100 Days of Rain

Well whaddya know, we've just about reached the mark for Trump's 100th day in office, and we're still here to talk about whats gone on in those 100 days. If Trump were to receive a report card it would read: "Incomplete", because not a single thing had been seen through to completion. At this point, discussing the status or effectiveness of our national government has become a conundrum with infinite magnitude. The most accurate way I can find to describe the current status of our government is simple : 1 child, a roomful of toys, no chaperone. The child will typically spend more time pulling toys out, than putting toys away, resulting in a huge mess, and an extended version of the clean up song. Our Government is the child, domestic and international affairs are the toys, and we're left singing the clean up song while we put the pieces back together.

In Trump's first week in office, the country was hit with a barrage of extremely controversial executive orders that were thrusted into action with the stroke of a pen. Initially, he made good on his promise to initiate the building of "THE WALL". He made bold statements, incited an array of emotions, and demonstrated complete ignorance on the importance and necessity of positive international relations. While there continues to be talk of the wall's construction, it's definitely been pushed further down the agenda; Incomplete.

Then we dealt with the travel ban. Another stroke of the pen and BAM!, ALL persons from now 6 Muslim countries are barred from entering the country. We're all sitting there like "This can't be real!", but it was, and still is. Fortunately, we have some authoritative law-degree holders, aka judges, who were able to pause Trump's order a restore some order to a overwhelmed country.

The one thing Trump completed: DAPL. Yep, the one thing this guy was able to do was the one thing everyone wanted him not to. Trump approved the construction of the DAPL, undoing months of successful petitioning and protest by various groups and individuals across the country, causing more conflict between the real people of this country and the uneducated robots also known as, "Trump supporters." (SORRY, NOT SORRY)

Then we have Neil Gorsuch, approved to the Supreme Court by way of the "Nuclear Option". Literally, we did away with standard operating procedure and completely undermined the purpose and fairness of government, in literally the strongest governing entity our country offers. Right after that we bombed Syria and basically flipped the bird at the chance of World War III. Now we're clowning N. Korea to the point that they're attempting missile tests almost daily to prove they're a threat to American society and shouldn't be the laughing stock of International Warfare and Weapons development.

Obviously we could go on and on discussing Trumps actions and shortcomings. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I feel we've been especially fortunate to experience incomplete affects of Trump's signature on executive orders. But our being fortunate doesn't at erase or diminish the fact that he's basically completed NOTHING WORTHWHILE IN 100 DAYS!

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades...Right?

This time around, you'll have the opportunity to get a glimpse into my personal opinion on what Trump has "accomplished" in his brief yet excruciating duration as President. This entry was originally titled : "Trump and F.D.R - Failure, Denial, and Regret" but I thought that may be a bit confusing (and maybe slightly disrespectful - to FDR, of course.) In my opinion Trump's entire time in office has been a compilation of close calls, some of which we've felt affects, others we've been fortunate enough to avoid altogether.

Trump's Travel Ban, for example, while having an alarming impact on both intranational and international travel, in the days directly following it's signing, was subsequently blocked before its first full week of implementation. A "revised edition" of the order was shot down just Wednesday by Judge Derrick K. Watson of Hawaii, a move that was later mirrored by Judge Theodore D. Chuang of Maryland. It's the actions of these judges and the results of their actions that lead me to consider the "Travel Ban" a close call, all while acknowledging the overwhelming impact a number of families experienced while it was still in affect. Again, with respect to the families impacted by the implementation of the Travel Ban, I see the overall affect as limited, thanks to the blocks issued by the judges, making this comparatively a close call rather than as all out debacle. Trump's election on November 8th 2016, that was a complete debacle.

On the other hand, we have "Trumpcare", the healthcare bill devised by Trump and his administration, as the alternative to Obamacare which is currently responsible for providing healthcare to roughly 20 million American citizens. I consider "Trumpcare" another close call suffered by the American people, because thankfully it was such a failure of a proposal that it was never implemented, thus never directly affecting our economy or livelihoods. One setback for Trump's proposed healthcare bill was that the CBO found that it would leave an estimated 24 million citizens uninsured by 2026. The bill was found to be such an overall setback, that it was pulled before reaching an official congressional vote.

These are only 2 recent examples of theoretical hand grenades tossed toward the American people from Trump and his administration. I'm sure we collectively as American citizens would appreciate if these were the last, but unfortunately that doesn't seem like a wish that is likely to be granted. Trump's list of inappropriate acts, in the form of both political negligence and social bullying, seem to grow weekly. Let's just hope that we, as a nation, will be fortunate enough to limit the impact of Trump's hand grenades, similarly, if not more so, than we have thus far.

Impeach Em' Already!

The commentary I'm critiquing this time around, (http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/03/10/on-and-beyond-the-removal-of-a-jackass-president-impeachment-not-required/)  is a very humorous (in my opinion) , and factual critique in itself, of Donald Trump. This commentary can be found on Counterpunch.org and is titled "On and Beyond the Removal of a Jackass President: Impeachment Not Required. 

The commentary begins with a reference to the United States Constitution, specifically Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, which explains the procedure of impeachment. The text that follows this introduction is organized by subject, with very anti-trump worded titles, such as:

1. “The Open Madness of Candidate Trump”

2. “Insane Clown President”

3. “Saturday Morning Meltdown: Bad Grandpa Launches PhonetapGate.”

Given that the piece appears on a liberal news source, the author Paul Street is also the author of many liberal positioned books, and the entire page is filled with pretty derogatory references of Trump, we can reasonably assume that the intended audience is liberal citizens and anyone else who has had enough of Trump and his administration. Paul Street has a list of prestigiously awarded published books which gives his commentary authority and credibility. 

In arguing for the impeachment of Trump, which I absolutely agree with, Paul Street cites Trump's ignorance of policy, lack of professional poise, and even goes as far as to label his actions as insanity. He also argues that Trumps lack of professionalism, which shows itself often via Twitter and live speeches, misrepresents a moral standard that should certainly be upheld by the leader of a nation. Overall I strongly agree with this commentary both in it's serious political stance and it's use of humor, aimed at Trump. 

"What Democrats should resist..."

The text I chose to critique, is an editorial, from the "Opinion" column in USA Today, authored by USA Today's Editorial Board. The title of the editorial is "What Democrats should resist: Our View". Seeing as though this editorial is written and published in the "USA Today", a paper that tends to side on the more liberal view of social issues, and the title is "What Democrats should resist", we can pretty easily suggest that this editorial was written with Democrats in mind as the intended audience. After reading the editorial it becomes clear that the piece was written, more specifically, to the eyes and ears of those democrats who seem to oppose Trump, on every topic, almost religiously. The writers suggest that democrats should, "resist the temptation to let their far left wing control too much and to assume that indignation alone can win elections." The next paragraph of the article touches on an idea that I share, and vocalized, at the immediate conclusion of the election which is "Many of Trump's policies will not help many of the people who voted for him." The authors then discuss some things they feel democrats should oppose to and actively work to prevent, such as, Trump's proposed tax change. The tax change would raise taxes of those making less than $9,325 annually from 10% to 12%, while lowering the tax from 39.6% to 33% for those who make more than $418,400. Another point made in the editorial is the need for change within the Democratic party. That change coming in the form of "younger leadership, policies that appeal to moderates and independents, voters who actually turn out, and a compelling and coherent vision for how they'd be different from Trump." The article is concluded with the idea that Democrats are upset and have valid reason to be. But Democrats need to be strategic, efficient, and tactful, in the ways they move forward as a party, combatting Trumps policies. While the marches and protests show brawn, it'll be the brains that are applied to the situation, that reap the parties intended improvements. Overall, I agree with the authors of the editorial. I think the time for crying about Trump has come to an end. It's time to work and get in positions of power, as young difference makers, and have the ability to bring the change and improvements we say we so badly want and need.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/02/22/democrats-democratic-national-committee-president-trump-editorials-debates/98250560/

Trump's First Week

The link below is to an article from Reuters World News titled, “ Trump moves ahead with wall, puts stamp on US Immigration, security policy”. The article is written by Julia Edwards Ainsley out of Washington, D.C. It touches on Trump’s ordered construction of the controversial wall he had consistently proposed during his campaign, as well as an executive order that was drafted blocking refugees from Syria and suspending entry from 6 other countries. Voter fraud accusations, the dismantling of Obamacare, and concerns on the cost of the wall are also discussed without showing any feelings partial to either side. Overall I think the article is worth reading because it is an unbiased and informative documentation of some of the biggest changes the US has experienced in Trump’s first week in office.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-idUSKBN1591HP

Greeting

Hello everyone!