Tag: #CO3

I Gotta Learn How To Be A Duck

RJ Walters

Going forward, that’s how I am determined to stay up with this important political season. Just let the political ugliness run off my back and not even notice it. I know all the attacks from #CO3 (current Oval Office occupant) are not directed towards me but I tend to take everything personally that I read from that despicable person.

Some say that those with Aspie traits lack empathy, but I really believe it is quite the opposite. We tend to personalize everything, so what affects others tends to affect us too. I gotta get over that feeling if I am to continue exposing myself to the ugliness of today’s politics.

I’m still in the deciding mode as I have backed off the Warren pick until I learn more about her “tax the rich” and other schemes. She seems to believe she can do everything she wants as long as there are enough rich people to pay up.

I need to pay closer attention to the others in the pack before it is time for my vote in the primaries. But then again, my State doesn’t vote until May so it will likely be decided before then anyway.

Like water off a duck’s back…

Eminently Close To The Breaking Point!

RJ Walters

It’s as if I had looked at the sun for too long. I simply can’t gather the words to put out an intelligent post of the main topic of the day. This guy has destroyed my peace in some of the last years of my life!

With that in mind I am for at least the next few weeks going to be celebrating those who can say in a picture what would take me a 1,000 words to describe. I simply can’t imagine the filth that will be spewing out of the Oval Office in the coming days. Too many have dared to say “The emperor has no clothes!” and attacking that will be his primary topic until he is driven from that noble building.

I just don’t have the stomach for 1,000 words

Voting Anonymously

RJ Walters

Now that the Arizona Senator Jeff Flake is out of office he feels he can finally speak his mind. He is doing everything he can to urge Republicans in congress not to support the current Oval Office occupant in 2020. Of course that has brought a Twitter rage to his doorstep but it now has no effect on him.

One of the things he mentioned in a recent article is that he has found that 23 Republican Senators would likely not support Trump if they were allowed to vote anonymously on the Senate floor. Given the vitriol atmosphere in that building it is almost impossible for anyone to cross party lines in any of their votes. If the Democrats are for it then they have to be against it. Of course, that logic is what has virtually stopped any progress inside the beltway.

My hero Will Rogers used to say that stifling action was a good thing and in some cases he is right. But there are some urgent matter that our country needs to deal with that it they aren’t handled will cause future agony. On top of that list is global warming. If there is any issue that demands bipartisan support that is the one.

I’m not one of those who think that the GOP has sold their souls to willful ignorance to stay in power. I think somewhere deep down every one of those 53 Senators has some level of apprehension when it comes to supporting the idiocy of the current administration.

Of course, nothing of any significance is going to happen in the Senate until McConnell loses the reigns and I think that will surely happen come January 2021. Getting him out would be a big plus for democracy but that won’t happen soon enough to prevent some permanent damage to our country and the world.

Being able to vote anonymously on certain bills will eventually be the most effective way to get critical legislation passed. It would allow each person in Congress to vote their conscience for things that really matter.

What do you think?

Just the facts, in 40 sentences.

RJ Walters

I have been looking for this type of list about the current Oval Office occupant (#CO3) for a while now. Thanks, David Leonhardt of the New York Times for putting it out in his column on Sunday.

Even with this very lengthy list it seems impossible for any Republican in Congress to put country over party and bring this guy to task. They finally need the guts to admit that their party that once stood for principles was kidnapped by a very flawed person who has his head stuck so far up his own rear end that he sees ABSOLUTELY nothing but himself.

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The Psychology of Insults

The Psychology of Insults

RJ Walters

You would not believe the number of things that come up if you google the word “insult”! They cover a myriad of topics about that word. And of course, you shouldn’t be surprised that they often mention the current Oval Office occupant #CO3. He does have the art of insult down to a T.

Many sources found from the search cover the psychology of insult. I imagine that Insult psychology has become a specialty degree now. Some other search results tell you how to react when you have been insulted. The Steve Job’s example of how to respond was covered in great detail. Some try to explain why people insult others. That seem to mostly involve insecurity and low self-esteem issues. That makes sense.

It is unfathomable to me how #CO3 managed to insult his way through dozens of others to get to the Oval Office. It is even more unbelievable how he maintains his base that way. The more he insults and lies the more they seem to support him. What kind of people are they???

Given the possibility, however remote it is, that #CO3 should survive until the coming political season, it will be surreal. I can imagine that the supply of “Insult psychologists” will be drastically below the demand. Any serious candidate would never even get involved in the coming madness without one on his or her permanent staff.

One of the ways the experts say to deal with insults is to just ignore them. Elizabeth Warren and several other recipients of recent tweet rants are already doing that. After all, the “Tweeter-in-chief’s primary objective behind his rants is to encourage reprisal. If he doesn’t get it, he will perceive the absence as a failure.

Benefit Of The Doubt… Wrong!!

RJ Walters

There are many people who I have come across in my life that I give the benefit of the doubt to what they say.  For those who might be a little fuzzy on that term, here is an explanation:

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Even though I am a skeptic at heart I trust them to be telling me the truth. For the most part, they have earned my respect by their previous actions. One person who has had the exact opposite effect on me is the current Oval Office occupant (#CO3).  My modus operandi for him is to take whatever he says as being false until it is proven to be true.  I have been critical of past presidents but never to the degree of this one.

Part of my distrust and maybe even animosity toward #CO3 is my personal association with another extreme narcissist who was for limited times in my life my mother. Even at a young age, I realized that she often said things that I knew to be not true.  Most of her lies, like #CO3’s, centered around making herself the center of attention. I also came to realize later in life that she probably believed the lies she was telling.  I also came to realize that much of this was due to an inferiority complex.  She claimed she was a nurse even though she never likely graduated from high school.  Later in life being a nurse was not enough, she then claimed to be a doctor.

From these experiences, I have come to have a deep distrust of anything #CO3 says. I realize that when the attention is taken away from him he will do anything to get it back.  Absolutely everything HAS to be about him.  How we ever allowed such a person to occupy the highest office in the land is totally shocking to me!

I only pray that the coming election stifles any further damage he is doing to our democracy. Let him rule during his last two years if he is not impeached before then with strong checks and balances from the legislative branch.

 

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Proud Beta Male, MeToo…

RJ Walters

I have to give you a quote from one of my most recent regular reads in the blogsphere. It is from John Pavlovitz.  He is a North Carolina pastor who speaks to my heart.  Here is the snippet for discussion in Today’s post. It is about a Trumpster who tried to insult him by calling him a beta-male (as opposed to an alpha-male I suppose):

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Source: Confessions of a Proud Beta Male

Evidentally #CO3 has been using this term in his rallies/self-adoration sessions. He intends it to be an insult/putdown but it seems that many are now proudly taking up that mantle.  I am one of them, I now call myself a Beta-Male.

I guess to him and his base it means that you are not an alpha-male:

  • You are not a take-charge guy who has to dominate every situation.
  • You are not a  guy who proudly boasts of his conquest over others, especially females, and proudly proclaim the things you can do to them with complete immunity.
  • You are not a guy who strikes back in anger when you feel even a slight bit challenged.
  • You are not a guy thumping your chest and proclaiming yourself superior and vastly more intelligent than others.
  • You are not a guy who berates and mocks those you have decided are your enemies.
  • You are not a guy who primarily makes decisions with gut feelings as opposed to studying the situation to make an informed choice.

I, like Pastor Pavlovitz, proudly proclaim that I am a beta-male. Thank you #CO3 for painting me as very different from you and so many of your base.  I will proudly wear the mantle you perceive as a smear.

I am a proud beta-male

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#CO3 = Current Oval Office Occupant

 

 

Because She Is Good…

RJ Walters

America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.  —  Alexis de Tocqueville

2018-08-15_09-19-32.pngIt has been a while since I last read “Democracy in America by de Tocqueville. I think his book written almost two centuries ago is as important in learning where we in America have been and where we are going as any on my bookshelf. I put a small bio here for those who don’t know about him. I have read this book at least a half dozen times.

The quote above was written in the early 1800s but at least until recently we have for the most part been “good”. Have we been perfect? Of course not, but at least we have strived to be good. I hope that after the current period plays out we can return to a degree of civility, truthfulness, and empathy as a country.  But, will we ever be deemed “great” again? That is the question of the day.

While our present government has shunned its responsibility to lead the way, much of the rest of the world continues without us. It is becoming more obvious as each year passes that global warming is a fact of life. Those who argue otherwise must be part of the flat-earth society. 🙂 Sadly, with #CO3 in office, we have lost our leadership role in fighting climate change.  He says coal is the answer!  How archaic… and ignorant.

But not to worry Europe and pretty much the rest of the world is jumping at the chance to become the new world leaders in this and many other areas.  Does it matter that the US is losing its dominant role in the world?  I kinda think there might be some good even come out of that fact.

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#CO3 = Current Oval Office Occupant

 

America’s Form Of Capitalism…

RJ Walters

2018-08-24_09-44-00.pngThis post is about the question “Is America’s form of capitalism being pushed aside?” Is the world moving beyond the American definition?  Some might say the Capitalism as it exists in America is “The rich get richer,  and nothing else matters…

“What happens when a society reinvests the gains from industrialization into things like healthcare, education, and so forth? Well, it’s economy changes — radically. You see, the American economy is still 75% consumption — McMansions, SUVs, designer jeans, and so forth. The problem is that 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. They can’t afford those things anymore. But if America had invested in public goods, then the economy would be made less of consumption, and more of investment.

Source: How to Think About the World After Capitalism – Eudaimonia and Co

I like to blame all of our problems on #CO3 but I recognize that our “consumption” problems are ingrained in our capitalist system. The “rich get richer” and “survival of the fittest” is a dominant part of our version.

Our version of capitalism will likely change in the coming years. One path will be divorcing ourselves from the rest of the world. Going it alone. Another path is that our capitalist system may morph into the version practiced by  Western Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada as cited in the source article.

So, what is the basic difference? These countries practice what some may call social democracy.  They give all their citizens what they see as inalienable rights.  They include healthcare, education, transportation, and retirement. Because these rights are endemic in their version of capitalism they divorce themselves from the “survival of the fittest mentality”. I think we have some things to learn from them in that and many other regards.

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#CO3 = Current Oval Office occupant

Vote Independent … But Maybe Not This Time

RJ Walters

2018-07-20_11-14-38.pngI am very serious about trying to wrestle control of our political processes from the two dominant parties. I am convinced that they are just too entwined in battling each other to be focusing on what is good for those who they represent. Adding another political party is critical to changing things.  BUT, maybe not this time around.

There is one thing that should drive everything else in the political sphere in the coming election and that is to prevent #CO3 from doing any more damage to the democracies of the world. To do that Congress must be delivered to a party opposed to his madness.  I would love to think that there are enough independents running for office to do that but I am for this election very skeptical of that possibility.

So, for the coming elections, I will be voting Democratic. There just seems to be no one in the Republican party who has the courage to stand up to the executive branch. They all are deathly afraid that the fringe who put the extreme narcissist in office might turn against them out if they voice a contrary opinion to #CO3.  The only Republicans who are brave enough are the ones that are not running for re-election or are dying.

So, I will be taking off my third party hat temporarily to effect immediate change in the direction our country is headed.  Maybe it is too little too late but I have to try.

 

Don’t Give In To The Fear…

RJ Walters

canstockphoto22042668.jpgFear of this or that is so prominent in our American society right now. A substantial minority on the right fringe of our political system has made fear a foundation of their lives. But the most tragic thing is that those on the rest of the political spectrum have allowed the rather thin minority’s fear to convince us that all hope is lost!

I know, 81% of white evangelicals voted for #CO3 because they fear what America is becoming. They can see that they will soon no longer have the dominant role in our country’s future and that scares the hell out of them. Many in this category are racists by nature and upbringing and just can’t fathom a country where “those other people” have the same leverage as they do.

2018-07-18_19-57-44.pngThis 81% make up less than one-in-five voters in this country and due to the rest of us not taking our responsibility to vote seriously enough, they managed to put a racist and totally unqualified narcissist temporarily in control. Instead of surrendering to the Evangelical fear we need to be gearing up to do everything necessary to take our country back. That effort starts this November and is finalized twenty-four months later.

So, the primary message of this post is that all you folks who have let the right fringes’ fear traumatize you quit the pity party and recognize how this happened. If we do that, we will look back at these times as when we let a radical fringe temporarily take command. Hopefully, this is a lesson we don’t have to learn again anytime in the future.

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#CO3 – Current Oval Office Occupant

Always Looking…

RJ Walters

I am always looking to add new features and sections here at RJsCorner.  Trying to improve everything in my life is what makes it ultimately satisfying.  In the same light, trying to hold on to eternal optimism is a BIG challenge given so much of what is happening in the world today.

I have vowed to back away from the ugly world of American politics and I think I have been substantially successful in that endeavor. I don’t want to jettison it entirely as that would be a personal copout to me.  I considered adding a topic of “#CO3’s Lie Of Today” but quickly found I would have to spend quite a bit of time studying the daily lies to decide the one that would be posted.  Here is an example of that:

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I have come to the conclusion that almost without exception when I see something he has said I believe the opposite.  The trouble with the idea of “Lie of the day” it that he would have too much attention here.

I wisely decided to scrap this idea, even though it was enticing to actually compile the untruth that comes from this narcissist’s lips.  Enough said, let’s get back to something more optimistic for tomorrow’s post.

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#CO3 = Current Oval Office Occupant

Infatuation With Dictators??

RJ Walters

I have said here many times that #CO3 is driven totally by his self-image. Being an extreme narcissist everything simply has to be about him. Keeping that in mind read below what Politico says about some of his latest insanities.

President Donald Trump reliably tells the truth on one thing: He likes the way dictators do business.

“He speaks, and his people sit up at attention,” Trump said on Friday morning of North Korean despot Kim Jong Un in an interview with Fox News — a network where he receives no shortage of praise. “I want my people to do the same.”…

Vladimir Putin’s also a tough guy whom Trump praises for running his country well. So is Rodrigo Duterte, whose executions of drug dealers without trial in the Philippines is something Trump has said he’s looking into.

Source: Donald dreams of dictators – POLITICO

As I see it he is becoming a very dangerous person if no one will stand up to him.  His own party, well at least is adopted party for convenience, seems to be totally afraid to call him to task on any of his many abusive blunders. When our government of three separate branches ceases to function, our democracy could be in serious trouble.

It appears that #CO3 is starting to get comfortable in his new job and kinda thinks he wants to make it permanent.  Will the other two branches continue to cower under his insanity or not?  We can only pray that they somehow find the fortitude to make him eventually accountable for his actions and constant lies.

It is very troubling how he praises the world’s dictators and accosts our allies with his usual stinging words.  I pray the mid-term elections will cause some level of balance to be restored in our three branch system.

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#CO3 =  Current Oval Office Occupant

 

An Incurable Optimist

RJ Walters

I was watching a PBS Newshour segment of “Shields and Brooks” a while back and the title above was used to describe David Brooks by his cohort. That is one of the things I most admire about David Brooks. He tries to find things to be optimistic about in every story he discusses. Another is that he is a “True” conservative and doesn’t have much of anything good to say about the current Oval Office occupant.

Here are some of his words that got him labeled an incurable optimist:

canstockphoto2740608.jpg“My hero is Edmund Burke, a great Irish philosopher, and parliamentarian and he said manners are more important than laws because manners touch us every day. It’s manners that either degrade us or uplift us…

And so I think, as a society, we’re trying to close those doors, set some new rules, set some norms, because, without the norms of manners and civility, life is just dog eat dog. And so I sort of see it as good news that at least the reaction is coming, the lines are being redrawn.”

Yeah, we are seeing what it means to be without manners and civility especially in our executive branch now. #CO3 just seems to alienate everyone he touches including our strongest allies.  I certainly hope Mr. Brooks is right, a reaction is coming and lines will be redrawn. I put the first significant step in the retrieval process to happen at the mid-term elections.  If some of the lines are not redrawn then it will be hard for even David Brooks to be an incurable optimist.

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#CO3 = Current Oval Office occupant

(WS) As Goes California…

RJ Walters

For as long as I can remember California has been at the forefront of every significant social change.  All change in this country just seems to seep into the west coast and then dredge across the country until eventually, all those Northeasterners have adopted it. The Southerners seem to always be the holdouts until they finally are forced into it.

Here are some words from the New York Times to show you that California is doing it again. They are teaching us how to reinvent ourselves in the Post-Trump era.

2018-06-04_18-53-02.pngThe new California, back from years of financial trouble, has the fifth-largest economy in the world, ahead of Britain and France. Since 2010, California has accounted for an incredible one-fifth of America’s economic growth. Silicon Valley is the default center of the world, home to three of the 10 largest companies in the world by market capitalization.

California’s raw economic power is old news. What’s different, just in the past few years, is the combination of its money, population and politics. In the Trump era, the state is reinventing itself as the moral and cultural center of a new America.

California doesn’t just oppose Mr. Trump; it offers a better alternative to the America he promises. While Mr. Trump makes hollow promises to states ravaged by the decline of the coal industry, California has been a leader in creating new jobs through renewable energy.

While Mr. Trump plays the racism card, California pulls in immigrants from all over the world. For California, immigration is not an issue to be exploited to inflame hate and assuage the economic insecurities of those who feel displaced by the 21st-century economy, it’s what keeps the state economy churning.

Source: Opinion | The Californization of America – The New York Times

While #CO3 promises to make coal jobs come back when that is virtually impossible, California is creating a vast number of jobs in renewable energy for the future.  I think they have a winnable strategy to just ignore what #CO3 is doing and go about doing what is good for America.  While much of the rest of America is fearful of minorities being the majority, it has already happened in California and they are celebrating that fact and welcoming ever more.

I just pray that a figurehead for the California success comes on the scene prior to 2020 to show us the way to REALLY make America greater.

As goes California, so eventually goes the nation. Or, at least in this case we hope so.

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#CO3 = Current Oval Office Occupant