Worries of TwT

20180717  

The worried Texan is worried that Trump, our want-to-be “Dear Leader” is totally and completely the lap dog of Russia’s Putin.  While this is nothing new, Trump continued to prove this is the case during all of his appearances, comments & speeches in Helsinki the past several days where he continually praised Putin and threw the US Intelligence organizations under the bus.  TwT thinks Trump’s idea that Texans and Americans would “buy” his BS about misspeaking the word “would” when he meant to say “wouldn’t” is ludicrous.  When Trump learned of the significant push back from Republicans, his staff conjured up a “spin” on what he said.    

Putin obviously has something really significant on Trump, and it is not the pee tapes.  TwT observes that Trump has survived the “Access Hollywood” tape, 15 plus women accusing him of sexual abuse/harassment, and Stormy Daniels.  So, no, the pee tapes are definitely not it.  TwT wonders how the Trump money trail goes through (and comes out of) Russia.  Obviously, money is the only other thing besides “winning” that matters to Trump.  He is the arsonist and the firefighter.  He creates the catastrophe and then praises himself for fixing the mess he made.  

TwT is worried about America and the damage that is being done by this narcissistic president.

20180707  

The worried Texan is worried that many of the people in the US don’t realize that Donald Trump claimed he was going to “drain the swamp” and actually turned it into a “cesspool”.  For those of you who may not know the difference between a swamp and a cesspool, a swamp is a wetland that is forested and is critically dependent on natural water level fluctuations, while a cesspool is just a container for sewage. Case in point: Scott Pruitt and all of his illegal activities.  TwT is worried that just because Pruitt was “rolling back regulations”, his blatant disregard for laws and ethics were excusable.  Do not forget, he was wasting taxpayer money, abusing his office by using staff for personal work, and tried to blame it all on his “staff” exceeding their authority.  TwT is sure that his staff exceeded their (and his) authority based on directions from Scott Pruitt to do so. 

TwT notes that Pruitt is gone, but Andrew Wheeler, his temporary successor (his deputy) cannot be considered any better as he was in the middle of all the misappropriation of taxpayer funds.

20180626   

The worried Texan is worried that he may have judged Melania about her jacket in the wrong light (see 20180622 worries).  Maybe she was doing a “dig” at “The Donald” in that she did not really care what he thought or was doing regarding separating children from their parents.  Maybe she thought it was wrong and really does have a heart.  

TwT wonders why Melania has not made it crystal clear.

20180622  

The worried Texan is worried that Melania has lost her heart (as opposed to yesterday's thinking that she shared her's with the President).  The idea that going down to meet with the children that have been separated from their parents would show support for the inhumane treatment of these children is a good one.  But, to then wear a jacket that says “I really don’t care. Do you?” negates everything.  Along with the jacket, Melania’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham says “There is no hidden message.” And tweeted:    

"Today's visit w the children in Texas impacted @FLOTUS greatly. If media would spend their time & energy on her actions & efforts to help kids - rather than speculate & focus on her wardrobe - we could get so much accomplished on behalf of children. #SheCares #ItsJustAJacket"  

TwT’s take on it is, that if she wanted to help the children, the jacket would have been plain with no statements, or maybe something that indicated help, like “I really care. Do you?”  As an immigrant, and the First Lady, she definitely should have had a lot more sense and class.   

President Trump’s tweet about it was: "'I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?' written on the back of Melania's jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!"   

TwT fails to understand how the statement on the jacket has anything to do with the so-called “Fake News Media”.  Yes, the media gave her a hard time about her spiked heels as she got on the plane on her way to visit people impacted by Hurricane Harvey (and also later pointed out the change to tennis shoes when in the area).  TwT does not believe the media has been particularly harsh on her.  TwT believes that had the “media” been the target of the statement on the jacket, the word “media” would have been spelled out.  

TwT worries that Melania has succumbed to the fear of losing her job like the rest of the White House or, maybe, just maybe, losing part of a future divorce settlement.   

TwT thinks if it is “just a jacket” it just as well should have “F… You!” or "F... the Media"  (spelled out) on the back.

20180621  

The worried Texan is worried that President Trump needs a heart, since he does not seem to have one.  He has to rely on Melania’s and Ivanka’s.  Although, TwT believes it was the Michael Cohen statement in resigning his post as Deputy Finance Chair for the Republican National Committee that tipped the scale.   For those that missed it:  

“As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching,” Cohen wrote. “While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips.”  

TwT thinks this pretty well sums it up.  TwT is worried what the arsonist will do next.

20180620  

The worried Texan is worried that the arsonist who set the fire and then shows up to fight the fire will set such a big fire that it can’t be put out.  Case in point - North Korea and nuclear war.  Trump set off the heated exchange between Kim Jong Un and the President.  TwT knows the only reason Kim came to the table was that he had nuclear power and would be recognized as a world player.  Trump played into his hands.   

Trump’s current venture into ordering the separation of families and the treatment of children is another example.  TwT thinks the outrage by a number of Republicans (the ones that still have a heart) finally got him to renege on the separation of families today.  This was of course after the White House trying to justify it with “it is the law” and the Bible verses about “following the laws because they are from God”.  (TwT considers it “funny” how the “law” applies to 99% of us, but not Trump, Trump family members, and Trump’s staff & friends.)

20180605 

The worried Texan notes regarding Samantha Bee’s comment about Ivanka Trump that many people said about the “c***” word  “…as being a universally offensive word to women”.  While TwT agrees that it is the case in the US, in the UK and Australia it means a stupid or idiotic person.  In the past month or so while TwT was watching a number of BBC produced shows, it was used toward men, children and women.  It is not considered vile there.  

TwT also notes that Samantha Bee prefaced the “c***” word with “…feckless… ”. Feckless is defined as “lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible”.  Some synonyms: useless, worthless, incompetent, inept, good-for-nothing, ne'er-do-well.  This does appear to be the case with Ivanka Trump at this point.

20180605 

The worried Texan has been off for a while. TwT has been considering the idea of continuing the commentary and has decided to do so.

20171008  

While TwT agrees that this was a horrific act, TwT has a possible motive in the Las Vegas shooting:   

In October of 2016, when it was becoming apparent the Donald Trump was going to win the election (thanks to the help of Russia and James Comey), Paddock (the shooter) bought his first assault rifle.  He planned to make a really large terrorist act during the Trump Administration to show how little control Trump had.  Since people who attend country & western concerts tend to be more visibly patriotic than many other groups (as do country & western singers), what better target than a country & western concert?  

This was not an act where the guy “snapped”, he planned it over an 11+ month time period.  As far as learning how to shoot, TwT knows there are thousands of square miles of un-inhabited land in Nevada to use as a shooting range for an automatic weapon.  

To those who think an assault rifle doesn’t fit in a suitcase, TwT thinks they obviously have never travelled. And if the hotel personnel (maids, bellhops) were going through a person’s belongings while they were out of the room – TwT wonders, would you stay in that hotel?  

Think about it.  

20171007  

The worried Texan has been out of sorts for the last month with 4+ feet of water in the house during the Harvey flood.  Everything that survived fits in the floor of about one-half of a one-car garage – not much left.  TwT has come to the viewpoint of “I did not like that furniture anyway” and “my office has been cleaned out”.  TwT wants to thank all the volunteers that helped clean out and gut the house over the Labor Day week end and all the people that came by offering food and water to everyone working.

20170823  

TwT worries that some of the latest words from President Trump indicate how disconnected he is from the majority of the American people.  His administration is also disconnected.  He wants us to come together and “love one another” but yet he says things like there were a lot of fine people marching and chanting next to the Nazi swastika flag.  TwT has a hard time thinking of anybody marching alongside the Nazi flag as being “fine people”.  The Nazis were a disgrace to mankind.  We did not fight Hitler and his Nazi regime in WWII for the heck of it.  

Trump also told the soldiers about how they all come together to achieve the mission.  TwT notes that he forgot that recently he tweeted that “transgender people cannot serve in the military”.  Estimates are that currently we have 7-13,000 serving. And they are serving our country just fine.  

TwT also heard Trump say that it did not matter where you came from… or the “number on your paycheck” …, it did not divide us.  TwT guesses that he forgot to tell all of his cabinet millionaires (and their wives) that they were supposed to include everybody.  Steven Mnuchin’s  (Secretary of Treasury) wife, Louise Linton proceeded to tag her Instagram picture in front of an official government plane with all the extremely high dollar clothes, purse & scarf with the designer names.  TwT thinks that was pretty bad, but then she demeaned a woman of modest income for calling her out on it.  Linton went on to say something about how much money they paid in taxes (as compared to her critic) and how much they have sacrificed.  TwT does not think they have sacrificed anything as they already have more money that they know what to do with.  TwT also has some Scottish ancestors and is ashamed that she is from Scotland.

20170817  

When a few CEO’s left Trump’s advisory groups, Trump blasted them with tweets about their manufacturing goods overseas.  TwT thinks Trump should set the example and bring the manufacturing of his suits and ties (and maybe other stuff) back to the USA.  Ivanka is still manufacturing her clothes and jewelry overseas. TwT notes that people in glass houses should not throw rocks.

20170816  

TwT worries about the panelist commentators on the various news programs that keep saying that President Trump “missed the opportunity” to condemn the KKK, white supremacy and Alt-right groups.  Have they lost their minds? There was not an “opportunity” for Trump to say something he does not believe.  TwT knows those groups are part of his base and he is not about to condemn them on his own.  He was forced (kicking & screaming, TwT might add) to call them out in a teleprompter statement two days later.  

TwT also notes that President Trump defended his waiting two days with a tirade about wanting have the “facts” – like he has ever cared what the facts were.  Just note his hundreds of statements that are contrary to the actual facts (such as largest inaugural crowd ever, largest winery in US, etc.).   

As TwT has said before, Donald Trump only cares about himself and claiming to be a winner in every situation (even though he is not).

20170813  

TwT sees the Charlottesville VA violence as something that should be strongly condemned and the Alt-Right, White Supremacy, and Nazi groups should be at the forefront of the condemnation.  TwT wonders if our President has forgotten Hitler’s extermination of 6 million people (Jews and others) in WWII?  Trump has a son-in-law that is Jewish and a daughter that converted to Judaism.  Has he forgotten?  Our country is a melting pot, not a “whites only” country.  

20170810  

TwT is worried about President Trump’s reactions to the events in Venezuela.  He has indicated that we might use military force in the country.  (TwT has no issue with the sanctions on various leaders there.)  TwT thought Donald Trump was an “America first” proponent and did not want to be the world’s policeman.  He has condemned the Iraq War and also how badly the Afghan War is going.  TwT thinks that after observing 16 years in Iraq and Afghanistan he would have sense enough to stay out of Venezuela.  TwT also wonders if this is just another “planted” distraction to get off the Russia issue?

20170804  

TwT is worried that the Senate (leadership) has lost its mind.  One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.  The “repeal & replace” Obama Care is in this category.  TwT believes that neither the House nor the Senate understands much of anything about healthcare.  Senators and Representatives have their own super special healthcare insurance (paid for by the rest of us) that puts them in the category of the elite while the rest of us have to deal with lesser plans.  TwT knows there are many “employer” sponsored plans (that until Obama Care had many exceptions and limitations), but these plans are only available to full time employees.  TwT has seen the tactics of many employers that limit hours so nobody can qualify for the plans (everyone is a part time employee).  It is time for Congress to get together and fix the minor problems with Obama Care!

20170802  

TwT is worried about how thick the plot is getting (i.e. the plot thickens).  With President Trump’s lawyer saying he had nothing to do with the statement by Donald Jr., and then it comes out that President Trump “weighed in” or maybe even “dictated” the statement as he was returning from the G20 meeting in Germany, it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck – it must be a duck!  TwT also notes that Republican Congressional support is slipping.  TwT is worried that we are going to have a constitutional crisis sooner than later.

20170731  

TwT is no longer worried about Scaramucci being Whitehouse Communications Director.  It looks like the bright lights on him outshined President Trump’s spotlight.  TwT is sure the new Chief of Staff, General Kelly, also expressed that “The Mooch” had to go for Kelly to take the job. 

 20170730  

There has been a lot of commentary about President Trump’s failure to lead in the repeal and replacement of Obama Care (he did fail to lead).  Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff and with lots of Congressional knowledge was supposed to get the bills through the House and the Senate.  If the bills had not been a pile of cow manure, this might have been possible.  For over five years, the Republicans ran on “Repeal and Replace”, voted to repeal it about 60 times, and still did nothing during those years to develop a bill.  The House put forth and passed a bill that cut health benefits for millions of Americans and gave a huge tax cut to the top 1% of taxpayers (they did not need it).  Then the Senate, over a few short weeks, in secret, closed door meetings of 13 old men, came up with the bill that failed on the Senate floor.  As any Texan knows by the smell, it was a pile of cow manure.  

Now, God forbid, the Republicans and the Democrats might have to work together.  TwT would still like to see this happen.  Just get together and fix Obama Care (the ACA).

20170729  

TwT is worried about the new Whitehouse Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci’s vocabulary.  The use of four-letter words only shows the inability to express one’s self.  It seems to TwT that a communications director should be able to communicate in an articulate manner. For someone with a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School he surely does not show it.  TwT thinks the education did not “take”.  Maybe that’s the reason he is known as “The Mooch”.  

As far as President Trump being so concerned about transgender military personnel, maybe he should focus on a bigger problem – rape in the military.  That is a key issue that is detrimental to the esprit-de-corps and cohesion of the unit.

20170728 

TwT thanks Senator John McCain for putting the people of America before party.  TwT also thanks Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.    

Trump Care was devised in secret while at least Obama Care was in the open with hearings for a year and a half.  TwT would like to remind you of one of President Trump’s campaign promises: “Repeal and Replace Obama Care with health care that is cheaper and better.”  It seems like he forgot the “cheaper” and “better” part of the promise.  Trump would have signed anything that came out of Congress because he is only after the appearance of a win that he can claim for himself.  TwT knows he does not care about the American people.  

20170727 

TwT noticed that since TwT’s posting of 20170722, President Trump started describing the Swamp as a cesspool.   TwT wonders if he reads the worried Texan?

20170722 

TwT recalls that candidate Trump was going to “drain the swamp” in Washington.  To date, his personal performance (not that of Congress) has been more of converting the “swamp” to a “cesspool”.  TwT thinks his appointments (other than Generals Mattis and McMaster) have been the bottom of the barrel for the various agencies (DeVos, Carson, Sessions, Ross, Acosta, Mnuchin, Zinke, Perdue, Price, Perry, just to name a few).  These people are out for themselves and are going to destroy America as we know it.  TwT remembers the first cabinet meeting where they went around the table saying how great Trump was.  TwT still wonders how that many people could “brown nose” that much.   

20170721 

TwT heard today that Governor Abbott was adding the underfunding of Teacher Health Insurance to the special session. (See the post of 20170718.) Glad he did so.  The teachers of Texas deserve better. 

TwT wonders if Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick can get off the “bathroom bill” long enough to do something that really matters to the State of Texas.

20170719 

TwT is glad the current disaster of “repeal & replace” and just “repeal” the ACA (ObamaCare) appears to have died before it got to the Senate floor.  The threat from Mitch McConnell was that the Republicans would have to work with the Democrats (heaven forbid) if the bill was not passed did not work. TwT is worried that the Republicans and the Democrats do not know how to work together to actually get something decent done.  Fixing the minor problems with the ACA should not be that hard but TwT is almost sure both sides will find a way to declare war on the other.  TwT can’t understand why this country doesn’t need health care for everybody.  Would someone please explain it to TwT?

20170718 

TwT understands that the Governor vetoed hundreds of millions of dollars in the budget authorization presented to him at the end of the last session in May 2017.  Since the Legislature screwed the teachers and retired teachers by reducing funding for health insurance (which basically doubled retirees’ insurance costs and significantly reduced coverage – from about $275 per month for a retiree and spouse when on Medicare, to $590 per month), it seems like this would be a good place to spend the money.  TwT has watched the quality of Texas public education continue to degrade due in part to the pay for teachers (btw administrators are overpaid).  Texas continues to be in the top 10 states for administrator pay and the bottom 10 for teacher pay.  

20170717 

As TwT has indicated before, the “bathroom” bill is one of the most ridiculous wastes of time and money for the Texas Legislature to be considering in a special session.  The business community knows it is stupid and will only hurt business in the state.  (So much for being “business” friendly!) Obviously, the Governor and the Legislature have too much time on their hands and need to get a real job.  (Maybe they can apply for the “crotch checker” jobs they are trying to create with the bathroom bill.)

TwT question for women:  Would you rather have a person that was born as a girl and is dressed as a man (complete with facial hair – a beard - due to hormones) walk into a women’s bathroom?  Also, what are your thoughts on a person born as a boy and dressed as a woman (with no facial hair – again due to hormones) walking into a women’s bathroom and using a stall (that actually has a door).  Would you even notice?

20170712 

TwT is worried about net neutrality – keeping all of us on the same basis and not allowing “fast lanes” for a select few that have the money to pay for it.  Eliminating net neutrality will put virtually all Texans at the back of the line when transmitting or receiving internet content.  This means your systems will be slower than they already are.  The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is accepting comments until July 18 regarding net neutrality.  It is filing 17-108.  You can comment by using the “Express” button at the FCC website at the following link:  

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/proceedings?q=name:((17-108))  

When entering your name, be sure to hit “enter” after it or the site will not allow you to submit your comment.

20170711 

TwT is worried that the Russian mess is really hurting the USA.  We now hear that Donald Jr. accepted a meeting with a Russian lawyer that supposedly had dirt on Hillary Clinton.  At first, Donald Jr. said he did not know her name or of her connections, then later there was the email that said something about her having connections in the Russian government.  TwT knows it is normal for campaigns to want to know dirt on the opponent (opposition research), but it is not normal to go to foreign governments for that information.  TwT knows, and you know, that in a busy campaign, the top people (Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort) do not take the first meeting with anybody, especially someone unknown, but they did.  The “cover” of the meeting being really about “adoption” as the law about human trafficking was “characterized”, is in TwT’s opinion, pretty ridiculous.  

While it may be true that the Russian lawyer may not have had anything at that time, TwT thinks plans were laid to get information - Russians hacking everything and making up just about anything (remember Pizza-gate where Clinton was “running a sex trafficking ring” out of the non-existent basement of a pizza parlor?  And on top of that, some idiot went in the pizza parlor with a semi-automatic rifle and shot up the place.  And TwT thought Texas had a corner on the “nut case” market.  Guess not.)

20170704

Happy 4th of July!!!  Independence Day

A free Nation with a Free Press.

20170629 

TwT is continually amazed at how low President Trump can go.  The Twitter attack on Mika Brzezinski due to her and Joe Scarborough’s commentary is the latest.  Trump has had nothing in the way of negative comments compared to Barack Obama, including Trump’s own attacks on Obama.  TwT is worried that the idea that Trump is going to fight for those in need of a change has been completely devastated by his incessant attack on women.  TwT is also worried about the mental capacity and stability of President Trump.  He is exhibiting behavior that is outside the reality of most human beings.

20170628 (#2) 

With the Texas legislature having been called to a Special Session by Governor Greg Abbott to address the “Bathroom Bill”, TwT is worried that when it is brought up again it will be presented as a “job creation program”.  Thousands of “crotch checkers” will have to be hired to make sure everybody abides by the law.  (Note that you heard it first from TwT.)   

For those of you that don’t normally follow Texas politics, this is the bill that would require transgender people to use certain public facilities, specifically bathrooms that correspond with their biological sex rather than their gender identity while in public schools, universities and government buildings.

TwT is worried that the US Senators will have to stay inside and miss the fireworks for the 4th of July celebration as the crowds at their houses will be large (maybe even larger than those at Trumps inauguration).  Maybe they will get the message, although TwT is not very optimistic that they will, as the Senators still owe their souls to the rich who really “need” another tax cut.  TwT also expects the US Representatives will be in the same boat.  They passed the tax cut first.  And TwT notes that President Trump held a Rose Garden celebration for the “great” health care bill and then a month later called it “mean” (TwT thinks it is beyond “mean”.)  

20170627 

TwT finally agrees with Mitch McConnell (Majority Leader in the US Senate) on something, the White House is going “beyond stupid”.  TwT wishes that McConnell would look in the mirror and note that his leadership on the health care bill in the Senate is the same – beyond stupid.  While TwT agrees that Obama Care needs some fixes, attempting to replace it and give the rich a tax cut they don’t need (just ask Warren Buffet – the Oracle of Omaha) is beyond stupid.   

20170626

TwT learned today that the public school teachers and retired teachers of Texas were screwed (well maybe “raped” is a better term) again by the Texas State Legislature.  The Legislature reduced the medical coverage funding resulting in increased premiums (doubled) and reduced coverage, higher deductibles and went with the bottom of the barrel provider (Humana).  TwT considers this insane when the State spends millions of dollars to attract businesses to locate in Texas AND gives them tax cuts/incentives.  TwT is worried that the politicians can’t connect the dots to realize that more businesses means more people, and more people means more teachers and yet the legislature just cut the pay of all teachers and retires considerably.  Not too bright.  (Btw the TwT is married to a retired Texas public school teacher.)

TwT noticed that after the horrible shooting at the ball park in Alexandria VA, members of the House (both sides) made several speeches about coming together and reducing the vile rhetoric that comes from both sides.  TwT believes this will last for the rest of the week since the baseball game is today and everybody is headed home for the weekend tomorrow.   

TwT is praying for the recovery of Rep. Steve Scalise and the others injured in the shooting.

TwT has seen President Trump hold a huge Rose Garden party to celebrate the House of Representatives passing of a health care bill and pass it along to the Senate.  He talked about how great it was and how it would replace the ACA (Obama Care).  It basically cut health care for most people, eliminated it for 24 million people, and gave the millionaires and billionaires a big tax cut – like they really needed it.  Now, a month later, he says the House bill was “mean”.  While the TwT agrees that the House bill was mean, does President Trump have any concept of what is going on in Congress or his White House?  It does not appear so.  

TwT would really like to know why millionaires and billionaires need a tax cut.  Can anyone tell the TwT why?

TwT is worried about our President acting like Kim Jong-un, the “Supreme Leader” of North Korea.  As Trump held his first full Cabinet meeting, he started out with how much legislation had been passed (actually nothing of any significance – he has signed a number of “Executive Orders”, but those are not legislation) and then sat there gloating as all the Cabinet members went one by one telling him how great he is and how great the opportunity to work with him is.  TwT almost threw up.  TwT has never seen such a group of billionaires suck-up to anyone that much.