In His Own Words _____ Proves Himself Unfit To Lead

We all know that _____ is ill-prepared to be president—most of us knew that all last year—but as we’ve learned last week, with the release of leaked transcripts of phone between _____ and Mexico’s President, Enrique Peña Nieto, and with Australia’s Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, he is completely out of his depth.

Let’s begin with _____ and Peña Nieto discussing ‘The Wall.’

Candidate _____ used ‘The Wall’ as one of his building blocks of his campaign, stoking the flames of fear of brown-skinned people as drug dealers, rapists and murderers to promise the American people that he would protect us ... by building a wall and having Mexico pay for it.

At the time, when some people I knew said they liked the idea, especially the part about Mexico paying for it, I told them this little story...

Your neighbor has a dog that keeps coming into your yard and digging up your flower beds; you don’t like it, but you cannot stop the dog and the neighbors can’t be bothered. So, you decide you’re going to build a fence to keep the dog out and have your neighbor pay for it.

Yeah, that would never happen; I mean, sure, you could sue to have the neighbor pay, but probably all you’d get is the right to kill the dog if it continues to trespass, or force the neighbor to watch their dog or chain up their dog. But you cannot build a fence on your property, or even your property line, and then make someone else pay for it.

So, why anyone believed _____ is a testament to how idiotic his followers can be, especially given the fact that, at every single turn, Mexico’s President Peña Nieto, said his country will not pay for the wall; not now, not ever; no discussion.

So, in that White House call with Peña Nieto, _____ described his vow to charge Mexico as a growing political problem, and tried to force Peña Nieto to stop saying his government would never pay:

“You cannot say that to the press.”

And _____ even promised to get the money some other, but said he would cut off contact if Peña Nieto continued to make defiant statements; seriously. And he added:

“If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that.”

Is it me, or does he sound like a guy begging for sex from his, say Eastern European born wife, and then threatening to hold his breath until he gets some? But he continued to beg, claiming that the wall is “the least important thing we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important.”

You know, because the base will get riled up and maybe turn on him. But, sadly, this is our president, whining about how another country will build our wall because, if they don’t he’ll stop talking to them.

“On the wall, you and I both have a political problem. My people stand up and say, ‘Mexico will pay for the wall,’ and your people probably say something in a similar but slightly different language.”

Um, it’s called Spanish ... but then _____ acknowledged that his threats to make Mexico pay had left him cornered politically:

“I have to have Mexico pay for the wall—I have to. I have been talking about it for a two-year period.”

And so he tried to force Peña Nieto to simply stopped saying ‘No’ to paying:

“We should both say, ‘We will work it out.’ It will work out in the formula somehow. As opposed to you saying, ‘We will not pay,’ and me saying, ‘We will not pay.’”

But Peña Nieto resisted, saying his “position has been and will continue to be very firm, saying that Mexico cannot pay for the wall.” And _____ flipped:

“But you cannot say that to the press. The press is going to go with that, and I cannot live with that.”

Perhaps the idea of the President of the United States whining like a little bitch, softened Peña Nieto’s heart because, while he continued to refuse to pay for the wall, he did agree to stop talking about it.

President _____ signed an executive order mandating construction of the wall, though to this day the funding for it remains unclear. And while _____ reiterated his vow that Mexico would pay—as recently as last month at the G20—the House approved a spending bill setting aside $1.6 billion for a wall that is projected to cost as much as $21 billion.

In US dollars, mind you.

And Mexico said, ‘Meh.’

But it wasn’t just a phone call to Mexico that showed the weakness in _____; he also spoke with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull about the United States accepting refugees ... well, Muslim refugees anyway.

As we know now, with the transcripts leaked to the press, _____ exploded on Turnbull:

“I have had it. I have been making these calls all day, and this is the most unpleasant call all day.”

Huh; so I wonder who was the nicest person _____ spoke with ...

“Putin was a pleasant call.”

Go figure.

And the phone call became even more contentious when it returned to the idea of the United States accepting refugees from Australian detention centers. While the Obama administration had agreed to accept some detainees _____ was not having it.

“I hate taking these people. I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people.”

Huh? What? Why?

Turnbull tried to explain that the detainees were economic refugees who had not been accused of crimes, and said they were being denied entry into Australia because of a policy aimed at discouraging human smuggling. He even tried to give _____ a way to explain it by doing something _____ loves to do, blame Obama:

“There is nothing more important in business or politics than a deal is a deal. You can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it.”

That only made _____ angrier, saying that the refugees could “become the Boston bomber in five years” before adding:

“I think it is a horrible deal, a disgusting deal that I would have never made. As far as I am concerned, that is enough Malcom [sic]. I have had it. This is going to kill me. I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country. And now I am agreeing to take 2,000 people.”

Look, here’s the deal: this man is woefully out of his league in this job. He has spent a career bullying developers, contractors, designers, vendors, constructions workers to get his way and he thought he could use that same ignorant mentality in the White House and—since we know these conversations took place in late January—we see that even in his first week in office he is ill-prepared and unsuited to be the leader of this country.

But here’s the saddest part of the leaked phone calls: it’s clear that _____ is not really concerned with the resistance—he offers no concrete plans as a result of Mexico and Australia refusing to play ball—he seems most concerned with how this makes him look.

And he should, because he, once again, looks like he has no idea what he’s doing.

WaPo

A Young Boy Faces Down Hate

While a lot of us kvetch and moan, and whine and cry and stomp our feet against injustice, we could all learn a thing or two from a 12-year-old boy who stood in the street and tried to stop thousands of anti-gay protesters from marching against same-sex marriage in Mexico over the weekend.

Why did he do that?

“I have an uncle who is gay, and I hate people that hate.”

That's what he told photographer Manuel Rodríguez who snapped that picture of the boy, his arms outstretched in front of the mass of demonstrators protesting against resident Peña Nieto proposal change the country’s constitution to allow same-sex marriage nationally.

Marriage equality is legal in Mexico City as well as 10 of the country’s 31 states, and just last year Mexico’s supreme court said that laws restricting marriage to a man and woman were unconstitutional. Still, many state legislatures have failed to act upon the ruling and so President Peña Nieto has called on Congress to address the debate in order to settle the issue for good across the country.

And a twelve-year-old stepped up to help.

Attitude

I Didn't Say It ...

Michelle Obama, on Donald [t]Rump — without even sasying his name — during a commencement speech at City College New York:

"[Some folks out there today] seem to view our diversity as a threat to be contained rather than as a resource to be tapped. They tell us to be afraid of those who are different, to be suspicious of those with whom we disagree. They act as if name-calling is an acceptable substitute for thoughtful debate. As if anger and intolerance should be our default state rather than optimism and openness that have always been the engine of our progress. But graduates, I can tell you that as First Lady, I have had the privilege of traveling around the world, and visiting dozens of different countries, and I have seen what happens when ideas like these take hold. I have seen how leaders rule by intimidation, leaders who demonize and dehumanize entire groups of people often do so because they have nothing else to offer. And I have seen how places that stifle the voices and dismiss the potential of their citizens are diminished, how they are less vital, less hopeful, less free. Graduates that is not who we are. That is not what this country stands for. No, no, here in America, we don’t let our differences tear us apart. Not here."

And not today, Satan.

I loves me some Michelle, and cannot wait until Hillary’s eight years are up and Michelle Obama runs for office.

Just sayin’.

[photo]

Joanna Lumley, on Patsy Stone her gay icon character from Absolutely Fabulous:

“You go back and pick through it, the amount of gay references and ease with which it’s been put into the story, without it being dragged along like a great log of plot. It’s really normal that one of [Edina’s] ex-husbands now lives with his young boyfriend. It’s completely normal that [Edina] wants [her daughter] Saffy to be a lesbian or that Serge [Edina’s son] is gay and living in New York. [So] it’s completely normal that Patsy is transgender.”

Plus, hasn’t she said it several times on the series already?

[photo]

Enrique Peña Nieto, president of Mexico, on why he acted on marriage equality:

“Building a Society of Rights means there is no room for first- and second-class citizens. It means choosing inclusion over discrimination. It means creating unity from diversity.”

These are beautiful words coming from the president of a very religious, very Catholic country.

Times do change.

[photo]

Donald Trump, defending his racist rhetoric:

“It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage. I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent. The American justice system relies on fair and impartial judges. All judges should be held to that standard. I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial.”

See, he’s not a racist! He has Mexicans working for him. It’s just the one who won’t do his bidding, Judge Gonzalo Curiel, that’s the problem.

He’s not racist, y’all … some of his best friends ….

[photo]

Random Musings

It’s not my birthday … it’s not our anniversary. But I just read that the “Oppenheimer Blue” diamond was sold for a record-breaking $57.5 million and I will say this: it matches my eyes and Carlos did leave the house with the checkbook so ….

Fingers crossed.

Have you seen those commercials where the new SUVs have a deal where you wiggle your foot under the rear bumper and the hatchback opens automatically because you’re too lazy to take out your keys and use your hands?

I.Loathe.That.Ad. And that car.

Then there’s this … an ad on TV last night where a woman is melon-balling a watermelon — let’s not get into the sexual double-entendre there —and her husband calls from the store; he’s doing the groceries and wants to know if they need eggs.

The wife is too busy balling to look in the fridge so she tells him to, ahem, “check his phone” ... because their new fridge has a camera inside that you can access from your phone when your wife is too effing lazy to look in the fridge herself.

Seriously. We are getting way too lazy. I say this as I voice type and use the remote to change the TV channel and check the pot roast in the oven while the Roomba vacuums and Tuxedo washes the cars.

Carlos and I are having our Semi-Annual Sometimes Cinco de Never bash next weekend and we are in the planning and preparation stages as the date draws near.

We opted to forgo a fancy dessert and instead are going to do Mexican brownies — they are made while a hint of cayenne pepper — and lemon bars and cookies and finger-ish type desserts.

Last Monday Carlos announced he would be making the brownies that night.

I said, “You wanna make a dessert tonight  for a party we’re having in twelve days?”

“We don’t have much time.”

Twelve.Days. And this from Carlos the Procrastinator who, when we had a new light fixture installed in the kitchen ceiling announced he would repaint the ceiling and then took, wait for it, it’s rich, five years to do it!

Oy, I love that man, goddess help me.

Speaking of Mexico … last week Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto called for the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide.

Yes, heavily Catholic Mexico is moving forward with equality!

In other Good News, Itzhak Perlman has also Springsteen’d North Carolina by becoming the latest to cancel a performance in the state over their Bathroom Bill:

“As my fans know, I have spent a lifetime advocating against discrimination towards those with physical disabilities and have been a vocal advocate for treating all people equally. As such, it is only after much deliberation that I have decided to cancel tomorrow’s concert in North Carolina as a stand against House Bill 2.”

Bravo, Mr. Perlman!

In other … yes, other as in more … good news, Eric Fanning has finally been confirmed by the Senate as the first openly gay Secretary of the Army.

Fanning had served as Acting Secretary while his confirmation was being held up by the, you guessed it, Republicans in the Senate.

Seriously, the GOP is about twenty steps behind the rest of the world.

Yassssss! Bob the Drag Queen won RuPaul’s Drag Race this season and I was thrilled.

I loved his lip sync and his humor and his whole aesthetic but ….

I will say that when last year’s winner, Violet Chachki, stepped onstage to crown Bob, her drag nearly blew the roof off the auditorium and had me leaping from my chair.

Her picture is now in the dictionary under “fierce.”

Melania Trump is speaking again and she wants you all to know that she knows, ahem, that …

“We know the truth. He’s not Hitler.”

Yes, Melania is worried that people might think The Rump is Hitler.

Meanwhile, Hitler is sitting in Hell, waiting for his future bridge partners Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, demanding that we stop comparing him to Rump.

We started watching a WGN show called ‘Underground,’ a story of the slaves using the underground Railroad to escape to freedom.

It’s kinda hard to watch at times, listening to the use of the n-word and the way in which people treated other people, based on their skin color but …

I found some hot in the show, in, from left to right, Reed Diamond, who plays a slave owner, Aldis Hodge, who plays a slave trying to escape, and Mark Blucas, as an abolitionist.

So far the story is very, very good, and the men very easy on the eyes.

The Funny Papers

Darrin Bell
Nick Anderson
Clay Bennett
Claytoonz
Bill Day
Jim Morin