Psychology of the "HAT" .

If you wear this hat .
Its likely going to ruin
your life .

It seems that if you put on a MAGA hat , walk around in public with one . Its possible that your going to get either people staring at you , or likely to get your butt kicked.   Maybe it’s not MAGA gear that makes bars want to eject folks, but just the behavior of the people wearing them. And if that’s the case—maybe think about losing the hat fast . The MAGA hat has come to symbolize racism, bigotry, Islamophobia, misogyny, white supremacy, homophobia. (1)>>While the slogan on the hat " Make America Great"  is now a dirty word . I suspect (2)>>some kind of psychological ploy is working . While honestly I don't see anything wrong with the hat .  While I don't agree with Trump politically . I find some of his actions a bit distasteful & liken to unprofessional conduct by a standing President . (3.1)>> The red hat is a big red herring on a cultural level on what it means to be an American cultural phenomenon  .  While I have seen people of both genders and races don the "hat" , it seems less likely  than what it actually symbolizes [ perception wise] that your some kinda Nazi  if you wear one . I believe that there are some decent people who put on this hat . Hopefully that they are not a racist. Now what bothers me is the fact that this hat has become a jinx . Since it has been associated with Trump.People attacking MAGA hat wearers seem to be displaying anti- American traits. It seems that anything with the word AMERICA in has become a taboo  . Last year  A Minnesota news station  fired one of its television reporters after he was seen wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while covering President Donald Trump’s rally in Rochester. There have been several attacks on MAGA hat wearers of both genders and races all over the nation . Now what is funny is that you would think  that the MAGA hat people would be the ones doing the attacking like a bunch of skinheads . Its never been the case . [ with one exception] but the rest seem like decent people . It has been just the opposite . The anti- MAGA groups have been doing a lot of attacking . Not understanding that their actions are seeding the path of in house (3.2)>>anti- Americanism that is more potent than all the Communist propaganda imagined . BUT recently with the boys from Covington Catholic school things were twisted by the news media painting these young men who attended a pro-life rally as being instigators for violence .  Remember there are so many VERSIONS of the story .The "Make America Great Again" hats worn by several (3)>>Covington Catholic students in a viral video had no place at the March for Life, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington .In an op-ed published by the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Rev. John Stowe said he joined the Diocese of Covington and other Catholic leaders "in apologizing in the wake of this incident." The students wearing pro-Trump apparel at the March for Life in Washington, D.C., is problematic, he said.  Here’s how it started:  videos began to percolate online of a teen boy wearing a MAGA hat staring at an older Native American man playing a drum and singing on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The video showed other boys, many also in MAGA hats, laughing and looking on, seeming to make fun of the man at times.  Now the the "media" explanation. The footage quickly picked up steam online, the narrative being that the boys were harassing the Native American elder, who was there for the Indigenous Peoples March. The truth was  that Covington students had been in Washington for the annual March for Life, which protests abortion, while Phillips was attending a separate  the inaugural Indigenous Peoples March. Videos went viral over the weekend showing Covington junior Nick Sandmann wearing a red MAGA hat and standing close to Phillips, who is hitting a drum, while other students clap and chant.    Whatever the case just putting on this hat put these Catholic school boys on national media with attention they really did not deserve at all. In Case anyone is missing the point of (4)>> "Free Speech" & "Freedom of expression" its under attack in a vary subtle way . If the hat offends you don't look at it . If you put it on , BEWARE you could be subject to harassment in America.  

Its Time For America to

think Again !

NOTES AND COMMENTS: 
(1)>>While the slogan on the hat " Make America Great"  is now a dirty word.  We’ve gone from bad to worse this week in the debate over whether or not the MAGA hat represents racism and hatred. Among many other notable examples was actress/activist Alyssa Milano, who tweeted  that the “MAGA hat is the new white hood.” In response to the wave of criticism she received over her remarks, she unapologetic doubled down in an opinion piece published at The Wrap (bolded emphasis added):   For many of us these days, it feels as if the United States has never been less united. There seems to be more ANTI-AMERICANS who are actually Americans themselves !!! Than any foreign enemy . The nation, it seems, has become irrevocably fractured along political and ideological lines — Republican/Democrat, liberal/conservative, red/blue, etc. If you wear the MAGA hat, you are giving “tacit endorsement for the hatred and violence…” according to Milano. And “it’s too soon to try to reclaim [the hat] and give it new life”  (2)>>some kind of psychological ploy is working . Something is going on . While the MAGA hat has drawn much hatred against Trump , its also fueling a anti-American - anti-government culture among the left of the political spectrum . So how is that ? Its VARY easy . first you have to convince a great number of the American population that Doanld Trump was elected because "Russia Meddled" in the election , so that de- legitimizes the government to a point that via mass media manipulation[ brainwashing]   that America is being occupied by a foreign power , because its elected leader is a puppet . Now ON SIMILAR LINES .
[ compare]  this same psychology was played out when Barack Obama was elected in office . Obama was called a Marxist & Muslim , his birth certificate was questioned.These same tactics that polarized the American political system are still at work , by the same "sinister" conspiracy .  (3.1)>> The red hat is a big red herring on a cultural level on what it means to be an American cultural phenomenon  .The MAGA hat is a symbol of support for Trump and his ideology. Not everyone who voted for Trump shares his racist ideology, however racist groups expressed overwhelming support for Trump and his racist ideology. Sadly, many people who DON'T consider themselves to be racist were SOMEHOW able to vote for a man who had made NUMEROUS bigoted comments. Ultimately, not all Trump voters were racist, but all Trump voters were undoubtedly either themselves racist or racist tolerant.  The media is working overtime to create a narrative out of whole cloth. Only the person who wants to see racism in a stupid hat will see it.    (3)>> Covington Catholic students . And while many liberals believe those ubiquitous red baseball caps are a modern-day white hood, the truth is they are not one and the same. The initial video clip of the Covington Catholic High School students -- in which a teenage boy faced off with a Native American elder at the Indigenous People's Rally -- was a Rorschach inkblot. The other clips that have since been released -- in which a group of black men, self-identified as Hebrew Israelites, are seen taunting not only the students but hurling racist slurs at participants of the Indigenous Peoples Rally -- is a reminder. (3.2)>>anti- Americanism.  Is America its worst enemy ?    example : American flags were removed from three Arlington [New York] Fire District trucks recently. Thus are assaults on patriotism failures of character by American Government officials & Media  . They are made by privileged people who enjoy the full benefits offered by this country they deride and detest, but they lack the basic decency to pay it the allegiance and respect that honor demands. But honor, of course, is also an object of their derision...In the long and deadly battle against those who hate Western ideals, and hate America in particular, we must be powerfully armed, morally as well as materially. To sustain us through the worst times we need courage and unity, and these must rest on a justified and informed patriotism.    (4)>> "Free Speech" & "Freedom of expression". Last year   several people felt that free speech is most important. Putting on a MAGA hat is protected free speech . Taking it one step further, it stands to reason that you shouldn’t be allowed to wear a shirt with a slogan on it that has been associated with a candidate either. The difference between a voter pasting a “vote for Trump” bumper-sticker on their forehead and wearing a MAGA hat seems irrelevant to me.

Government Shutdown "May" never end . (Speculation)

The Government Shutdown is
really ridiculous .

The U.S. government shutdown over President Donald Trump’s demand for border wall funding became the longest in the modern era , (1)>>may the longest in American history. People might be wondering what happens if the government shutdown never ends. President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats locked in a hardening standoff over border wall money that threatens to carry over into January.Trump vowed to hold the line, telling reporters during a visit to Iraq that he’ll do “whatever it takes” to get money for border security. He declined to say how much he would accept in a deal to end the shutdown, stressing the need for border security. “You have to have a wall, you have to have protection,” he said.With no deal at hand, members of the House were told there would be no votes , negotiations dragged dimming hopes for a swift breakthrough.Some Trump allies have been encouraging him to declare a national emergency and redirect other funds to begin building the wall.But Trump said that he wasn’t rushing to use that option, which would be challenged in court and, if not overturned, establish a precedent expanding the power of future Democratic presidents. It’s not clear whether Trump’s olive branch will yield fruitful negotiations, given that Democrats want the government open first, want more than he’s currently offering, and don’t trust him. And it’s unclear how much Trump is willing to cut a deal as he tries to shift blame for the longest

......and politically embarrassing
to both Democrats and Republicans !

government shutdown in modern U.S. history.A White House estimate of the costs of the 1996 shutdown during the Clinton administration described the loss as "significant." So it's likely that politicians are really feeling the pressure to end the shutdown, as the nation enters its third week of the crisis.  (2)>>So how did we get here? The general consensus is that President Trump refuses to reopen the government until he receives $5 billion for his border wall. Democratic politicians, like newly sworn Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), claim Trump is holding the government hostage because he promised Mexico would pay for the wall, and that money has yet to be seen. (2.2)>>Most Americans agree that it was a ludicrous promise. The Trump Administration and Republican politicians claim that Democrats in the House and Senate are being unreasonable by choosing not to fund any form of border security. The Democrats, led by Pelosi, have shown no signs of compromising. Before she was sworn in, Pelosi was asked Dec. 6 if she would agree to “some degree of wall funding” in exchange for “a permanent, bona fide solution” on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Pelosi declined and justified her answer by claiming that funding for the border wall and DACA are “two different subjects.” But why not kill two birds with one stone? On Jan. 3,(3)>> Pelosi called plans to build a wall “an immorality". It’s not who we are as a nation,” she said. Yet the Vatican is surrounded by 30-foot walls. Is the Vatican immoral for having giant walls? Of course not. Still, Trump is not doing himself any favors. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proposed a compromise that would provide money for Trump’s wall and offer protection to Dreamers. Even Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) voiced support for Graham’s proposal to reopen the government, calling it a “great place to start.” The lawmakers received no guidance on when, or how, the partial shutdown may end. Take my word , it may not end so easily because of the how the Democrats are resisting . What will burn the Democrats is not the question of a wall , but the refusal to talk about real immigration reform,border security sticks out as a sore thumb in their face . The Democrats have flipped flopped over the decades on how to deal with illegals. So now its time to get back to the table and end this . Its so easy .  In classic fashion, Trump rejected the proposal. “I’m not interested,” Trump told reporters. “I want to get it solved. I don’t want to just delay it. I don’t know if we’re closer to a deal. This should be the easiest deal that I’ve ever seen. We’re talking about border security. Who could be against it?” Apparently, a lot of people are against it, Mr. President. As the author of “The Art of the Deal,” can’t you — oh, I don’t know — make a deal?

NOTES AND COMMENTS: 

(1)>>may the longest in American history.  The Shutdown may not end in January . I want not to predict it , but its likely to run through the middle of February . According to The New York Times, the partial government shutdown will become thelongest shutdown in history on Saturday, Jan. 12, marking the 22nd day of the crisis. During this time period, over 800,000 federal employees have been furloughed, and agencies like the FDA and the DHS have been largely inactive.After all, the president himself has said that it might go on for years. In short, for the government shutdown to end, there needs to be a majority agreement on the budget. If there continues to be a lack of will to compromise on the budget, then the government will have to start fully shutting down services and agencies, according to The Washington Post. The publication notes that it would also have to start seeking loans from financial lenders.  (2)>>So how did we get here? President Donald Trump told Democratic leaders in a remarkable on-camera clash he would be "proud" to shut down the federal government if he doesn’t get the $5.7 billion he demands for a border wall with Mexico. “If we don’t get what we want ... we will shut down the government," Trump said during an exchange in the Oval Office with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., offered the temporary spending bill after President Donald Trump’s demand for $5 billion in funding for a wall along the nation’s southern border resulted in a standoff that threatened to shut down parts of the government. It wasn't clear whether Trump would sign the measure but the White House appeared to retreat from Trump's position of being "proud" to shutdown the government and take any blame for the impasse. (2.2)>>Most Americans agree that it was a ludicrous promise. It is, by far and away, the stupidest government shutdown in American history.  In 2019, the federal government will spend a whopping $4.407 trillion. Yet Congress and the president are shutting down the government in a dispute between the $1.3 billion the Democrats have approved for border security and the $5.7 billion the president is demanding -- precisely 0.0998 percent of the total federal budget. In Washington, that is considered a rounding error.    (3)>> Pelosi called plans to build a wall “an immorality".  Pelosi said this "immorality " word when asked and agreed on one Dollar.But did they ask her to explain the immorality? Don't believe so! Immoral to direct people to the proper , legal entrance? Preventing them from improperly entering the USA is not who we are? Keeping women & children from walking the desert is wrong? In 2006, Democrats were saying ‘build that fence!’ [ see this URL https://bit.ly/2naV2B7 ]  Pelosi continued. “It’s not who we are as a nation. And this is not a wall between Mexico and the United States that the president is creating here, it’s a wall between reality and his constituents, his supporters.” 

The END of PG&E .

PG&E used to be a pro-consumer company in the vary beginning .  However Over the last 3 decades,  the once family orientated  utility provider that had humble beginnings began to .  change .  The company began to place profits over people & public safety . So they began (1)>>to slowly gouge its customers raising rates , pro rating , setting tiers based on a baseline . We have to remember the Smart Meter. Pacific Gas & Electric’s smart metering began with much controversy  . Already, the company has had to fend off accusations that its installation of smart meters hiked energy rates.In 2001 State power regulators decided today how to divvy up the biggest electric rate hike in California history, boosting rates by as much as 80 percent for residential customers who use the most power. While PG&E problems over the decades began to manifest , we may remember the rolling black outs in California today, turning out the lights in approximately 500,000 homes, including some in Beverly Hills. Back then I guess that no one could pondered that PG&E was having some kind of problems . The apologetics for the utility company kept a lot of serious problems hidden for decades .  (2)>>Again in 2001 PG&E said they have lost $13 billion since last year because of the high cost of wholesale energy. Energy wholesalers have been reluctant to provide power to cash-strapped companies because they fear they will not be paid. PG&E’s crisis represents a big, tangible cost of climate change (see this), with wildfires becoming a chronic problem in California. So even if PG&E emerged from a Chapter 11 process that dealt with liabilities arising from wildfires in 2017 and 2018, it would remain hobbled in terms of courting investors who would then be worrying about the wildfires of 2019 or 2020 or whenever. However I personally think that (3)>>PG&E is heading either for a Federal or State takeover . California has set its sights on having millions more electric cars on the road over the next decade, but the planned bankruptcy of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the state’s largest investor-owned utility, could complicate efforts to achieve that goal.U.S. government also has become entangled in PG&E’s financial crisis -- brought on by deadly wildfires that tore through California in 2017 and 2018, The BIG question of its survival is vary sketchy . If PG&E goes down its vary likely that the DOW JONES and the Market will take a huge dive in the next few months into this new year. The Wall Street Journal reported that the California utility company is facing g huge fines and bankruptcy . PG&E Corp. plans to file for bankruptcy protection by the end of the month as it faces more than $30 billion in potential liability costs related to its role in sparking deadly California wildfires. Its really vary staggering how this has blow up over the years . Its become part of the great conspiracy AS how the fires started . Was it a combination of dry brush , or faulty equipment ? I wrote about the California fires a few times , my own thoughts on this that no one at least any federal investigators would have brought up the word arson . With its financial liabilities that had been mounting, the company’s shares dropped by more than 20 percent . More than half of its market value has been wiped out since late last week as the fires have spread. Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the deadliest of the current blazes, known as the Camp Fire, which has killed at least 56 people and destroyed virtually the entire town of Paradise, about 90 miles north of Sacramento. PG&E disclosed in a regulatory filings that an outage and damage to a transmission tower were reported in the area shortly before the fire started.  Culminating months of debate over how to respond to massive wildfires that swept California last fall, destroying thousands of homes, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that will make it easier for utility companies to pass on their liability costs to customers and bolster the state’s forest management efforts. Clearing the uncertainty hanging over the company begins with consolidating the litany of claims against it into a known quantity and dealing with them expeditiously. 

NOTES AND COMMENTS: (1)>>to slowly gouge its customers raising rates. My PG&E is on a balanced payment -I pay the same amount every month. I was able to lower my balanced payment amount by washing clothes in cold water, turning off lights when not in use (like your father said!), and not just leaving my computer on all day. (BTW,if your computer is off and it's draining energy, look again-it ain't off, is my guess.)I think they randomly price gouge in the winter months. I took a vacay in October once and came back to a bill that was tripled. I called to complain, "how the hell did I use this much gas and electricity while I was  away ...explain?" Their answer was "it must have been a gas-meter misread" so I demanded a price adjustment, and only had to pay the same amount as the prior month. Honestly I think they are just robbing folks to see who will pay without question. IN 2017 One state lawmaker says regulators may be to blame for skyrocketing PG&E bills residents are reporting recently. Senator Jerry Hill wanted to investigate the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). He says something doesn’t seem right and he’s determined to find out what.But where this went?       (2)>>Again in 2001 PG&E . That was how it worked in 2001, when PG&E’s utility subsidiary went bankrupt, caught between maladroit California power-market reform and demonically adroit Enron traders. What makes today’s case different, and far more difficult, is that it isn’t just the liabilities incurred so far that have broken PG&E’s model. (3)>>PG&E is heading either for a Federal or State takeover . From the politicians’ point of view, including new governor Gavin Newsom, PG&E’s entry into bankruptcy could be seen as risky, in the sense that it empowers a new figure in all this: the bankruptcy judge. Indeed, PG&E may have hoped giving notice of a potential filing would push the state to make a last-minute intervention.

AS we progress into 2019 . Radical Left to clash with Radical Right.

AS I write this ... There is still a government shutdown . I have spent a few weeks trying to hear both sides of the argument . I have watched President Trump at a Texas border on a video . The Democrats are not going to like this , but the "truth" is painful .(00)>>There is a serious problem at the southern border . During an afternoon briefing with border agents at a patrol station in McAllen, Trump highlighted the prevalence of guns and drugs along the border. The President spoke in front of a table of items border agents have seized, including a rifle, handguns, a plastic bag full of cash and black-taped bricks of heroin and meth. It appears that two middle-eastern men were caught from Pakistan . While the seriousness is not just about a real humanitarian crises that really exists with real refugees in Central America that should be some sort of multinational UN aide to Honduras , El Salvador, etc to stop a huge caravan of  displaced people . Trump's wall is symbolic to a problem with our own American foreign policy failures south of the border . My analysis is that we can't take everyone in , since 2014 the government should have sent back all the unaccompanied minors back to their country of origin . AS for the government shutdown its is ridiculous , 800'000 workers with no pay while paid Congress men and women of both sides of the party line are getting their money . That is sicking . A total fiasco that is so manufactured .  However there is a real crisis at the border , but is such a shutdown really needed ? Our Government is dysfunctional . The president began by attacking the news outlets for being “dishonest” and describing them as the “Opposition Party working with the Dems” in two tweets shared 10 minutes apart. Asked on Friday about the hardship faced by federal employees either furloughed or working without pay while the showdown over his demand for a wall continues, he claimed support, saying such workers were “in many cases the biggest fans of what we’re doing”. In a tweet last week, however, Trump claimed most workers “not getting paid are Democrats”.

AS we progress into 2019 .  Let think about Progressiveness or a disaster.  Just what are to expect out of the Democrats ? With Nancy Pelosi in power again  , will we see the same (1)>>repeat of the disaster of 2010? Is the stage being set for another Republican take over in 2020 ?  Here we have seen semi-blue wave of events . At my last post I am worried that the Democrats are going to spend their time trying to impeach Trump . IN REALITY CONGRESS has to get to work . We have 800,000 Federal workers without pay . The shutdown is  so ludicrous. Trump said it may last "years" from his last quote . BUT we need to fix our issues with immigration, we have to have better border security . As Trump has said in the last press briefings , he says the wall is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States. When he ran for president in 2016, Trump frequently  promised to build the wall. Well we have a problem , our system is broken.  Both parties continue to seek to avoid blame for the shutdown.  Democrats have called the wall immoral, ineffective and medieval.Nancy Pelosi, the newly elected Democratic speaker of the House, said Friday's meeting was  (2)>>"rocky at points."We just completed a lengthy and sometimes contentious conversation with the president," she told reporters.Pelosi said the two sides agreed to continue talking.  Our its going to be the biggest failure of the two party system. There already exists serious (3)>>animosity  in Congress with our divided system. on the progressive wing that are outraged by this rule I mean basically what it does is it means if there's gonna be any new sort of spending or any kind of social safety net program or anything like that or any kind of taxcut that then there has to be a cut in some other part of the budget to balance that out which you know on the face of it sounds reasonable but that

being said if you know as a country we really want to move forward with some legitimate progressive initiatives like Medicare for all free public college tuition and you know this that all let's talk about a green new deal the Democratic version of the green your deal looking at some positive things going for it but I think that it may be you know lacking in some instances as an it doesn't really address militarism scaling that back in any respect but the fact that the you know the version of a green new deal that (4)>>Alexandria Acacio Cortez is talking about it's getting the mainstream to talk about the climate catastrophe . As the partial government shutdown continues with no end in sight Thursday Democrats who are now the majority in the House of Representatives passed a measure to reopen the government without the Trump wall why almost likely just to make a point it's really symbolic more than anything else the Republicans led by Mitch McConnell in the Senate which is controlled by Republicans by the way the Senate that is is not even going to vote on this thing they're not gonna vote on the Pelosi measure but there is something interesting that happened today to Republicans both senators Cory Gardner and Susan Collins they're saying they're ready to vote on policies plan to open the government even if it doesn't include Trump's wall hmm it's important to note that the very same my way or the highway approach that makes PresidentTrump so attractive to his base is creating issues for his administration not just domestically but internationally .
 Radical Left to clash with Radical Right. 
There has been a lot praise for the new Democratic Congress as being the most "diversified"ever , if you compare race and gender to the newly elected Republicans. Remember I was talking about the 2010 when [ Democrats]  they lost the midterm elections for a good reason: anger at Barack Obama. Obama has reshaped the Democrats away from the Clintonite centrism of the 1990s and towards a more ideological liberalism that has redefined political debate.  When Anderson Cooper labeled this a “radical” agenda in a Sunday night interview with the Congress member, she proudly embraced the label. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York . Much of the interview is a tap-dance on the grave of Clinton-era liberalism. The Clinton administration was deeply concerned with budget deficits; Ocasio-Cortez told Cooper she didn’t need a plan to pay for her proposals. Clinton passed welfare reform to end black Americans’ alleged “dependence” on the welfare state; Ocasio-Cortez called President Donald Trump a racist, condemning deployment of the “historic dog whistles of white supremacy.”   If the "conservative"  Right has moved further to the alt- right  white nationalism exposed by Trump , it is in part in allergic reaction to the Democrats moving so far to the crazy  left.  We are having a crisis with our elected leaders , the new Democrats are known as (5)>>"3rd Wave Democrats " . Republicans had been letting the Radical Leftists hide in the Democrat Party as wolves in sheep's clothing for years. Take Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Forget her radical leftist politics and hatred of business. With Warren, it's all about a lie that has been central to her life. She's no Native American. She's whiter than you or me. Her mother didn't elope because she was a Cherokee. Six months ago, a lot of Democrats were worried that the process was going to make the task of regaining the majority in the House more difficult by nominating some candidates in swing districts who were too progressive for those districts. But the list of Democrats hiding secrets is long. California Democrat congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar is the grandson of a Muslim terrorist who helped plan the attack that killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. (6)>>Rep. Rashida Tlaib learned that before lunch Friday, when her profane remarks the night before vowing to impeach President Donald Trump drew almost no support, and plenty of pushback, from members of her party.In tweets and retweets, Trump once again voiced disdain for the "Mainstream Media,” specifically naming NBC and MSNBC as the source of his ire, while also touting support for himself and his controversial wall ahead of a visit to the southern border Thursday. (7)>>BUT THE RADICAL LEFT is going to try to put one of their candidates that are not part of the traditional Democratic party. Our system of government is increasingly held in low regard on the left. The 2016 election was somehow stolen, and the mechanism that gave Trump his victory, the Electoral College, is illegitimate. The Senate, which confirmed Kavanaugh and gives small, red states the same representation as large, blue states, is also illegitimate. Finally, the Supreme Court, now home to two Trump-appointed justices, is illegitimate as well.The leftist, “progressive” candidates ran on undoable or foolhardy promises, such as ending ICE, institution of a single-payer health system, free college tuition for all, and a “Green future.”  These proposals are exactly what swing suburban voters who now voted Democrat in protest of Trump reject. So as 2019 starts to unwind , Washington D.C. will be a battle ground between two philosophies rather than compermise .

NOTES AND COMMENTS:
(00)>>There is a serious problem at the southern border . The Government shutdown is a mistake , it could hurt Trump . REGARDLESS , we do have a problem with our border , we just can't keep taking in illegals to a certain point that we no longer can provide for any American citizens . The Democrats forget a lot , for them the America is not important enough for any border security . For a FULL REPORT on the state of our borders please read this document [ https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2019/01/07/the-terror-threat-on-the-southern-border/]   (1)>>repeat of the disaster of 2010? Nancy Pelosi was the root cause of Obama's downfall , why the Democrats were voted out. It was a big blunder in 2010 A band of centrist Democrats tried to get of Pelosi .Behind Democrats' decision to keep Pelosi as their leader after historic losses lies intense concern among liberals who dominate the party's ranks on Capitol Hill: They fear Obama will go too far in accommodating the GOP in the new era of divided government. Pelosi is seen as a counterweight to that political phenomenom.  She's done so before. When Democrats panicked after losing their Senate supermajority .  Pelosi rebuffed feelers by then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and others to settle for a smaller health care bill. She derided the approach as "kiddie care" and pushed forward with the sweeping overhaul she painstakingly steered through the House by a razor-thin margin.

A more recent example is Pelosi's stated refusal to consider extending Bush-era income tax cuts for the highest brackets past their expiration. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s increasingly public disagreements with President Barack Obama are a reflection of something deeper: the seething resentment some Democrats feel over what they see as cavalier treatment from a wounded White House. The 2010 election had been a blow to Barack Obama, but the GOP on the Hill was hopelessly divided between “establishment” Republicans, Tea Party Republicans, and “establishment” Republicans trying to mimic Tea Party Republicans. It led to the creation of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of around 40 members whose chief aim, it often seemed, was to block any legislative reform on the grounds that it “didn’t go far enough.” What began as a good and necessary corrective to the unprincipled transactionalism of the GOP leadership turned into obstructionism for the sake of obstruction. [ see this interesting article on Pelosi that serves as a warning shorturl.at/dpXY9 ]  (2)>>"rocky at points."   After a briefing on immigration in the White House situation room, Democratic Congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer spoke to members of the press about the offer they made President Trump to end the partial government shutdown.  Trump said that the shutdown might last for years , but that could be a misstatement . [ read below ] The partial government shutdown, which hit the two-week mark on Friday, could continue indefinitely after a meeting between Donald Trump and top Democrats failed to resolve their dispute. The president went on to say he could declare a national emergency and build a wall without congressional approval: ‘I can do it if I want’ .   (3)>>animosity  in Congress with our divided system. Trump faces a divided government, with Democrats newly in control of the House. Democratic leaders emerged from Friday’s meeting reporting that the president had said he was prepared to close the government “for a very long time, even years” if there was no deal. Trump had invited leaders from both parties back to the White House just two days after a meeting on border security in the Situation Room did not resolve matters, and a day after Nancy Pelosi became speaker of the House and Democrats passed legislation to reopen the government.     (4)>>Alexandria Acacio Cortez. The question is whether the future of the Democratic Party votes like Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described Democratic socialist. Her June victory over incumbent Joe Crowley in a Democratic primary for a U.S. House seat in New York City was perhaps the most heralded example of what has been described as a burgeoning leftist shift in the Democratic Party. For progressive activists, it’s a boon decades in the making; for moderate Democrats, it’s a political headache; and for Republicans, including President Trump, it’s both a worrying sign of creeping socialism and an effective bogeyman for rallying supporters. The radical left wants to raise taxes , this should be vary concerning ,  she floats the idea of a top marginal income tax rate as high as 70 percent as part of a plan to finance a “Green New Deal” that would aim to drastically curb America’s carbon dioxide emissions.Even when someone like Ocasio-Cortez is bold enough to suggest that higher taxes are a good thing, there is a knee-jerk reaction to immediately assert that this only applies to the wealthy. And while, yes, the wealthy should be paying a much higher rate, we need to get to a place in this country—as difficult or unrealistic as it seems today—where even the  fledgling middle class accepts that their taxes have to go up at least a little. (5)>>"3rd Wave Democrats "  The paradox of US politics is that whenever Americans are asked whether they support universal healthcare, guaranteed paid leave for carers, free education at public colleges, higher taxes on the rich, or any number of items from the Bernie Sanders campaign platform, a majority are always strongly in favour. How is that a "paradox"? Americans didn't get the chance to vote for Sanders. They got to choose between voting for someone who represented the system and someone who loudly attacked the system.  President Trump on Saturday warned supporters that if “radical” Democrats are victorious in the upcoming elections, they will “take a giant wrecking ball” to the economy and the country’s future. The Third Way is a position akin to centrism that tries to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of some centre-right economic and some centre-left social policies.There was a blue wave in the House because the the whole Hose was up for election there was an 8% rise in support for the Democrats. The senate only had a third of the seats up for election these favoured Republicans.Seeing a booming economy with strong job and wage growth, the party’s extreme liberals just can’t help themselves. (6)>>Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Ms. Tlaib is poised to become the first Muslim woman ever elected to Congress, after she narrowly defeated Brenda Jones, Detroit’s City Council president, in a Democratic primary race to succeed longtime Representative John Conyers Jr. in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. She will run unopposed in November. In a separate Democratic primary contest for a special election to serve the remaining months of Mr. Conyers’s term, Ms. Jones prevailed over Ms. Tlaib on Wednesday afternoon, according to The Associated Press. Hours later, she made headlines for swearing at a bar — in comments that continued to reverberate in Washington the following day. (7)>>BUT THE RADICAL LEFT is going to try to put one of their candidates that are not part of the traditional Democratic party.   In the wake of that 2016 loss, candidates inspired by his unapologetic liberalism -- if not his weak affiliation with the Democratic Party -- began recruiting themselves into races. While the upset primary victory of fellow Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York drew the most attention, other progressives such as Ilhan Omar and Jahana Hayes have won primaries too. Now, four prominent female Democrats are all but openly running for president. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, considered a top contender for 2020, confirmed that she will "take a serious look at" an election bid. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York called the midterm election a pivotal moment for women, and told late-night show host Stephen Colbert in November that she would give a presidential bid a "long, hard thought of consideration."Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said in September that she would take a "hard look" at running, and called for Americans to elect a female president. There is also growing buzz that Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is considering a bid. These women are beginning to offer themselves as potential presidents at a time when stark divides around gender are shaping the midterm campaigns: A record number of women are running for Congress, mainly on the Democratic side, and polls show women favoring Democrats by a huge margin. Yet Mr. Trump has begun sharply assailing the #MeToo movement and making increasingly explicit appeals to male identity.