Why lie about Trump's accomplishments?

I have watched several variations of this post pop up on my timeline by people who copied and pasted it.

The problem is that it is excrement of a bovine nature.

Here is the post:

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“I am making this post so it will show back up as a future memory on my timeline: Today is 2 days after the 2020 election with still no winner declared due to corruption.

Gasoline is currently $1.88 per gallon and $2.08 per gallon diesel.

The stock market closed at 27,848, even though we have been fighting the COVID for 9 months. Our GDP growth for the 3rd Qtr was 33 percent.

We had the best economy ever until COVID and it is recovering well.

We have not had any new wars or conflicts in the last 4 years.

North Korea has been under control and has not been testing any missiles.

Isis has not been heard from for over 3 years.

Interest rates are 2.78 percent for a 30 year mortgage. The housing market is the strongest it has been in years.  Homes have appreciated at an unbelievable rate and sell well.

What is next for our country is scary and i worry for my child’s future.

Copy and pasted

Let’s see what it’s like 1 year from now.

This is so true. I don’t understand why people can’t see this. The funny thing is the people who hate President Trump have no idea why they hate him. He is not a perfect man but he loves God, our military, police officer’s, unborn children, and our country. Plus he is a brilliant business man. I’m praying that God will show mercy on our country once again”

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OK, let’s break this turd down.

“still no winner declared due to corruption.”

The delay is actually because of the unusually high volume of mail in ballots, due to the pandemic…

https://6abc.com/us-election-vote-count-2020-presidential-allegheny-county-clark/7675708/#:~:text=As%20eager%20Americans%20sit%20on%20the%20edge%20of,machine%2C%20being%20processed%20and%20counted%20on%20the%20spot.

… in fact, the biggest threat to our election is not “corruption” but misinformation (like this post, which was probably originally written by a Russian operative).

https://who13.com/news/politics/secretary-pate-biggest-election-threat-is-misinformation/

“Gasoline is currently $1.88 per gallon and $2.08 per gallon diesel.”

Gas prices are low because of COVID, in April gas prices were under a dollar per gallon and dropping…

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/04/18/gas-prices-2020-coronavirus-lowest-gasoline-prices-covid-19/5160056002/

…internationally, crude oil prices dropped on $0 per barrel for the first time in history on April 20^th due to the pandemic. It had nothing to do with Trump.

https://abc7news.com/what-does-negative-oil-prices-mean-live-crude-price-in-dollar-will-gas-go-down-to-how-much-drop/6118783/

“We had the best economy ever until COVID”

Trump inherited economy from Obama… https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/2c298bda-8aee-4923-84a3-95a54f7f6e6f/did-trump-create-or-inherit-the-strong-economy-final.pdf

… and ruined it by going 1.9 trillion in debt for tax cuts to the rich resulting in a poor GDP to debt ratio that lead to the recession started *BEFORE* lockdown/COVID.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/us-recession-started-in-february-researchers-say

The stock market is not the economy. A Wall Street recovery is less and less linked to a Main Street recovery.

https://www.salon.com/2020/11/02/the-stock-market-is-not-the-economy_partner/

“Our GDP growth for the 3rd Qtr was 33 percent” sounds great but it is misleading. It fell 31.4 percent in the second quarter (the largest shrinkage on record), so most of that was regaining ground from most people going back to work after lockdown. Actual growth from where we started would only be 1.6 percent.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/10/3a96396360b5-urgent-us-economy-grows-record-331-in-3rd-qtr-after-plunge-amid-pandemic.html

“North Korea has been under control and has not been testing any missiles.”

Not even close, there have been over 32 North Korea missile tests during Trump’s four years in office. The most recent was in March of this year. (FYI there were 7 in all 8 years of the Obama Administration.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_Korean_missile_tests

“Isis has not been heard from in three years.”

There have been 40 Isis attacks in the last three years resulting in appx 1,600 deaths and over 2,350 wounded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents_linked_to_ISIL

“Interest rates are 2.78 percent for a 30 year mortgage.  The housing market is the strongest it has been in years.  Homes have appreciated at an unbelievable rate and sell well.”

As us usually done in bad economic times, to get people to borrow money to spend, interest rates were cut by the Federal Reserve. This was done in March due to COVID. For the first time ever, it was cut to .01 percent…

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/15/economy/federal-reserve/index.html

… mortgage rates were cut as well resulting in a temporarily stronger than average housing market…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/mortgage-rates-are-down-due-to-covid-19-should-you-refinance/ar-BB11H7ZZ

… which may even lead to a housing bubble that may burst and cause harm to our future economy (2008 anyone?).

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-09-25/there-s-a-housing-bubble-lurking-in-the-recession

“He’s a brilliant businessman” No, not really.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/as-a-businessman-trump-was-the-biggest-loser-of-all

“The funny thing is the people who hate President Trump have no idea why they hate him.”

Nope I know exactly why I hate him because he’s a racist, sexist, incompetent, venal, greedy con man sexual predator who traffics in conspiracy theories and transactional ethics. I hate him because he embarrasses me when he alienates our allies abroad and cozies up to dictators and most of all I hate liars and he LIES more than any politician ever in the history of our country. That is not hyperbolic exaggeration but actual counted, documented, verifiable, blatant lies.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/fact-checker-president-trump-made-19127-false-or-misleading-claims-in-1226-days/ar-BB14RCpH

 

Four ways to fix the government

 First eliminate the Electoral College.

Conservatives whine that they do not want to get rid of it because they don't want to be ruled by decisions of people in New York and California. Which seems bigoted. Those are both large and diverse states. It is code for “liberal” but truthfully, they are more mixed politicly than most states in the conservative South. Proof it is bigoted: They don’t mention Texas which has 10 million more people than New York, but it is conservative, so it works against their argument.

The problem with the EC is just that it flips their concern around giving more power to 1-3 swing states. In 2000 a mere 537 votes in Florida counted more than the 543,816 nationwide votes.

In 2016 they credit the upsets in Wisconsin (122,748 vote difference), Pennsylvania (44,292) and Michigan (10,704) as why Clinton lost. Meaning 177,744 votes spread across three states counted more than the almost 3 million nationwide votes.

There is something intrinsically broken here in terms of representation when one party has gotten the most votes in 4 of the last 5 elections but "lost" 3 out of those same 5.

 

Second Make the Senate Representational.

If the country had a senate based on population it would better represent the country. California’s senators represent almost 20 million people each, while Wyoming’s senators represent 286,191 each. That’s slightly less than a 1:80 ratio. The lack of representation extends out like ripples in a pond. Even though they have a majority, Republicans they represent 15 million less Americans than their Democratic colleagues and using this majority they denied Obama (who actually got the most votes) a SCOTUS selection giving Trump the opportunity to select his third. That means a 6th GOP justice (making the court 6-3) will be nominated by president who lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes and will be confirmed by senators representing 15 million less Americans.

This is not representational government.  It’s tyranny of the minority.

  

Third Eliminate Gerrymandering.

Gerrymandering is redrawing political districts in states to favor one party over the other. Both parties do it (although republicans do it more), and they do it to keep “safe” seats. But the problem with “safe” seats is both complacency and intractability. Eliminating gerrymandering means elected officials must change with the times as issues evolve and make compromises to appeal to voters across the political spectrum. They must address issues at a local level instead of nationalizing local elections. This will reduce extremes in both parties, which reduces rhetoric and fosters cooperation since they have to win the votes of a cross section of society and not just a sampling of their own party.

 

Fourth Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine (and make sure it extends to internet outlets).

Instated in 1949 by the FCC to ensure honest, equitable and balanced presentation of controversial issues, the fairness doctrine was eliminated by Reagan in 1987. This gave rise to infotainment of Fox News and Conservative Talk Radio. This has led to people getting information not based on truth or accuracy but rather what they are comfortable with based on their implicit biases. Sadly, when given an option many people will not base their opinions of facts (as it should be) but rather seeking out information that reinforces their existing beliefs even if it is not true. Over the decades it has been weaponized. Legitimate media has been vilified by propaganda. Science and provable facts have been repeatedly ignored. Foreign adversaries have used social media to take advantage of it putting out misinformation. Websites like The Blaze and Breitbart put out information to create division and resentment sometimes using false information and other times using true information but taking it out so of context that it can be interpreted as meaning the opposite of what it actually says.  This type of Infotainment has resulted conservatives demonizing the left so completely that people believe we are pedophiles that are trafficking children in pizza parlor basements and drinking their blood to stay young. That is an actual conspiracy theory on the right. It has gone mainstream with actual representatives saying they believe it and actual office holders refusing to denounce it. Nonsense this extreme would not have reached a national level if the Fairness Doctrine were still in effect.

Being on the right side of history

 As I said before, I would much rather be posting about sci-fi, writing, tv, comics, movies, and books but because Trump is such an existential danger to our country and the Constitution, I have to speak out. I used to *only* post about those things. But now...

A little while ago local photographer mocked me sarcastically saying he could see I was changing so many minds. Make no mistake my feelings were not hurt, because his barely literate posts revealed that he was not burdened with an over abundance of education or understanding. But he made a point (probably by accident).

I'm not changing minds.

If you care more about party than country you will still vote for Trump no matter the number of laws violated. No matter how much of the Constitution is violated. No matter how much our credibility abroad is diminished. No matter how many lies are told. No matter how many lives are lost. You will gobble up the untrue smears against BLM, Antifa, scientists and journalists. No matter how many people are murdered, no matter how emboldened the white supremacists become, no matter what facts are provided, no matter the sources sighted or recordings exist.

I really do believe that Dr. King was right and that the arc of our history of our country, while long, will bend toward justice. Depending on how this election and the next few years unfold, it may be decade, or a generation, or a century, but eventually, people will look back at this Administration and see what we see when we look back at Nixon, or McCarthy, or with the current revelation of forced sterilization in ICE detentions centers, possibly even Hitler (without it being hyperbole).

However, the question persists: Why continue when it falls on deaf ears (or due to unfollowing or unfriending is simply "preaching to the choir")?

A.J. Muste nailed it with this quote when he was asked a similar question by a reporter.

Twenty years of propaganda has led to hate... and Trump.

 I miss posting about comics, sci-fi, writing and other nerdy things. I really do. I used to avoid posting about politics, but now my entire social media feed is virtually political. The reason is simple.

This is not any other election. This is not any other President.

With each day our commander in chief becomes more unstable, craven and venal. With over 20 years of Fox News and the advent of right wing propaganda sites like the Blaze, Breitbart, InfoWars, etc. The right has demonized the left to the degree that they hate us more than the Russians. They don't see us as Americans, hell, they barely see us has human. Their hate is so all consuming they will follow anyone who opposes us. They will ignore facts, science and truth if they don't fit their political view and will accept fake news and lies because they are more comfortable with what they are hearing.

Enter Donald Trump, who is at worst a traitor to America and at best a useful idiot to Putin. A man who who is sexist, racist, and cowardly. But he is still followed by a staunch 40-something percent of the electorate. They share posts that are factually incorrect or just plain hateful. They don't even care because the ends appear to justify the means. They will over look the hundreds of thousands that have died due to his mishandling of COVID (in fact many prolong it by refusing to wear a mask). They will overlook the graft of overcharging the secret service at Tump resorts and hotels. They will overlook the violations of the Constitution like asking the foreign countries for help during an election or holding people without benefit of counsel. They will overlook violations Hatch act during the RNC. They will overlook the appointments of cronies that have conflicts of interest like the Post Master General, who owns stock in the private industry competition. They will overlook mocking a disabled reporter. They will overlook eliminating oversight on COVID relief for small business that resulted in millions going to large companies before small companies could get aid. They will repeat and accept talking points that are divisive. Like trying to turn people who are working against those who lost their jobs because they are collecting unemployment. Or blame immigrants for the shrinking job market. They will accuse those who want everyone to have health care of being a communist. They will accuse those who are dedicated to fighting fascism of being fascists. Or the false notion that all protesters are looting and rioting when 93% of BLM protests are peaceful (and how many of the remaining 7% were actually started by BLM and not outside agitators trying to make BLM look bad?). They will overlook ordering violence toward peaceful protesters for a photo op in front of a church. They will repeat scare tactic lies that the left are going to take your guns or outlaw Christianity even though they made that claim in 2008 and 2012 and it didn't happen then either. Let us not forget the lies. Lie after lie after lie. Even thought there is video to prove the lies. He lies like others breath. And yet he is supported by people who claim to be Christian. In fact, his followers will launch smear campaigns against good people if they disagree with the president (like they have Fauci). They spread ridiculous conspiracy theories (QAnon, PizzaGate). Their hypocrisy is mindboggling. They will defend him no matter how great the evidence and attack the other side no matter how slim the evidence or small the issue. No moral act is too repugnant (like mocking Biden for visiting his son's grave, or ignoring Trump bragging about sexual assault, attacking and insulting Gold Star families and service men and women, or stealing from a children's cancer charity). They will give him credit for the economy that he inherited from Obama and ruined by going a trillion dollars into deeper into debt to give the rich tax cuts, resulting in the US going into a recession literally the month before COVID hit. They defend his change in immigration policy that resulted in the inhumane caging of children, separating them from their parents. They ignore the 14 year old warning from the FBI that white supremacist are infiltrating police at local levels across the country and find excuses to look the other way when countless people color are killed. "He had a record, he committed a crime, it was self defense." Even when the victims were unarmed, cuffed, outnumbered 4 to 1, shot in the back, or asleep. They pretend to support "law and order" but cheer the murder and assault of legal protesters who are doing nothing wrong or simply defending themselves. And yet, at the end, we are treated like the traitors and animals. We are beaten and maced and shot at like it's a liberal safari.

We are compared to demons and falsely accused of wanting to teach pedophilia as a normal sexuality in schools because we support LGBTQ issues. They falsely accuse us of being baby killers because we support a woman's right to chose, even going so far as falsely claiming liberals are taking newborns slitting their throats thin putting them back in the mothers and claiming it's an abortion. A horrifying notion. One only a sick mind could come up with, and yet it's a false claim they make about us. (They truth about abortion is the conservatives don't want to end it because they want to use it has a wedge issue for elections. If you don't believe me consider this: Since Roe v. Wade in 1973 we have had a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for 45 of those 47 years. Enough to over turn it. We have had six Republican presidents - 28 years). These repeated lies and conspiracy theories that make them hate us, and make them want to harm us. They also make them turn there backs on all the moral and decent things they have spent years claiming to support: truth, family values, honesty, integrity, dealing fairly with others or even treating others as they wish to be treated.

These repeated lies and conspiracy theories have caused unreasonable resentment and hate in the hearts of our friends and neighbors. At least I hope that's what caused it. I pray that's what cause it. Because the alternative is that they were always bloodthirsty, dishonest people who hid their hatred behind false piety.

Insurance and Lawyer Woes. An Open Question.

This is one for legal and insurance people.

About two months after Mom died (October ‘17), Dad and I went to a lawyer's office to work up a Power of Attorney and Will. While we were there the lawyer offered to file the two life insurance policies for Dad. Time went by, one paid out the other did not. The lawyer sent a follow up letter and the company replied that they had no record of her policy. This was around the time Dad passed (February ’18). So, some time went by before I contacted the lawyer again, just because of, well, dealing with everything. When I did, they said they would again contact the insurance company saying they no insurance company would risk a judgement against them because it would hurt their standing. In the meantime, Dad’s insurance went through, save one policy that was either canceled or was a term polity that ended in 2011. It was all timely and explained by July ’18. No real problem. However, no response from the nonpayer on Mom’s insurance. Periodically, I would send an email to the lawyer’s assistant/paralegal. I requested the lawyer move on to the next step. Mom had been dead for 11 months. The last few months dad was alive he would ask *every* single day if I had heard from the lawyer about the life insurance. He was retired and alone and in that situation the days seem long. I spent too much time dwelling on it. We even had arguments over it. These things take time, I would say. He was hyper focused. But I digress…

I emailed again in August 2018, no response.

September. No response.

October. I questioned if they were even getting my e-mails.

They responded by setting up a phone conference in November. We spoke and the lawyer said that it would not be cost effective to go to court over the policy. That didn’t make sense to me. First it seemed like a huge loophole that unscrupulous businesses would take advantage of. “We don’t pay out on policies that small because they can’t afford to sue to get the funds.” Heck, there is even small claims court exist for small amounts of money. Is there a legal donut hole? One would think if the paperwork is in order, it would be a slam dunk and wouldn’t the loser have to pay the court costs or they be included in the suit? I asked the questions, but I received no answers. He made a hasty excuse to get off the phone and promised to call back. He didn’t. I made another appointment for another phone conference. They called and claimed he was in court on the scheduled day of the call. They could not make a new appointment because of the uncertainty of the holidays.

I’m suspicious as the calendar flipped to 2019.

Months went by with failed attempts to make contact, finally the paralegal called and said some life insurance policies only pay out for a certain time then stop paying out. This sounded to me like a term policy. But again, I had questions. Wouldn’t the policy say that? Wouldn’t the insurance company send a letter that said, “We are sorry that policy was a term policy and stopped paying out on X date” as opposed to “We have no record of that policy.” Again, she never said it WAS a term policy but they “thought” it “might” be. The language perplexed me. It seemed noncommittal.

I was finally told by the paralegal. “There is nothing else we can do.”

Fair enough. I can live with that, if you explain *why* there is nothing else you can do?

Again, I would receive no answer.

I ran into the lawyer downtown by chance and tried to ask some of these questions. “I don’t have it in front of me, call me at the office.” No response. Texted. No response. Email. No response. Facebook messenger. No response. Twitter. No response. It was now May. Then June. Then July.

Finally, I contacted them saying “if you can’t or won’t answer my questions can you give me copies of the correspondence between you and the insurance company and a copy of the policy itself so I can take it to another attorney who can answer the questions for me.”

I was handing him an out. No more calls, texts, emails from me. All he had to do was give me the paperwork. I offered to go his office to pick it up to save postage. Nothing. Nada.

Finally, in September 18th, 2019, two years, one month, two weeks and one day after mom died. I texted if there was some other issue with the policy that I was unaware of because it makes no sense that he can neither answer my questions nor provide the paperwork for me to take elsewhere. There was a claim it was mailed in December. At this point found it dubious. He said, “Send me the questions, I’ll look at them during a break this afternoon and get back to you.”

I sent him the following:
“<Your paralegal> said you thought the life insurance was only for a certain period of time and then would not pay out. This sounded to me like a term life insurance policy to me but that begs the question 1): If it were a term life insurance policy would it not say so in the paperwork and instead of claiming they had no record of it would they not simply say, it was a term policy and has expired? That leads to question 2) If it was not term life and they are telling the truth about not having a record of the paperwork then why is our paperwork not good enough as proof? Which leads to the last question 3) Why is there nothing we can do if the policy was paid up, there were no loans against it and the paperwork is in order?
At one point you mentioned cost effectiveness of legal action, but would we be able to sue for the owed about plus the court cost, filing and other expenses? It seems like a big loophole if not. Literally setting the limit of ripping people off at the price of court costs.”

By chance, I saw him downtown that afternoon. Clearly not working (on break?). I still have not received the paperwork nor have I gotten those answers. Tried contacting him in October and December, Again, just asking for the paperwork. It's now 2020.

This is dogging me. It’s like an open wound. I can’t move on. I really, really *need* is answers on this. If the policy was a term policy, it would only take 5 minutes to pull it and read it to find out. If it’s not a term policy, and it was paid up and the paperwork in order why is there no recourse? So why all the foot dragging? Why put me through this? The evasiveness of the lawyer makes me wonder if he made some kind of error and is afraid of getting sued himself. The irony is I have no idea how much the policy is for. I never saw it; it went straight from Dad’s hand to the lawyer.

It makes no sense.