The Shoes are Dropping like Cats and Dogs or Something

This is the message I sent to Utah Senator Mike Lee's office early this morning:

Dear staffer reading this. Please consider sharing this idea with Sen. Lee. He has the chance to step up and be a big leader and advocate for the MAJORITY of Utahns. Mueller is about to drop some more shoes in the investigation that show Trump and his admin compromised by Russia in financial and political dealings. Trump is not popular in Utah even among Republicans and Trump support is dropping. It's going to get worse. We need a Statesman to come forward who will help save country and the Republican party from the constitutional crisis of a criminally compromised executive with an adverse foreign power - Putin's Russia. Please get the Senator to step up and be that Statesman. Work with your new freshman Senator, Romney, and get him going on this. It shouldn't take much prodding. Get him to take it on as a project like saving the SLC Olympics. But Lee can take the lead here and be a big hero. Your party is in trouble (I'm a Dem myself). And our Nation is in peril. Please have the Senator step up and deal with trump's apparent crimes here. Many thanks. Please do not respond to me.

#Individual1 is going down soon. Mueller has the goods. The startling revelations in his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen's, strangely additional guilty plea of last Friday are a marker laid down by the Special Counsel that he has the evidence on the whole criminal conspiracy of #Individual1, his family enterprises, his administration, and Putin's Russia.

Would You Buy a Used Constitution from this Man?

The challenge was to do a Google-Images search for "Ted Cruz smiling" and see if you could come up with a picture of Ted that didn't look creepy.

It can't be done. Please note that only one of those pics appears to be doctored. And the creepiest are the official photos (i.e., the ones with the flag). Can you trust a man who creeps you out when he smiles?

In Which Senator Mike Lee (R. UT) Pushes My Button

Disappointed that my regular Friday-lunch, co-worker friend was not around today, I hoofed it up to Jimmy John's for my usual No. 5. Walking back to the Federal Building, I got in an elevator with some already aboard. I pushed No. 6 and it didn't light up so the man in the corner pushed it again, being nice, I guess. Had he spent more time in the Federal Building, he would know that Elevator No. 1 doesn't light up for floor No. 6 on the left of the door, but it does on the right. Maybe the guy will get a clue and raise an issue with GSA or stop defunding the government or . . . Wait! That's Senator Lee!

Dang! I can't believe there's a pic of Senator Lee with the same Skousenite Constitution held by the Malheur Occupiers!

Mike Lee - Caught with His Ski-Pants Down

No, not a sex-scandal, just a regular, old-style politician out to make a buck and converse, confer, and otherwise hobnob with his fellow lizards who happen have a lot of money. It's a hypocrite-scandal because he was just on TV giving the tea-party Republican response to the SOTU condemning such practices.

Speaker Boehner's Monkey

Tea Party Caucus Meeting

This is great! The House just passed a clean authorization to allow the US Treasury to keep paying its bills! Yes, it's an increase of the rather arbitrary debt limit. But as our money only has the value of our robust economy under the full faith and credit of the United States, it's generally best, IMO, to keep that faith even with credit.

Speaker of the House, John "Are-you-kidding-me?" Boehner, is fast becoming a hero of mine. No longer beholden to the tea-party minority of his majority (which in no way represents the will of the People), he passed the authorization with very few Republican votes relying on the Democrats instead. Some said he was whistling "Zip-ah-dee-do-dah" today. Roll Call reports that after a brief conference last night in front of befuddled Republicans, he walked back to the podium and said, "You're not even going to clap for me getting this monkey off of our backs?"

Senator Lee Is the Problem, NOT The Solution

The "tea party" response is kicking around there on the internets. It's the same ol' palinesque Paul Revere "ringin' those bells" and firin' shots to "warn the British" that we were going to be free.

To succeed in a political cause among some circles, all you have to do is take a story from the founders and liken it to our present time. That is, phrase it terms to match your present dogmatic needs. Here's Sen. Lee's homage to his fantasies:

"Let Us Have Peace"

Yes, those are the words of U.S. Grant from his first Inaugural Address. General Grant and the Fourteenth Amendment may be vindicated as so far, Utah Governor Herbert has not ordered state troops to fire on Ft. Douglas that overlooks Salt Lake City from the Wasatch foothills to the East. As Grant won a bloody war to secure the United States and establish Constitutional protections of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all the people of the United States, we now face a Constitutional crisis that our nation will endure without resort to civil war.

I'm highly suspicious that Judge Shelby of the U.S. District Court, District of Utah, planned ahead to issue his decision on same-sex marriage for the week before Christmas. He may have hoped that the spirit of the season would temper any adverse reaction to the ruling. It's not over yet as a legal question until the Supreme Court eventually decides the issue as it certainly will. But as even most of the opponents of same-sex marriage believe that it will eventually happen, I wish it would happen sooner rather than later so that we can stop arguing and all calm down to deal with the inevitable and get over it. It is not worth civil war and it is not worth tearing families apart, least of all at this season of the year.

Senator Lee & his Friends

I had to cut and paste Senator Mike Lee's really good statement of respect at the death of Nelson Mandela. Also included are a few of the many comments of Senator Lee's "friends."

My work is done here.

Tea Party Losing Their "Cause"

Tea Party Protest over the Shutdown - Attended by Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, and Utah's one-and-only Mike Lee

Shutdown 2013 Update No. 5

Well, I'm cheered up a bit more. Getting dressed, I found a symbolically purple shirt, a tad more blue than purple. Then I dug in my top drawer for the box that had my 20-year and 10-year Interior service pins. Together they make 30 which I have on the calendar, but not on service computation date until March 4 coming up. Then I snapped my government ID onto my lanyard and draped it over my head. That's something I rarely do because I so easily catch it and choke myself. Today I wanted to look the part of a federal employee.

As I came in the federal building, I showed my ID then saluted the photos of the President and Vice President and then saluted the Constitution up on the wall as I said to the guard, "That's some good stuff in there." (I know, you think I'm looney tunes. But that's just the way I am.)

Senator Lee's Staff - Chips Off the Ol' Blockhead

There will be a Shutdown 2013 Update No. 5, but this part of the story is just too good not to tell it separately. I took a trip down to Munchkinland today.

Senator Mike Lee's Staff

When I signed my furlough notice, I wrote a little note on the top:

Shutdown 2013 Update No. 2

It was gratifying to see a couple of pundits (Ezra Klein of WaPo & Politico's Ben White) agreeing with my analysis on the likelihood of a shutdown with very similar reasoning. I have co-workers who will vouch that I figured this out a few days back before I ever typed it in here.

While I have to be real careful here because I don't want to reveal any internal processes or names unnecessarily, we got additional instructions from our office on shutting down (I wasn't there late Thurs. evening when this email came). Redacted version:

Here are the highlights of today's (September 26) senior staff call, with some slight tweaking to account for more recent information:

Shutdown 2013 Update No. 1

My boss called me in today. He's a really good guy. He tried so hard to soften the message. "Well, I, uh, -sit down. I regret this, but I need to let you know that, well, you have been officially designated as 'non-essential.'"

My response: "Ha! No problem! I've been 'non-essential' for 30 years! I was shutdown by Reagan and Tip O'Neill!" He is too, of course.

We also found out, and I'm not supposed to say much about this, but certain persons, while still "non-essential," are paid out of different sources of funds. And as their salaries are already paid, they have to work. Of course that also means they will have no worries about being paid. When we get furloughed, we are legally prohibited from performing any work. And we have no expectation of being paid.

Why I Continue My Fight

Time for a little open-heart reflection and explanation why I continue my fight against Senators Cruz, Lee, & Paul along with the tea-party Representatives and the political entertainers Beck & Limbaugh.

I've read a little history and seen enough old news reels to wish somebody had stood up to Senator Joe McCarthy earlier. I also wish more people had stood up to Cleon Skousen too. Even Ernie Wilkinson could have used a bit more of a kick in the rear when he imposed his anti-communist spy-ring on my alma mater. So I'm standing up to the demagogues now in hopes of saving them and their followers from worse abuses like those we've known in the past in this very country. And they've mostly come from the extreme Right.
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Bottom line, what I fight against is the demagoguery that pulls in some very good friends and family that I care about.

Open Letter to Senator Mike Lee

Dear Senator Lee:

Let my start by stating that I am an American Citizen of legal residence in the State of Utah. That makes you one of my two U.S. Senators even though I did not vote for you. But I am your constituent and I write this to offer a little advice.

I understand that you had a little talking-to from your Minority Leader today. It's really too bad you didn't pay more attention to my blog, or your old Home Teacher - Brother Reid, or even your Dad. I knew your Dad. I realize that you must have known him much better. And I can't understand how you came away from such a good man and a conservative of solid credentials to promote the ideas about government and the U.S. Constitution that you do.

There is help that I offer in the form of a publication that one of Senator Hatch's Aides gave me up there on the 8th Floor of the Federal Building in SLC. I went to get some of those copies of the U.S. Constitution that Senators give away so I could pass them out to Boy Scouts working on their First Class Badge. I used to go down to Senator Bennett's office because I liked him best of all, but he seems to be gone. You can also get the book on-line at this place you can click at. Anyway, the booklet is called "Our American Government." Here's a picture in case you haven't seen it:

It's a really cool guide to the U.S. Constitution and our wonderful system of Government. It was printed by the Government Printing Office and produced by a Concurrent Resolution of the One Hundred Eighth Congress of the United States of America. H. Con. Res. 108-139 (so you can have a staffer look it up to check!) That was the Congress elected in 2002 right when President Bush was rallying us all for our patriotic fight in Iraq! Those guys (and a few gals) must have been real patriots! I mean, even the President said that those who weren't with us were against us so I know the Congress went along with him!

Anyway, there's some really good stuff in there about how our Government works with three branches, checks & balances, and all the stuff about how to make laws! That part might really be good since you're now one of those guys with that job!

Ross Perot? Who? What?

And you thought President Obama had funny ears.

"United We Stand America" was Perot's big movement. We need an episode of "Where are they now?" or something. I still say the tea-party/Randian element of the Republican Party will soon be as forgotten as Ross Perot and his crowd - which did have its effect helping to tip two elections to Bill Clinton. Of course I have the sneaking suspicion that a lot of Ross's folks ended up in the tea party. They just forgot their graphs and charts.

Forbes Magazine on-line, of all places, just published an article on the theme that President Obama may be one of the best, perhaps the best, president for the economy in history! (h/t Phil). Imagine that! Of course, he inherited a mess that gave opportunity to improve and any improvement would look good compared with the economic disaster W Bush left us from the surplus budget he inherited. And remember this - it's called the Great Recession not the Great Depression II. Somebody did something right.

The Shrinking Munchkins

As Mayor of the Munchkin Caucus, in the County of the Land of Flaws, our very own junior senator, mike lee, is finding that no matter how many times he climbs on the table and throws a hissy-fit, he doesn't stand quite tall enough. It takes 40 Senators to stop something and a whole 60 to actually get something done with the abuse of rules, tradition, and Article I of the U.S. Constitution now currently in vogue in that august body.

The funniest part is, when lee began his latest hissy, he claimed to have 13 Senators in support - a far cry from the 40 necessary. However, there were only twelve signing the Munchkin Mayor's letter. Today, three Senators dropped out. Our good Mayor is down to nine.

Oh, wait, that's not the funniest part. Let me share you some quotes about our little BIG senator from his fellow Senate Republicans:

Munchkins on the March

Munchkin Soldiers a little "fuzzy" on how they will help
Dorothy. In the movie - not so much.

So I get on Facebook and there's a fan request asking why I haven't blogged on Senator Mike Lee threatening to shut down the government so he can kill the wicked ol' Obamacare. Great. All we need are fans.

And I was meaning to get to it. The question sort of answers itself that our very own junior senator and Mayor of Munchkin City in the County of the Land of Oz is rallying his troops to filibuster any federal spending that is to start with the new fiscal year on October 1 unless they delete all funds for
that evil program to promote private health insurance.

Of course that gives them just the excuse they need to kill all the evil of any form of government. Because heaven knows we can't pay for the benefits we receive, free people that we are! And government must tighten its belt to preserve tax breaks for the corporate wealthy and prevent any help to anyone who might need opportunities for education, low-interest student loans, subsidies for water, power, highways, airlines, clean air, wholesome recreational activities, farm produce, milk price supports, trade protections, fraud protections, etc., etc. The list goes on and on.

Sheer Lunacy

"I am Moon, the Great and Powerful!"

Big sigh. It's always more disturbing to see troubling images than just to imagine them. MediaMatters.org put up an extensive rundown review of Glenn Beck's "Man in the Moon" show and, yeah, it's kind of disturbing. In a separate piece they also put up a whole bunch of pictures from the moonstruck extravaganza. If you had any doubt that Beck is somehow connected to the tea party, unrestricted gun enthusiasts, survivalists, President-haters, fringe elements, etc., those pictures should clear it up for you. It is troubling that this was in Utah. Even more troubling are some pretty clear links to the LDS fringe.

Republican Honor Roll - Immigration Reform

The U.S. Senate passed Immigration Reform today!! It's not perfect, but it follows principles of enforcement,  a pathway to citizenship, opportunities for entry to work, etc. It's a "compromise." Just like our wonderful, inspired Constitution itself.

Indeed we could say it follows the principles of the Utah Compact supported by the LDS Church along with the admonition that immigration reform should balance enforcement with respect for families and all people.

It passed with all of the Democrats, both Independents, and a good number of Republicans. The Republican "yeas" are those who get my "statesmen (and women)" award this evening: