PRESIDENT TRUMP ON THE CALIFORNIA FIRES

Last Friday President Trump marked "disaster Friday" by first visiting the North Carolina site of the carnage caused by Hurricane Helene, then flew directly to the Los Angeles area where he helicoptered over the Palisades Fire site, ignoring the larger and more destructive Eaton Fire site.  Following that flight he and his wife participated in a "round table" discussion with federal, state and local officials.  This was widely covered by local and national media.  I observed the entire session and wrote about it on my Facebook page.  The following is the text of what I wrote.

VIEWING TRUMP AND FOUR-LETTER WORDS...

Around 5 p.m. Friday afternoon I began watching television coverage of President Trump on his tour of the Palisades Fire site and the subsequent "round table" (even though the table was not "round" but in a "U" shape).

GRATEFUL... BUT

First, I'm very grateful to the President for taking the time to visit the sites of the Hurricane Helene disaster in North Carolina and then flying across the country to view our catastrophic site - or one of them.  I thought it was interesting that, for some reason, he chose to not fly 10 minutes away over to the Eaton Fire site - where more homes and businesses were destroyed - to give him a more complete perspective on the carnage caused two weeks ago.  The cynic in me thought he chose the Palisades site (including Malibu) because it was the location of much wealthier residents.  The Eaton Fire destroyed the homes of many more middle class families - and most of them were black.  Just a thought

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WATCHING AND LISTENING

During the press event a wide array of local, state and national politicians were present, along with many senior public safety leaders and a few "regular" people.  During the lead-in to the event he met many firefighters and was presented with a firefighter helmet with "47" emblazoned on it.  He lugged it around proudly (mentioning that firefighters must be in good shape because the helmet was very heavy) and displayed it on the table in front of him during the chat he held with those present.

PAINFUL, PAINFUL, PAINFUL!

As I watched him express concern for the devastation he'd just flown over, and the angst expressed to him by "several people" who lost their homes, I became very frustrated and disappointed as he devolved into a teenager in a 78 year-old man's body - his normal modus operandi when he's flying solo without a teleprompter.  I don't for one second doubt his sincere concern, but I just can't abide his juvenile presentation when he couldn't help but expose his inner-bully. 

 

INFANTILE, ILL-INFORMED

I found myself yelling many, many four-letter words at the TV screen as he presented "facts" that were falsehoods.  Somewhere in the recent past one of his salivating sycophants must have told him that "all they need to do to fight those kind of fires is just turn on the tap from the Pacific Northwest and Canada so they'd have plenty of water", because that's the bilge he spewed many times during the event.  Several news organizations "fact checked" him following this event, demonstrating the untruth of many of his pronouncements.

IT WAS ALL ABOUT HIM..

Throughout the event it was clear that he thought the whole thing was about him, and what a wonderful President he was (his words) for visiting and "helping".  Time after time he made that point - observing that "a previous President" wouldn't have done this.  I found myself yelling "WTF" and other epithets at the screen.

"CONDITIONING" THE HELP

Earlier in the day he had told the world that for California to receive federal aid in recovering from the fires it would have to meet certain conditions, including voter ID and cleaning the forests!

 

PERMITS

During one screed - several times, actually - he demanded that the permitting process be basically abandoned so people - apparently those wealthy folks who lost homes with whom he had just spoken - could "clean up their lots" and get started re-building "tomorrow"!  He showed no signs of actual knowledge about the process of remediation of those disaster sites.  He apparently was willing to let the property owners dive right into the toxic residue of the fires with a shovel and wheelbarrow, ignoring the danger involved.  State and local leaders had already laid the groundwork for streamlining the permitting process. 

ADIOS, FEMA

One of the more interesting pronouncements he made was to imply pretty clearly that he was going to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency - FEMA.  Apparently he heard horror stories in North Carolina earlier in the day about the "poor performance" of FEMA personnel at that disaster site.  So, he was considering shutting the whole thing down and just turn the keys to the recovery bank over to one person - maybe his pal, Rick Grenell, who was sitting beside him.  Yikes!

"LOOK AT ME!  I'M STUPID!"

 Again, our President is more than willing - yes even enthusiastic - to demonstrate his ignorance on important issues, and then compound the issue by jabbering juvenile stream-of-consciousness gibberish attempting to make his point. He does this time after time and it's terrifying to contemplate what kind of exchanges he must have with more mature, well-educated, intelligent heads of state.

THANKS, MR. PRESIDENT

So, I want to thank President Trump for coming out to see the devastation and helping folks understand the scope of the damage.  Now, please, Mr. President, just get out of the way, send us the money, let the professionals do their jobs and STFU!

A DAY OF DRAMA, COAST-TO-COAST

credit Oregon live

FIRST, THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

Tuesday, February 4th, 2020, was an interesting day.  The President of the United States, Donald John Trump, presented us with his State of the Union address in what might be best described as “great theater”.  I watched that entire event and was both amused and disappointed in the behavior of so many of our elected officials.

TENSION FROM THE GET-GO

I watched as The President refused to shake the extended hand of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Upon watching that video clip over and over again, it’s unclear to me if his slight was intentional or not.  He didn’t shake Vice President Mike Pence’s hand, either, as he handed him a copy of his speech.  One thing is certain - that instant in time didn’t do a thing to calm the animosity between the Republicans and Democrats in the chambers.

A GOOD SPEECH AND REPUBLICAN AEROBICS

The speech was a good one, although almost instantly following the delivery many sources pounced on the text and cited phrase after phrase as “lies”.  Very sad.  I was amused when the Republicans, seemingly after every sentence uttered by President Trump, stood in unison and gave him a standing ovation… Up-Down, Up-Down, Up-Down…  

credit PBS

A MEDAL FOR RUSH - AND CONTROVERSY

Also sad was the strained partisanship demonstrated by both sides, even during some very moving introductions of honored guests, including conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, to whom President Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom - the highest award possible to a civilian - right there on the spot.  He had the First Lady, Melania, affix the medal around Limbaugh’s neck.  That award has ignited a firestorm of criticism of Limbaugh and Trump.

IMPEACHMENT IS OVER

Later today the Senate finally voted on the two articles of impeachment filed by the majority in the House of Representatives and both charges were rejected.  The first was rejected on a 52-48 vote, with Republican Senator Mitt Romney voting with the Democratic majority.  In the second vote he stayed with the Republicans and it resulted in a 53-47 vote.  I’ve tried to watch most of the hearings, but they dragged on and on and on and on, so I didn’t see every single word.  It was a colossal waste of time and resources and very likely did nothing at all to bring our country together - quite the contrary.  

credit CNBC.com

NANCY’S RIP AND TEAR PERFORMANCE

The low light, of course, was the image of Speaker Pelosi, standing behind President Trump as he wrapped up his speech to the applause in the chambers, dramatically ripping up her copy of his speech and slamming the torn sheets down on the desk before her.  It was immature and behavior not worthy of the Speaker of the House.

COSTA MESA COUNCIL MEETING SIMULTANEOUSLY

Simultaneously, my Costa Mesa City Council was going about doing their work, beginning at 4:00 p.m. with a closed session that took longer than expected.  The regular meeting didn’t start until 6:15 and ran smoothly right up to the first and only Public Hearing - the ordinance changes recommended to our codes to accommodate and codify the placement of wireless cell facilities throughout our city.

CELL TOWER ORDINANCE MARATHON

That segment of the meeting took nearly 5 hours, including a very long, unusual Closed Session in which the Council and their lawyers discussed the information presented by more than 30 concerned citizens and others.  By the time this item was completed it was 12:20 a.m. today, Wednesday, February 5th.

MANSOOR BAILS OUT EARLY - AGAIN

One of the most interesting occurrences was the fact that, following the vote on that Public Hearing, Councilman Allan Mansoor decided to just up and leave the meeting before the remainder of the agenda was handled.  This is not the first time he has bailed out early.

STEPHENS UNLOADS

That led to a couple interesting comments at the very end of the meeting, right at 1:00 a.m. this morning.  Mayor Pro Tem John Stephens, clearly miffed at Mansoor’s departure said the following when Mayor Katrina Foley asked if there were any additional Council member Comments:

“Yeah, I gotta comment.  So, for those of you that are here and those of you that might see this on video, It’s very important to show up at council meetings.  I’ve never missed a council meeting.  I’ve come to council meetings during trials, deaths in the family, illness in my family and illness to myself.  It’s very important to stay to the end. It’s very important that, if you have something to say, to make a suggestion, that you make that suggestion.  It’s very easy to say nothing and vote “No” and then leave.  And, it’s not helpful.  And somebody said earlier, that you should go with your gut - that move is gutless.  You all know who I’m talking about.  Have him watch what I said.  I want him to respond.”

FOLLOWED BY FOLEY

Then, as she was about to close the meeting, Mayor Foley said the following: “My comment is that I would like the City Attorney to look at our attendance policy and the salary conditions and bring back a recommendation with regards to council members who don’t show up for the meetings, and whether or not they should continue to receive their pay.”

GENIS AS A JACK-IN-THE-BOX

Yes, indeedy, it was an interesting meeting, to say the least.  During this time Councilwoman Sandra Genis was bouncing up and down like a jack-in-the-box, coat on, papers in hand, trying to get out of the room.

MANSOOR THE DULLARD

I have written about Allan Mansoor ever since he was first elected to the City Council almost 20 years ago.  He was not the sharpest knife in the drawer back then and the edge on his blade has only gotten duller - much duller.  He has a very hard time putting together a coherent sentence and certainly cannot be considered a “thought leader” on the dais.  It will be interesting to see if anything evolves from his early departure (again) this morning.

AM I “BACK”?… PROBABLY NOT

In case you’re wonder if this entry means I’m back…. probably not.  I can no longer stay up all night at a meeting, then go home and write blog entries until dawn.  This meeting was important and I did watch my recording of it over the course of today, Wednesday.  See ya…