The Terrible Lu’s

We all know how difficult two year-olds can be, and not just humans, so this is what we’re doing. We can’t go downtown this week because of the RNC Convention. Folks can’t drive to work or use the freeway near downtown. Even sailors on Lake Michigan are shooed away by the Coast Guard.

I’ve read that there are 100 police departments “helping out” during the convention. Four cops from Ohio have now shot and killed a Black resident a mile away from the convention site. They were sent home pending an investigation.

For safety’s sake, we’re staying away until the convention is over. It’s also been very hot and muggy, with thunderstorms every night so the dogs are restless. Lulu (full name Lucia) and I are voluntary neighborhood resources for puppy socialization and baby introductions. Lu loves the attention and gets along with everyone and she’s ideal for these activities since I can’t take her into most local hospitals/nursing homes because she eats frozen raw meat.

Last night we ended up with three Lu’s running around getting out the “zoomies” before bedtime. Our Lulu (miniature Aussie), an 11 month-old Great Dane and a thirteen week-old Boxer mix. Far from being terrible, they had a blast and were very well behaved. The young ones were working things out despite a great difference in size, and my five year-old watched over them with a new addition, a rescued Greyhound, the senior member of the club. The Terrible Lu’s are not ready to take over the neighborhood quite yet, but are on their way.

We were downstairs in a community space and everyone who entered our building took a look at the joyous play and grinned. Picture someone who had a tough day at work, or was stuck in convention traffic, taking their mind off their troubles to look at joy in motion. I love that our Lu can cheer a lonely senior, anyone, really. She can be demanding at times but also a fine companion. No, I’m not going to advise you to get a dog. That’s a personal decision and a real commitment. For me, it’s worth it.

Hug your pet today. If you don’t have one, hug your child. Haha. Dee

Conciliation?

Can America be one again? I’m an eternal optimist and believe that an attack on our democracy, as evidenced by shots fired at former president Donald Trump, can be used as an opportunity to begin to heal deep political divisions.

Given the politics since Saturday evening, I’m not hopeful, with Republican Congressmen blaming Joe Biden as if he pulled the trigger himself or demanded a “hit” by the Secret Service. I suppose the Supreme Court would no longer have a problem with that, but President Biden and his supporters would.

As of this moment, the general public is not aware of a motive for the shooter (registered Republican, gave $15 to Dems in 2021) which sounds quite thin so it’s premature for all these “experts” to opine on why the evil socialist marxist fascist liberals would do this. are you hearing fuel added to the fire, money lining pockets, conspiracy theories multiplying….

I’m all for letting the experts from local police and sheriffs, to the FBI and Secret Service, find out exactly what happened and what went wrong. That means whoa, Congress. Please get the facts before having hearings to point fingers for political gain.

I’m glad Mr. Trump is fine and on his way to the Convention in Milwaukee, where a resident can’t even look at downtown without being shooed away by scary looking militia. “But I was just driving to work like I do every Monday” doesn’t cut it.

It doesn’t bode well that Trump is not only having a fellow election denier nominate him for president, he’s gone the extra step and is having an actual fake elector nominate him. That doesn’t sound like unity to me.

As you may know by now, I am a policy wonk and I do not agree with Trump’s policies, especially in regard to women’s reproductive rights and voting rights. Add to that, now that I’m 65, Social Security and Medicare. I will not vote for him under any circumstances but will not stop anyone else from doing so. I do not believe that declaring retribution on fellow Americans for having a different color skin or religion or gender, or simply a different opinion, is a unifying concept for our nation, but that’s just me.

Back to politics and extreme heat, weather-wise. It’ll be 90 today and convention-goers will want to be inside in the A/C. Or hopefully patronizing local restaurants for beer and brats, and homegrown Wisconsin cheese, of course.

I heard an interesting law enforcement analysis on the incessant assassination news this weekend. Big cities prepare for big events by practicing, think NYC when the UN is in session. When a political candidate wants to have an outdoor rally in a small town these folks with tiny police departments and sheriff’s offices don’t practice for this and all of a sudden they have thousands of out-of-towners coming in with federal and state law enforcement and between assignments and communications it’s not designed to be seamless. Especially when we can’t ban assault rifles or bump stocks because the RNC is lock-step with the NRA.

The choice when it comes to the candidate is between being perpetually hermetically sealed (law enforcement preference) and open-air, open-car let it all hang out openness (which the candidate would prefer). The balance is somewhere in the middle, and in the middle, there’s always opportunity for error.

Condolences to those who lost a family member, and hearty get well wishes for those fighting for their lives after this unneccesary, heinous event. Thank goodness Mr. Trump was just grazed and is able to continue his campaign. Vote! Dee

Lock ‘Em Up!

This was my first thought after an unusual day (someone shot at the former president) followed by the usual Beltway response. It’s complicated by the RNC’s shindig this week. I thought we might give regular people in Washington, D.C. a vacation anywhere outside the city, and lock up as “inmates” all the politicians without cell phones, computers or television. Leave them there for a. week without allowing any news in or out. They’d probably kill each other, which might not be a bad thing, but it wouldn’t achieve the goal I hoped would ensue.

So, scratch that idea. Let’s give the real residents of D.C. a break. How? By giving every member of Congress a paid two-week vacation, starting the Monday after Labor Day. There’ll be four piles of names for each Sen./Rep., with each pile filled with the names of a constituent who’s solidly middle class and one at the poverty line, one for an individual registered to vote in the Republican or Democratic parties. For example, they get to spend a week with a poor Republican family, another with a middle class Democratic family in their own district.

The aim is to get them out of the Beltway and back home where they can really listen to their constituents and learn how much broccoli really costs or how to scrimp and save to send Susie to college. No staff, no cell phones, no meetings. Just Monday to Friday, for two weeks, with families from different political persuasions. Chosen randomly from a hat, so to speak.

There will be no political fund raising, or getting in front of the next news cycle to beat the “enemy.” During that time, the news media will volunteer to stop reporting anything from inside the Beltway and will instead take on assignments to tackle the issues of concern to everyday American families. Perhaps they can call it “hopes and dreams” or even “hopes and fears.” Just have everyone get off the hamster wheel and remember why they were elected/hired to begin with. The exercise will begin with everyone (including host families) getting a mini-copy of the United States Constitution as a reminder of who we are and who we hope to be when we grow up. It’ll provide good dinner table conversation, I hope.

Perhaps these representatives of the people will remember when they were young and running for office to make a difference in the lives of Americans, to work toward a brighter future for all. No, I haven’t smoked any wacky tabacky and yes, I am an eternal optimist. This is what happens when I believe the people who have the power we’ve entrusted them with to represent us, forget why they’re doing what they’re doing. We live in a land of opportunity, with a flawed but democratic system in place for self-governance. I believe the answer is not to burn it all down, but to go back to basics and remember why we’re all here. We’re all in this melting pot together, and we need to be able to live our best lives without ruining the lives of others in the process. It’s not a zero sum game, folks. Happy Sunday, voter! Dee

Shots Fired!

I was going to write a somewhat humorous piece earlier today about Trump’s denigration of our town, Milwaukee, as a horrible place. His enablers were quick to point out that no, he didn’t really mean horrible, it’s just the crime rate, or perhaps the inability to correctly count presidential votes.

The crime rate is quite low and decreasing ever since COVID, and Milwaukee and Madison (Democratic areas) counted the votes three times with even more votes going to Joe Biden so he really did mean this is a horrible place, a matter with which I heartily disagree. I was going to say that 55,000 MAGA zealots are marching on Milwaukee with weapons, led by a notorious criminal. It’s similar to how most MAGA conspiracy theories get started, but it’s about themselves. Haha.

Not any more. We’ve a law in Wisconsin that doesn’t allow municipalities to stray from state law in certain subject areas. So I read yesterday that in the safe space in and around the Fiserv Forum (where the RNC Convention will be held) certain items will be banned, such as tennis balls and light bulbs. What WILL be allowed are handguns, hunting rifles and AR-type weapons. How nice. A one-week crime spree in the making. I, for one, plan to stay in my neighborhood and not venture downtown or even to local restaurants.

Wisconsin’s two largest cities, Madison and Milwaukee, are not allowed to restrict guns any further than in rural areas where farmers actually need them for when varmints attack their livestock or crops.

Perhaps, given this horrific incident at today’s Trump PA rally, the Secret Service will reconsider firearms in the arena and surrounding buildings where events are scheduled. I’m concerned for attendees and for fellow residents of our host city.

For months we’ve been talking about the Hamas attack on Israel and the inability to reach an agreement for immediate or lasting peace. A huge part of the problem is that Hamas doesn’t want Jews to exist. At all. That is an untenable position and one with which I could never agree. Unfortunately, the split between political parties in the USA has reached an intolerable stage in.which political opponents are not “the loyal opposition,” but enemies who deserve to die.

January 6th cannot be forgotten, an armed attack on our Capitol to stop the electoral count and designation of the president-to-be. The political rhetoric is dangerous and unbalanced individuals can hear it and try to take matters into their own hands. It’s a sad situation for a democratic nation who has nearly always (Civil War excepted) arrived at consensus through discussions and free and fair elections.

Let’s make sure everyone is safe in Milwaukee next week, and Chicago in a few weeks. But let’s all think about the country we live in, how we want to spend our 250th birthday coming up, and what kind of country we want to leave to our kids. I just heard that Mr. Trump was grazed by a bullet (his post) and not hit by glass, and that one spectator is dead and two others critically wounded. It’s a sad day in America. Dee

Informed Voters

Right out of college I was looking for work and taking short-term gigs in the process while living at home, in the middle of no-where. I traveled back to my alma mater’s stomping grounds for a round of interviews and got two offers.

One was to be head of PR at a major summer festival, a year-round job that paid very little and on the off-season, transitioned to planning for next season while doing administrative work. The other, for 75% more pay (still very little) would drop me into the deep end in the statewide political sphere, working as an analyist for the Speaker of the Assembly.

That was on a Friday. On Monday I became a policy wonk. At first I was filling in for the insurance committee analyst who was on maternity leave. I must have done OK because they only kept me on after Session, paying me to shift between information support and odd projects until a committee came up that I could staff.

The hirers, my former bosses all those years ago, saw something in me that I wasn’t able to see for myself. That I could dive into the deep end and swim, learning esoterica about whatever subject I was confronted with. Luckily or unluckily, the committee that came to me was governmental operations. I didn’t get to dive into a single subject, like banking, tourism or real property taxation.

No, not me. I had the largest committee without a complementary staff such as Ways and Means and Judiciary. I had 750 bills to shepherd, more than twice the normal committee, and this was pre-computer. We wrote out bill reports by hand for transcription by a clerical staff and tracked all bills by hand. I had to become an expert on legislative ethics, fire and safety codes, crime victims, non-professional business licensing (financial advisors, estheticians), civil and human rights, veterans’ affairs, cable television franchising, qualified immunity for police officers, land sales, let’s just say it was the “grab bag” committee.

I loved delving into policy. A couple of years into it, a lawyer from the bill drafting staff said, “no problems with this major piece of legislation you wrote, I have no changes. Did you know you’re the only analyst who writes your own bills?” Huh?

Last night Joe Biden gave a masterful press conference in which I learned a lot about the wars in both Ukraine and Gaza. Only someone with such history and policy/political expertise could have explained the intricacies of our negotiations on the world stage to achieve peace. If voters want to know a bit about what is needed to achieve successful diplomacy, they can’t ask for a better example.

I’ve my own theories about the student protests pre-graduation and think they may have been averted if they knew more about the historical situation. I do believe the U.S. is now on the right track using world pressure to get a cease-fire, prioritizing food and aid, and going through the steps for a two-state solution.

All the information I got back in the day came from nightly news and daily newspapers, including NYTimes, WaPo and local papers. One morning I got in to work super early, dropped my stack of papers by my desk and got to work immediately. My boss walked in and asked what I was doing. I told him I had too much work to spend time on the daily news. No, he said, that’s my job. Read the news, then get to work! Good lesson.

Now our information comes from so many and so few sources. Voters have to read a panoply of new sources to judge for themselves what is true. I always look at who wrote the article, what it’s published in, and what the writer/publication has to gain from spouting this point of view. If one only gets news from TikTok or Facebook, they have very limited information and it may be skewed misinformation or disinformation from un-trusted sources.

Being a good citizen isn’t easy. Last night I learned that we won’t grant 2,000 lb. bombs as part of our assistance packages because they cannot be used in urban environments as they cause unnecessary damage to innocent civilians. Who knew outside of current policy wonks and military officials about that granularity of information?

Next time your neighbor says there’s a pedophile ring coming in across the street from the barbershop, don’t accept it as gospel. Check it out. I get notices about public hearings on certain types of new businesses (after stopping an after-hours biker bar) and it turns out not to be the case. I’m not happy with what moved in, as it seems sketchy, but no-one’s ever there. I got it from the horse’s mouth, my barber, across the street. Get your news from reputable sources, read up on the issues, and vote! Dee

Freedom

Ask anyone who lives in the United States of America what they cherish most about this great nation and they inevitably say, “freedom.”

Thanks to Donald Trump, the RNC and its joined-at-the-hip Heritage Foundation and Project 2025, we are about to lose that freedom unless we get our act together and let the country and world know that America is the land of the free!

Joe Biden has told us many times that whenever Americans work together, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. I have believed in that can-do spirit for my 65 years as an American citizen, 47 of those years as a voter (since age 18). President Biden has gotten us over COVID, rescued our economy, is repairing our neglected infrastructure, respects the rights of women and other groups opponents are targeting, and has renewed the world’s respect of the USA through strengthening ties with NATO and other alliances.

He has garnered the vote of 85% of primary voters, who have sent his nomination to delegates who will meet in a few weeks at the Democratic National Convention to nominate him as the Democratic designee for President. He has asked us for our support and we voters gave it. Now party leaders and especially the press (that’s you, Gray Lady) are saying he’s not the one, that we should abandon the man who has given fifty years of his life to serving us, we, the people.

The choice should be clear. One side wants the US to be free, the other wants to tell all of us what to do. One side wants to continue our 248-year democracy, the other wishes to tear up our Constitution. For what? A sixteen-page campaign brochure that gives kingly powers to Donald Trump. To do what, exactly? Anything he wants.

This week, a decision must be made. From then on, every Democrat, Independent, Never Trumper and Undecided (but still yearning to breathe free) must go with the speed and strength of a freight train to save our democracy from Republican political hacks, christian nationalists, paramilitary organizations in Trump’s thrall, a broken Congress and now a MAGA Supreme Court. Because when we put our minds to it and work together, nothing is impossible.

When Tories in the UK fell the other day to Labour, it was to eliminate 14 years of conservative excess that has taken a toll on its economy. The French hemmed and hawed about Le Pen and a conservative takeover just this week and voila, the people heeded the call and turned the tables. What does the American free press say? Biden can’t win because Sunak and Macron are incumbents and voters hate incumbents these days. What?! Citizens want freedom and stable economies, not tyrants with an axe to grind. L’etat, c’est moi didn’t work in the French Revolution, and it didn’t work this week.

I’m sick of hearing that my country is a cesspool, about its downfall, third-world nation status and “American carnage.” That’s not where we live. We live in a land of plenty, of opportunity, of equal rights and talented immigrants. And yes, women who have yearned for equality, the right to vote, hold a good job with good pay, have say over their bodily functions, want affordable child care, want to be safe, along with their children, from gun violence and domestic abuse, and to be able to obtain a no-fault divorce.

The Christian right want to send women back to the fifties, the 1850’s. We’ve worked too hard for equality and freedom. Sorry, but no rich white guy is going to tell me I have to give up freedom and equality. What’s the big deal about abortion and only man/woman marriage in the “new and improved” Republican Platform that was passed in secret? The language hasn’t changed, it’s merely been removed. The 14th Amendment is still in there allowing for citizenship upon conception. And I’m sure that in order to get the evangelicals on board, they’re being told that it’s OK to merely remove language that’s been in the platform since Reagan, we’re not really doing anything, just leaving it out to pretend until after the election, see? Once Trump wins and gains control over the House and Senate, it’s back to business as usual and a national ban on abortion, contraception, IVF and everything else on the real wish list. The Platform is only a ruse to get moderates and independents to vote for Trump, it’ll be torn up on November 6 and vettings will begin in earnest for Heritage Foundation leaders to man (yes, to a man, men) the cabinet.

I’m just telling it like it is, folks. If you really believe Trump has no clue about Project 2025, even who the Heritage Foundation is, just look at the banners behind him at speaking events; the people who wrote Project 2025 also wrote the new RNC platform and most of them were on his staff when he was president. Read it and decide if you want democracy and freedom, or tyranny and oppression. Join the freedom train. I see Joe Biden waving us in at the station. Hi, Joe! We’re with you all the way. Vote! Dee

The People Have Spoken

Hey, mainstream media. Get your hands off the scale. Democrats have enough votes/delegates to nominate Joe Biden for President of the United States. The Convention is coming up.

All we hear from are morning and evening pundits, talking heads and editorial boards saying to ditch Joe Biden from the ticket because of a 90-minute debate against a criminal and serial liar. Nothing about the criminal/liar, of course. Apparently they want to live in a dictatorship with no free press.

The people have spoken. Let the delegates decide. Hands off. I mean it. Dee

Denying Project 2025?

Donald Trump just found out that Americans don’t want to lose their Constitutional rights or Social Security checks or have a theocracy tell them if they qualify for needed health care. As a matter of fact, while most Americans have not read the 900 page document, they are becoming aware of its greatest hits, and are, understandably, less than enthused.

Ask a voter whether s/he wants to lose their rights, be told what they can and cannot do, and have incompetent political hacks decide what drugs are safe to take and water to drink, air to breathe and they’ll probably say, Hell no!

So Donald Trump, all of a sudden, has no idea what Project 2025 is or who runs it so he “wishes them luck.” Kinda like telling the January 6 insurrectionists that he loves them and they’re very special.

Two problems with this:

  • They’re all HIS people; and
  • Donald Trump does not have a Republican Party platform, only “whatever I want” if that can be called a political platform.

So, are you willing to vote for someone who regularly convenes with his former senior staffers at the Heritage Foundation (author of Project 2025) events and has never stood on a political platform of his own? If he denies he’ll implement Project 2025, then gets elected and follows it to the letter, you can’t exactly vote him out of office for lying to you, again. Think about it.

Project 2025 will burn down the house of American democracy. I don’t think that’s a great way to plan for our great nation’s 250th birthday. And I can’t for the life of me see why so many Americans are willing to toss our Constitution for an imperial presidency that only benefits rich white men. Tossing away 250 years of freedom to live under the tyranny of one orange man is ludicrous, in my opinion. But that’s why we have elections. I plan to speak, and hope you do as well.

At least ask, if not the Project 2025 platform, what’s YOUR plan, Mr. Trump? Is it hiding along with your perfect alternative to the Affordable Care Act, Mexican funding for The Wall, and the always promised, never delivered “Infrastructure Week?” Vote! Dee

It’s Coalition Time

The Democratic Party’s circular firing squad must end now. The real threat is fascism and Donald Trump’s ready-made authoritarian presidency, now cemented by a decidedly MAGA Supreme Court.

Dems must have an iron-clad coalition with independents and Never-Trumpers to beat this disinformation circus that has infected our nation.

It’s not only good to stand together, our coalition must have a purpose and it can start simply. First, term-limit federal judges, beginning with the Supreme Court. Increase the number of Supreme Court justices to fifteen, and bind them by the same ethics rules of Congress (can’t accept gifts of over $50.00).

Pass the John Lewis Voting Act. Provide for transparency so there is no more “dark” money. We want to know who is buying our government. The Federal Elections Commission has to be non-partisan and on track to keep order in elections, and have some teeth. If Congress wants to take itself seriously it must hold itself accountable. They have to tell the courts that Congressional subpoenas are important, and to do that those who are living in a glass house (that’s you, Jim Jordan) must fess up. Certain roles that the Constitution allocates to Congress must be taken back from the Executive and Judiciary.

I don’t know how to keep the courts from legislating, but smarter people than I can find a solution. The Executive should be allowed to do what it does best, regulating laws clearly written by Congress. Yes, Congress needs legal staffs who can get it right so that it’s not overturned.

Voters should add parties so it’s not just Democrat or Republican. There could be, for example, a Progressive Party, or a Conservative Party. Then coalition governments could be formed that more fully address the needs of the public, for which this republic was formed. For we, the people.

Before that, and until a Constitutional amendment can be passed, American states should gain enough electoral votes to sidestep the Electoral College, which is unfair. And states should consider ranked choice voting. Voters should also strictly limit what campaign funds can be used for. Now, they can’t be used for certain minor things like vacations or expensive ties, but Donald Trump can use them for tens of millions of dollars to his lawyers every month. That’s just wrong. If people want to give him money for that, make it personal, and have everyone who does it pay taxes on it.

In a nutshell, if we don’t work together, our children will not grow up in a United States of America. So, hold your nose and vote for the coalition candidate. If we do that for two presidential election cycles we may be headed back on the right track and able to weather this horrific storm. Join together, make a platform all can live with and promote, and defeat the freight train that is tyranny of the minority. But first, take a breath and start talking with your neighbors again. We’re all in this together. Vote! Dee

Third World Country

On January 6th, 2021, we watched as an angry mob stormed the United States Capitol to stop the counting of electoral votes, kill the House Speaker and hang the Vice President. Afterwards, before the DOJ began investigating this failed coup attempt, the January 6th House Select Committee laid out the comprehensive plot led by President Trump to remain in office despite losing a free and fair election.

Forget the MAGA hysterics about bodies in the streets and American blood being tainted by vermin. And MAGA attacks on special counsels and prosecutors. The only reason Donald Trump is being prosecuted is because he has committed crimes, from sexual assault to business fraud to influence the 2016 election (guilty on both) to trying to overturn our government by refusing to relinquish power when he had no right to wield it. In the olden days, the day of or after such a coup, the perpetrator would have his head removed from his body and placed on a pike as a deterrent to future overthrowers.

What happened this week at the Supreme Court is heinous and cannot be tolerated. The entity trusted for 250 years to protect our Constitution and our democracy chose to do the polar opposite. They kneecapped current indictments against “King” Trump and may overturn convictions of their new king and his future brownshirts (Proud Boys et al), currently in prison for sedition and other crimes during the unsuccessful coup attempt.

The court made up this unnecessary and supremely unwise decision on a political 6-3 vote, adding proscriptions to evidence in hand in the January 6 federal investigation. In addition to that ridiculous (Amy Coney Barrett concurred) opinion, fellow justices threw out other MAGA bones (special counsels may be illegal, come back and ask us to rule on that one) as red meat to Trump’s base.

As we prepare for America’s 250th birthday as a democracy, there is little to cheer for, with women and minorities on the chopping block. Not to mention voters. Say what you will while you enjoy the jobs, economy, democracy and personal health (getting us out of the COVID pandemic) that Joe Biden has brought us. Turning our backs on our very democracy just to please one orange man is absolute lunacy.

Too bad Joe Biden’s not going to avail himself of the kingly powers he’s just been granted. If I had my wish, Donald Trump would be arrested and sent to GITMO with no phone or social media access, for treason for having tried to overturn our Constitution. To keep him company, I’d send along Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Jim Jordan, Leonard Leo and would remove Steve Bannon from Danbury Country Club prison and send him, too. Roger Stone as well, Mr. Dirty Tricks himself.

Add Ron Johnson just because he’s the weasel who tried to hand-deliver Wisconsin’s and Michigan’s fake elector forms to Vice President Pence on January 6th, plus he did (and does) nothing for the people of Wisconsin. Also Scott Perry, Matt Gaetz and every Senator and Representative who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. Have a big crane deliver a few cows over the fence every few days so they can fight each other for scraps while they await, and await, and await, trial.

Oh, as MTG and Lauren Boebert are frenemies now, put them in a cell together in the toughest women’s prison ward in the country and see how long they last. Add cameras for live streaming, but don’t allow Gitmo to have any TV’s. That’s the start of of my revenge fantasy. What’s yours? Dee