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Don't be distracted from what a president SHOULD be doing

  “Look over there!” That’s the most popular distraction tool when you are doing something you don’t want someone to notice or observe. Give them something else interesting to look at somewhere else. Trump is a master at this. Consider the current media attention. Trump tears down a part of the White House, holds a UFC fight on the lawn, spends millions painting the reflecting pool, more millions to gild Washington DC statues, and starts building a huge arch. The deflection works, and the media take the bait every time. Trump also hires clowns to important governmental positions, again to distract from where he doesn’t want us to look. Look at the clowns! Look at my crazy construction projects! Over here! Did you ever stop to think what a president SHOULD be working on? How about affordable housing, health care, the national debt, switching away from fossil fuels, and faithfully executing the office of President? But no, he’s concentrating on his attacks on immigrants,...
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Baby Boomers and the Promise of the Future

 What were the promises of the future when you were growing up? I was born in 1950’s, so the 60’s were my guide star for what life would be like in my adult life. The main promise of adults then was that their children would be better off than them. The next generation would minimally have a home, a good job, and security. Hard work would be rewarded, but robots and computers would make work easier and more productive. Science would give us better health, faster transportation, more mechanical aids, and military weapons to keep us safe. We would explore the planets and space. There were things that were pushed off though. Pollution, waste, finite resources were left for the future as they weren’t seen as current problems needing attention. Foreign relations included the nuclear threat of annihilation. Wars and preparation for wars sucked enormous amounts of the nation’s treasure in money, manpower, and brain power. And now that I’m in my 70’s, what of these promise...
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Is President Trump trying to bankrupt the United States?

 In his business career, Donald J. Trump has filed for bankruptcy six times.  Is he now trying to bankrupt the United States?  Currently the US National debt is almost $39 trillion.  Just paying the interest on such a debt is a huge portion of our annual expenditure.  A wise leader would work on bringing that down and tightening our belts a bit. Instead, Trump's administration has started an unnecessary war with Iran that has so far cost at least $29 billion, and there is no end in sight.  The proposed annual budget for the Defense Department is $1.5 trillion, a 50% inscrease.  On top of that, Trump has proposed a "Golden Dome" missile defense program that will cost at least $1.2 trillion.   Even small things like the White House ballroom ($1 billion) add up quickly.  The $1.3 million no-bid reflecting pool paint job has now ballooned to nearly $15 million.Trump has sued the United States for $10 billion, and rather than fighting it in c...
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Trump is at war with the US Transportation system

  President Trump gets upset about many things. One of these things is transportation. He doesn’t seem to like it. Here is some evidence of that. The Border Road, which follows the border of Canada and the United States near the Sweetwater crossing, has been in use for dozens of years. Now suddenly the US decides it needs to close this road because of unspecified illegal entry into the US. Another border problem that Trump sees is the newly built $3.8 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, connecting Detroit, Michigan with Windsor, Ontario. Trump is seeking to prevent its opening, perhaps because his friend owns a current bridge that will then have competition. California’s high-speed rail program would be the only high-speed rail in the US. The Trump administration has canceled several grants to the project, severely hindering its construction. The goal seems to be to kill the entire project. The Trump Administration halted funding for a new subway syst...
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Trump and the "Dean Scream"

 In 2004 Howard Dean was running to be the democratic contender for president of the United States.  After a loss in Iowa, he made a speech to rally his followers.  At one point he let out a shout or "scream" that became a favorite clip for the news media to play.  Apparently the idea was that anybody who screamed like that once in his life could certainly not be president.  Dean lost. Fast forward to the present.  79-year-old president Donald Trump doesn't scream, but he does speak.  Often.  Strangely, for a president.  Below are recent quotes from him, that in context are much worse than they look just as snippets.  Worse than a scream.  And yet, there seems to be little reaction to these out-of-kilter thoughts and pronouncements.  Maybe if you see them all in a row they'll hit differently.   Your daughter, she has to be of age. Like above 6 years old. All of the people that died through the roadside bombs. Died...
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The fine art of protesting Trump, part 2

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  My traffic cone experience, 3/2/26 I planned to protest at the Trump statue today for an hour, as I did once before. I have flyers promoting my proposed ordinance that any presidential statue on public property in Rapid City has to have a traffic cone on its head IF that president was a convicted felon. So, I brought along a traffic cone to make the point for the ordinance (so far, Trump is the only president this ordinance would apply to). I also had a sign that said “Trump is a felon” on one side and “Trump starts wars” on the other. I got there about 9:55. The statue is on a corner, so there is plenty of space to walk back and forth without bothering any pedestrians. So, I stuck the cone on Trump’s head (it’s got a rubber base so it can’t hurt the statue) and started slowly walking back and forth. One guy across the street gave me the finger and yelled something at me. Several cars honked when they went by. Another guy stopped at the corner and told me I coul...
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The fine art of protesting Trump

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  1/28/26 I planned today to protest at the Trump statue downtown. Rapid City, SD has life-size statues of every president downtown, spread out to different corners. I wrote a city ordinance proposal that would require if any president had a felony or felonies, their statue must have a traffic cone on its head. This way, a felon would not be as honored as much as the other non-felon presidents. Trump, a felon, had his statue placed a few months ago. Of course, there’s not much chance that such an ordinance would pass, and when I sent it to the council persons, the mayor, and the group that manages the statues, only one councilman replied, and he thought it was a funny idea. So, if the city council doesn’t take you seriously, what to do? I thought to demonstrate by the statue and hand out flyers about the ordinance. And thus, flyers, sign, and traffic cone packed up, I drove downtown to demonstrate for about an hour (10-11). Nice weather, by the way. When ...
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