But I'd like to say this to Senator Kaine, or his social media consultant: I already know why you oppose people President Trump picks. You oppose them because you're a Democrat and they're Republicans (well, sort of). And because, although there have been times in U.S. history when that kind of partisan reaction did at least reflect genuine disagreements on policy questions, Mr. Trump needs all that D-versus-R screaming to conceal the fact that, in fact, he is not (and has never been) a real fiscal conservative, that he's not making serious reforms, that any group of adults whose idea of meaningful reforms in the food stamp program is "Harvest Boxes" does not seriously intend to make any reforms, that this administration's definition of "Republican" is not even the W Bush definition of "liberals paying lip service to 'traditional family values' while unfortunately organized around a Walking Target for Terrorist Violence" but more like "people that Illiberal Lefties love to hate." Because six out of the seven pieces of correspondence from Republicans that I've made time to read, today, were expressing discontent with the administration of the government to which people are grudgingly paying taxes, so this administration needs to keep the seriously ignorant class in America "polarized."
What happened to those budgetary reforms people were hoping a Trump Administration would make? Where did all the money go? Ooohhh, don't even go there on Tax Day--much as this web site would prefer even to be shelling out tax payments, even to a Trump Administration, rather than wailing once again that this web site is nowhere close to earning a taxable income, nor is, this year, any individual involved in it. GBP's been ill, Adayahi's been ill, Lisiwayu's been ill, Yona (who's not even ten full years older than I am) has been in an intensive care ward, and I've been considerably less perky than usual myself. We're still paying taxes: sales tax, property tax, social security tax. We're still paying thousands of no-talents to sit around looking busy, and thousands of totally negative components of society to sit around snickering at us for being stupid enough to bother working when it's so easy to be a welfare cheat and the penalties, even for getting caught cheating, are so mild.
We're still having to do everything uphill, backward, in hooker-heel shoes, simply because we're a small debt-free enterprise. We can live with that. We're still carrying the legitimately poor, the deserving poor, the quadriplegic cerebral palsy patients who can read but it takes them five years to finish one book, that sort of people, uphill with us. We can live with that. We're also carrying the able-bodied cheating scum who not only don't work for their living but don't want it to be possible for us to do that either, and on this day every year let's all pause to visualize how much prettier the world will be when they are all naturally recycled into comparatively nice things like dandelions.
We are not, in fact, pleased with Mr. Trump...and you, Sir, are doing your bit to help him along by proving that he and his cohorts are at least "Republican" enough to tick off partisan Democrats. If that was the intention of this e-mail, congratulations, it seems to be working. Among the super-rich, most of whom are brought up to be diplomatic, Trump has long been renowned as the very most undiplomatic, ungentlemanly, unsophisticated, tactless klutz who's ever been able to buy his way into the places where these people met him. That's not news. That's what people like about him, if they like him at all! That Pompeo was undiplomatic enough to let his partisan politics show is not a problem for Trump fans. These people are doing rich-and-powerful in the way Trump fans would do rich-and-powerful, so they're totally cool with it.
For me, since I pay enough attention to notice this strategy, going online and seeing serious news buried under a constant barrage of sixth-grade-style "Tracy hates Lee because blah blah blah..." serves no purpose other than to raise my blood pressure if I pay attention to it. I'm interested in what people want to see happen, and why. I'll be able to remember some of these people's names when I start seeing more about what they've done, what they're trying to do, what they think, and less of the who-loves-or-hates-whom garbage! I do not give a flying flip about who sits next to whom, and I'm not convinced that anyone I could possibly respect does, either.
There must be things more interesting than this going on in Washington. On Tax Day, what about next year's round of deep budget cuts? Why not start that debate early and get it passed on time? "Guns or butter" got boring when endlessly rehashed in two-party style, but online, where voters could weigh in and say, "Y'know we could actually do with LESS OF BOTH!", that debate could actually become valuable!
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I wanted to let you know that I have decided to oppose the nomination of Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State. I honor his public service and voted for him to be CIA Director. But in scrutinizing his nomination to be America’s principal diplomat, I cannot overlook grave doubts about his anti-diplomacy disposition.
Many opposed the Iran nuclear deal when President Obama was negotiating it. Mike Pompeo stands out for both criticizing the deal and painting an unrealistic scenario about the relative ease of destroying Iran’s nuclear capacity through a bombing campaign. Many view the current governments of Iran and North Korea as dangerous. Mike Pompeo stands out in advocating U.S. action to change out the governments of those countries.
Congressman Mike Pompeo supported Congress exercising its constitutional authority when it came to President Obama’s actions in Libya and Syria. But nominee Mike Pompeo was plain in supporting President Trump’s ability to take near identical military action in Syria without Congressional approval.
President Trump has demonstrated a general contempt for diplomacy by leaving key ambassadorial positions vacant, by proposing to slash our diplomacy and aid budget, by withdrawing from international agreements and organizations, and through his juvenile name-calling of foreign leaders. He has also shown a hostility to the role of Congress in carrying out its constitutional role to initiate war. This has been shown once again in the recent Syrian airstrikes which were taken without Congressional approval.
Now more than ever, we need a Secretary of State who will stand strong for vigorous U.S. diplomacy. I believe that Mike Pompeo would exacerbate President Trump’s weaknesses rather than uphold our diplomatic legacy. For this reason, I will vote against his nomination. Americans deserve better.
Sincerely,
"[that nice signature graphic of Senator Kaine's that Google hates, possibly because its code contains something that tracks how many readers are actually in Virginia, or something similar...]
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