Bliss

From Gary Reber on FB: I’ve been critical of the Trump presidency before and I still am. But to be fair, President Trump wasn’t that bad, other than when he incited an insurrection against the government, Mismanaged a pandemic that killed over a million Americans, Called neo-Nazis “very fine people,” Separated children from their families, Lost those children in the bureaucracy, Tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo op holding a Bible in front of a church, Tried to block all Muslims from entering the country, Got impeached, Got impeached again, Had the worst jobs record of any president in modern history, Pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden, Fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia, Bragged about firing the FBI director on TV, Took Vladimir Putin’s word over the US intelligence community, Diverted military funding to build his wall, Caused the longest government shutdown in US history, Called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate,” Lied over 30,000 times, Banned transgender people from serving in the military, Ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions, Vetoed the defense funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers, Refused to release his tax returns, Increased the national debt by nearly $8 trillion, Had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. history, Called veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers, Coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after he ordered the execution and dismembering of a US-based journalist, Refused to concede the 2020 election, Hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House, Walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl, Suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID, Abandoned our allies the Kurds to Turkey, Pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans, Incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic, Withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords, Withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal, Withdrew the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed to block China’s advances, Insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter, Pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op, Failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies, Called Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries, Called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation,” Claimed that he single handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere, Forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader, Believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe, Suggested the US should buy Greenland, Colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justices, after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges, Repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people,” Claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID we’d have fewer cases, Violated the emoluments clause, Thought that Nambia was a country, Told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in public, Called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “p---y” for following the Constitution, Nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet, Nominated a corrupt head of the EPA, Nominated a corrupt head of HHS, Nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department, Nominated a corrupt head of the USDA, Praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticizing allies, Refused to allow the presidential transition to begin, Insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death, Spent an obscene amount of time playing golf after criticizing Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president, Falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote, Called the Muslim mayor of London a “stone cold loser,” Falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year, Considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions, Mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID, Locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones, Used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus,” Hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offenses including his campaign manager and national security adviser, Pardoned several of his shady associates, Gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressman who amplified his bat shit crazy conspiracy theories, Got into telephone fight with the leader of Australia(!), Had a Secretary of State who called him a moron, Forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history, Botched the COVID vaccine rollout, Tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him, Charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties, Constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate, Claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear, Called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas,” Used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise, Opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling, Got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers, Claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US, Ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings, Blew off honoring American war dead in France because it was raining, Redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle, Got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters,” Threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution, Botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them, Pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes, Thought that the Virgin islands had a President, Drew on a map with a Sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane, Allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing, Rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos, Pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID, Rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers, Held blatant campaign rallies at the White House, Tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man, Refused to attend his successors’ inauguration, Nominated the worst Education Secretary in history, Threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted, Attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, Promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (it didn’t), Allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues, Struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble, Called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ,” Threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders, Went ahead with rallies filled with maskless supporters in the middle of a pandemic, Claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts,” Seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution, Demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director, Praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic pedophiles, Completely gutted the Voice of America, Placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service, Claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower, Suggested that the US should allow more people from places like Norway into the country, Suggested that COVID wasn’t that bad because he recovered with the help of top government doctors and treatments not available to the public, Overturned energy conservation standards that even industry supported, Reduced the number of refugees the US accepts, Insulted various members of Congress and the media with infantile nicknames, Gave Rush Limbaugh a Presidential medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address, Named as head of federal personnel a 29-year old who’d previously been fired from the White House for allegations of financial improprieties, Eliminated the White House office of pandemic response, Used soldiers as campaign props, Fired any advisor who made the mistake of disagreeing with him, Demanded the Pentagon throw him a Soviet-style military parade, Hired a shit ton of white nationalists, Politicized the civil service, Did absolutely nothing after Russia hacked the U.S. government, Falsely said the Boy Scouts called him to say his bizarre Jamboree speech was the best speech ever given to the Scouts, Claimed that Black people would overrun the suburbs if Biden won, Insulted reporters of color, Insulted women reporters, insulted women reporters of color, Suggested he was fine with China’s oppression of the Uighurs, Attacked the Supreme Court when it ruled against him, Summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House, to pressure them to overturn the election, Spent countless hours every day watching Fox News, Refused to allow his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas, Hired Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer, Tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him, Acted as if the Attorney General of the United States was his personal attorney, Attempted to get the federal government to defend him in a libel lawsuit from a women who accused him of sexual assault, Held private meetings with Vladimir Putin without staff present, Didn’t disclose his private meetings with Vladimir Putin so that the US had to find out via Russian media, Stopped holding press briefings for months at a time, “Ordered” US companies to leave China even though he has no such power, Led a political party that couldn’t even be bothered to draft a policy platform, Claimed preposterously that Article II of the Constitution gave him absolute powers, Tried to pressure the U.K. to hold the British Open at his golf course, Suggested that the government nuke hurricanes, Suggested that wind turbines cause cancer, Said that he had a special aptitude for science, Fired the head of election cyber security after he said that the 2020 election was secure, Blurted out classified information to Russian officials, Tried to force the G7 to hold their meeting at his failing golf resort in Florida, Fired the acting attorney general when she refused to go along with his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban, Hired Stephen Miller, Openly discussed national security issues in the dining room at Mar-a-Lago where everyone could hear them, Interfered with plans to relocate the FBI because a new development there might compete with his hotel, Abandoned Iraqi refugees who’d helped the U.S. during the war, Tried to get Russia back into the G7, Held a COVID super spreader event in the Rose Garden, Seemed to believe that Frederick Douglass is still alive, Lost 60 election fraud cases in court including before judges he had nominated, Falsely claimed that factories were reopening when they weren’t, Shamelessly exploited terror attacks in Europe to justify his anti-immigrant policies, Still hasn’t come up with a healthcare plan, Still hasn’t come up with an infrastructure plan despite repeated “Infrastructure Weeks,” Forced Secret Service agents to drive him around Walter Reed while contagious with COVID, Told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” Screwed up the Census wording, Withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the middle of a pandemic, Did so few of his duties that his press staff were forced to state on his daily schedule: “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings,” Allowed his staff to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act, Seemed not to know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, Stood before sacred CIA wall of heroes and bragged about his election win, Constantly claimed he was treated worse than any president, (which presumably includes four that were assassinated, and his predecessor whose legitimacy and birthplace were challenged by a racist reality TV show star named Donald Trump), Claimed Andrew Jackson could’ve stopped the Civil War even though he died 16 years before it happened, Said that any opinion poll showing him behind was fake, Claimed that other countries laughed at us before he became president when several world leaders were literally laughing at him, Claimed that the military was out of ammunition before he became President, Created a commission to whitewash American history, Retweeted anti-Islam videos from one of the most racist people in Britain, Claimed ludicrously that the Pulse nightclub shooting wouldn’t have happened if someone there had a gun even though there was an armed security guard there, Hired a senior staffer who cited the non-existent "Bowling Green Massacre" as a reason to ban Muslims, Had a press secretary who claimed that Nazi Germany never used chemical weapons even though every sane human being knows they used gas to kill millions of Jews and others, Bilked the Secret Service for higher than market rates when they had to stay at Trump properties, Apparently sold pardons on his way out of the White House, Stripped protective status from 59,000 Haitians, Falsely claimed Biden wanted to de-fund the police, Said that the head of the CDC didn’t know what he was talking about, Tried to rescind protection from DREAMers, Gave himself an A+ for his handling of the pandemic, Tried to start a boycott of Goodyear tires due to an Internet hoax, Said U.S. rates of COVID would be lower if you didn’t count blue states, Deported U.S. veterans who served their country but were undocumented, Claimed he did more for African Americans than any president since Lincoln, Touted a “super-duper” secret “hydrosonic” missile, which may or may not be a new “hypersonic” missile, or may not exist at all, Retweeted a gif calling Biden a pedophile, Forced through security clearances for his family, Suggested that police officers should rough up suspects, Suggested that Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs, Tried to stop transgender students from being able to use school bathrooms in line with their gender identification, Suggested the US not accept COVID patients from a cruise ship because it would make US numbers look higher, Nominated a climate change skeptic to chair the committee advising the White House on environmental policy, Retweeted a video doctored to look like Biden had played a song called “Fuck tha Police” at a campaign event, Hugged a disturbingly large number of U.S. flags, Accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding his State of the Union address, Claimed that the FBI failed to capture the Parkland school shooter, because they were “spending too much time” on Russia, Mocked the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Obsessed over low-flow toilets, Ordered the re-release of more COVID vaccines when there weren’t any to release, Called for the construction of a bizarre garden of heroes with statutes of famous dead Americans as well as at least one Canadian (Alex Trebek), Hijacked Washington’s July 4th celebrations to give a partisan speech, Took advice from the MyPillow guy, Claimed that migrants seeking a better life in the US were dangerous caravans of drug dealers and rapists, Said nothing when Vladimir Putin poisoned a leading opposition figure, Never seemed to heed the advice of his wife’s “Be Best” campaign, Falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraudulent, though he, (himself), votes by mail, Announced a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Syria which not only handed Russia and ISIS a win but also prompted his defense secretary to resign in protest, Insulted the leader of Canada, Insulted the leader of France, Insulted the leader of Britain, Insulted the leader of Germany, Insulted the leader of Sweden (Sweden!!), Falsely claimed credit for getting NATO members to increase their share of dues, Blew off two Asia summits even though they were held virtually, Continued lying about spending lots of time at Ground Zero with 9/11 responders, Said that the Japanese would sit back and watch their “Sony televisions” if the US were ever attacked, Left a NATO summit early in a huff, Stared directly into an eclipse even though everyone over the age of 5 knows not to do that, Called himself a very stable genius despite significant evidence to the contrary, Refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and kept his promise, and a whole bunch of other things I can’t remember at the moment. But other than that. . . 🤷🏽‍♀️ He was a great President 😃 All documented - - I would LOVE for anyone to show me proof that any of these are WRONG, and I will correct the Record Book of what Trump did!

I could listen to them all day long. (Not that I watch tv all day long... but if I did, I'd want it to be spent watching them!)

I don't know who to thank... Stephen's writers or Stephen himself for his delivery. The last couple of nights, I, too, have laughed right out loud. It's a nice change for Mr Bliss as I've been known to curse/semi-scream at the orange felon lately. Every morning, I wake up (at least I'm consistent in some ways) and wish I'd had a really bad nightmare... and then I realize, "nope... this is my reality".

I did not write this... it was sent to me via email: (to answer the question of 'why' is tRump Putin's puppet?) Someday the true story of Donald Trump’s Russian connection will be told and it will read like a spy novel worthy of Tom Clancy… It’s the story of a beauty pageant that led to the election of a President. In 2013 Trump was beyond broke. He was deeply in debt and after five bankruptcies, not a bank in America would lend him money. He did however still own the rights to the Miss Universe Contest and in November of that year he took the pageant to Moscow. For a week Mr. Trump and a bevy of the most beautiful young women in the world partied with all the big wigs in Russia… politicos, oligarchs, rock stars, celebrities, even Vladimir Putin himself. There has been much speculation about what went down in that week of booze, babes and big money, but whatever it was, it changed the course of history. It’s common knowledge that every hotel room in Moscow is bugged and who knows what Mr. Putin’s KGB cameras might have picked up. Trump, as a high profile visitor would be under constant surveillance. The Miss Universe party ended and within weeks the Trump organization received a six hundred million dollar loan from Deutsche Bank… a German banking giant that had previously been convicted of illegally laundering money for the Russians. Trump left Moscow with the financial backing he so desperately needed and Putin had his hooks in Trump. In 2015 Trump announced his candidacy for POTUS and Putin began actively cultivating his asset. The Mueller report states unequivocally that Russia conducted a systematic misinformation campaign designed to tarnish Trump’s opponents and promote his candidacy. Russia’s influence in the 2016 election was pervasive and it worked… With Putin’s help Donald J Trump became the 45th President of the United States and he wasted no time paying off his pal Vladimir… Trump spoke glowingly of him every chance he got… every executive decision benefited Putin. He ceded the middle east to Russia, withdrew from Syria and allowed Putin to fill the void. He turned his back on Ukraine, the last bastion standing between Russia and a free Europe. He disavowed NATO, the alliance that had held Russia at bay for over 70 years. He pulled US troops out of Germany… something the Kremlin has always wanted. At the Helsinki summit, Trump chose to publicly believe Putin over his own intelligence agencies. He attacked America’s friends and embraced her enemies just like Putin wanted. At home Trump became the “divider in chief” driving deep divisions between all the different factions of American society. To divide America from within… to drive a wedge between blacks and whites, rich and poor, left and right, has long been a part of Putin’s KGB playbook. Russian hackers are inflaming racial tensions across the country, infiltrating radical groups, political parties and planting disinformation on social media. We can only hope that the US Intelligence Services are prepared to address these threats because obviously Mr. Trump isn’t.

Just my thought for the day: Donald, you dumb butt-fuckface (or dumbfuck if you prefer the Readers Digest version) - you (and your tariffs) are a psychopathic narcissistic nutbar. To my American friends: so sorry to hear you are so sick. Get well soon! Sending you healing hugs!

LOL... I just realized what I wrote! I have nothing against edible anything! *wink*

Saw this post without reading the prior one and as soon as I saw the words grifters, fraud and waste, immediately thought, "that's tRump".

2/5 and 1* Trying out a new recipe for apple brownies. Mr Bliss will taste-test to make sure they're edible before I bring them to our cyber party 😉

Classic example of narcissistic projection: "You're going to start WWIII" (my apologies if my wording isn't exact - going from memory, and not wanting to watch the offensive video again to capture the exact words...)

It just occurred to me... tRump's jealousy of Zelensky is probably due to the FACT that Ukraine loves their president unanimously. Their parliament voted 286 to zero for Z to remain as president. That's because he has integrity, is a true patriot, and a lover of humanity. He's also intelligent - and - bonus - if I remember correctly, a fabulous dancer. (and we all know how tRump sucks at all the above)

Perhaps off topic... I sincerely hope I'm still alive when AOC becomes POTUS. (Currently watching the Liberal debate in Canada and I know I'm biased, but any one of these candidates has more intelligence in their little finger than tRump has in his entire bloated bod.)

2/5 I doubt any of you want some of our snow... I'll pay you to take some! (can't wait to dig into that mac 'n cheese!)

Oh how I love this! I see a puppy; Mr Bliss thinks it's a polka-dotted bunny. Whichever - it's a dorable😍 Explanation: grandson #3 at the age of 4, hands on hips, told me quite dramatically (after he'd done something quite cute, and I'd said, "you're adorable!") that he was NOT adorable, he was a people! He also wanted totes (toast) for breakfast and was always eager to "hepl" (just like it's written... hepple?) me whenever I was gardening. Ever since then, I call him (and the rest of the grandkids) my "dorables". I wish I knew how to post photos... I'd bore y'all with the "stuff I make for my grandkids" (one of my albums on FB - if anyone is interested, pm me and I'll share!) One of my best creations was a white eyelet nursing 'umbrella/apron' that fit over my daughter's head loosely and formed an apron-type cover-up so she could nurse her babies in public without anyone seeing anything. Her choice. There was boning in the edge of it so it acted like an umbrella for her milk supply! She could see the baby from above. Difficult to describe! I'm sure the men reading this are thinking, "wow... I want one of those!!" LOL

2/5 I made some dutch apple tarts for our Valentine's party (it was a yummy pot luck for 32, followed by a totally badass game of bid euchre - my current passion to escape from the effing snow) and have just enough left over for my J! friends ;-)

I was buying some greeting cards today, and thought I'd get some for my USA friends... Should I get a sympathy card? How about a "get well" card? Then, I found a "WTF?" card! Perfect.