Cheeto Jesus made an appearance with family members today on the Truman balcony at the WH to witness the solar eclipse.  Here is Trump and Melania:

So, here’s my question – Why did Trump come out to the balcony? Why did he (eventually) put on protective glasses to witness the solar eclipse? Why did he do that?  How did he know what time to come out and what the proper glasses were to protect his eyes?  Did he just make it up?  Did an evangelical pastor give him a prophecy?  Of course not; the answer to all these questions is science…astronomy, physics, math, astro-mechanics.  There was no guessing about it.  We knew exactly when the eclipse would happen.  There was even an app that could tell people by zip code when to watch.  It’s easy.

As we all know (except for a few ignorant flat earthers), the solar eclipse that transversed the entire US was predicted by scientists down to the second for each precise location where one might want to watch.  Scientists and engineers also developed the precise eye protection that was manufactured by the millions to protect people’s eyes from damage due to exposure to the sun.  They knew exactly what to do.  In addition to all that whiz-bang, scientists have already set the date and time for the next US solar eclipse in 2024.  The path is calculated, and the times are already known. That’s some bad voodoo if you ask me; or conversely, damn good science.

So, here’s the question – Why, when science and math nails the exact time and place of a solar eclipse that millions believe, that science about climate change is then dismissed out of hand?  What about medical science that develops vaccines?  What about immunology that predicts, calculates and fights pandemics of exotic diseases?

Donald Trump is one of the most cynical science deniers to ever occupy the WH.  While believing the science that predicts solar eclipses, or being completely confident in the astro-physics that calculates targets for our nuclear arsenal, why does he deny other science? Is he stupid?

That’s easy.  He is certainly stupid, but he’s also a narcissist that plays to the adoring hordes of ignorant shitheads who respond only to manure shoveled by the truckload.

I won’t nauseate you be repeating all of the nonsense spewing forth from Donald Trump’s mouth and fingers these last few days except for the tweet about Confederate monuments:

Today, he’s really, really concerned about the removal of “beautiful statues…”. Never mind that these “beautiful statues” are of racists, oppressors and treasonous turncoats.  Not only is his criticism historically and factually misdirected, he is ignoring his own malfeasance when it comes to preserving sculptures.  Back in 1980, Trump was getting ready to build the building that put his name on the map, none other than Cheeto Tower on Fifth Avenue.  The building was to be built on the site where the Bonwit Teller building stood.  The building had beautiful art deco friezes, which Trump publicly promised to preserve and donate to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I know you’ll be shocked by this, but he lied.  When he found out that preserving the sculptures would delay construction of his monument to himself by two weeks, he ordered the sculptures jack hammered into a million pieces.  Nice.  Here’s what they looked like before Trump struck:

Here’s the detail:

Yep, these are gone, replace by this:

So, Trump’s crocodile tears over taking down Jim Crow era statues of bigots and oppressors are a little lost on me.

As if you needed another reason to be appalled, I’m happy to help.

A graphic published by the Southern Poverty Law Center is telling – it documents when Confederate monuments were built around the country.  Interestingly, there are two spikes in the placement of monuments; the Jim Crow era and the civil rights era.  Confederate named schools were especially popular during the time of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.  One can draw only one conclusion here – these monuments were erected to “honor our heritage”, they were erected in a fleeting attempt to hang on to a by gone era where whites held dominion over African Americans.  Have a look (click the little one to get the big one):

This is the new cover going on the walls of Trump’s golf clubs.  LOL.

Favorite headline: “Trump’s hands too big for gloves.”

UPDATE:  Try this link.

Yesterday, the reliably right wing The Wall Street Journal awoke and turned on Cheeto Jesus yesterday, speaking to what has been obvious to the rest of the planet for months now – CJ is a liar, and clings to his lies “like a drunk to an empty gin bottle.”  The WSJ goes on to say that when the real crisis comes (and it will), will Americans believe the words he spews, or will they just dismiss it as another reality television show rant?

The incendiary tweets, bumbling second grade level language, repetition of lies he’s heard on Fox Noise and Infowars, and erratic behavior have taken their toll.

It only gets worse from here, folks.  Better strap in.

One gratifying shift we’ve seen in the chaos since January 20th is the rejuvenation of the Fourth Estate – the press.  In the last 20 years we’ve seen the press devolve into the 24 hour news cycle, infotainment, and simply blatant partisanship which willfully misinforms the electorate.  At the same time, that same electorate has become less and less engaged, seemingly divorced from reality and facts.  American Idol and The Voice get higher participation than elections that actually matter.  The election of the worst candidate for the presidency in US history has changed that.  His withering attacks on facts, truth, decency, compassion, AND the press have finally awoken a sleeping giant.  Major news outlets have geared up and are actually digging for the facts, digging for the dirt, going after lies and the liars who speak them, and aggressively fact checking.

My response to this?  It’s about goddam time (sorry Momma).  Where the hell have you all been (besides working on your SEO and re-marketing strategy)?  To demonstrate this awakening, The Washington Post recently altered their longstanding logo, to wit:

During the Oscars broadcast, The New York Times aired its The Truth is Hard ad, which is powerful:

Even Fox Noise has backed off of at least some of its perpetual GOP cheerleading.

The result of the press waking up is that our system of government has begun to actually function again.  Cheeto Jesus stupidly accuses President Obama of wiretapping him (on Twitter), and the press relentless pursues the story until even HE admitted he got that BS story from Brett Baier of Fox Noise.  He claims that busloads of fraudulent Massachusetts voters went to New Hampshire to commit voter fraud, and the press runs down the facts exposing that as false.  Now, I’m not naive; even an army of reporters would be hard pressed to run down every one of CJ’s lies since he spews a bushel basket full on a daily basis, but with a functioning press, his big lies are quickly debunked, or at least vigorously challenged.  So, instead of spewing more lies and misinformation at the daily press brief, all of Sean Spicer’s time is spent answering a barrage of questions about his boss’s most recent incendiary lie.

As ugly as this is, our republic is still hanging together.  And it’s critical to our survival.  With the rise of the alt-right propaganda machine, the actual Fourth Estate must continue to beat back lies with truth.