The End of the Beginning

“Donald Trump is a man who ran for office to make his brand great, not to make our country great. He had no desire or intention to lead this nation – only to market himself and to build his wealth and power. Mr. Trump would often say, this campaign was going to be the ‘greatest infomercial in political history'".

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Michael Cohen, 2/27/19

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I suspected as much nearly four years ago, in June o0f 2015, when The Donald announced that he was a candidate for the presidency. He never seriously expected to win; it was all a scheme to "up his brand". But he did win, and now we're all stuck with the consequences of that still unexplainable victory on Election Day 2016. That's probably why, on Election Night, the Trump team (with the exception of Trump) himself) looked completely shell-shocked.

The hearings which are being chaired by Democrat Elijah Cummings just recessed a few minutes ago for an hour or so. It was quite an informative four-and-a-half-hours. Aside from expressing to Cohen that black people in American are "too stupid" to cast their ballots for an unhinged imbecile like Trump, he also expressed the opinion that every country on earth with a dark-skinned head of state was a "shithole" - a phrase we're more than familiar with.

It's clear that, if Michael Cohen's testimony is to be believed, that the president of the United States may very well have participated in felonious conspiracy. Cohen related to the committee that he was present in the summer of 2016 when Trump's administrative secretary informed him that he had an incoming call from Roger Stone. Trump turned on the speaker phone and Stone informed the president that Julian Assange was about to drop about 60,000 hacked emails from the Clinton campaign out into the public domain - something that Trump has always denied, but never under oath - at least not yet.

Cohen also informed the committee that Trump told him to "indirectly" lie to congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project. He also bragged about "cheating" the IRS and said that he couldn't believe how stupid the government was to give him a ten million dollar refund; a statement which I agree with wholeheartedly.

The Republicans were obviously desperate to save Trump by trying to tear down Michael Cohen's reputation at every level. Can't they see that, by protecting this president, they're only going to do serious damage to their reputations in the long run? Is it political courage or is it just plain old stupidity on their parts. Any takers?

This promises to go on for several more hours so I need to get back to the tube. This is truly an extraordinary thing to witness.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

Post #838: Random Observations

The following are merely a series of random, unrelated observations that have not-a-freaking-thing to do with normal life. Normal life ended a couple of years ago. We now live in a new and unsettling reality. This is the new normality. Get used to it. America is fucked is beyond anyone's worst imagination.
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1. FUCK SPIRO AGNEW
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This is a bombshell. The Rachel Maddow team have unearthed documents which prove that, seven years after leaving office in disgrace, former vice-president Spiro Agnew sought financial aid from the royal family of Saudi Arabia (to the tune of $200,000 per year) to assist him in waging "war" on "the Jews" and "Zionists" in America who were trying to destroy America. We always knew that old Spiro was as contemptible a piece of shit as it was possible to scrape off the history books, but this nasty bit of information only further seals his reputation.

2. Another Step Into the Abyss

According to the NY Times, this disgusting administration is on the verge of providing Saudi Arabia with sensitive nuclear technology in strict violation of international law. That the Trump administration could do something  as insanely reckless as that shouldn't surprise anyone. The "government" of that country (such as it is) is one of the most corrupt on the planet and is almost as unstable. Don't forget that nineteen of the twenty hijackers on September 11, 2001 were from that country - and America ended up invading Iraq. The possibility of someone from within going on a jihad to end all jihads is something that cannot be dismissed lightly. If the Times is correct (and they're usually fairly astute) This could lead to a king-hell nightmare somewhere down the line. Let's hope cooler hears prevail. Wishful thinking, I know.

Idiot Nation

3. Not Quite Mueller Time

This week we were being told that Bob Mueller and team were within days of releasing the report all of us have been waiting nearly two long years for. Now the "experts" are telling us that we might be waiting a few weeks - or even a couple of months - longer. That's fine and dandy with me. We want to know that Team Mueller is dotting every I and crossing every T. Also, we'll be able to roll our eyes in amusement when the right wing SCREAM MACHINE accuses them of rushing to judgment. And besides, for every day that this investigation goes on, the president of the United States becomes more and more unhinged - always a jolly fun thing to watch. Someone needs to publish a book containing every tweet Donald Trump has created since the time he announced his candidacy in June of 2015. Have it ready by the Christmas season. It'll be the biggest seller of the year.

Let Bob and company do what needs to be done. Thoroughness is next to godliness. you may quote me on that.

Take your sweet time, Mr. Mueller!

5.  Mike Pence Gets Humiliated

Mike Pence went to Germany this week to address the Munich Security Conference. It didn't go over very well. Apparently the veep thought he could score points with the boss by giving him a plug before a crowd that is, for reasons too numerous to mention, hostile to the Trump Mob. To hardly anyone's surprise, Pence's little ploy backfired spectacularly:

"[O]n behalf of a champion of freedom and of a strong national defense, I bring greeting from the forty-fifth president of the United States, President Donald Trump." 

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Poor old Mike paused, waiting for the applause he was certain was coming....

NOTHING. You could almost hear the crickets chirping. It was the funniest thing this year thus far - a year that promises to deliver untold thousands of knee slappers. That's what I love about the vice-president: he never fails to deliver the goods.
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Keep 'em coming, Mike!
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Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

AFTERTHOUGHT:  

This is the first piece I've posted on this site in a little over two weeks. I apologize or the wait - I mean, that is if there's anyone out there who gives a damn. Aww, c'mon! There must be at least one of you! I've been having some health issues that sapped my strength - and, no, I am not dying - CHILL! Back to business as unusual!

In memory of Peter Tork

1942-2019
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I make no apologies: I was (and still am) a stone-cold fan of The Monkees. When they came on the scene in the autumn of 1966, I was eight-years-old and ripe for the picking. While some of their music is quite dated, a lot of it holds up quite well across the decades. I had the pleasure of meeting him in March of 1980. his band was performing at a long-gone venue in Middletown, NY called The O & W Station. He was kind enough to sign my LP of The Monkees Greatest Hits.

To the Tom Deegan Expressway
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Peter Tork
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I didn't even mind that he spelled my name wrong. I introduced my date that night to the bartender. A year later they were married. John and Michele Bernieri are married still. They have Peter Tork to thank for that. God rest his soul.

State of Disunion

 "If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation."

From Trump's 2019 SOTU Address

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Someone hand me my chisel, please.

It took me a couple of days to get up the energy to even comment adequately on the State of the Union speech. It seems that a day doesn't go by in these weird times when one is not rendered speechless at least three times between consciousness and repose. Although the Watergate era is closing in on a half century, receding into the historical mist ever-so-slowly, for those of us who were old enough to understand and remember what was happening at that point in American history, the eras of the Trickster the Donald and are hardly comparable. Nixon was a thug and a thoroughly despicable human being, but - all in all - one never lost that much sleep knowing that the man was within a few feet of the so-called "nuclear football". As unhinged as Dick Nixon became in the final days of his administration (drunkenly talking to the portraits of his dead predecessors, for instance) he had around him enough people who were rational and fairly competent. I don't believe that is the case as far as Donald Trump is concerned. 
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The highlight of the State of the Union Speech was when the cameras cut to the women in white. It was a reminder that this country is going through some significant changes, and it would do all of us bloated white guys good to sit back and roll with those inevitable changes. We have got to accept the fact that what is occurring now in America - and around the planet - is as natural as the sun rising in the eastern sky. This is a new morning, guys! The most important national story in the first half of the twenty-first century will be how we deal with this much needed change. So far, I'm sorry to say, we're not off to a particularly good start. This will be - this is - the century of the woman. Deal with this new reality. Aww, c'mon! It won't be so bad, I promise!

There is no way - in Heaven or on earth - that this disgusting president will be residing in the Executive Mansion on New Year's Day 2020. We're just weeks (days???) from seeing members of his immediate family being indicted by Team Mueller. This is as bad as it gets. This is as bad as it's ever been, or ever will be.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

Wake the fuck up, folks. Seriously.

AFTERTHOUGHT:

On the day of Trump's inauguration, an old friend of mine posted on her Facebook page what a beautiful thing his presidency will be for the nation. My comment was, "Get used to living in a nation in ruins". This was her reply:

"I will get used to living in a nation that's not a laughing stock where we can be proud again and not be slaves to other nations. I will be happy to be self sufficient and have others respect us again. How quickly we forget 911 and how these people went to our schools and were our neighbors then murdered all people in walks of life. My grandparents were immigrants and came to this country with pride and love for America learned the language and worked hard through criticism and being spit on. You Tom Deagan were raised with a silver spoon in your mouth. If you don't like the president or respect him get out. See the rest of the world and how it lives."


Errors of grammar and punctuation notwithstanding, after forty years of friendship, she at least might have learned how to spell my name. With two years of hindsight, this note seems even more ridiculous than it did at the time. People are funny.

"If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation."

Please, hand me my chisel.