Hillary Clinton

Trump “Rescued” from Elevator

/ Erica Herd / 5 Comments

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(google)

On July 30, The Denver Post reported that Donald Trump and members of his Secret Service were stuck in a stalled elevator between the first and second floors at The Mining Exchange, a luxury hotel and resort, in Colorado Springs. Luckily, the Fire Department came to the rescue. Thank goodness!

Trump was none too happy with the fire marshal for restricting the number of people attending his rally in Colorado. Never the shrinking violet, he let his feelings be known:

“This is why our country doesn’t work,” Trump said as he slammed the Colorado Springs fire marshal during the rally, moments after the department’s firefighters rescued him. The paper reported that Trump said the fire marshal “didn’t know what he was doing and ‘was probably a Democrat.’ “

Yes, that makes perfect sense. Our country doesn’t work because of incompetent fire marshals who rescue people from elevators, and of course, being a Democrat also lessens the probability that he had the requisite skills to perform his duties.

I’m surprised Trump didn’t blame President Obama or Hillary Clinton for the elevator debacle, Perhaps it will go down in history as “Elevatorgate.”

The idea of a would-be president being trapped in an elevator in the so-called “Mining Exchange” brings to mind the “mineshaft gap” in Dr. Strangelove. I think Mr. Trump might enjoy living in a mine shaft since he’s so enamored with the idea of using nuclear weapons. In his own words, “If we have them, we can’t we use them?”

And now, back to Planet Earth.

Running with the Devil

/ Erica Herd / 8 Comments

Trump’s latest attack on Hillary: he called her “the devil.” And, as you all may have heard, he has accused Bernie Sanders of “making a deal with the devil.”

Pot calling the kettle black, anyone?

One could say the same of Chris Christie, who received nada for his loyalty to Trump. Who can forget that priceless photo of him standing seemingly shell-shocked (like he had been abducted or had Stockholm syndrome) behind his self-proclaimed master.

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(google image)

I was waiting for Christie to blurt out, “I am Tania,” in the spirit of Patty Hearst.

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(google – Patty Hearst)

But who really made a deal with the devil? Could it be the Republican Party, who still endorses Trump in spite of his exceptionally crude, un-presidential behavior? The latest debacle is his maligning the parents of fallen U.S. soldier Humayun Khan, saying, among other things, that Mrs. Khan didn’t speak at the Democratic National Convention because she wasn’t allowed to (being a Muslim woman). Trump went on to say that he had sacrificed a lot for his businesses, after Khizr Khan pronounced, “You have sacrificed nothing. and no one . . . .”

On the subject of sacrifice, an article in today’s New York Times discusses Trump’s multiple deferments from serving in the Vietnam War: four for college, one for bone spurs. Yes, he has sacrificed. Of course, he isn’t the only would-be president to have deferred serving in the military, but he is the only one to attack the family of someone who has served, and paid the ultimate price.

Even Warren Buffett piped in regarding this latest super-gaffe, echoing the words of former Army Chief counsel Joe Welch to Senator Joe McCarthy, “Have you no sense of decency, sir?”

That’s really what it all comes down to: decency.

Be forewarned: Devils come in all shapes, colors and sizes, including orange.

Stop Blaming Bernie

/ Erica Herd / 23 Comments

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(photo – Jack Gruber, USA Today)

As an ardent Bernie Sanders supporter, I must take umbrage at the call for Bernie to somehow coerce his supporters into vowing allegiance to Camp Hillary. I am not saying that I will not vote for Hillary in November, but I am not a fan.

An article in today’s New York Times is entitled “Sanders Faces Task of Putting Down Revolt He Started.” Why is it his duty to quell the so-called “revolt”? Why should he abandon his beliefs and what he has fought for his entire life and during his campaign simply to kowtow to the DNC? Especially after leaked emails revealed how they tried to destroy his campaign and credibility. At the very least, the DNC should apologize to Bernie and the American people for trying to undermine his hard-fought run and malign his faith.

I didn’t have the heart to listen to his speech last night, although I did listen to Michelle Obama. Her words were heartfelt and stirring. She is a marvelous woman whom I greatly admire. But her speech still didn’t move me to start lapping up the Hillary Kool-aid.

I read Michael Moore’s “Five Reasons Why Trump Will Win.” As much as many of us don’t want to believe it, he may very well be right. As he noted, we cannot blame disaffected or as he calls them, “depressed,” Sanders supporters if Trump does win. However, I do believe most Bernie supporters will come out in support of Hillary in November.

I digress.

What I mainly wanted to convey is that Bernie Sanders should not be blamed if Trump wins or if his supporters cannot find it in their hearts or heads to vote Clinton. Some may say, well, he’s just a socialist turned Democrat for political gain. What choice did he have? And once he came on board, the least they could have done is treat him with respect, instead of like the bastard step-child.

I guess that’s all I have to say. I am feeling a lot of anger and sadness about the current state of affairs, and am trying to get past it and move forward.

 

 

 

The World According to Mom

/ Erica Herd / 8 Comments

mom in garden

On Saturday, Mom and I were watching CNN’s coverage of the Trump rally in Tucson, Arizona and the gathering swell of protesters.

On Trump.

Mom:  I like him. He’s funny.

Me:  A lot of people don’t like him.

Mom: Why not?

Me: Because he wants to get rid of all the Muslims and immigrants, for one thing.

Mom:  Oh, I didn’t know that.

After watching CNN for awhile, she said,  “I still like him. He makes me laugh.”

On Hillary Clinton.

Me: What do you think about Hillary?

Mom (grimacing): Not much.

On her clothes closet.

Mom: There’s so many things in there that don’t belong to me. I don’t know where they came from.

Me: That’s why I brought you some new clothes. Last time I saw you you said the stuff you have is drab.

Mom: You didn’t have to waste money on that. What about my clothes at home? I won’t be here forever.

On cookies:

I bring her a box of Choco Leibniz every week or two; she calls them “chocolate grahams.”

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Mom: Oh no, I don’t need any more cookies. I’m getting fat.

Me: What about these lemon cookies I got? They’re very light.

Mom: Those are okay.

I open the box, and she eats a few demurely with her coffee.

Mom: But no more chocolate!

Me: Okay.

On Raymond (another resident).

Mom and I take a spin around the floor. She likes to keep moving.

Mom: He’s always walking up and down with that other one (new female resident). It bothers me.

Me: Why?

Mom: I don’t know. It just does.

Me: He likes to keep moving, just like you.

Mom: I guess so.

On cinema:

Mom:  (very animated) I’ve been waiting to see “Liss for Life”.

Me: What’s that?

Mom: You know. They say it’s coming on, but I keep missing it.

Me: Who’s in it?

Mom: Van Gogh, you know. (more emphatically) Liss for Life.

Me: Oh, “Lust for Life.”

Mom: Yes!

Me: Remember who plays van Gogh?

Mom: Schmikkel Ledberzz.

Sometimes Mom speaks gibberish–it comes with the Alzheimer’s.

Me: Kirk Douglas?

Mom: Yes, that’s what I said. (super animated now)

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On hair stylists.

Mom: She’s never around to color my hair.

Me: I need to pick up your color at ShopRite.

Mom: They don’t have it here?

Me: No. That’s why they can’t color it now.

Mom: Well, it has to get done right away.

Me: I’ll bring the color next weekend, and then she’ll do it.

Mom: I hope so.

On stuffed animals.

I got her a small stuffed animal bunny for Easter.

Me: Do you have a name for the bunny?

Mom: No. He doesn’t need a name.