I was trying to remember this last night while blogging: at band practice, our guitarist kept calling a fermata a "four-mata." The bassist said, "We must have to hold it for four beats," but the guitarist said, "No, two beats. It's a two-mata," so I sang, "You say tomato, I say two-mata." Then today I was walking to a meeting with my boss and another guy, and we were talking about the administrative center they want to put all financial specialists into. At first they called them "pods," but then we all joked that we were Pod People, so they changed the name to SLACs (can't remember what that stood for), until we started calling ourselves Slackers. They renamed the groups yet again to Administrative Regional Teams, or ARTs... and the other guy pointed out that I would be in a Financial Administrative Regional Team, or FART. In fact, I will be in FART 5, and I thought that would be a fabulous blog post title, but I'd already promised Travalon that I would call this blog post "Travalon's Two Cents." And here they are:
After this latest presidential election, I’m not really angry about the results, but I must admit I’m very disappointed and shocked. I just don’t understand where more than half the voters in America are coming from.I’m not a Liberal Democrat, I’ve never been one and I do not plan on becoming one. I’ve voted Republican almost my whole adult life, coming from a conservative business owning family. However, in 2016 I voted third party ( just didn’t like either choice) and 2020 was the first time I voted for a Democrat since 1976 when I randomly picked Jimmy Carter over Gerald Ford in a mock election in grade school. This is because I just can’t stand the extremely vile personality of one Donald J. Trump. I thought character in a president really mattered as the Senate Republicans who impeached Bill Clinton for having an extramarital affair while in office said.
Apparently in the America of 2024 character in a president does not matter and the illusion among the vast majority of blue collar middle class and maybe even poor backcountry voters of saving a few dollars on groceries and a few cents on gas under Trump while expecting more inflation under Harris ( despite the fact it’s now down significantly )makes his vile personality and lack of character along with his status as the first convicted felon in our history to ever run for president totally irrelevant.
I understand many of these voters who first watched him verbally abuse and relentlessly attack his opponents in the crudest, most un-presidential way during the 2016 Republican primary debates thought he was cool and “ just like one of us” perceiving him as a normal guy, not a stuffy prim and proper boring politician and that he genuinely cares about and will fight for them. I read this is how the huge cult of the MAGA movement was born. In reality Donald Trump is an east coast wealthy elite crook, who only cares about his own interests and fellow super wealthy elites.
I was willing to give him a chance while watching these debates until he was asked about how as president he would handle the situation of the Mexican Border his response was “ we’re going to build a wall and Mexico’s going to pay for it” I thought “how? “ we can’t force them to, we have to trade with Mexico and are we going to be the bully of the world under this guy? I was turned off to Trump from that point on. I also come from a very conservative Republican county in Wisconsin(Waukesha) so it’s not the change in my life moving to more Liberal Madison or being married to Famous Hat - who is moderate, sometimes tending to lean to the left a bit. My gut feeling is that Donald Trump just isn’t a good person, at all, he’s a horrible one.
He somehow won the nomination over 15 much more presidential-like and more qualified Republican candidates, his brash arrogant and crude style worked. It showed during the actual presidential debates against Hillary Clinton when he told her “ You should be in jail!” regarding the Benghazi email scandal she was accused of, and was never found guilty. Then Trump lined up a bunch of women and claimed they were all victims of sexual assault by former president Bill Clinton, who was now out of office for almost two decades, not Trump’s opponent. No proof, Trump probably just paid them. What other presidential candidate in our history has resorted to sleazy low tactics like this to win an election? Well, he won- not by the popular vote though.
Regarding his MAGA ( Make America Great Again ) slogan, not original first used by Ronald Reagan in 1980, who favored the rich but was a 100 times classier individual than Trump- what time period of greatness does that exactly refer to, as great as when? I can’t picture it being his first presidential term which I guess was ok, but I don’t remember anything particularly great about it. His huge border wall with Mexico promise wasn’t delivered, only two miles were built. Yes, there wasn’t inflation but his relentless tariffs on other countries we need to trade with the stock market 800-1000 points a day, which I noticed as an investor. He ran up the federal deficit by trillions and his sheer ignorance of the Covid -19 pandemic, getting rid of Obama’s pandemic response team, and not encouraging public mask use may have cost millions of Americans who became infected their lives. I don’t get it. Also he sparked the January 6th insurrection on the capital- a lot of unnecessary violence and death threats to his opponents in the Senate and House, because he was a sore loser, was guilty of a rape charge, actually convicted of committing adultery and paying a porn star hush money to cover it up( Trump supporting devout Catholics and so called Christians please don’t speak out about the evils of internet porn use when you vote for a presidential candidate who fully immersed himself in that world by his actions) let’s see what else.. he stole official White House documents and hid them in his Florida mansion, and tried to tamper with Georgia election results so he could overturn the state. Too little too late anyway, oh yeah and death threats against his former vice president for calling the final election results fairly. Just some of his arrogant crude rhetoric too;” African s—thole counties” “good people on both sides “ in a violent pro-Trump crowd incident in Virginia resulting in several deaths too. And history says Nixon was a crook for one incident? Trump makes him look like a saint to me. I’d rather vote for Tricky Dick’s corpse.
He also admirers evil dictators like Vladimir Putin ( calling his military invasion of Ukraine brilliant) Hitler, Stalin and Kim Jin-Un who has already fired nuclear missiles at other countries which luckily have failed. With his crazy extreme right wing proposals for his upcoming term of project 25( 80 hour workweeks for 40 hours pay) mass deportations of illegal and legal immigrants badly needed for agricultural work and other thankless jobs most whites don’t want to do, and many more tariffs on our global trading partners( expected by economists to drive inflation way back up, more than it was under Biden) and taking revenge on all his opponents- I believe he wants to be a dictator himself, turning our Democracy into a fascist state( if he can) I really don’t think he gives a damn about abortion either ( claimed to be the main season right wing Catholics have to vote against the evil pro choice Democrats) They usually go down under Democrats as there are more help options available for mothers with unwanted pregnancies and up under Republicans. He really didn’t give a damn about the deaths of millions of Americans under his watch. Why Trump of all choices for President America? why??? You’ve become a pretty crazy place that I always thought was pretty sane, just and yes, great! up until this orange stain and his massive cult following came along. I’ll never be able to trust you again!
Ok I’ve vented enough. Trump will be our next President no matter what I think about it. I have plenty of Trump supporters ( including two of my brothers in my life. I’m definitely not holding a bitter grudge against them for how them voted or want them completely out of my life, but our relationships may not be so close or cozy anymore, especially if you bring up Trump or any pro-Trump related political issues in my presence. I’m just going to leave the room then and live my life around you, like walking around dog poop on a trail. I took a two week break any from Facebook use, and it’s refreshing! I broke a very bad habit of looking at it too much, wasting too much time on it and I’m proud of myself. These are due to seeing posts by very pro-Trump hometown H.S. friends ( really acquaintances who don’t mean much to me anyway) the day after the election, rubbing in Trump’s recent victory in the face of the left. I don’t mean to see a cartoon of a big red middle finger “ This is for calling us garbage “ ( Just Biden’s thoughtless gaffe) a big red wave or Trump driving a garbage truck “ Cleaning Up The Crap” This is like a boxer who just knocked his opponent down for a 10 count victory and then kicks him in the head. Not humble gracious winners. No class at all. I not only unfollowed these people, I unfriended and blocked them. So my friends list is a little smaller and I may get a few less birthday wishes in two weeks on FB, oh well….They pop up anyway, arguing with posts by Democrat friends relentlessly. I just want to see posts about Wolves football, classic rock or Australian birds. When I go back on next week, it won’t be for more than than 10 minutes a day. More than that could be asking for trouble, running unexpectedly into some kind of pro-Trump garbage.
Maybe it’s living in la-la land and not the grim reality of life on our country today, but I want to engage myself in as many diversions from Trump and his disgusting politics as possible. I’d much rather watch hours of classic cartoons than a few minutes of CNN and especially not pro-Trump fake news Fox. I don’t need my viewing pleasure tarnished by seeing his hideous smug smirk.
I went to a nearby dive bar the other day called The Willows. I enjoy its friendly atmosphere and I’m usually very comfortable having a drink or two there. After this election I was a bit leery someone might mention how great it is that Trump won as most of the clientele is very blue collar. A half drunk older guy did indeed mention the election loudly out of clear blue, but to my pleasant surprise he said “ I voted for Kamala Harris, not really a vote for her but a vote against Trump - he is one vile motherf—ker! If he focuses on the economy and not taking revenge on people, maybe we’ll be ok…” well said, but that’s a big “ if”
Apparently in the America of 2024 character in a president does not matter and the illusion among the vast majority of blue collar middle class and maybe even poor backcountry voters of saving a few dollars on groceries and a few cents on gas under Trump while expecting more inflation under Harris ( despite the fact it’s now down significantly )makes his vile personality and lack of character along with his status as the first convicted felon in our history to ever run for president totally irrelevant.
I understand many of these voters who first watched him verbally abuse and relentlessly attack his opponents in the crudest, most un-presidential way during the 2016 Republican primary debates thought he was cool and “ just like one of us” perceiving him as a normal guy, not a stuffy prim and proper boring politician and that he genuinely cares about and will fight for them. I read this is how the huge cult of the MAGA movement was born. In reality Donald Trump is an east coast wealthy elite crook, who only cares about his own interests and fellow super wealthy elites.
I was willing to give him a chance while watching these debates until he was asked about how as president he would handle the situation of the Mexican Border his response was “ we’re going to build a wall and Mexico’s going to pay for it” I thought “how? “ we can’t force them to, we have to trade with Mexico and are we going to be the bully of the world under this guy? I was turned off to Trump from that point on. I also come from a very conservative Republican county in Wisconsin(Waukesha) so it’s not the change in my life moving to more Liberal Madison or being married to Famous Hat - who is moderate, sometimes tending to lean to the left a bit. My gut feeling is that Donald Trump just isn’t a good person, at all, he’s a horrible one.
He somehow won the nomination over 15 much more presidential-like and more qualified Republican candidates, his brash arrogant and crude style worked. It showed during the actual presidential debates against Hillary Clinton when he told her “ You should be in jail!” regarding the Benghazi email scandal she was accused of, and was never found guilty. Then Trump lined up a bunch of women and claimed they were all victims of sexual assault by former president Bill Clinton, who was now out of office for almost two decades, not Trump’s opponent. No proof, Trump probably just paid them. What other presidential candidate in our history has resorted to sleazy low tactics like this to win an election? Well, he won- not by the popular vote though.
Regarding his MAGA ( Make America Great Again ) slogan, not original first used by Ronald Reagan in 1980, who favored the rich but was a 100 times classier individual than Trump- what time period of greatness does that exactly refer to, as great as when? I can’t picture it being his first presidential term which I guess was ok, but I don’t remember anything particularly great about it. His huge border wall with Mexico promise wasn’t delivered, only two miles were built. Yes, there wasn’t inflation but his relentless tariffs on other countries we need to trade with the stock market 800-1000 points a day, which I noticed as an investor. He ran up the federal deficit by trillions and his sheer ignorance of the Covid -19 pandemic, getting rid of Obama’s pandemic response team, and not encouraging public mask use may have cost millions of Americans who became infected their lives. I don’t get it. Also he sparked the January 6th insurrection on the capital- a lot of unnecessary violence and death threats to his opponents in the Senate and House, because he was a sore loser, was guilty of a rape charge, actually convicted of committing adultery and paying a porn star hush money to cover it up( Trump supporting devout Catholics and so called Christians please don’t speak out about the evils of internet porn use when you vote for a presidential candidate who fully immersed himself in that world by his actions) let’s see what else.. he stole official White House documents and hid them in his Florida mansion, and tried to tamper with Georgia election results so he could overturn the state. Too little too late anyway, oh yeah and death threats against his former vice president for calling the final election results fairly. Just some of his arrogant crude rhetoric too;” African s—thole counties” “good people on both sides “ in a violent pro-Trump crowd incident in Virginia resulting in several deaths too. And history says Nixon was a crook for one incident? Trump makes him look like a saint to me. I’d rather vote for Tricky Dick’s corpse.
He also admirers evil dictators like Vladimir Putin ( calling his military invasion of Ukraine brilliant) Hitler, Stalin and Kim Jin-Un who has already fired nuclear missiles at other countries which luckily have failed. With his crazy extreme right wing proposals for his upcoming term of project 25( 80 hour workweeks for 40 hours pay) mass deportations of illegal and legal immigrants badly needed for agricultural work and other thankless jobs most whites don’t want to do, and many more tariffs on our global trading partners( expected by economists to drive inflation way back up, more than it was under Biden) and taking revenge on all his opponents- I believe he wants to be a dictator himself, turning our Democracy into a fascist state( if he can) I really don’t think he gives a damn about abortion either ( claimed to be the main season right wing Catholics have to vote against the evil pro choice Democrats) They usually go down under Democrats as there are more help options available for mothers with unwanted pregnancies and up under Republicans. He really didn’t give a damn about the deaths of millions of Americans under his watch. Why Trump of all choices for President America? why??? You’ve become a pretty crazy place that I always thought was pretty sane, just and yes, great! up until this orange stain and his massive cult following came along. I’ll never be able to trust you again!
Ok I’ve vented enough. Trump will be our next President no matter what I think about it. I have plenty of Trump supporters ( including two of my brothers in my life. I’m definitely not holding a bitter grudge against them for how them voted or want them completely out of my life, but our relationships may not be so close or cozy anymore, especially if you bring up Trump or any pro-Trump related political issues in my presence. I’m just going to leave the room then and live my life around you, like walking around dog poop on a trail. I took a two week break any from Facebook use, and it’s refreshing! I broke a very bad habit of looking at it too much, wasting too much time on it and I’m proud of myself. These are due to seeing posts by very pro-Trump hometown H.S. friends ( really acquaintances who don’t mean much to me anyway) the day after the election, rubbing in Trump’s recent victory in the face of the left. I don’t mean to see a cartoon of a big red middle finger “ This is for calling us garbage “ ( Just Biden’s thoughtless gaffe) a big red wave or Trump driving a garbage truck “ Cleaning Up The Crap” This is like a boxer who just knocked his opponent down for a 10 count victory and then kicks him in the head. Not humble gracious winners. No class at all. I not only unfollowed these people, I unfriended and blocked them. So my friends list is a little smaller and I may get a few less birthday wishes in two weeks on FB, oh well….They pop up anyway, arguing with posts by Democrat friends relentlessly. I just want to see posts about Wolves football, classic rock or Australian birds. When I go back on next week, it won’t be for more than than 10 minutes a day. More than that could be asking for trouble, running unexpectedly into some kind of pro-Trump garbage.
Maybe it’s living in la-la land and not the grim reality of life on our country today, but I want to engage myself in as many diversions from Trump and his disgusting politics as possible. I’d much rather watch hours of classic cartoons than a few minutes of CNN and especially not pro-Trump fake news Fox. I don’t need my viewing pleasure tarnished by seeing his hideous smug smirk.
I went to a nearby dive bar the other day called The Willows. I enjoy its friendly atmosphere and I’m usually very comfortable having a drink or two there. After this election I was a bit leery someone might mention how great it is that Trump won as most of the clientele is very blue collar. A half drunk older guy did indeed mention the election loudly out of clear blue, but to my pleasant surprise he said “ I voted for Kamala Harris, not really a vote for her but a vote against Trump - he is one vile motherf—ker! If he focuses on the economy and not taking revenge on people, maybe we’ll be ok…” well said, but that’s a big “ if”
It looks bleak with the Senate and House going all red and with all the yes-men he already appointed to his cabinet, but I hope certain laws, the Constitution and states rights and maybe a enough sane logical thinking in the Senate and House slow this wanna-be first American dictator in his tracks and sanity and normalcy in Washington and the nation prevails.
One more thing on a personal level, of course it’s very disturbing, but I decided not to let Trump and his horrible proposals and arrogant crude rhetoric make me sick or drive me crazy, because he is definitely a narcissist, and if he knew that I didn’t vote for him and I was mentally suffering, he would enjoy that, he would sit back and laugh. Narcissists want their enemies or people who disagree with or don’t like them to suffer. I’m going to be ok and not give the orange stain the satisfaction.
God Bless you, America - you stupid fool !
One more thing on a personal level, of course it’s very disturbing, but I decided not to let Trump and his horrible proposals and arrogant crude rhetoric make me sick or drive me crazy, because he is definitely a narcissist, and if he knew that I didn’t vote for him and I was mentally suffering, he would enjoy that, he would sit back and laugh. Narcissists want their enemies or people who disagree with or don’t like them to suffer. I’m going to be ok and not give the orange stain the satisfaction.
God Bless you, America - you stupid fool !
Famous Hat again. I sent this email yesterday: "I've been thinking about our conversation more, and the biggest reason that I am angry with Trump supporters is because they supported a man who tried to violently overthrow the government. Considering that their side always says they are the "patriots," that makes them huge hypocrites. And if they say they don't support everything he did, but they are voting for him as the lesser evil, then they either need to take back all the years they called people who voted Democrat "baby killers" when those people might not have supported abortion, or they need to own their treason. You can't have it both ways unless you are a hypocrite. You can't say the other side supports every evil their leaders support and then turn around and say you don't support everything your evil leader did. I consider them hypocrites and traitors and huge liars, and I will not pray with them until they have shown a modicum of contrition. Which I doubt they ever will. Since Catholic media seems to be in on the lying, per your own report, I am seriously considering leaving the Catholic church. At least we have been trying to find the people who haven't bent their knees to Baal, if they exist in this country. A lot of Catholics here support Trump over the Pope, which is nuts. I've had it with all of them."
It is very strange that "the party of law and order" elected a criminal, and "the party of patriotism" elected a traitor who tried to violently overthrow the government, and "the party of Christians" elected a man who regularly breaks all the commandments. I don't believe they stand for anything anymore, other than the simple maxim: "Trump good, others bad."
Famous Hat
1 comment:
One correction; Trump’s tariffs caused the stock market to lose 800-1000 points during his first term every time they went through or even just proposed. I’m amazed our economy recovered from that and other countries still trade with us. Also, one more little analogy, I’m pleased that the current Republican Senate is slowing down and battling confirmation of Trump’s new attorney general pick- Matt Gaetz who is accused of a sex trafficking incident with a minor. It’s their way of saying “ ok, Mr. President-Elect this is like a big bag of candy, you can have a lot of pieces but not every last damn one ! “
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