Fixation

   The coming election will be "the greatest disaster in history," the president said today.
   Translation: He knows he will lose, and this is another step in his campaign to discredit the system by calling it "fixed"
   Of course, he also did that four years ago, warning that the fix was in to favor his opponent. But here's another way to look at it. The fix may well have been in, but he did the fixing.
   The current talk follows his suggestion that the election be delayed, ostensibly because of the dangers of the corona virus and a Postal Service overwhelmed by a barrage of fake ballots. Reminder: the current chief of the Postal Service is an ardent Trump supporter.
   Another suspicion that the fix is in.
   Reality check: No election has ever been postponed, and the president has no authority to change the day of the general election. Only Congress can do that, and a president has no veto power over it.
   Second reality check: There is no evidence of substantial voter fraud. Repeated investigations have turned up only a handful of mistaken ballot submissions, usually by people who believed they were fully eligible but for some small reason were not. As for votes cast by undocumented aliens in the country illegally, they're not so stupid as to expose themselves to authorities and risk prison and deportation.
   But the biggest danger facing America later this year is that Trump will refuse to step aside despite an overwhelming loss by both popular vote and electoral vote. He is already warning of widespread fraud, despite there being no evidence that it is likely to happen.
   He could, of course, challenge the results in the courts, but that would require separate lawsuits in a multitude of states. That has already happened, but in only one state -- Florida -- and it involved the electoral count in a close race between George W. Bush and Al Gore in the election of 2000. It was not until Dec. 12 of that year that the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the recount and Gore conceded.
   The presidential election, by law, is held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which this year is November 3. The Electors then meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year will be December 14. Both dates are set by law, which can be changed only by Congress.
   Therefore, any claim or suggestion that the outcome of the presidential election won't be known for many weeks or even months, as the prez has warned, is nonsense.
   So what will he do if he loses? He will put the blame on someone or something else, as he has done repeatedly throughout his lifetime as his way of "proving" that he never loses. And don't expect him to concede.

A Declaration

   When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for the people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with a president, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
   Presidents derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and whenever any president becomes destructive of the people's unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is the right of the people to remove that president and elect a new one, who is more likely to ensure their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that a president duly elected should not be removed for light and transient causes, but when a long train of abuses shows a design to reduce the people to absolute despotism, it is their right and their duty to remove such a president.
   The current president has a history of repeated attempts to establish a tyranny over the states. As proof, consider these facts:
   He has refused to approve laws necessary for the public good.
   He has obstructed laws for the naturalization of foreigners, and blocked other laws that would encourage their immigration.
   He has tried to make judges dependent on his will alone.
   He has sent swarms of security forces to harass the people, without the consent of local legislators.
   He has excited domestic insurrection against these outside forces.
   We the people have asked repeatedly for changes, but these requests have been answered only by repeated injury.
   Therefore, a president whose character is marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to hold office as the leader of a free people.
   
   The above updates parts of a document published in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.

Danger Definitions

   The president used unidentifiable government security agents to control political opposition in Oregon, and has said he will take similar action in other American cities. An alternate term for such a government force is "secret state police."
   In German, the phrase is "geheime staats polizei," which in the 1930s was shortened to "gestapo."
   Be careful what you wish for. You may get it.

Self Praise

   I was angered today when I hear the current occupant of the Oval Office say, "I have done more for Black Americans than anyone, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln."

   That exception is only "possible"? Freedom from slavery is only a "possible exception"? What has he done that is greater or more important than freedom from slavery?

   Next perhaps he'll align himself with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and with John Lewis.

Civil War?

   As the Republican president sends federal agents into Democratic-controlled American cities to deal with protests, local officials point out that the forces are not wanted, have not been requested, and violate the Constitution.
   So what if he sends them in anyway, as he has threatened, to Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and other cities where there has been no violence?
   He has already sent forces into Portland, Oregon, and those troops wear camouflage outfits, without identification, drive unmarked vehicles and arrest people nowhere near federal properties.
   The consequence of a federal government sending troops into cities, bypassing local and state security forces, can swiftly lead to autocratic control or even a confrontation between independent local forces and an unwanted federal interference.
   Granted, he has not (yet) sent in active duty military forces, since that would be an even more clear violation of the Constitution, but he has sent in members of other federal security forces -- highly questionable in itself, since they have not been requested, wear military style camouflage gear and do not identify themselves.

Election Warning

"I will totally accept -- if I win."

   Question by Chris Wallace to President Trump: "Will you accept the results of the election?"
   Answer: "I'll have to see."
   Implication: He may not accept the result if he loses, and will refuse to leave the White House at the end of his term.
   Compare that conversation, broadcast today on Fox television, to Trump's answer to a similar question in October, 2016: "I will totally accept ... if I win."
   So if he loses the vote come November, will he or will he not accept the results? Given his attitude of four years ago, he may not, and could refuse to leave the White House when his term expires on January 20, 2021.
   As it is, he did in fact lose the popular vote for election in November 2016, but gained the presidency by winning the vote in the Electoral College, even as he claimed the entire process was "rigged" against him.
   This prompted resident cynic Pug Mahoney to wonder, Who did the rigging? Perhaps he and his team manipulated the electoral vote by focusing on the states where he was likely to win enough electoral votes to take the office, thus making the popular vote in many other states irrelevant.
   Already, many Americans are wondering via Internet postings what will happen if he refuses to concede and leave the White House. Will that mean the Secret Service will step in and escort him from the building? Or will Congress and the new president leave him there and ignore him?
   Considering his history, being ignored could well be a more severe loss to his ego than losing the election.

Setting an Example

   It has been said that a national leader sets an example for the rest of the country, but that the current president of the U.S. does not.
   Actually, he does set an example. By not wearing a mask during this time of rampant illness, even as he uses the term "plague," he says to Americans that it's OK to refuse to cover your mouth when you cough. By his behavior, he says it's OK to attend large gatherings like political rallies. By his insults, he shows that it's OK to ignore physicians about health issues.
   So follow his example: Don't wear a mask in public, and don't wear a seat belt when you drive. By this president's example, it's OK to be stupid.

Fake News

"If we did half the testing, we'd have half the cases." -- President Donald Trump.

"I've never been to Toledo, but that doesn't mean it's not there." -- Pug Mahoney.

   Watch for "official" government statistics issued by the White House to "prove" that the corona virus is under control. The president's team has ordered hospitals to submit its data to the White House-controlled Department of Health rather than to the independent Center for Disease Control (CDC). This will enable the loyalist team to scrub the data, changing the cause of death for many corona virus victims, thus "proving" that the pandemic is not only under control but is rapidly disappearing, as the president predicted several months ago.
   The president has repeatedly blamed the increase in infections on the increase in testing, insisting that fewer tests would mean fewer problems.
   Say what? If you stop looking for something, that does not mean it doesn't exist. Meanwhile, hospitals throughout America are renting refrigerator trucks to store the corpses of corona victims, because there is no room for mortuaries to take them. And intensive care units are overflowing their capacity to care for victims of the disease.
   Nonetheless, the president insists that there is no problem, and refuses to listen to briefings from Dr. Anthony Fauci of his own pandemic task force that the problem is getting worse as people ignore medical advice to wear facial coverings and avoid crowds.
   Fauci has been disinvited from meeting the president, and White House agents have begun attacking the infectious disease specialist for daring to disagree with the president.
   By the way, did you notice that mask worn by the president at his carefully arranged photo op as he visited a veterans' hospital was adorned with the presidential seal? All others were plain.
   Can you say, "Ego trip?"

Spill Chick

   Much has been said about the ability of computer programs to catch spelling errors, and it's true that such a program is a useful tool. But like any tool, it is only as good as its user.

   For example, an individual word may be spelled correctly, but if it's the wrong word, the computer will pass and move on to the rest of the peace.

  There's one.

   A member of the Irish parliament blamed the computer for not catching what she claimed was an error when she wrote in an email to colleagues that "the anus is on you," instead of  "the onus is on you."

   The error was not in the spelling, but in the writing. Each word was spelled correctly, but one was the wrong word.

   Here's another example of a sentence that will post a computer spill chick taste:

  "New is their thyme four awl gut man to came to the age of there potty."

   And of course there is the problem of British or American usage, or words borrowed from another language. And if you use "auto correct" after writing something, the machine will change words it does not recognize even if a word is spelled correctly, or if a writer is deliberately misspelling a word as a teaching example.

   So the lesson here is to use spell check but be aware of its limitations, and do NOT use any auto spell changing program.

   Editor's motto: Everyone should proof read their own copy, but no one should be the only one to proof read their copy. In addition, the machine wont flag messing worms, even if term needed is "word."

   By the way, this peace past the machines spill chick pogrom.

Update

   Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified against the president in a congressional impeachment trial, retired from the Army after being passed over for promotion, likely due to pressure from the White House.
   Roger Stone was convicted of lying to investigators about Russian interference in the 2016 election in an effort to protect the president, but his sentence was commuted by that same president a day before he was to start his prison term.

Biden: My Time

"When other folks get dizzy, I keep busy, bidin' my time." -- George & Ira Gershwin, 1930

   Corona virus fears have kept many Americans at home rather than attending crowded political rallies. And unlike the incumbent president, who is actively campaigning for re-election and seems to need massive rallies to stoke his ego, Democratic candidate Joe Biden stays home and only gives an occasional speech, most recently via computer to web sites and broadcasters.
   In this time of crisis, economic as well as physical health issues have become key issues for American voters and their families. But to ignore one and misrepresent the other would be hazardous to any candidate's political health, yet that seems to be just what the incumbent is doing.
   Biden, however, acknowledges the importance of both, wearing a face covering in public even as he offers a plan for economic recovery from the most serious recession to hit the nation since 2007 during the administration of Republican President George W. Bush.
   Biden took office as vice president under President Barack Obama in January 2009, and the economic crisis was over some six months later, beginning the longest period of growth in American history.
   And despite the current administration's claim of creating the prosperity, the reality is that Donald Trump inherited a healthy economy. "We  created the best economy in 30 years," Trump supporter Steven Moore said in an interview on Fox news. His associate Hogan Gidley, the Trump campaign's national press secretary, said that "We don't need to guess what a Biden economy would look like, since Americans have been forced to live through it already. Biden's policies caused the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression" of the 1930s.
   Fact check: Biden was not president during the recovery, which took only six months. He did, however, have some responsibility for economic policy during the Obama Administration, and this led to the long period of growth. The Trump administration did not "create" this "best economy," but rather inherited it. Recovery from the Great Depression was led by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, who inherited the crisis from Republican President Herbert Hoover.
   Now the issue facing voters is who would be better qualified to lead the nation back to economic as well as physical health; the candidate with experience in dealing with an economic crisis, who acknowledges the reality of a virus pandemic and urges everyone to take precautions, or the candidate who claims credit for an economic recovery that began before he took office, who denies the existence of a widespread death toll from a virulent disease, and who refuses to obey a subpoena asking for details about his business dealings. He insisted that 99 percent of those affected by a covid 19 infection recover completely. Meanwhile, more than 130,000 Americans have died from the disease.
   The choice is yours: A candidate with extensive experience in dealing with an economic crisis, or one who denies its existence and issues get-out-of-jail cards to his buddies who have confessed to a wide range of crimes.

Voice of Trumpland

   The Voice of America, traditionally, an independent news broadcaster known for its neutrality, is on its way to becoming a propaganda machine for the Trump Administration.
   Using the excuse that hiring foreign nationals takes away jobs from Americans, the new chief of the agency ordered the broadcaster not to renew visas for those experts in other languages and cultures who come from other nations.
   This means these experts will have to return to their home countries, perhaps to retaliation and repercussions from governments hostile to the U.S.
   Last month, we wrote as the shakeup started that top leadership at the Voice of America and senior journalists were replaced by avid Trump supporters, and we warned that the previously independent and reliable broadcaster will become a propaganda arm for conservative political followers of the current president.
   The new leader, Michael Pack, showed up for work in mid-June and immediately fired the chiefs of four -- count 'em, four -- broadcast networks supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media. They included Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Radio Free Asia; Office of Cuban Broadcasting, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. Earlier, two top officials at Voice of America resigned in anticipation of Pack's arrival.
   Pack also dissolved advisory boards for each of the networks and placed his own aides above them, according to a report by NPR. Pack gave no reason for his actions, NPR noted, other than saying that he could.
   The latest move, to deny visas to those who could supply reliable texts to the various broadcasters, means they would likely be replaced by Trump devotees, to be hired by the newly named presidential adherents.

SCOTUS Smackdown

   The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the president is not immune from prosecution, and must obey subpoenas sent by a state court and a congressional committee seeking his personal financial records.
   The court punted, however, in that it sent the two cases -- one state and one federal -- back to lower courts for further consideration. Result: His personal financial records are not likely to become public until after election day.
   Technically, the state case seeking his tax returns did not ask the president for them, but rather his accounting firm, and the records will have to be given to a New York grand jury investigating his activities before he was elected president. And since grand jury investigations are secret, whatever is in the documents won't be known until and unless charges are filed.
   The president has tried to block any and all attempts to see his financial records, unlike other presidents, who have voluntarily released them. And this causes resident cynic Pug Mahoney to wonder, What's he hiding? If he has done nothing wrong or illegal, why not show the evidence?
   Initially, he claimed his returns were "still under audit" by the Internal Revenue Service, that he is audited every year and therefore he cannot release them. But the IRS responded that while the agency cannot release the documents, any individual can do so at any time.
   Congressional committees, however, can subpoena such documents from the agency for use in formulating legislation, but the president's attorneys argued that the current move is more political harassment than real legislative activity.
   Both case now go back to lower courts to be resolved, and that's likely to take many months. The major part of today's decision, however, is that no one -- not even the president of the United States -- is above the law. And this follows precedents set in cases involved both Republican Richard Nixon and Democrat Bill Clinton.

Number Games

Figures don't lie, but liars do figure. -- Mark Twain

   The president claims that for 99 percent of those who contract the corona virus, the results are "totally harmless." Assuming that's true, then for the remaining one percent, the results are not harmless, and people die.
   Therefore, of the 3 million Americans who have contracted the virus, then according to the president's claim, only 30,000 (one percent of the total) are not harmless and could be potentially serious.
   Reality check: The death toll from the corona virus in America is now 130,000, in just five months.
   That's a lot more than one percent.

Que Tonto El

   Supporters of the president told Native American protestors at the Mount Rushmore rally to "Go home, back to where you came from." Which brought the response, "We are home, this is where we came from. You guys are the invaders."
   Couple that with the president's defense of mask wearing that he did wear one, once, and that "It looked good. It made me look like the Lone Ranger."
   Except that the Lone Ranger's mask covered only the eyes, not the nose and mouth, which is required to help control spread of the corona virus.
   Meanwhile, the meaning of "Tonto" in Spanish is "fool," and usually refers to a stupid person. However, the origin of the word "fool" goes back to Medieval times, and referred to a court jester, whose duty it was to amuse the master by pointing to connotations that others would not say, sometimes for nefarious reasons.
   In that context, the court jester, or fool, was neither stupid or ignorant, but a clever advisor.
   Also, the Lone Ranger's "faithful companion" used the term "Kemosabe," which can be said to derive from the Spanish phrase "qui no sabe," which means "he who doesn't know."
   So it can be said that the two were engaging in friendly insults, which close companions do.
   Therefore, when the president says wearing a Lone Ranger-type mask in these days of soaring covid infections makes him look good, the nickname "Kemosabe" may well apply, since as the name implies, he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Health and Politics

We report, you decide. -- Journalist Pug Mahoney

Quotes from the president:

"The crisis is being handled."
"We're putting out the flames."
"We have (the pandemic) very much under control."

   Dr. Henry Fauci, leading epidemiologist in America, says the corona pandemic is getting worse, and the government Center for Disease Control predicts 148,000 deaths from the virus by the end of this month.
   Republican supporters of the president insist Fauci should follow the president's lead and endorse his policies or face removal.