Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn said he inadvertently briefed the Vice President with “incomplete information.”  There are so many euphemisms for lies these days.

Spies are withholding information from President Trump.  They’re waiting to give it to him at the Mar-A-Lago buffet line.

President Trump has made a number of unverified claims, or, perhaps as Kellyanne Conway calls them, “alternative facts.”  The Washington Post says, he has made 140 false or misleading statements in his first 100 days of office, but I have some of my own favorites:

·       Thousands of people from Massachusetts were bussed into New Hampshire to vote illegally, costing him and former Senator Kelly Ayotte victories in that state.

·       Climate change is a hoax.

·       I will absolutely release my tax returns.

·       Social Security is a Ponzi scheme.

·       It was the democrats themselves who hacked into the DNC account.

·       The media failed to report terrorist attacks.

·       This is not a Muslim ban.

·       The wall price will come WAY DOWN.

·       The media has “abused” Ivanka.

·       Thousands in New Jersey were cheering when the World Trade Center came down.

·       The other day a 2 year old child went to have a vaccine and is now autistic.

·       I have given $102 million to charity.

·       Nobody respects women more than I do

·       The inauguration crowd looked like a million, a million and half people.

·       Two people were shot and killed in Chicago during President Obama’s farewell speech.

·       Millions of people voted illegally.

·       I said we shouldn’t go into Iraq.

·       Professional protestors, incited by the media, are the ones protesting.

·       My net worth is $9 billion.

·       I got to know Putin very well; no, I never met Putin.

·       And, perhaps, his most famous “fake news” – President Obama was not born in the United States.

Just a few of many.

President Trump said that we’re going to bring this country together.  Only if it’s in the line at the Canadian border.

Sean Spicer said that there are professional protestors at Town Halls.  I wish we had a professional President.

It is often said that you are judged by the company you keep.  Let’s examine the company that President Trump keeps – a few of his nominees  (Of course, out of 549 key administrative positions, the President has filled a grand total of 14):

·       Michael Flynn, National Security Advisor:  We all know this one.  He was forced to resign for committing the possible treasonous act of negotiating with a foreign power as a private citizen.

·       Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President:  So much to say.  Let’s keep it at her federal ethics violation for hawking Ivanka’s made in China and Vietnam clothing line on television.  The counselor to the President had to be counseled.

·       Steve Bannon, Assistant to the President:  Under his leadership, Breitbart News served as a platform for a wide range of bigotry and hate.

·       Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education: As chair of the pro-school choice advocacy group behind the spread of charter schools in Michigan (essentially a lobbyist), her program left plenty of charter schools with the lowest test scores in the state with no accountability.  With funding shifted away from public schools, the Detroit Public Schools was the country’s lowest performing school district.

·       Andrew Puzder, nominee for Secretary of Labor:  As CEO of Hardee’s and Carl’s, Jr., he stated that his workers were the “worst of the worst.”  His company which owns Hardee’s and Carls, Jr., has been found guilty of a long stream of labor law violations.  He and his wife hired an undocumented housekeeper and failed to pay taxes on her employment.  I bet his home was spotless, though.  (OOPS, he dropped out).

·       Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury: Initially omitted $100 million in personal assets and offshore businesses from his nomination paperwork.

·       Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce:  Sang a song at a secret ceremony mocking poor people.  Bought a textile company and outsourced jobs to emerging markets, laying off hundreds of workers.  Bought up bankrupt coal mines, but only after the bankruptcy court stripped miners, some with black lung disease, of their medical coverage.

·       Jeff Sessons, Attorney General:  The Republican controlled Senate rejected him for a federal judge position, finding him too questionable a candidate.  He accused the ACLU and NAACP of trying to force civil rights down the throats of people.  Called a white lawyer a disgrace to his race for representing a black client.  He called the Voting Rights Act a piece of intrusive legislation.

The company Trump keeps wouldn’t be welcome in my house.

Rand Paul says there isn’t enough time to investigate Republicans.  Who can argue with that?

Trump’s official inauguration poster had a misspelled word.  Was it written by Betsy DeVos?

It is often said that you are judged by the company you keep.  Let’s examine the company that President Trump keeps – a few of his nominees  (Of course, out of 549 key administrative positions, the President has filled a grand total of 14):

·       Michael Flynn, National Security Advisor:  We all know this one.  He was forced to resign for committing the possible treasonous act of negotiating with a foreign power as a private citizen.

·       Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President:  So much to say.  Let’s keep it at her federal ethics violation for hawking Ivanka’s made in China and Vietnam clothing line on television.  The counselor to the President had to be counseled.

·       Steve Bannon, Assistant to the President:  Under his leadership, Breitbart News served as a platform for a wide range of bigotry and hate.

·       Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education: As chair of the pro-school choice advocacy group behind the spread of charter schools in Michigan (essentially a lobbyist), her program left plenty of charter schools with the lowest test scores in the state with no accountability.  With funding shifted away from public schools, the Detroit Public Schools was the country’s lowest performing school district.

·       Andrew Puzder, nominee for Secretary of Labor:  As CEO of Hardee’s and Carl’s, Jr., he stated that his workers were the “worst of the worst.”  His company which owns Hardee’s and Carls, Jr., has been found guilty of a long stream of labor law violations.  He and his wife hired an undocumented housekeeper and failed to pay taxes on her employment.  I bet his home was spotless, though.  (OOPS, he dropped out).

·       Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury: Initially omitted $100 million in personal assets and offshore businesses from his nomination paperwork.

·       Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce:  Sang a song at a secret ceremony mocking poor people.  Bought a textile company and outsourced jobs to emerging markets, laying off hundreds of workers.  Bought up bankrupt coal mines, but only after the bankruptcy court stripped miners, some with black lung disease, of their medical coverage.

·       Jeff Sessons, Attorney General:  The Republican controlled Senate rejected him for a federal judge position, finding him too questionable a candidate.  He accused the ACLU and NAACP of trying to force civil rights down the throats of people.  Called a white lawyer a disgrace to his race for representing a black client.  He called the Voting Rights Act a piece of intrusive legislation.

The company Trump keeps wouldn’t be welcome in my house.

The Republican National Committee tweeted a fake Abraham Lincoln quote to honor his birthday.  Then the President posted it.  Why not – it’s way better than his quotes.

“Lock them up.  Lock them up.”  So many to choose from.

I’m taking a week off from my blog, but first, a quick probe into my psyche to see why I am doing this.  After all, creating the blog is not easy; I spend several hours a day working on it.  It is both exhausting and exhilarating – a joy and a curse.  I cannot let it go.

As I stated in my very first blog, my ancestors faced 2000 years of exclusion, discrimination, persecution, and annihilation.  The specter of hate has once again begun to increase, and my descendants are and will continue to be vulnerable.  I cannot, in all good conscience, stand by and do nothing.

Secondly, we who are in the opposition bear a great deal of responsibility for what has happened in this country.  We were complacent, inactive and overconfident.  After all, we thought, who would possibly vote for someone with the mind of a 12 year old tweeting bully?  Apparently, millions would and did.  It is therefore imperative for us to take action to right the American ship.

Next, many of us who have been considered “the other” for our entire lives have a heritage which demands that we care for the underprivileged, the underrepresented, the underserved and the underdog as much as we care for ourselves.  Their struggles are our struggles; their pain is our pain.  It matters not at all if “they” are different color, different religion, different gender, different sexual orientation, or different national origin.  It is a requisite that we relate to and identify with their experiences.

And yet, as I was considering this, there was a “piece of the pie” missing from the explanation.  Then, while I was reaching the completion of the most recent book I was reading (My Promised Land – The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, by Ari Shavit). I came across a few lines that struck home.  Although he was specifically describing Israelis, I believe he hit upon almost universal Jewish traits.  He says, “We are always restless, for we live between great fires.  We thrive between calamities.  That’s why we are so quick and vital and creative.  That’s why we are so neurotic and loud and unbearable.  We dwell under the looming shadow of a smoking volcano.”  That’s the missing piece!

I intend to continue to be creative, neurotic, loud and unbearable!

“The Constitution does not allow 13 year olds to be President.  After last week, we can see why.” – Garrison Keillor

Trump advisor Miller says, “It’s not for me to speak what’s in the President’s mind.”  That’s because it’s empty.

52% of Americans in a recent poll would rather have President Obama back in the oval office.  In case you are yearning for the pre-Obama days, let’s take a look at conditions in 2007:

·        It was the start of the great recession (Dodd Frank reforms were enacted in 2010 to lessen the chance of its reoccurrence).

·        The U.S. housing bubble burst with home prices eventually dropping up to 30% with increasing numbers of foreclosures.

·        A worldwide credit crunch commenced.

·        The stock market began its decline reaching over 60%.

·        The U.S. sends 21,500 additional troops to Iraq.

·        Putin suspends the treaty which limited conventional weapons in Europe.

·        The former Chief of Staff for Vice President Dick Cheney was found guilty of lying to FBI agents and a grand jury.

·        7 U.S. attorneys testify that they received inappropriate calls from Republican lawmakers regarding corruption cases they were investigating.

·        The U.S. Embassy in Athens was attacked with rocket propelled grenades.

·        32 people were killed in the Virginia Tech Massacre (this was a real one) by a mentally ill South Korean-born gunman who legally obtained his firearms.

·        Unemployment began its rise to 10%, and US net worth eventually declined 22%.

·        The number of Americans without health insurance was 15.3%.  In 2016 the uninsured rate was 9.1%.  As a personal note, it was only because my state has a mandate requiring insurance companies to cover me, that my wife and I had health insurance in 2007.  Otherwise, we would have been rejected (as we eventually were immediately pre-Obamacare) for such things as “dry eyes.”  For the privilege of covering us with a $4,000 per person deductible policy, we paid in excess of $1800 per month.

I, for one, am not nostalgic for 2007.

President Trump says he and Japanese Prime Minster Abe had “good chemistry.”  Apparently, he shook Abe’s hand for 19 seconds to get some of it to rub off.

Who is Vladimir Putin and why does President Trump admire him?

Here are some basic facts:

·        He was a career KGB (Secret Police) officer.

·        While in East Germany with the KGB, East German intelligence reported him as a philanderer and a wife beater.

·        He has placed all media under direct control of the Kremlin, eliminating the free press in Russia.

·        He’s been photographed topless multiple times.

·        He yearns for the return of the USSR.

·        He signed a law decriminalizing domestic violence in Russia.

·        He invaded the Crimea, violating international treaties, the first such change of borders since World War II.

·        While invading the Ukraine, his forces shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17.

·        He was named 2014 Person of the Year by the Organized Crime and Corruption Project, an award giving annually to the person who does the most to enable and promote organized criminal activity.

·        He interfered in the American election.

·        He is reported to have $40 billion in assets.

·        His intention is to discredit democracy.

·        He instituted a bombing campaign in Syria which doesn’t target the Islamic State but is attacking the free Syrian forces fighting against Bashar al-Assad, who has been indicted for war crimes.

·        During his regime, 11 of his prominent Russian political opponents have been murdered “under mysterious circumstances;” one was recently poisoned for the second time in two years and in a medically induced coma.

·        And, yes, he stole New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl 39 ring and won’t give it back. i

So, why does President Trump regard him so highly?  We can only extrapolate from the President’s own words.  He praised Putin for his “very strong control over a country.”

President Trump said, “I heard things I couldn’t believe.”  Has he finally been listening to himself?

Conway says Trump “supports” her after ethics violation.  Surprise, surprise.

I emailed my Senator again after his vote to confirm Sessions.  I said, “Shame on you.”  He has yet to send me a form letter.

Now, short and sweet today after yesterday’s emotional blog.

Why on earth would Jews support Muslim refugees?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/06/nyregion/rabbis-arrested-protest-trump-muslim-ban.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Why would rabbis commit civil disobedience and go to jail while protesting the immigration ban?  Here are a few thoughts.

·        There are radical Islamists who want to destroy us; there are many peaceful Muslims.  We don’t hate Muslims.

·        There are American neo-Nazis who encourage our extermination; this horrifies most Americans.  America is our country that we love.

·        European Alt-right groups put out a deluge of anti-Semitic material and say, “We aren’t racist – we just hate Jews”; many European leaders have decried the rise of anti-Semitism.  We embrace Europe as the home of our ancestors.

·        Many of us disagree with some of Israel’s politics; many of us are in lockstep with Netanyahu.  Without reservation, we all defend the right of Israel’s existence.

·        We enjoy some television shows; most of what’s on TV is insipid.  We’re still keeping our 65 inch screen.

·        I enjoy pizza; I dislike lima beans. I will continue eat.

In short, blanket condemnations are illogical.  No group of anything is either all good or all bad.  No country has a 100% evil population.  The Cato Institute reports that the chance of an American being murdered in a terrorist attack caused by a refugee is 1 in 3.64 billion per year and by an attack committed by an illegal immigrant is 1 in 10.9 billion per year.

But, let’s hear from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, who expresses it much more eloquently than I.  Here is the link to the explanation from one of the arrested rabbis:

http://forward.com/opinion/362618/criminal-intent-why-this-rabbi-went-to-jail-to-protest-trump/

The immigrant-banning executive order was signed on Holocaust Remembrance Day, on which the President failed to mention Jews.

I am the descendant of immigrants; I am the survivor of relatives who never escaped.  All of my grandparents, and two sets of great-grandparents immigrated to the United States in the 1880’s and 1890’s from Russia, Poland and Austria.  The stringent restrictions and pogroms in Eastern Europe directed at the Jews at that time in history persuaded millions to leave everything they had ever known for the promise of America.

So, were they welcomed with open arms into the American melting pot?  Not exactly.  William Jennings Bryan, presidential nominee, spoke in anti-Semitic metaphors of crucifixion on a cross of gold.  Anti-Semitic cartoons abounded.  President Cleveland was accused of being in the pockets of international Jewish banking houses.  Fortunately, he vetoed a bill pushed by the Immigration Restriction League, which would have required a literacy requisite for entry into the country.  I say fortunately, because one of my grandmothers could neither read nor write.  As the eldest child, she had to go to work instead of school to help provide for her family.

Jews were discriminated against in employment, housing, clubs, resorts, and perhaps most egregiously, quotas for Jews were instituted in teaching positions and student enrollment in many colleges and universities.  In the 1920s, laws were enacted restricting all immigration.  The 1930s and 40s saw demands to exclude American Jews from social interactions and polls overwhelmingly favored the idea that Jews shouldn’t be treated like other people.  One comment suggested, “Send Jews back where they came from – in a leaky boat.”

Then came the horrors of Nazi Germany – which didn’t change people’s minds much.  In a 1938 Fortune poll, 67.4% of Americans said, “with conditions the way they are, we should try to keep political refugees out.”  In 1939, which was after the Krystallnacht attacks and destruction had occurred, an American Institute of Public Opinion poll showed that 61% believed we should not take 10,000 Jewish refugee children from Germany to be cared for in American homes.

And now to the ones that didn’t make it.  I didn’t even know they existed until I began to do genealogy research.  Along with my maternal grandfather, his 3 brothers and a sister emigrated in the late 1800s to the U.S. from a small town called Jasliska, now part of Poland but then Austria.  What I never knew was that a significant number of extended relatives remained.  In 1942, the approximately 330 Jews in the town were rounded up, and the elderly, women and children were executed by firing squad in the forest.  The story is documented in a book called “Symbiosis and Ambivalence, Poles and Jews in a Small Galician Town,” by Rosa Lehmann, Berghahn Books, ©2001.  This book was actually written about the town of my ancestors and the fate of those relatives who stayed behind, and it is one of my prized possessions.  Here is the account:

“Jews were taken in lorries to the ghetto in Dukla (20 km from Jasliska), where they spent some four to eight weeks.  In Dukla, the old were separated from the young and the healthy from the weak.  Jewish men dug a hole and they poured petrol into it.  Not the old ones, but the young ones had to jump over it.  Those who dirtied themselves with petrol were put on one side.  Those who jumped over were put on the other side.  The strong and the healthy joined the ghetto in Dukla, where they were put to work in the stone quarry.  Or, they were deported to labor camps.  Traces of the old and weak were not lost.  On 13 August 1942, an estimated 500 Jews from Jaslika and surrounds were made to walk to Barwinek, a village 14 kilometers from Jasliska.  From Barwinek, they were taken a few hundred meters into the Bludna forest to an empty clearing.  There they were shot and buried in a mass grave.”

In further research at the Yad Vashem site, which is the central database of Holocaust victims, I found 29 victims from Jaslizka with the surname of my grandfather.  There are only a very few notations of their fate, but two records revealed the final destiny of those not shot in the forest.  They perished in Belzec concentration camp.

This is my testament to my ancestors who were immigrants and to my relatives who never made it:

I am a survivor, and I will fight for what’s right!

V.P. Pence commended President Trump for speaking his mind.  Apparently, his mind is limited to 140 characters.  Trump says, “We’ll destroy his career.”  Hopefully, he was referring to himself.

I e-mailed my Republican Senator to advise him that due to his paid vote to confirm the unqualified lobbyist, Betsy Devos, as Secretary of Education (the DeVos family contributed almost $50,000 to his campaign contributions), I will be working proactively to oppose his re-election in 2020.  I received a lovely form letter in response, thanking me for contacting him.  I’m glad he likes it – I will be doing it often.  I replied with a link to my blog.

Words – misspoken, inappropriate, inaccurate, combative, offensive, alternatively factual, absent, or let’s call it as it is, lies – which emanate from the White House, do have power.  Sure we laughed at how Frederick Douglass is doing a great job.  The Bowling Green Massacre could have been a classic blooper, except that Kellyanne Conway claimed it was a simple slip of the tongue … but it wasn’t.  She had said the very same thing in two other separate interviews.

Every word that comes out of the White House needs to be accurate, unbiased and measured.  One misspoken word, and especially one repeated misspoken word, could start a war, alienate an ally, foment violence or undermine this country’s stability.  But even more importantly, erroneous presidential words that are not misspoken but that are deliberately presented, aside from the highly inelegant vocabulary of the President, can convey inaccuracies to millions who follow him blindly.  Words can also be highly offensive to large groups of people. Let’s take a look at a few words, phrases and sentences that have come out of the White House.

“Bad hombres” was used in the debates, but it has been reported that it was also restated in a phone call between President Trump and the Mexican president.  Using Spanish when referring to criminals will inevitably link the two in some people’s minds.  How about “so-called judge?” – a mainstream Republican appointed by George W. Bush, a jurist who has deep convictions and speaks his mind.  It begs the question – was Trump itching for the inevitable response – so-called President?  Then, there is “dishonest press.”  The First Amendment to the Constitution protects the freedom of the press, and yet the President is attempting to delegitimize those who keep watch on our leaders, our country and our enemies.

Now, a more personal one – “America First.”  The Anti-Defamation League requested that President Trump refrain from utilizing this phrase because it is deeply offensive to Jews.  If you are not a student of history, you might not know that phrase was adopted as a credo by an isolationist anti-Semitic movement of the 1940s, headed by Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, which blamed the Jews for World War II.  Instead of heeding the ADL’s request, Trump hammered in the slogan at his inauguration.

And finally, the sin of omission.  Failure to mention Jews in the White House Holocaust Remembrance Day statement was not a proclamation of inclusion.  The State Department prepared a message that recognized Jewish Holocaust victims, but the White House deliberately didn’t use it.  Since the Holocaust Museum defines the Holocaust as “the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators," it was a particularly egregious omission.

Yes, words, or lack thereof, do make a difference – especially those emanating from or ignored by the most powerful source in the world.

Here’s a link to another recent White House misstatement:  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-repeats-backwards-claim-about-murder-rates/

As President Trump moves to unravel Dodd-Frank, apparently “draining the swamp” means setting the alligators free.

Continuing a bit with yesterday's blog, let's look at some statistics:

http://pulse.com.gh/bi/tech/terrorism-how-likely-are-foreign-terrorists-to-kill-americans-the-odds-may-surprise-you-id6145204.html .

Your odds of being killed by a refugee terrorist or an illegal immigrant are respectively 1 in 46,192,893 and 1 in 138,324,873, both immensely less likely than an asteroid, a shark attack or death by bee sting.  The odds for being killed by any kind of terrorism just went up to slightly greater than 1 in 45,808 because of the Colorado incident (with an asterisk for his being a native born convert to Islamic extremism).  The odds of death from assault by gun are 1 in 358.

Now, I assure you that neither Barack, Hillary nor I are coming for your guns.  But, shouldn’t we be a bit careful about who can legally obtain guns?  Shouldn’t we be cognizant of someone with a mental state so profoundly abnormal that there is a substantial threat to society? The Colorado assailant believed that an implant existed that removed a person’s desire for God.  I would say that qualifies as a profoundly abnormal mental condition.

Again, those legal gun owners, NRA enthusiasts, non-insane people shouldn’t have their second amendment rights infringed.  Just as an aside, the Second Amendment really only applies to forming a militia because the country had no army and was fighting off the British.

The Second Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791.  It reads:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

At any rate, I'm still not coming for your guns.  But I am concerned about those, who in any conceivable scenario, should not have them in their possession.

Now onto mental health.  Take this as you will.  Here are some of the characterizations of narcissistic personality disorder and malignant narcissism, taken from a variety of sources, such as Wikipedia, The Narcissistic Life, Decision Making Confidence, Psych Central and Healthy Place:

·        An extreme form of antisocial personality disorder that is manifested in a person who is pathologically grandiose, lacking in conscience and behavioral regulation, and with characteristic demonstrations of joyful cruelty and sadism.

·        A malignant narcissist views himself (75% are male) as genuinely superior to other people and believes that others are insignificant, disposable, and that he is justified when he manipulates and exploits them.

·        Someone who is totally engrossed in themselves, they believe they are superior to others, they have a huge sense of entitlement, they want praise and admiration, they make themselves the center of attention, they are selfish and they manipulate others for their own gains.

·        A grandiose sense of importance, preoccupation with unlimited success, exploitive of others, lacks, empathy, is arrogant, and is jealous of others.

·        A pattern of traits and behaviors, which signify infatuation and obsession with one’s self to the exclusion of all others and the egotistic and ruthless pursuit of one’s gratification, dominance and ambition.

Another day, another email to a member of Congress.  You don't have to read between the lines on this one very far.  Representative Stephanie Murphy introduced a bill to ensure that no person whose “primary or predominant responsibility is political in nature” could be designated as a member of the Security Council or be allowed to regularly attend its meetings.  Guess who she’s talking about.  I also made a phone call to Senate Committee Chairman Johnson, requesting that Steve Bannon not be on the National Security Council.

Congress just passed a bill going to the President for signature.  It’s a measure to scuttle a regulation aimed at preventing coal mine debris from being dumped into nearby rivers.  Well, of course!  Who doesn’t want barbecue flavored water?

Now for today’s topic.  If you are not from Colorado or are unaware of the incident, I direct your attention to the following news story:

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/02/denver-mosque-homeland-security-rtd-shooter/

An Islamic radical wannabe (American born Anglo) was kicked out of a mosque for his radical beliefs.  He murdered a security officer in Denver a few days ago.  Think of the layers in this story.

·        This is not an immigrant.  This is a native-born American from Texas.

·        He had a gun.

·        He was convicted in Texas of disorderly conduct.

·        He had a gun.

·        He seemed to be paranoid.

·        He had a gun.

·        He complained about an implant that would take away a person’s desire for God.

·        He had a gun.

·        He called for an Arizona police officer to be put to death for treason.

·        He had a gun.

·        Denver mosque leaders were so concerned about his behavior, they emailed the Department of Homeland Security.

·        He had a gun.

·        He put his gun up to the head of a transit security officer/former pastor and murdered him.

More about guns, mental health, and the President tomorrow.