The World View of Donald Trump & Cold Hard Truth

It seems that the insurgency that's pushing Donald Trump toward the White House is scaring the living daylights out of a lot of people around the world. Personally, I am thrilled that he did as well as he did in last night's debate. The polls are out today and he's still leading with a substantial margin in Florida and most other places. Just five days to go before Super Tuesday and a big step closer to getting the nomination.

In the meantime, Vicente Fox is tossing eff-bombs about the wall. I don't understand why. Okay, he doesn't want to pay for it, but what else is going on under that fury? Could it be that he wants Mexican people illegally entering the United States so they can work here and send American money back to Mexico? On top of taking advantage of the crap trade deals this country has negotiated with Mexico in the past twenty years he wants more of our money transferred in through various legal sources? You know the Mexican government is skimming off of that, taking part of that revenue stream for itself.

Sorry, Vic - I have no sympathy for you, or for the people of Mexico. If they want things to improve in Mexico, they had better turn their attentions to what's going on in their homes, their streets, their neighborhoods and communities. They would do well to stop relying on our economy to make things right. Stop looking to someone else to clean up the mess and corruption that your people have allowed to burgeon over the years. In short: Get your house in order by yourselves. Don't expect us to do it for you.

Canada is weighing in, too. They're not happy.

A lot of people in Britain want to ban Trump from setting foot on their land, even going so far as circulating petitions.

I'll tell you something, folks. This makes me wonder - are we really that big a deal in the world?

For decades we've been screamed at - 'Yankee go home' and 'Death to America' and all the rest of it.

Right after he was elected, Obie-One made the infamous 'Apology Tour', trying to make up to everyone else for their perceptions of us. That didn't go down too well, here at home.

I suspect that a large part of our society's distrust of Muslims are the stories and videos from 2001 and the fact that in 2015 the San Bernardino shooting was perpetrated by Muslims.

In the days right after 9/11, news reports talked about and showed people on the streets throughout the Middle East celebrating the deaths of around 3,000 innocent men, women and children. I'll never forget that. Could it be those stories and images have rooted in us a distrust of people from that part of the world? Is it possible?

Oh, and those reports of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey on 9/11, the ones The Donald was vilified over? He was right. It was fact checked and confirmed.

http://nypost.com/2015/12/21/nj-police-captain-says-some-muslims-did-celebrate-on-911/

Maybe you just forgot what it was like in America in the days and weeks following that horrible day. Maybe refresh your memory by watching this video:

Did you see it? Did you notice the happy expression on that woman's face as she ululates in joy? And then the second video, which is stomach churning, and shows people leaping to their deaths to escape the flames. Read the article above - the one about the celebrations in New Jersey - within seeing distance of what was happening in Manhattan - with people dancing and ululating in the same way.

Yeah. We are so wrong to distrust the society that did that to us. We should just forget that, and images like this:

The Falling Man - www.rsvlts.com

Or the 911 call from a woman begging for people to rescue her before she burned to death. That one went on for nearly twenty minutes as I remember, because the 911 operator refused to just hang up. You could hear the fear in that woman's voice, the knowing she was going to die and not wanting to as she begged and begged for help.

Oh well, too bad, so sad. They were too late and she did die - hopefully from asphyxiation before the building around her collapsed into rubble.

You're right. We should just forget these images and those people. After all, as Hilliary Clinton famously said, 'What difference does it make?'


Still, when a country gets invaded (Kuwait, for example) or threatened, they immediately look to us to come to their aid. They expect us to expend our blood and treasure - our children and husbands, wives, mothers and fathers - to solve their problem.

Our treaties often are not reciprocal. If we get attacked, the other party has no obligation to come to our aid, but if they get attacked we are expected to show up with our blood and treasure, no questions asked.

Countries around the globe hold out one hand to take our money in the form of trade and aid and then stab us in the back with the other while saying ugly things about us - about our people and attitudes and actions. It happens routinely at the UN. It happens in individual trade deals. It happens in the press and media and a lot of other places.

Because of that double-dealing, because of the way the world has reacted to us over the past four decades during which I've been paying some attention, I'll be dead honest with you. I, for one, genuinely do not care what people around the world think of the man I'm supporting for president.

With the images that I saw the morning of September 11, 2001, and the news reports of people celebrating, and the aftermath of weeks of mourning and families eviscerated, I honestly don't care much what people outside this country think anymore.

After all, Donald Trump is not being elected president of the world. He is being elected president of the United States of America. I live in the United States of America. I pay my taxes here. I work here and I want someone who is going to put this country ahead of the interests of anyone else.

Will his election affect the globe? Yes, it will. Could it be devastating? Yes, it could - if he's the despot some haters think he is. Still, I can pretty much guarantee it won't be anything near as bad as some are screaming it will be.

See, we have laws and limits in this country. No one can be a dictator - no matter how much he wants to be. The presidency is the one position that has hard and fast term limits. It would require a coup - which would never happen here because we love our freedom too much.

US law prohibits the military from following 'unlawful' orders. Even when those orders come from the Commander in Chief. It's part of the oath they swear when they sign up. Same with the cops and the National Guard and all of our forces.

US law prohibits even a despot from pushing the launch button for our nuclear weapons. That order actually has to go through a process - President, Secretary of Defense, and on down the line until it reaches the poor soul who actually has to do the deed. Anywhere along that chain someone can look back up the ladder and call a halt - if they believe that it's the wrong thing to do.

So take a deep breath, suck it up and get over it. Face the fact: We are going to do what we think is right for our country, regardless of what you think.

Have a wonderful day.

Best~
Philippa

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories

Yak Doo & Brussels Sprouts

I know not many people like Brussels sprouts. They are pungent - kind of like what I would imagine yak droppings to look and smell like. Not that I've ever seen or smelled yak droppings. We don't have many yaks around here, in Northern California. It's just... me, my weird and wunnerful imagination. What can I say?

But I do like Brussels sprouts - roasted with a little olive oil, some balsamic vinegar and white pepper. They're flavorful and stinky and just plain good.

I also like mushrooms and some people don't like those, either. Hubby and Daughter, for instance. They won't go near them, but I add them to everything I can think of. Except ice cream and yogurt. They don't go so well with dairy, unless you're adding them to an omelet.

Why am I talking about this stuff? Probably because I'm eating Brussels sprouts as I write this and probably because the last time I roasted the sprouts I experimented and added quartered mushrooms to them. Those didn't turn out so well. Overdone and a bit rubbery so I won't make that mistake again.

In other news, I watched the Iowa townhall for the three Democrat candidates last night. What a waste of an evening that was!

Okay, I got to see Bernie and listen to him. The entire concept of his campaign: "If it moves, tax it".

One question for him was about expanding Obamacare to a single-payer system. That is something near and dear to his heart. How he would pay for it? Simps:

1) Eliminate private insurers.
2) Increase the tax on every person in this country by $5,000 + the $10,000 average cost of premium and deductibles to pay for it so every single person would pay $15,000 in taxes to pay for the coverage.

I don't know about you, but $15,000 per year per person in my household would be more than my take-home salary. To pay for his dream I would be taxed about 110% of my earnings. How does that work? I don't get to eat? I can't pay to get to and from work? I can't pay my property taxes?

What he didn't say is that that wouldn't be enough because there are a lot of people who receive subsidized premiums - they don't earn enough so don't have to pay a penny, which means that people who do earn enough also have to carry the freight for those who don't. Yeah, that sounds fair (NOT!).

He's an idiot. I knew it before and he confirmed it in spades last night.

He also wants to tax "Wall Street speculation". Well, guess what that is. That would be your 401k or Keough or other investment accounts.

See above to my opinion of that idea.

Hilliary looked and sounded more desperate than usual and it seems she might have reason.

Hubby was awake at 0300 this morning and was checking on the markets (it's his passion, so he looks anytime he's up in the middle of the night) and there was a new poll out. Seems Hilliary's poll numbers have dropped again.

As far as O'Malley - he of the <1% poll numbers - I don't even know what he was doing there. A poster child of "Vote for Me!" and no ideas or findable positions.

It was pathetic and, as I said, a waste of an evening.

What I'm looking forward to is the GOP debate Thursday night. That should be interesting because the divisions are widening and the differences are more apparent. I just wish they would get rid of Kasich and Bush and Carson and leave the field between the front runners so they can get a better shot at explaining their positions. Rubio doesn't have a chance. His campaign is almost in full meltdown, like Bush's and Kasich's, but he does have a pulse so I'd leave him in. The others, though. Nope, DOA.

I do like Ben Carson, I really like and admire the man. I just don't see him as presidential. I can't see him making hard and fast decisions on crucial issues. He doesn't strike me as a strong leader. I think he'd be too nice to be a strong leader, willing to piss people off if he solidly believes the course he wants to follow is the right one. I also can't see him being an effective negotiator, and that's what we really need. We have got to have someone capable of getting all parties into a room, sitting down, finding common ground and building a coalition. I don't see Carson in that role.

Having Cruz and Rubio in the White House is pure insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Deal making and negotiating is something Trump has done his entire adult life. He's good at it, so let's give him a shot. Hell, we can't be much worse off than we are now.

Yes, they have their followers. Yes, they are getting numbers. But the numbers aren't meaningful. Four percent? Really?

Anyway, enough of that stuff. I'm going to go finish my Brussels sprouts (aka yak doo) and my lunch.

You have a lovely day!

Best~
Philippa

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories