Here’s an idea and it’s hypothetical. You know when you see posts that just seems so far fetched and off base and which do not at all match your perception of reality that you feel compelled to write a public response to it? My gut feeling is that the content of the post IS far fetched and is not based in reality but is there to provoke people into making comments to find out what people are thinking to see how it can be manipulated and used. I’m thinking Russians and Koch backed groups working on subverting and demolishing our democracy might be some of the key groups involved in this kind of activity. Do you think I’m being paranoid and unrealistic?
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Bears repeating
You know what would be nice? If we didn’t have a government that functions based on who provides the politicians with the most cash. Wouldn’t it be swell if we had elected representatives who went to Washington DC to work for a short period of time (because of term limits) and they don’t go there to get rich. They go to serve as public servants for the people who elect them. Wouldn’t that be peachy?
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What a true Christian response would be
Trump is “threatening” to send immigrants to sanctuary cities and states. This is yet again another desperate attempt to distract from what is really important and that is that Barr still has not released the full Mueller report to Congress and a redacted version of it, (to protect ongoing investigations) to the people. The people deserve to have the full report and will likely get it in time. But, Barr is still keeping the report hidden from Congress and Trump has thrown out this red herring of sending immigrants to sanctuary cities and states to distract from that concern. But it is not going away. Congress and the people are still waiting for Barr to hand over the Mueller report. It is not Barrs’ or Trump’s personal property to keep to themselves. The Mueller investigation was done on behalf of and for the American people, not for Trump or Barr. Whatever it contains, it is the property of the people, not of Trump and Barr.
People seek refuge and sanctuary when they are endangered and need to try to put their lives back together. They are recovering from trauma.
The most amazing thing about the United States, the one thing that has always truly made it exceptional and a stand out among nations is that it has always been open to immigrants, to people seeking sanctuary, and in doing so, America has thrived and flourished. The benefits of people immigrating to the United States are well known. Immigrants work hard, pay taxes, and contribute to the culture and society of the United States in countless ways.
In Christian society, and I am stating this as an atheist observer of the Christian culture that I have lived with my entire life, taking care of people in need is supposed to be a central tenet. This was one of Jesus Christ’s principle teachings. One of his principle demands.
There are two types of Christians in the United States. Those who talk loudly and all the time about Jesus but know nothing about him, what he stands for, his teachings and the demands he put on his followers, among them, to take care of those in need. They go to bible study and their mega churches to hear hellfire and brimstone every week but they still manage to learn and know nothing about Jesus and what he taught and what was important to him and what he prescribed for Christians to do and how they should behave and live their lives. And, there are those Christians who are what I think of as true Christians who actually do not really talk about Jesus very much but they do live their lives according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. When observing the two types of Christians, it is very clear, by the way they live their lives, who the true Christians are by their actions and by their acceptance, love, care and concern for their fellow human beings.
To the true Christian, the idea of refuge and sanctuary is not foreign, not repugnant, but necessary when there is a need for it. It is part of the covenant that true Christians have with their leader, Jesus Christ.
Trump, because he is throwing it out there to distract, is nevertheless throwing it out there, is promising the “threat” of sending immigrants to sanctuary cities and states like it’s some kind of a horrible thing he is about to unleash to punish places that have become sanctuaries because they have become sanctuaries and have defended their right to do so in some cases, going against Trump and his anti-American policies when it comes to immigrants.
Trump can find immigrants to ship to places of sanctuary to do what he thinks will be punishing them, and to distract from what’s really important, don’t forget. But Trump cannot find the thousands of children he has ripped from their families in his anti-American policy crusade of turning immigrants away or harassing them, breaking their families apart, and trying to turn them into scapegoats.
Trump will do what he can get away with. But, he should know that sending immigrants to places of sanctuaries will not be viewed by true Christians as a bad thing. And, that by doing so, he may be doing those places a favor because, in the long haul, those immigrants will make their contributions to the communities that they live in. They will work hard, pay taxes, and bring their cultural and social vitality into the mix. Those are all positives.
Oh, and btw, if Trump sends immigrants to places of sanctuary, they will then be free to decide where they want to be. Some may go to places where they have friend and family waiting that may or may not be places of sanctuary. Or they may stay. It will be up to them to decide where to live.
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My Old Kentucky Home
Kentucky, you have so much to be thankful for: bluegrass, beautiful thoroughbred horses, the Kentucky Derby and mint juleps, bourbon/whiskey. And, now you are going to have an Aluminum plant owned and built by Mitch McConnell’s good friend, Russian oligarch, Oleg Derepaska. He will employ a few Kentuckians at his shiny new aluminum smelter in Kentucky. Until recently, Oleg Derepaska was one of those Russian oligarchs who were under sanction by the United States government. But, thankfully for Kentucky, Mitch McConnell helped president Trump and the treasury department lift sanctions on good old Oleg Derapaska. So, now he can bring one of his aluminum plants to Kentucky and pollute there instead of in Russia and he will give a few Kentuckians a job but they probably will not have any benefits. Or, is Kentucky already a “Right to Work” state? If so, it won’t be Derapaska deciding on working conditions and wages, etc for the Kentuckians, it will be the state of Kentucky. Anyway, Kentucky, Поздравляю, which means, congratulations, in Russian. Aren’t you happy Russia is looking out for the state of Kentucky? I’m certain Mitch is.
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The Mueller report, personal property of William Barr and Donald Trump?
Am I wrong to think that the Mueller Report is not the property of Barr or any AG or of Trump? I believe the Mueller Report belongs to the American people. Mueller did not do his investigation for Trump or even for the AG or the Justice Department more broadly speaking. The Mueller investigation was done for and on behalf of the American people. It needs to be released to Congress and to the American people now. What is the reason for Barr delaying its release and not doing so immediately? Is Barr busy at work modifying and redacting it? Or is he allowing Trump the opportunity to have his team look at it and prepare a defense, or doing so himself, on Trump’s behalf? If AG Barr is modyifying or redacting parts of the report that he wants to withhold from Congress and the American people I am assuming that that is not legal and that even though Barr is AG he could be prosecuted for such activity. Am I wrong about any of this? I don’t think so. If Barr is at all concerned about how this delay of releasing the Mueller report is being perceived, he should release it now. We are all waiting for it. And we are all expecting the full, unredacted, unmodified report, not something that Barr thinks he needs to make more palatable.
The Mueller report has still not been released by the DOJ to Congress in its full, unreacted form.
I’d be laughing if I weren’t crying
Isn’t it reassuring how even some of Trump’s economic advisors are now admitting that his tax law is not helping, but worsening the economy? All of these experts and government officials are fretting about the state of the economy but not proposing that anything be done about it. Nor are they boldly talking publicly about what specifically is wrong because that would be going against Trump and his idiocy. Gee, I’m glad the country is a in such capable hands.
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No shame, no decency
Trump and McConnell have caused this shutdown of the federal government. More than 800,000 federal workers have been required to work but have not been paid for a month and counting. Government employees are expected and required to work for no pay. Why? Why isn’t the federal government telling federal workers that since they are not being paid they do not have to show up for work? That would be the honest thing to do. At least then some of those workers may be able to do something to try to earn a little money so they are not thrown to the curb by their landlords or so they can buy food or pay the heating bill. Why are the people of the states with republican senators who are accomplices to this crime of extortion not calling their senators EVERY DAY and demanding that they end this shutdown? Why is Mitch McConnell feeling absolutely no pressure to simply allow a vote to reopen the government? I would support TSA agents and air traffic controllers and all employees of federal agencies who are currently being held hostage without pay to call for a general strike and not show up to work for which they are not being paid until the federal government is reopened. We should ALL support a general strike of all federal employees until the shutdown ends.
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It’s a win win
I have a theory. The republicans, and Moscow Mitch in particular, are allowing the Trump administration to gift Oleg Derepaska, the Russian aluminum oligarch and close personal friend of Putin, a reprieve on the economic sanctions that he and other Russian oligarchs have been living with since they were put into place. I know the Russians, especially Putin, absolutely hate those sanctions because Putin has persistently been pressuring Trump to lift them ever since before Trump has been in office. The sanctions must be effective because Putin’s insistence on lifting them has been so dogged. The sanctions are economic sanctions but they were not imposed for economic reasons. They were imposed on Russia because of Russia’s horrendous human rights violations, notably the torture and death of Sergei Magnitsky, but there have also been many other cases of abuse, torture and murder that we know about but probably many many more that we know nothing about, and Russia still freely abuses human rights as wantonly as it desires. That, and the violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of eastern Ukraine by Russian forces and the troubling insertion of pro Russian political leaders in Ukraine with the help, unfortunately of Manafort and Craig. In fact, when it comes to any kind of opposition or dissent, to Russia, there are no such things as human rights.
Now here is my theory: I am supposing the the Russian banking system is free form enough to allow for it do do anything that Putin and the Kremlin direct it to do. So, I imagine that when the sanctions are lifted on the accounts of Oleg Derepaska, those accounts will be allowed to move money to and from any of his accounts into and out of any accounts anywhere in Russia or elsewhere internationally. So, Oleg Derepaska could, in effect, become the new bank of Russia. I also think that Congressional republicans who have taken money from Russia (Moscow Mitch is one example) really like Russian money and that they would prefer that that source of money once again become available to them. So, it really would benefit Congressional republicans who take money from Russia to lift sanctions on Derapaska so they can once again receive Russian cash infusions. Trump himself might also benefit from the lifting of these sanctions. Maybe he will even be able to get the Trump Tower Moscow project financed after all. For Trump, Congressional republicans, Derepaska, and Putin, lifting sanctions on Derepaska is a win win win!!!
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Life could be less stressful
What would you rather have: A highly-conditional insurance plan that costs you a lot of money in annual premiums plus additional out-of-pocket at point of service copays and fees, a plan which can be terminated at any time or deny you coverage without notice (This is what we have now)?; or, A system that you pay into automatically that is controlled by the government that covers all of your health care needs from the time that you are conceived until the time of your death with no additional costs or premiums and no bills, ever? (This is what we could have with Medicare for All) We could have Medicare for All if our elected representatives put it into law. Could you imagine a world in which you do not ever have to deal with an insurance company ever again? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Could you imaging never getting a bill for medical services you have received? Could you imagine never having to worry about being able to pay for your health care, ever, and receiving excellent care whenever you need it and get any treatment that is needed without having to worry about paying for it or having to choose between place to live or buying food for yourself?
This is what we could have if we have elected representatives in Congress who will put Medicare for All into law. The problem with that is the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, hospitals and medical equipment manufacturers are lobbying our elected officials hard and they are lobbying all of the rest of us hard with a campaign that is going to try to persuade us and them that having health care for all or a single payer system is a bad idea. Some of our representatives are being lobbied very heavily right now to not support Medicare for All. You should know if that’s is the case with your elected representatives and if it is, maybe you should let your representatives know that you want Medicare for All.
An already established pattern
I will be watching the Supreme Court to see what measures it may take to create a two-tiered justice system; one for the 2%, the political and moneyed elites, and another for the 98%. This isn’t a justice system at all when on one hand it gives immunity and impunity to the wealthy powerful minority and treats them with special privilege and ridiculously light judgment and sentencing. Such a system protects and insulates this tiny group of people and is basically a free pass for them to do whatever they want without fear of ever really being held accountable. And the other system for the rest of us which rigorously prosecutes crime, and delivers judgment and sentencing based on the severity of proven criminal activity. Will the Supreme Court put the president above the law? Kavanaugh’s position is well known. But will the others on the Supreme Court go along with him in it?
thoughtprivacyandliberty.com 