patd – Trail Mix

Patient, Heal Thyself

By PatD, a Trail Mix Contributor

With regard to the horrible House health care bill and the mysteriously inchoate proposal by the Senate, good advice can be found in Luke 4:23 KJV:

“And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.”

Here’s a Map of the Countries That Provide Universal Health Care (America is Still Not on It):

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According to The Hill it looks like an effort is afoot to un-president us: Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) unveiled a proposed article of impeachment Monday against President Trump for allegedly obstructing justice in a federal investigation.

The legislative text argues that Trump’s alleged attempts to pressure since-fired FBI Director James Comey to drop the agency’s investigation into former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn amounts to obstruction of justice.

“In all of this, Donald John Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” the proposed article of impeachment states.

This effort in the words Don Quixote is an impossible dream:

“To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
And to run where The brave dare not go
To right the unwritable wrong…”

But bring it on, fellows. Bring it on.

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The Bully Tweetpit

By PatD, a Trail Mix Contributor

Wiki tells us that a bully pulpit is a conspicuous position that provides an opportunity to speak out and be listened to. This term was coined by United States President Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to his office as a “bully pulpit”, by which he meant a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda. Roosevelt used the word bully as an adjective meaning “superb” or “wonderful”, a more common usage at that time.

The tweet is the current president’s platform, less a pulpit from which to inform but more to bully. In addition, we are told not to take the tweets as statements of statesmanship. Not policy, not written for the ages and, perhaps, not even truthful.

On CNN Sebastian Gorka, a White House national security aide, says the President’s tweets are only social media, not policy. When asked about Trump’s controversial remarks in an interview on Monday’s NBC Today Show Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway decried the media for its “obsession with covering everything [Trump] says on Twitter and very little of what he does as president.” [….]

When pressed further on Trump’s tweets, Conway said she wasn’t going to “let [the president] be seen as the perpetrator here,” and argued that the media should be less focused on Trump’s social media presence and the on-going Russia scandal and more concerned about the recent string of attacks ISIS has either inspired or directed.

NBC’s Guthrie argued that as president, Trump’s statements on Twitter carry a great deal of weight and are considered a reflection of his agenda.

Spicer: Trump tweets “official”

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Lysistrata is alive and well in West Virginia

By PatD, a Trail Mix Contributor

Hari Sreenivsan (PBS NewsHour): Buckhannon is a town with a population of less than 6,000. It’s a deeply conservative place with a long history tied to coal. Its mayor calls it the most Trumpian place in America. But Buckhannon is also where a growing group of women are finding their voice through protest and where speaking up has angered some people, including the men in their lives.