The Big Con

I haven’t updated this blog since the end of 2020. I felt such relief than. Such hope. Little did I know what January 6, 2021 was going to bring. And now look where we are. If you read today’s post all the way through, thank you. I started writing this in hopes I would stop feeling so much anger and fear. I’m still fucking mad, but I feel a tiny bit better to get it off my chest.

Man. What the fuck have we done?

It never occurred to me TFG would be re-elected. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.  

Honestly, I thought his political career was over once he incited the insurrection. The evidence of election interference and incessant refusal to recognize the free-and-fair election should have just been the cherry on his FAFO sundae. I thought it was definitely over once he was found liable for sexual abuse in the E. Jean Carroll case. I mean, he’s a rapist, who wants a rapist as their President? Then I thought it was over when they discovered the top-secret documents in his residence (in his bathroom? Like…what?). When he was convicted of 34 felonies, I was so relieved. THAT was the nail in the coffin. Surely.

President is supposed to be a role-model; someone our children can look up to and aspire to be like. And I couldn’t ( honestly, still can’t) imagine anyone leaving their children unattended with TFG much less want them looking up to him as a role model.

When Biden dropped out and Harris became the nominee, I can’t explain to you how excited I was. A(nother) highly qualified woman, who is a little too “center” for me, but HEY that’s supposed to be a good thing to undecided (how the hell was anyone undecided?) voters. She would appeal to the moderate republicans who had common sense. She wasn’t the choice I wanted, but she was a choice I supported fully.  

The amount of shit the right gave Biden for his age, and fumbling words, and losing his train of thought…when TFG started doing the same, I thought GREAT! Surely, they aren’t going to vote for Sundowning Donny. SURELY, they see it and surely they’re relieved to have an option that was born closer to this century than the previous one. That’s just common sense. Especially considering how much the right made fun of Biden’s age and memory issues. 

When the Supreme Disappointments Court basically gave him unchecked immunity, I just knew in my heart that nobody wanted to see that guy with unchecked power. Especially once he started referencing Hitler and other fascists. The “don’t tread on me” crowd definitely wouldn’t put up with someone who’s entire plan was to tread on everyone that wasn’t a billionaire. He denied being associated with Project 2025, but the authors of that document were in his former administration. (BTW, they’ve admitted P25 was always the plan and they are reveling in the fact that his voters believed him.)

THEN he started threatening journalists and “enemies from within.” Surely once he started threatening to turn the National Guard on American citizens for expressing their 1st Amendment right of Free Speech. SURELY, that would stop the “constitutional rights and FREEDOM” crowd.

Boy, did I get a big fucking bite of WTF pie on election night.

People kept saying “the economy” was the reason they voted for him. Good grief. Y’all. Y’ALL. When you look at the data, our economy has done nothing but grow in the last 4 years. “But, but, but groceries are so expensive now!” Yes. They are. And corporate greed with year-over-year record profits is why prices are still high. The US recovered faster than any nation of the world after the (mismanaged and deadly) pandemic. But sure. The economy was the problem.

“Look at the stock market!” you exclaim.

Yes, look at it. It had continuous growth over the past 4 years, hitting record highs multiple times. Do you realize that this immediate boom in the market made the top 10 richest people in the world a combined 60 billion dollars in the first 24 hours after the election? The rich get richer. We hear your “anti-establishment-don’t-tread-on-me-drain the swamp” cries all the while you support a con-man who literally IS the swamp, who’s been bought and paid for by billionaires and helped by Putin. The hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance it takes to justify your vote must be exhausting

 So, what do we, the average American get?

He plans to get rid of “Obamacare”. How exciting! Except y’all know that the ACA (Affordable Care Act) is the same thing as “Obamacare”, right?  Say hello to pre-existing conditions again, and goodbye to affordable insurance.  Maybe this will be one of his campaign promises he doesn’t fulfill.

That’s ok, if he takes away the ACA, you can get Medicaid. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but dismantling Medicaid is on the agenda. If they don’t gut it completely, they still plan to limit it, put caps on per-enrollee spending, and tie Medicaid benefits to burdensome work requirements that increases uninsured rates but won’t do the same to employment rates.

That’s ok, he’s gonna tax China with tariffs on imported goods and cut our taxes. Tariffs shrink the economy by reducing work and investment, because they increase the prices of imported and protected goods. After paying higher prices for those goods, people have less income left to spend elsewhere. I guess it’s a good thing TP is manufactured in the US.

That’s just a few of the “economy” items that y’all are so worried about. Well, you should be worried now.

Oh yeah, and FEMA is on the chopping block. Remember that next year when the next storm hits.

He’s gonna get rid of all those damn illegals that Biden and Harris let through! Woo boy. Buckle up folks. You’re in for a wild ride.

2017-2020 (TFG administration) Refugee expulsions 2,147,750

2021-July 2024 (Biden/Harris) Refugee expulsions 4,415,920

OPE!

You know TFG plans eliminate protections for trans kids, which for whatever reason, many of you are thrilled with. Not sure why keeping kids healthy and allowing their parents to make the medical decisions they think is best for their own kids is an issue, but what do I know? I’m GenX, I just mind my own business because…well, it’s not my fucking business. And it’s not like kids are actually being sent to school as one gender, and returning home as another. (Which he lied about over and over and over again) But his plans go further than just government overreach in a family’s business. He wants to rescind all federal regulations, rules, and policies surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity. You understand that means this will allow for anti-LGBTQ discrimination, right? As in there will be no protections for LGBTQ people against discrimination in employment, housing, education, health care, and other federal government programs. 

We all know women don’t have the rights to their own bodies now. And the Your Body My Choice crowd are super excited about it. This is what happens when you let your kids idolize someone as unethical, immoral, and flat out deranged as TFG.  And when you listen to Joe Brogan.

Everything I’ve talked about here is terrible and should have been more than enough reason to let TFG go to prison where he deserves to rot until he joins Epstein in hell.

You voted for a guy who not only lies to win, but he also lies to avoid accountability. He has no integrity, no moral compass, no empathy, and is a conman. And he somehow managed to con you into voting for him.

Those of us who have been paying attention are not just sad, we’re scared. History is trying to repeat itself, and we’re watching it happen in real time. If his administration starts rounding up “enemies of the state” because they campaigned against him, investigated him, wrote truthful articles about him, satirized him, or voted against him…what are you going to do? Are you going to cheer? Are you going to turn in your neighbor for voting for Harris? Are you going to look the other way when doors are knocked down and people are dragged from their homes? Or are you going to fight for our constitutional rights? Those of us who have been paying attention cannot trust you. We do not feel safe with you.

Y’all chose bigotry, sexism, racism, misogyny, transphobia, xenophobia, and hate over the love of country, people and our constitution. You chose a r*pist, racist, fascist and you mock us for being scared. Black women have been warning us to pay attention for decades. I’ve been listening. You should listen, too.

I hope I’m wrong about this. I hope with everything I have that I’m overreacting. I hope none of you lose insurance, or Medicaid, or Medicare, or social security benefits (hell I didn’t even dive into that!) I hope inflation doesn’t rise like the experts predict. I hope we don’t have another recession like in 2008 when deregulation beat our ass for 19 months and the rich got richer, while the rest of us lost houses, cars, and jobs.

Four years ago, I hoped for a happier future. Now I just hope our future isn’t as dire as the history we seem to be repeating.

in my neverending and damn near futile mission to try to help inform folks…

THIS GUY? He explains the shutdown so clearly that a Kindergartener could understand it. Continue reading

I’m pissed. I’m fired up. And I’m on a mission.

We don’t have a government. We have a bunch of pissed off toddlers throwing a goddamned tantrum for not getting their way in the grocery store.

I’m angry. I am so disgusted and disappointed in and ashamed of our elected officials that I can’t even describe it. And the most infuriating part of it all? Sure they’ll shut down the government to try to bully people into doing what they want, but are THEY going without pay? Fuck no. Of course not. Continue reading

attitude check!

So, what’s your “Social Attitude?” Click this link, take the test, and find out!

My results:

Radicalism 88.5
Socialism 56.25
Tenderness 50

These scores indicate that you are a progressive; this is the political profile one might associate with a university professor. It appears that you are skeptical towards religion, and have a pragmatic attitude towards humanity in general.

Your attitudes towards economics appear neither committedly capitalist nor socialist, and combined with your social attitudes this creates the picture of someone who would generally be described as a political centrist.

To round out the picture you appear to be, political preference aside, a devoted egalitarian with several strong opinions.

I’d say that sums me up quite nicely. Continue reading

Melf unplugged

The fellas (minus Ian because he’s a working man now) and I will be heading to the lake tomorrow for a full day and night of fun. And then we will rinse and repeat on Sunday. I am so ready for a break.

Which means, I’m unplugging this weekend. Sure I’ll have my phone on me (because I can’t NOT take pictures!!) but I am not gonna be online. Yup. Even Facebook. (maybe) (probably) (possibly) (hopefully) (not much). At. All.

Try not to miss me!

In other internet news… There has been a couple of really fantastic discussions on one of my favorite blogs. If you’re interested in seeing how internet discussion SHOULD work, check out this blog post over at Raising Kids Without Religion.

Actually, there are two pretty great discussions going on right now:

God as a placebo
Children Taking a Different Path

I really enjoy reading the well thought out discussions and the respectful way they are conducted. Religion (and politics) can be such divisive topics that they are rarely discussed without anger and condescension. It is so refreshing to know there are places on the internetz that allow for these discussions without all the child-like behavior. Who knew that could exist? I never leave that website wanting to yell MOM! SOMEONE IS WRONG ON THE INTERNET AGAIN!

Okay my bitches! I leave you with your moment of zen…which will also give you an idea of what I will be doing all weekend long…

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Careful Francis! You’re ruffling some vestments!

I’m not Catholic, but I was married into a Catholic family for almost 20 years so I have a pretty good grasp of Catholicism. Also, my kid goes to a catholic high school… I knew this pope was different when he took my name. We made a deal, you see. And so far, he’s holding up to his end of the bargain.

Back in June, he donned his tiara and said: ‘”The lord has redeemed all of us, not just Catholics, even the atheists,”

Which is awful cool of him. Honestly. You know that behind the scenes, the dudes in charge all had puckered assholes. WTF did he say? He can’t be telling everyone they can be redeemed! Hell! We’ve made several lifetimes of money based on guilt and exclusivity. So they had a meeting and he took it back. Sort of.

pope-francis-not-judging-gays-somewhat_topical-ecards-someecardsBut this week? Oh the pope made me proud he took my name. “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

“It’s funny, it’s just like politics,” Maher continued. “The hierarchy at the Vatican was like ‘What the fuck did this guy just say?’ You could almost see them preparing the poison. ‘Luckily we’ve got a spare pope!’” (said in reference to even atheists can be redeemed. But NOW that the Pope is damn near flying his rainbow flag high, I think that Maher’s statement is even more applicable!)

Here’s the thing. “Who am I to judge?” should just be EVERYONE’S tagline. I’m just proud this catholic political leader is the first of his kind to say it. Out loud.

Who are we to judge anyone?

We are human. We are fallible. We make mistakes. There may or may not be eternal damnation or celebration waiting for us if we fuck up too much then die. But, as humans, who are we to judge anyone? I thought that was the whole point of that one verse in the Bible…

Matthew 7: 1-5

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Not that I care one way or the other what you do, because it’s not my business. But those who are all in a tizzy about Pope Francis sticking to the Bible he preaches…maybe they should revisit that very same bible…

RAPID TOPIC CHANGE

Oh my bootay hurts! In Operation Bootylicious news, yesterday I walked a total of 4.5 miles. It was a good day, but damn my butt muscles are sore! It wasn’t too terribly long ago that I was walking 4-5 miles a day, 5 days a week. Whew. I’ve got a ways to go before I’m back to that. But I’m well on my way to success.  I love the way my clothes are fitting me, so I just gotta keep plugging along.

Metaphorically throwing away the scale has made a difference in my attitude.

If it’s not raining at lunch, I’ll be doing my daily walk with Marissa. If it is…well, I’ll just take that as a sign from the Bootay Gods that I needed a day of rest.

Tonight I have supper club with my girls. I can’t wait! I’m cooking the main dish: Shrimp Primavera. And it’s gonna be EFFING AWESOME.

fuck. yeah.

hahaha.

Have a happy Twofer Tuesday, Bitches!

 

Things you may have missed this week if you’ve been living under a rock. #NSA

Soooo, I’ve had a bee-in-my-bonnet this week and I unleashed the Rant Kraken on my blog.

I figure since I’m on a roll with my opinions which I am stating on my blog which nobody is telling you to read, that maybe I should continue on…

Let’s talk about the NSA… (Hi, NSA. I know this is going to put me on your watch list. You’ll find my texts rather boring, I’m afraid. I usually only talk about wine and weekend plans which usually include more wine. Sometimes we make fun of people (which I’m not proud of, but honestly, some people are just asking for it.)

I cannot believe people are NOT up in arms about what our government is doing to us right now. That fucking Patriot Act opened the door to this, but the Obama administration is allowing it to happen, and that’s not okay. (and dude. I voted for you.  I like you. BUT THIS? Not. Ok.)

Wait, you ask, what’s happening with the NSA that’s so bad to make you mad at your dude, Obama?

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I answer.can-you-hear-me-NSA

So, the abridged story is…the NSA has been illegally gathering all of our cell phone data. Our text messages, calls, metadata…ALL OF IT. And they’re looking for key words and patterns and they’re using the Patriot Act to back them up. Yes. They have your information. All of it………

That nasty text message you sent to your husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, stranger? They have it.

That “sexy” picture you took? They have that as well. (BTW, please understand that fat, clammy white guys posing like Burt Reynolds in front of a computer, are not sexy. Not even “sexy”)

Those not so subtle texts about your next weed purchase? Yup. Even that.

Any off color jokes? (yes, the racist ones…) Any of your threats to the President? (even the “jokey” ones) Your private messages to your lover? Your full of crazy rants about your spouse’s ex? Yep, those, too.

Those stalking texts? Those “jokes” about blowing up government buildings? Yeah…they’re not being considered “jokes” dude.

Let me break it down for you. When I worked for ALLTEL in the fraud department, I worked alongside law enforcement to track cloning and subscription fraud rings. I could detect patterns, and flag accounts, but if the cops called asking for information about a specific number or data, THEY HAD TO HAVE A SUBPOENA. Because it’s ILLEGAL to access personal, private records without just cause…You know, so they don’t violate the 4th Amendment of our Constitution.

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Do you understand what it means to our privacy and our security now that our government has decided that the 4th Amendment is “just a suggestion?” They are treating it like it’s the Yellow Light of the Law. They are using our fears of another attack like 9-11 to justify their illegal seizure of our private information.

And instead of getting pissed off about losing their rights, people are wasting their time moaning and groaning about “the gays” getting equal rights! WTF is wrong with this country!?

AND NOW! our country is trying to apprehend the man who leaked the information to Americans because they consider him a traitor to our country.

trai·tor

/ˈtrātər/
Noun

A person who betrays a friend, country, principle, etc.

Hey, NSA. Y’all are the traitors. Y’all are the ones who are ignoring our constitution and acting like the GEE DEE Gestapo. Snowden is a fucking hero. He saw what y’all were doing was illegal, he called you out on it, and now you’re trying to punish him BECAUSE YOU GOT CAUGHT BETRAYING YOUR OWN PEOPLE.

NSA–and all those involved in allowing this to go on–y’all are assholes.

ASSHOLE is the word of the week.

I’m as left of center as you can get without being a loon. I have supported the Obama administration on so many things…I’m proud they are supporting Equal Rights for all Americans. I am proud of Obamacare and their attempt to make healthcare available to all Americans. I am proud they are trying to help the immigrants already in the country become citizens. BUT, if this administration doesn’t do something to stop the illegal seizure of our information, I’m going to seriously have to reconsider living here.

Honestly. Once you take a right from the people, it’s damn near impossible to get it back.

And I want my right to privacy returned to me. PRONTO.

 

 

 

do you bleach? #pauladeen #racism (and another rant…)

I’ve been on a roll lately, so why stop now? This is probably gonna ruffle a few feathers, but hey, I have opinions, this is my blog and NOBODY IS MAKING YOU READ MY WORDS! Continue reading

getting all inside the beauty of my trip. and even better, inside the beauty of #equalrights

FYI, the reference of “inside the beauty” comes from a creeper message on Facebook. We have taken this on as a new turn-of-phrase. And we modify it on occasion. If we get up inside your beauty, you know we mean business.

New message from the Other Inbox: Please to be my friend, pretty lady? You have very much beauty and I want to get inside your beauty.

Check out my pictures on Instagram from our trip to Iowa and Illinois.

The trip was breathtakingly beautiful. Every damn time I looked out the window, it was like looking at a postcard.

El Jefe’s family was amazing. So welcoming and fun.

Image

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After Iowa, we spent a lovely day with David and Kyle in Chicago enjoying the hell out of PrideFest.

1010181_10152014715537907_969093930_nYes. That’s Gaymart. The happiest store on earth.

Speaking of PrideFest…YAY SCOTUS! You made the right decision striking down DOMA. All Americans should have equal rights. Marriage is a human right. Period. And frankly, “separate but equal” has never worked…and it is not really equal. So. Let’s all get Gay Married! Okay, I know everything isn’t done yet, but striking down DOMA is a huge step in the right direction.

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Hey USA! Happy Holiday Weekend!

Memorial-Day

Don’t forget to thank a veteran for the freedoms he or she fought for us to have.

 

 

 

 

Also. Happy Freaking Friday! Yay for the three-day weekend!

Last night at the Compound, we fired up Big Bertha for the first time since fall. Not because we don’t  grill year ’round usually, but because we had to use our porch as a storage shed, and poor Big Bertha was inaccessible until we finally got the boxes moved to the actual storage unit. Which we did a few weeks ago, and now, not only can we enjoy our Screened-in-Porch again, but we can enjoy grilled meat again as well.

Mmmmm. Meat.

Mmmmm. Meat.

I melted some butter and added an equal amount of balsamic vinegar and some garlic and I put the chicken and the marinade into a ziploc. I refrigerated the chicken for about 40 minutes. Then I basted the chicken in the leftover marinade while grilling.

OMG. It was seriously so juicy and tender!  I also grilled some green beans and black-eyed peas in foil with a smidge of bacon fat.  We ate well last night.

Congratulations to the Boy Scouts for kinda sorta not being homophobic. *rolling eyes* So what’s going to happen when your gay boy scout members grow up and want to be boy scout leaders? It’s okay to be a gay member (heheh she said gay member) but not a leader who is gay? Really? So isn’t that kinda like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell? (which really didn’t work out very well, yanno). Or is it the modern version of Separate but Equal? No. It’s not that either. I guess I’m proud you tried to take a step forward. It’s more like a half-a-step and you twisted your ankle, but it is slight progress.

Today is a wonderful day. It started out swell, I’m full of sparkle and awesome, I’m having Sushi with my bestie from high school for lunch, and tonight, there will be wine. Tomorrow we may go canoeing. I’m pretty sure I’ll be shaking my bootay at some point this weekend. (When you have a bootay like mine, you need to shake it well, and often.) And I’m thinking there will be a trip to the farmer’s market in our future as well.

YAY SUMMER!