to learn all the nooks and crannies of being a politician.  Oh, they might find a platform or idea that they are trying to champion but it is under the watchful eye of their fellow politicians.  They might even get that Hollywood ending to their first term if they are careful.  This is the way of politics.

On the news now, many of Congress are trying to have a town hall meeting and some people are perplexed and overwhelming them with questions that they themselves, being worried, have no answer. Why are they worried you ask, because something is happening that is not the normal way things have been done for many many years.  Something our founding fathers wanted to see happen all the time.  A successful business person, taking time out of their business to step up and take a swing at running this country.  Not some insecure lifelong politician.

Congress has had an easy life up to now. They had the press in their pocket.  They treated the bureaucrats like the maître d.  With the press at their side, the citizen had no real knowledge of what was going on in Washington.  The Press had turned from being the watchdog for the people to being the mouth piece for the establishment.  Now with a newly elected President, who is not a lifelong politician, is actually using the laws passed by Congress to his advantage, is trying to change Washington to what it is supposed to have been doing all those years.

The bureaucrats, that when told to do something have been smarting back, “That’s not the way things are done.” Are being given ‘Pink Slips’ and shown the door.  Smart Bureaucrats are still doing their job.

The Press is still whining. They were making easy money by being the establishment’s propaganda machine.  Now they need to work for a living being the watchdogs they are supposed to be.  You want me to listen to you?  Start putting facts and figures that will stand up in a real court.  Not the court of public opinion.  Put your job on the line for your story if you know you are lawfully right.

For you members of Congress, it may be time to throw out your party lines and actually work for your constituents. You may have gotten there by party line but you work for everyone in your district.  Since most of you use your position as a career instead of an actually job.  Maybe it is past time for the establishment to feel real fear by actually having a President that actually does something and is not beholding to the political line.

Cry Wolf

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I was reading a story this morning about the Associated Press fake news by Andy Cush and it got me to thinking about the boy who cried wolf. You can see that the media is a cut throat business.  First one with a story wins.  And here lies the problem.

Any good reporter or news agency knows, you must have hard confirmation of any fact or facts before you run it. As a reader, I expect the story I am reading to be true and factually.  If it is a theory or an opinion piece, it should state that at the beginning and ending of a story to let the reader know.

In any administration or business you get “idea” or “draft” memos flying around. These can be anything from “good” thoughts to “are you out of your mind” thoughts.  These are not the final run or signed executive actions.  Even if this was a planned event to try to find a “Leaker” in what is supposed to be a working administration, a good reporter should have not run with a draft copy.  I just hope the Reporter who got this leak did not pay cash money for it.

The Media is crying wolf too much now that the public had no idea what is true any more.  What will happen when they actually write a truth and nothing happens.

American Press: Help I Have Fallen and Can’t Get Up!

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For the many months before the election, the Press was touting that another candidate would win and the glory of the one side would continue to run America. On Election Day, they found that a majority of their readers, listeners, and watchers, had decided that all their propaganda and slanted stories was nothing but trash and some of the worse kindling that had ever come out.  They voted the other way.  It has been over three months since the presidential election that was said by the Press to go the other way.

They are still in the deep hole they dug themselves. Very few readily accept what is being told to the masses is true.  Even if one reporter or paper does find something criminal, with proof, on an elected leader all the rest slide away to another story because it does not fit their agenda.  We never see if justice is done or was it all a propaganda ruse.

It is bad when you can find more truth in a supermarket tabloid than in what the leading news media puts out.

There are many of our government officials that really need to be put under a microscope.  Not just the President.  I am talking about all elected and appointed positions in government.  Some of them need a real vetting themselves.

Locally, we have a reporter that really does some good digging and reporting on what he finds. You know when watching his report and he finds that person that it is going to get dropped on, you get to see that deer in the headlights look as they see their career, job, or elected position yanked out from under them.  Sometimes, they even go to jail.  That is a good reporter.  Why can’t we have that on the national level?

Have the national media dug themselves so much of a hole that they can’t get out?

Will the Press ever become the watchdog they are there for again?

Will the Press become respected as a whole again?

Has Your Train Been Derailed?

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After the spark of freedom and the revolution that followed, it took a few years to put together that document we call The Constitution. This piece of paper, that became the building block of our country.  It took some more years and a few amendments to help straighten out some period clashes, but it is still the base of our laws.  All of our laws are supposed to start with an idea from the people through our elected representatives in Congress and if approved by the President, signed.  If this law is vetoed by the President, this vetoed law may be overturned by Congress and it still becomes law.

If there is still argument about this law, it can be taken up by the Judiciary. If the Judiciary finds the law wholly or in part, to be un-constitutional, they are to return it, in whole, to Congress to start the whole process over.

Over the years and generations, our elected leaders have been steadily moving away from the idea that they work for the people. When the election cycle comes around they have found that they can buy the votes with cheap ice cream and not really have to do anything for the people.  They are allowed to be elected over and over without actually doing anything.  They are able to pay themselves and receive may perks above table and maybe cash below the table from lobbyist or other groups or individuals now days.

There have been many laws made in the history of this country that are still on the books. They are still valid, old but valid.  Some have been updated.  Some have been pushed to the side because of the changes in society and are no longer relevant in this day and age.  But they are still on the books.  It is always fun when a smart lawyer finds this little unknown fact to help his or her client.  It can make the Judge’s head spin around like on some of those horror shows.  It may not only be the age of the law or some other factors, but there are some in The Judiciary that take this opportunity to legislate from the bench.

The Congress has been so busy filling their pockets and putting out some very obscure laws and regulations. Even giving authorizations for doing stuff they are uncomfortable with.  They have been patting themselves on the back for all their work that they do not realize what they are doing.

If you look at the piles and piles of books that make up our laws and regulations in the United States, you will really notice that our elected and appointed officials have been only picking and choosing which one they wish to use or follow. The average Citizen is going to be ‘got’ one way or another.

I am not one to believe much in conspiracy theories or otherwise, but it sure seems that someone or some group has been trying to guide this country in one way or another in the last fifty to hundred years. I say this because our elected officials, even the first term ones sure do not follow the Peoples choices once they enter the marbled halls of Washington D.C.  They are being retrained as soon as they walk through the door.  It is the Washington way.

Our watchdogs in the Press have been slowly subverted from actually watching the government for the people to now being allied with one party or another. Now they find themselves without any support from the people or whomever they work for.  They no longer look for the TRUTH.  The press, only say what they are paid to say.  When it starts sounding like propaganda, it is.  The People are no longer listening.  The Press has lost all respect.

But if there is someone or some group out there that have been pulling the strings, you have done a wonderful job of keeping the wool pulled over everyone’s eyes all these years. Pitting one group or another at each other’s throats.  First, propping up one side, then another to keep everyone off balance and dancing to your sheet of music.  Did you get so wrapped up in your work that you were only watching the ones yelling the loudest?  Some of those little splinter groups can really yell.  Seeing them on the TV made many turn the volume down or change the channel.  With their yelling and crying, you kept your attention on them too long and a larger group fell out of your sight and started seeing a bigger picture.  They learned to find the TRUTH closer to home, not from your propaganda.

The People of the United States finally got tired of all of that. They went out and found someone that is Not a politician. Not a lawyer.  They picked a Citizen.  Someone that has lived and worked under the laws and regulations that politicians and lawyers have shoved at us over the years.  Now this President is using the Laws and all the authorizations you have given out over the years and is now making everyone follow them.

Has that made your train run off the tracks?

Some Study Required

Immigration, Media, Politics, , , , , , , , , ,

After this weekend explosion in the media after President Trump’s latest executive order.  One has to ask, how many of you have traveled outside the country as a normal citizen?

As an American citizen, you may have a opportunity to travel to some other part of our big world that is getting much smaller.  Be it for pleasure or work will make a big difference when you apply for a Visa, if needed, for your destination.  So, you jump through all the hoops, paperwork, travel permits, tickets, vaccination shot sand sometimes a ‘Fee’ when filing for your Visa just to get to your destination with your bright red suitcase and you step up to the local customs official and present them with your paperwork, just to find you have just broken one of their laws.

I am using the “Red Suitcase” as a simplistic version for this case.  In all your preparation for your trip you read about the local customs and laws that may pertain to you or it may have been a change while you were on your flight to the country.  I which case, if you do surrender your “Red” suitcase and carry your stuff in a shopping bag, the local customs officer can have you re-board the plane and send you away.  Just because you get a Visa does not guarantee you will have a good trip.

Before everyone get up in arms about my explanation, I do suggest that you take the time and look it up and read it for your self.  The United States immigration policy is rather large and has been updated by your elected leaders in Congress.  If you want it changed, you better make them do it.  It is just going to be enforced now.

Either option you chose on your trip you are now returning to the U.S. with your passport and other travel documents.  You are now in front of a U.S. Customs agent on U.S. soil, you present him with all the documentation and what you are coming back with.  You answer the agents questions and now find yourself moved to a room for a more in-depth interview.  Did you answer the previous questions right or was there something else?  Was there some medical problem that needs checked out.  Like a disease outbreak just after you boarded your plane.  Did you bring something that is not allowed in this country?  This is just some of the things that the Customs agent has to check off before you can re-enter the country.

That was just for an U.S. citizen, now what if you are an immigrant or refugee.  Many of them will get a Visa just to get them the ability to leave the country they are in, some will try to use this permission slip to get to the United States where up on arrival they have to ask and get the permission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or through their agents at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to actually enter the country.

While having a visa does not guarantee entry to the United States, it does indicate a consular officer at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad has determined you are eligible to seek entry for that specific purpose. DHS/CBP inspectors, guardians of the nation’s borders, are responsible for admission of travelers to the United States, for a specified status and period of time. DHS also has responsibility for immigration matters while you are present in the United States.

Much of this information is availibly on line at the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and the Customs and Border Protection website.

Once you are allowed in the country you will have to apply for a Green Card.  A Green Card is needed to continue your application to become a Citizen of the United States of America.  You can think of a Green Card like a probationary period.  There are may rules and ways that you can get a mark against you during this time.  You can find stories on the internet that people with a Green Card’s have done something that if they leave, they may have to do some paperwork to get back in or may not be allowed back in.

Many of these immigrants and refugees need sponsers to step up and be responsible for their requirments while they go through the process of learning to live and grow in the United States.  Wonder how many of the ‘not my problem’ protesting crowd will step up.  Once you start reading about the immigration laws and policies through the years, you won’t believe some of the things that caused immigrants in the past to be turned away for.  Before jumping on the bandwagon, some study required.

Recap of the 2016 Election

Politics, , , , ,

From the conventions to the day after the election vote was a whirlwind of accusations and counter acquisitions.

The candidates weathered the storm with the big and little news people doing all their work for them.

The scorecard was being used every which way you can imagine.

We found polling data that was correct, incorrect or outright wrong.

The regular voting blocs were content that everything was either going their way on one side and the other was fighting with themselves to control their party.

In among all of this was a small ground swell of voters getting ready to step up and make a change.

A change the political elite was not ready to see or hear.

 

Now in a real election, you would not get the results till the county or township election boards certified the results in their bailiwicks to be truthful and not tampered with. Those results would then be sent to the State elections board for review and certified.  Once these results were made public then a new leader would be notified.  This usually takes at least a week.

Now days, the major News Networks take it among themselves to do an ‘Informal’ head count and then start touting the new or re-elected leader of the free world.  For those that watched the coverage on election night they saw the Talking Heads of the news networks where all happy at the start of their coverage and by the end of the night, they were at a loss of words as to what was happening.

Earlier I mentioned a ground swell of voters. They stepped up and made a decision to VOTE.  I would have like to said a tidal wave but that would be every legal United States of America citizen voting.

Late on election night, when the numbers started to signal a change the country held its breath. It was like watching a football game in the final seconds and with forth and ninety-nine, a quarterback sneak running for the touchdown.  Both sides cheered the last chance win but then the losing side realized they had lost.  They sat in stunned silence for a long time then they felt they got cheated.  They took to the streets to express their anger and in some cases caused riots.  While the rest of America turned returning to their lives.  But the elites and the News Networks want that dissent to further their goals.

Before the election you had one side saying the other side was rigging the voting and the major news networks and the White House was saying that it couldn’t happen and would never happen. Now that they lost, they are now coming forward saying it was rigged by someone or by other countries.

For a Presidential election there is one more step. The Electoral College.  This step in the Presidential election is the final step our founding fathers placed before us to ensure that select few states would maintain control of the government for their own benefit.

 

We close out the 2016 Election Year with many things still going on. What will the next year bring is still open to debate.