Blog: If I understand this

Happy Easter, Earth Day, and whatever else it is. 

……………………………………..

At the most extreme, Trump and his allies tried to claim that his victory — the third-narrowest since World War II — represented a sweeping “mandate.” – Somehow this reminds me of when George Bush got re-elected and said he had a mandate to privatize social security.  Reagan wanted to do that too, back in the 1980s.  Republicans can’t seem to get over their ideas about scuttling all the best programs for working people.

………………………………………

Trump just said that the price of eggs was coming down.  Not.  But he did say he would do it on Day One, just like he would end the Russian war on Ukraine on the same day, or in his mind, the Ukrainian war on Russia.

………………………………………

Didja know: That Holland is not an official name of a country.  Hint:  Rhymes with “Netherlands.” There are a couple of areas there with “Holland” as part of their name.

…………………………………………

A neutral IRS?  A Trump administration official in March asked the IRS to review audits of two “high profile” friends of President Donald Trump, including MyPillow chief executive and conservative political personality Mike Lindell (read “nutcase”—my edit), according to two people familiar with the request and records obtained by The Washington Post.

…………………………………………

I just saw a photo of a female gymnast doing the primal scream thing after her event.  Is that in every sport now? I don’t like it.  Next thing you know, golfers will do it.  Or chess players – is that a sport or a game anyway? 

……………………………………

Have you seen this?  MSNBC– Tennessee Senate wants to kick undocumented kids out of school

A divided Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that all children in this country, including undocumented ones, should have access to public education. – Yeah, typical, let’s pick on the mostly poor kids again!  Thanks, Republicans!

………………………………………….

I found this surprising:  A Wall Street Journal analysis of daily financial statements issued by the Treasury Department found that government spending since the inauguration in January is $154 billion more than in the same period in 2024 during the Biden administration.  Well, there were those expensive Inauguration Parties!

……………………………………..

Are you following Trump’s battle with colleges?  At least Harvard isn’t having it, although, as our oldest college, it has a huge endowment (or nest egg) – The administration had demanded Harvard University follow several directives meant to prioritize President Donald Trump’s culture war agenda, including ending diversity programs, promoting right-wing faculty members, and preventing the admittance of students who don’t have “American values” — a thinly veiled way of demanding the college prioritize Trump supporters. If the university doesn’t, the administration threatened, it would withhold $2 billion of federal funding, money that was needed for research on topics like medicine, agriculture and engineering. – I don’t think anything like this has happened in my lifetime.  But I was alive, although a kid, when Joe McCarthy was ramping up his attacks on media.

………………………………………….

A lot of what Trump and his cohorts are doing, to me, can be put under the heading “Racism.”  Reducing, or eliminating diversity programs, for example.

………………………………………..

Political pundit Nate Silver now says Alexandria-Ocasio-Cortez, how you spell it, will be the Dems nominee for prez in 2028.  I will say that I think it will be Gavin Newsom, maybe with her as VP candidate.  Many will want Bernie, but I think too old then, although he does not act his age, and I love that!

………………………………….

Trump admits that he does not know “what” the Congo is: “I don’t know what that is, but they came from the Congo, and all over the world,” he added. – But he “knows” they send us criminals.

………………………………..

Didja Know Dept.:  Chickens are descendants of dinosaurs, walking the Earth as one of the closest living relatives to the Tyrannosaurus rex.

………………………………

What Trump’s official portrait should look like . . .

……………………………………..

Checked the Big Bear eagle cam lately?  The chicks, Sunny and Gizmo, are walking some, flexing wings and getting bigger all the time.  They can eat some food without mom’s help, but not all.

……………………………………

Didja know:  I used to think the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation was mostly for British troops, but this:  Despite initial fears that only a small number of troops could be saved, over 338,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated, including 198,000 British and 140,000 French troops. 

………………………………………

And, for Easter, for the first time:  This year’s White House Easter Egg Roll event will feature activities “courtesy” of a number of corporate sponsors, including several tech companies that made financial contributions to President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee.  CNN first reported last month that it obtained a document soliciting corporate sponsorships for the annual Easter Egg Roll ranging from $75,000 to $200,000, with logo and branding opportunities offered in return.  It’s official then, everything re: the White House is now for sale.

………………………………………..

And related:  After the 2024 election, Trump’s inaugural committee raised hundreds of millions of dollars from corporate America, and multiple tech executives who sought to curry favor with the incoming administration paid Trump a personal visit at his Mar-a-Lago resort ahead of his swearing-in.  I have read in the past that inaugural committees are easy pickings for skimming money.

……………………………………..

And it continues:  Did you know Donald Trump plans to eliminate Head Start the preschool program? Did you know he gutted Americorps? Have you heard what he did to the National Weather Service? – I think, with others, that he and Musk are moving so fast that most can’t keep up and will eventually think some/all of that crap is “normal.”

………………………………………

Does Trump want Putin to take over Ukraine?  Consider:  Iran has earned at least tens of millions of dollars, perhaps many hundreds of millions, from its agreement to supply weapons to Russia over the past two years. And while that deal drew new sanctions against both countries under former President Joe Biden, it appears to have received no pushback from Trump.

…………………………………….

Didja know:  Saturday, April 19^th, was the 250^th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, with the battles of Lexington and Concord.  If you get a chance when in Boston, get out there and stand on Lexington Green . . . it is inspiring.  You can go to Concord Bridge, too, but of course, it is a replica – same place though!

………………………………………

Baseball:  My team, the Diamondbacks, joined history by scoring 10 runs in one inning . . . and losing the game! They did better today, winning in Chicago in 11 innings, 3-2.

……………………………..

A Republican senator got on Meet the Press today and said that sending that guy from Maryland to El Salvador’s prison was a mistake, but he is never coming back!

………………………..

And on that nonsensical note, I will end here.

All take care,

Kevin