Author: Blue Bronc

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

I decided to watch some republican lite MSNBC.  I combined that with a bit of a read of the political section of WashPo, and a bit of online news sites.  There is so much happening that it is hard to separate major focal points and links between. 

I think a reporter would be good to create silos (not my favorite model) of the corruption, the actors involved and the links if any between them.  Generally silos are considered to prevent organizations from sharing data and creating inefficiencies. But, under the deliberate chaos of the simpleton administration the various actions are combined like a pile of spaghetti causing all to lose track of what is going on. By breaking out the various crimes, actions and actors we have a clear view of all of the individual issues.

Looking at the guy and his government shutdown as one silo, the actors are WH players, McConnell and Speaker Pelosi.  The silo contains national and international economies; federal employees, contractors, and local businesses (eateries, fuel stations, trains, clothes cleaners etc); federal agencies.  What does it link to?  Mueller, yes if his investigation runs out of money.  Maybe contracts to something about border security.

But overall there are few solid links to anything beyond the WH and Congress because the shutdown was an isolated action. Beginning and ending the shutdown does not change what the Russians have done or are doing. It does not affect court cases such as the Cohen’s.

Another silo could be money laundering by Trump Jr. Another would be emoluments cases by the illegitimate president. There are many other actions which if separated from the scrum we would see them and who is involved.

Off with his head!

Richard III, Act 3, Scene 4, Shakespeare

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

Monday, living the furlough life and finally seeing a hammer hitting the cookie jar hard enough to break it.  SFB must be wondering why his self-created universe is bouncing so hard the brown sky is falling on him. 

We are seeing the third act start as the curtain rises.  No longer are we needing to hear from minor actors in the wings yelling “this will bring him down”.  We are now watching as the lights come up on the tableau built on lies and Putin’s agents works.  We can see shiny objects, but those no longer are blinding us, usually for a few seconds, somethings a few minutes, but no more.

The characters on stage now are the comedic and tragic figures, many unwitting agents, a few deliberate in their actions, all involved in treasonous arcs pointing to Russia as their love.  America is melting into a puddle on the stage.  Rubles are raining from above and mysteriously falling as dollars into the agents pockets. 

  The third act brings us great anticipation.  We do not know if there will be a rousing chorus of wonder as America rises in the end and the Russian agents are rounded up and placed in prison, or if there will be the ugly death knell of a former great country torn apart.

More Posts by Blue Bronc

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

The Trump family understands that very well.  Trump started a charity just so others could make his home better.  In fact, it made his life better because he did not have to pay for anything.  He paid for political gain.  He paid for crappy pictures of himself to show at a gaudy place in Florida. He even used it to pay for a political person, Bondi.

Now that New York is helping him by dissolving his little money maker he will have to have someone in his mob find another way to get people to give him money.

More Posts by Blue Bronc

— Ronald Reagan Video, Waiter in Café 80s

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

After spending most of this year watching media on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix and sites such as YouTube, I am ready to give up cable.   I am even giving up MSNBC now that it is Republican lite and no longer liberal Progressive.  Local television, mainly the news and weather, I can pick up over the air on an antenna.

The world of information has changed significantly during the last fifty years.  Public television was in its infancy then; Julia Child was fantastic, I sat and copied her recipes as she cooked.  There were three major networks and everything was simple.  The news was in the news division and entertainment in the entertainment division.  Newspapers were delivered morning and afternoon. Radio was AM with the FM being like a hobby for some rich people as it had no commercials.

How it has changed during the last twenty years. The internet was improving as the hardware improved.  More people felt comfortable going online.  Websites improved as HTML 4 was released, which was replaced sixteen years later with HTML5.  Information dissemination became easy.

Even more important is the delivery.  Technology has changed television beyond the “boob tube” days when black and white was the norm and color the exception.  Now even the B&W movies are colorized.  The television is part of the home internet system.  It connects to all your devices, and is controlled by your smart phone, which is another computer.  The size of the screen is now as large as one wants, from tablet size to stadium size.

That your television is another computer is important. You can communicate using it and you can receive your media from it.  Keep in mind Back to the Future II, which features a Biff modeled on the lunatic in the White House.  Your television can report back everything in your life to computer systems designed to give you everything you want – based on your life as seen by computer algorithms.

Am I afraid of technology?  No.  But for me I am cautious around technology until I can find out what it is doing.  No spyware microwave oven for me.  I do take care such as not bothering to plug the new television into the internet until I had studied how to keep it from reporting all the movies I watch and the YouTube videos which help me change fuel filters in the truck.

More Posts by Blue Bronc

— Herodotus

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

Having just scanned the various websites I look at each day a common theme is evident.  Many sites have individual pages for opinions. Others are total opinion sites. What I saw in common in the opinion pieces was each demanding that their issues should outrage Americans and make that their top issue.

Two years ago it would have been possible to prioritize outrageous issues.  There was not an outrageous act every twenty minutes from a senile, old man with serious DSM 5 matching symptoms.  Even if he was saying things, it was with minimal impact as he was not in power.  Now, we are having a serious issue trying to keep track of and stay outraged at everything.

Today the horrible person causes direct and indirect results when he says or uses social media to express his hate of one thing or another.  He has no education in anything that makes humans human, so his proclamations are almost always incorrect or inane.

What we Dems have at the moment are so many horrendous issues from the guy that we cannot unite around only one.

Do we go after the outrage de jour? Or, put together a top ten list? Or, focus on one issue that is a top polling issue and forget the misogynist, racist old fool?

His action, or act, is to throw dirty diapers at the wall.  Nothing more.  Come January 3, 2019 I hope at least one chamber of the Congress will bring some level of control on the executive branch.  I think the Dems can do it if they spend the last two weeks focused on one issue such as health care finance and the opponent in the race.

More Posts by Blue Bronc