The last few weeks have been pretty amazing, particularly with the once-in-a-lifetime experiences that The Bloke and I have participated in for his birthday. I’ve also had quite a buzz from blogging every day over the last week, rediscovering my enjoyment of simply writing things down and interacting with the community. I spent hours putting together a large and detailed post yesterday, sent it out across my social media, replied to my comments and then settled in for the evening. I always get a huge sense of satisfaction when I’ve done large post – those are the ones that are often evergreen and bring in the most amount of views over a long period of time.
Martin Niemöller’s quotation revised to fit our times:
First, the far-right extremist Trump Loyalists came to kill the minorities with bullets and bombs, and I did nothing—because I was not a minority.
Then the far-right extremist Trump Loyalists came to kill registered Democrats with bullets and bombs, and I did not speak out— because I was not a member of the Democratic Party.
Then the far right extremist Trump Loyalists came to kill and blow up the Jews, and I did nothing—because I was not a Jew.
Then the far-right extremist Trump Loyalists came to exterminate the children born in the United States of illegal immigrant parents, and I did nothing—because I was born a citizen and my parents had been citizens too.
Then the far right extremist Trump Loyalists arrived outside my house with their bullets and bombs—and there was no one left to fight for me and my family.
After my house was in ruin and my family and I were dead, Trump tweeted that there were many good people among the Americans that were loyal to him.
And who is the Donald Trump that encourages his loyalists to bully, shoot, and even bomb reporters and innocent people who are not loyal to him?
Simply stated in his own words in 2016 as reported by Leslie Sthal, a “60 Minutes” correspondent: when she asked then-presidential candidate Donald Trump why he incessantly attacks the press. His response, she said, was: “‘I do it to discredit you all and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you.’”
What does it mean to be an American patriot vs a Trump loyalist?
A patriot is a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it (“it” refers to the US Constitution) against enemies or detractors.
A Trump loyalist is a person who remains loyal to the established ruler, Trump, especially in the face of a revolt.
Politico Magazine reports, “All leaders want loyalty. All politicians. All presidents. But in the 241-year history of the United States of America, there’s never been a commander in chief who has thought about loyalty and attempted to use it and enforce it quite like Trump. ‘I value loyalty above everything else—more than brains, more than drive and more than energy,’ Trump once said.” …
According to people who know him well, Trump’s definition of loyalty is blunt. “Support Donald Trump in anything he says and does,” Roger Stone, the president’s longest-running political adviser said.
Tomorrow on November 6, 2018, if you vote, your vote will determine if you are an American Patriot or a Trump loyalist.
_______________________
Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam combat veteran with a BA in journalism and an MFA in writing, who taught in the public schools for thirty years (1975 – 2005).
Marshall Tuck is an extremist Republican pretending to be a Democrat. Tuck has been endorsed by the Republican Party. Tuck’s campaign funds and support come from conservative billionaires in and out of the state. Tuck has been endorsed by the GOP candidate for governor of California. Tuck’s and his campaign supporters are spreading lies to tarnish the real Democrat who is Tony Thurmond. A vote for Tuck is a vote for extremist, conservative autocratic billionaires and their nightmare agenda for the United States.
The race for State Superintendent of Instruction in California is the most expensive in history for a top state education
job. California-based Capital & Main predicts the spending will top $50 million, with Marshall Tuck outspending Tony Thurmond by 2-1.
All the usual billionaires have clustered behind Tuck—the Waltons, Eli Broad, Michael Bloomberg, Reed Hastings, etc.
The Republican Party has embraced Tuck. Its gubernatorial candidate John H. Cox endorsed Tuck on Saturday on Twitter.
The billionaires want this job, and they want it bad. Tuck is their man. He is also the Republican party’s man.
Capitol & Main writes:
One problem with having the Walmart Waltons foot a candidate’s bills is the presumptive link to the far-right agenda of Trump education secretary Betsy DeVos. Carrie Walton Penner’s support for DeVos included a board seat on her pet pro-voucher organization, Alliance for School Choice. Tuck’s moneyed…
Tony Thurmond is a real Democrat while Marshal Tuck, supported by Republicans and conservative billionaires is running as a FAKE Democrat that was booed at the California State Democratic Convention
Politico.com reported on November 1, five days before the 2018 election, “In the race to be California’s top educator, charter schools ally Marshall Tuck registered a substantial 12-point lead (48 percent to 36 percent) over state Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, as Tuck takes his second shot at the position. …
“The state superintendent race has attracted the most outside spending of any statewide contest, some $35 million: Teachers unions have showed up big for Thurmond, while rival EdVoice — whose campaign warchest is stocked by a small cast of individuals that includes Bill Bloomfield, Arthur Rock, Eli Broad, Richard Riordan and Jim Walton — have poured it on for Tuck. Both sides are saturating the airwaves; illustrating the stakes, the California Democratic Party just launched a $2.3 million ad blitz for Thurmond, and Sen. Kamala Harris appeared in a new pro-Thurmond.”
If that isn’t enough to point out the FAKE Democrat, maybe this…
The reason that voting has become a time-eating challenge is because of the tsunami of lies and half-truths that are designed to mislead voters. I have learned that none of the candidates can be trusted.
For that reason, I started each day by deleting all the campaign ads that arrived in my e-mail box without opening them.
I didn’t keep count of the hours spent reading and researching every candidate and all the Measures Submitted to Voters, but I do know that I spent more time making my decisions on this election than I have ever done before.
The first thing I did that probably cut the number of hours in half was to go through the “Contra Costa County Voter Information Guide with Sample Ballot” and cross out every Republican candidate before I started to do research. In previous elections, I gave every candidate a fair chance to gain my trust.
No more, because I think the GOP has become the Deplorable Party of Trump and cannot to be trusted.
The Trump’s GOP has become the FUD Party: spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt through conspiracy theories, lies, and misinformation. I have this theory that the Political Party that lies the most is the one with the most to hide.
For sure, candidates from both parties lie, half-lie, and mislead, but the Republican Party does more of it than most Democrats and many of the FUD candidates are so outrageous in their lies, it boggles the mind.
The second thing I did was to make sure I didn’t read any of the host of paper flyers landing in my regular mailbox because the time it takes to find out if there is anything honest in those flyers is not worth it. Republican flyers outnumbered Democratic flyers by a huge margin and most of those were for Marshall Tuck who is a known fake Democratic endorsed by the Republican Party.
Eventually I found enough information to make an educated guess — except for the four candidates running for the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District where you were supposed to vote for three of the four listed. I didn’t find anything about who those four candidates were and I wasn’t willing to keep hunting so I wrote in: God, Jesus Christ, and St. Patrick. I do not care if many think God and Jesus are the same. I just wanted three different names and there are billions of people on this planet that do not think Jesus is God. They think Jesus was a very important and influential teacher.
The Judicial page was a challenge because every name came with a YES or NO vote. There was no competition. All of these judges were appointed to their positions and it was up to us voters to decide if they should keep the job or the governor of California would have to appoint someone else to fill those positions.
It was frustrating to search for the judicial history of the ten appointed judges listed and I almost gave up and voted NO for all ten. But then I found enough information to make a decision and voted NO for 4 and YES for 6.
Marshall Tuck is a FAKE Democrat
Republicans are now running fake Democrats in California because in many counties it is almost impossible for a Republican to get elected. The easiest fake Democrat to NOT vote for was Marshall Tuck who is running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction (his second attempt to fool voters. He failed in 2014. This time his major supporters, all known conservative billionaires, are donating tons of money to his campaign to outspend the real Democrat).
It’s easy to identify the Fake Democrat when the Republican Party endorses him and all of his major contributors are Alt-Right billionaires that donate large sums of money to conservative causes and candidates.
The other candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction is Tony K. Thurmond and the Democratic Party endorsed him along with the teachers unions.
The Fake Democrat Marshall Tuck was and still is supported by the publicly funded, corporate charter school industry. I was a public school teacher in California for thirty years and I voted for Thurmond. I want all of the corporate charter schools closed. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction should represent the best interests of the public schools where almost 90-percent of the 6.5 million K-12 students attend — not the publicly funded, private sector, corporate charter school industry. These charter schools are not public schools because they do not answer to a publicly elected school board. Charter schools answer to a highly paid CEO and charter schools are not transparent in how they spend their money and operate like real public schools are.
It was a relief to walk into the post office and slip my mail-in-ballot through the slot.
_______________________
Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam combat veteran with a BA in journalism and an MFA in writing, who taught in the public schools for thirty years (1975 – 2005).
Donald Trump is a bigot and there is an old saying that birds of a feather flock together. That means if you support Donald Trump, you are a member of his bigoted flock of white supremacists and fear/hate filled racists.
In the closing days of the campaign, one of his ads asserted to working people that he alone would stand up to the global financiers (Jews) who were destroying their lives. This was one of the worst.
After the mayhem in Charlottesville, he said that there were “very fine people” on “both sides,” both the racists and the anti-racists.
David Duke was thrilled. So were the other leaders of the white nationalist movement. They came out of the shadows. They had a president on their side who accepted their legitimacy.
As Andrew Gillum said of his opponent Ron DeSantis, “I’m not calling…
Robbie spent four years as a US Marine before he became a Green Beret Special Forces medic in the Army.
Bella, Robbie’s PTSD service dog started her life as a rejected show dog thanks to an overbite. Then she became a skilled and irreplaceable service dog, a companion, a friend, and above all a life-saving member of Robbie’s family.
But the story of Bella and Robbie didn’t start there.
Several years after being honorably discharged, a deeply concerned friend tricked Robbie into going to the VA, where he was diagnosed with service related PTSD. An account of this event is shared in Robbie’s soon to be released book The Next Mission.
Based on a recommendation that a service dog might help with Robbie’s PTSD symptoms that were becoming progressively worse, Robbie started the process to find a service animal. When he read Bella’s profile…
