Bent Corner - Donald Trump

Once, twice, three times a Trump government shutdown

If you awoke this morning feeling off-kilter, annoyed, or as though something was just off, it’s because of the federal government shutdown that went into effect early this morning.

The reason for the shutdown is because President Trump declared he would not sign a spending bill into law unless it included $5.7 billion for a wall between Mexico and our southern border. The Republican-controlled House passed just such a bill, but the Republican-controlled Senate could not muster the 60 votes needed to advance the bill for a final vote. The final vote needs only a majority to pass.

This current government shutdown is the third government shutdown under President Trump’s astute leadership.

Once, twice, three times a Trump government shutdown - Bent Corner — Any wall built should not only be impervious to Mexicans and their delicious food but also to Titans.

Personally, I think this is a stupid reason to shut down the government. Although I think building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico is even more stupid, the big orange man-baby we have as our president did run on building a wall. Elections have consequences. At least they should.

Let Trump begin building his stupid wall

Sadly, some people will not realize just how dumb building a wall on our southern border is unless we begin to build the thing. Let’s spend over $5 billion on a wall and see exactly how much wall we get for that money. Then, people can calculate for themselves how much it will then cost to repeat the process for the entire southern border.

Not capitulating to Trump’s demand for wall money could mean the government is shut down for a very long time. Are Senate Democrats ready for that? Is this something they want to find Trump on?

If the $5.7 billion sounds like a lot of money, remember that both houses of Congress already signed off on a providing the military over $700 billion for 2019. Compare that to Trump’s wall money, it doesn’t sound like a lot. Sure, it’s a waste of money, but so is most of the money going to the military.

If you ever want to see how the military wastes money, enlist in the armed forces.

Donald Trump must really hate the rain

Just when I think my opinion of Donald Trump can not get any worse, he does something to drive it even lower into the ground than it was before.

From ABC News:

President Donald Trump canceled a planned visit Saturday to a cemetery for Americans killed in World War I, the White House citing bad weather that grounded his helicopter.

Trump had been scheduled to lay a wreath and observe a moment of silence at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial, located adjacent to Belleau Wood and about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Paris.

So how bad was the “bad weather”?

Also from ABC News:

The Secret Service determines when it’s safe to fly Marine One, the president’s helicopter. Paris was covered in clouds with drizzling rain through most of Saturday.

Are we to pretend Marine One cannot fly when it’s cloudy and drizzling?

Donald Trump must really hate the rain - Bent Corner — President Barack Obama boarding Marine One in the rain.

So we’re supposed to believe Marine One, laden with all sorts of high-tech avionics not found in any other helicopter in the world, cannot fly when it’s cloudy and drizzling? Nope, I refuse to believe that. Marine One is a beast. Even if the weather was truly bad, high winds and severe rain, Trump could have gone to the cemetery for dead American Marines killed serving our country in a motorcade.

Attending in Trump’s place were White House chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine general and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joe Dunford.

If the weather at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial was so bad (it wasn’t), how did Kelly and Dunford get there, an amphibious landing vehicle? A submarine?

I feel like Donald Trump wants me to hate him

I’m not proud of the fact that I despise our Commander-in-Chief. I’m really not. I try to find likeable characteristics in everyone, even in presidents I did not vote for. Some people make me try a lot harder than others to like them. With Trump, it’s impossible. No matter how hard I try, I cannot find anything about the man I admire or respect, let alone like. He cancels his trip to an American cemetery and memorial because of “severe weather” even though he knew there would be photographic evidence proving he’s a liar. He just doesn’t care.

Fake news!
The press is the enemy of the people!

When I cast my vote for president in 2016, I knew whoever won was going to be a bad president. I failed to realize it was going to be this bad. Donald Trump is the worst president in my lifetime. Worse than Jimmy Carter. Worse than Richard Nixon. Worse than George W. Bush.

Jimmy Buffett would make a better president than Trump, and I’ve gone on record that I hate Jimmy Buffett.

Why does Donald Trump hate brown people?

President Donald Trump spoke last night at a campaign rally in Columbia, Missouri. He warned people about the slow-moving migrant caravan in Mexico. He warned that if they “threw rocks” they would be killed by the U.S. troops he is deploying to the border. You know, the same troops he’s deploying to aid federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with logistics.

Does Donald Trump realize how many non-white people are in the U.S. Army?

Donald Trump must really hate brown people. I wonder why. I also wonder if he knows how many Latino and Hispanic people are in the U.S. Army. The same people he is counting on killing migrants suspected of rock throwing. It seems he thinks everyone in the U.S. Army is as racist against brown people as he is. They’re not. In fact, the opposite is true. The U.S. Army, like all branches of the military, works hard at eliminating racism from its ranks. Operational readiness depends on it.

When I first learned of the migrant caravan heading to the United States, I didn’t know what to make of it. I believe we are a nation of laws and people should respect that. If people come to the United States, they should do so legally. On the other hand, show me someone who walked hundreds of miles to come here and I’ll show you someone who wants to be here very badly. It seems to me someone who wants to be here that much will add to our country’s greatness, not subtract from it.

I don’t think I’d walk a thousand miles to come to the United States.

I’d much rather have people in the migrant caravan live here than the racist idiots who marched in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. I’d love it if you could send all of them to Hondorous, Guatemala, or Mexico. They said they didn’t want Jewish people replacing them. They didn’t say anything about Guatemalans replacing them.

If only countries were like NBA teams

Too bad countries cannot orchestrate trades the way NBA teams do, only on a larger scale. We could trade away the type of people who make things worse for everyone else and in exchange, get people who want to be here.

Donald Trump believes an executive order can abolish birthright citizenship

President Donald Trump is considering abolishing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution with an executive order.

From The Washington Post

President Trump is planning to sign an executive order that would seek to end the right to U.S. citizenship for children of noncitizens born on U.S. soil, he said in a television interview taped on Monday.

The move, which many legal experts say runs afoul of the Constitution, would be the most aggressive yet by a president elected to office pledging to take a hard line on immigration, an issue he has revived in advance of next week’s midterm elections.

Donald Trump is daft

This is ridiculous, even for Trump. The 14th Amendment says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

President Trump thinks he can undo a Constitutional Amendment with the stroke of his executive order pen? The man is daft.

Making America Great Again one pipe bomb at a time

The FBI arrested Cesar Sayoc, 56, of Aventura, Florida for mailing pipe bombs to high-profile Democrats and CNN in New York. The people and the cable news network had all been targets of President Donald Trump, either on Twitter or at rallies.

As soon as I first heard about bombs being sent in the mail, I assumed it was a Trump supporter and I assumed they lived in Florida. Not only does it sound very much like a Florida thing to do, but the pipe bombs also had a return address belonging to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democratic representative from Florida’s 23rd district.

Sayoc didn’t even have the decency to spell the congresswoman’s name correctly.

I thought the FBI was going to slow its roll

I’m actually surprised the FBI was able to find the person responsible for the attempted assassinations so quickly. After all, he was targeting people Trump hates. Since no one had actually been hurt, I figured Trump and his people would get word to the FBI to put this case on the back burner. In Trump’s mind, I’m sure the bomber was sending pipe bombs to all the right people.

After arresting Sayoc, federal agents confiscated his van. It was covered with pro-Trump stickers and propaganda along with photos of prominent Democrats with crosshairs over their photos. His van was somewhat famous in Aventura. People would take selfies while standing in front of the van.

I’m pretty sure the van’s selfie career is over.

What is it about crackpots and their vans? I’m not saying every van owner is a weirdo, but it sure seems like every weirdo owns a van. When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, I thought vans were cool. Now I just think they’re weird.

The giant migrant caravan heading to the United States

There’s a giant migrant caravan heading to the United States. It just crossed into Mexico from Guatemala and it now consists of over 7,000 people.

That number will surely get bigger as the caravan makes its way through Mexico. People the United States deported to Mexico will likely join its ranks. That’s what happened as it snaked its way through Guatemala, people who were deported back to Guatemala joined the caravan so they can return.

Some people making the long trek are seeking asylum.

Evidently, President Donald Trump is miffed the caravan was not stopped at the Mexican-Guatemala border. In fact, he’s threatening to withhold aid from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador because they aren’t doing enough to keep their citizens from coming to the United States illegally.

I’m not sure how that’s going to make things better, withholding aid. If anything, it will only worsen conditions for people in those countries, resulting in even more people seeking a better life in the United States.

How do you stop 7,000 people?

I’m curious to see how Trump will stop these people from entering the United States. It’s really hard to humanely control 7,000 people. What if the caravan grows to 20,000 people?

Trump has threatened to send troops to the border. What’s the military supposed to do, kill unarmed men, women, and children with M1A2 Abrams tanks? Turn them back with B-2 bombers?

I don’t think so.

There are so many ways this situation can go bad. Having an ignoramus for the Commander-in-Chief worsens the situation by a factor of ten.

It’s impossible to exert your will on a crowd as large as it will be when it attempts to enter the United States. Unless you’re willing to turn such an attempt into a bloodbath.