Sure Sounds Like a Modern Day Republican

From Corey "The Buttercream Dream" Forrester. Not for the squeamish, maybe. Very close to the truth, sadly, for even them but especially for Americans and America.

Quote of the Day -- Conservatives and Coronavirus Edition

"Mask refusers appeal to liberty. But even staunch libertarians know that checking the spread of disease is a legitimate government function. The hostility to masks isn't libertarian. It's nihilistic. Nihilism has come to characterize a significant part of today's 'conservatism.'" --Bill Kristol @BillKristol

Quote of the Day -- Insane Republican Party Edition

"From 9/11 truthers to Barack Obama birthers to 2020 Election liars to January 6th deniers. Ugh." --Bill Kristol @BillKristol Thanks, Republicans!

Where We Are Now and Some of, a Lot of How We Got Here

Some of the poignancy of Rush Limbaugh and his passing. Ms. Cox Richardson is particularly enlightening today.

Heather Cox Richardson

February 17, 2021, Wednesday

The crisis in Texas continues, with almost 2 million people still without power in frigid temperatures. Pipes are bursting in homes, pulling down ceilings and flooding living spaces, while 7 million Texans are under a water boil advisory.

Tim Boyd, the mayor of Colorado City, Texas, put on Facebook: “The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout!... If you are sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your lazy is direct result of your raising! [sic]…. This is sadly a product of a socialist government where they feed people to believe that the FEW will work and others will become dependent for handouts…. I’ll be damned if I’m going to provide for anyone that is capable of doing it themselves!... Bottom line quit crying and looking for a handout! Get off your ass and take care of your own family!” “Only the strong will survive and the weak will parish [sic],” he said. 

After an outcry, Boyd resigned.

Boyd’s post was a fitting tribute to talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who passed today from lung cancer at age 70. It was Limbaugh who popularized the idea that hardworking white men were under attack in America. According to him, minorities and feminists were too lazy to work, and instead expected a handout from the government, paid for by tax dollars levied from hardworking white men. This, he explained, was “socialism,” and it was destroying America.

Limbaugh didn’t invent this theory; it was the driving principle behind Movement Conservatism, which rose in the 1950s to combat the New Deal government that regulated business, provided a basic social safety net, and promoted infrastructure. But Movement Conservatives' efforts to get voters to reject the system that they credited for creating widespread prosperity had little success.

In 1971, Lewis Powell, an attorney for the tobacco industry, wrote a confidential memo for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce outlining how business interests could overturn the New Deal and retake control of America. Powell focused on putting like-minded scholars and speakers on college campuses, rewriting textbooks, stacking the courts, and pressuring politicians. He also called for “reaching the public generally” through television, newspapers, and radio. “[E]very available means should be employed to challenge and refute unfair attacks,” he wrote, “as well as to present the affirmative case through this media.”

Pressing the Movement Conservative case faced headwinds, however, since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enforced a policy that, in the interests of serving the community, required any outlet that held a federal broadcast license to present issues honestly, equitably, and with balance. This “Fairness Doctrine” meant that Movement Conservatives had trouble gaining traction, since voters rejected their ideas when they were stacked up against the ideas of Democrats and traditional Republicans, who agreed that the government had a role to play in the economy (even though they squabbled about the extent of that role).

In 1985, under a chair appointed by President Ronald Reagan, the FCC stated that the Fairness Doctrine hurt the public interest. Two years later, under another Reagan-appointed chair, the FCC abolished the rule.

With the Fairness Doctrine gone, Rush Limbaugh stepped into the role of promoting the Movement Conservative narrative. He gave it the concrete examples, color, and passion it needed to jump from think tanks and businessmen to ordinary voters who could help make it the driving force behind national policy. While politicians talked with veiled language about “welfare queens” and same-sex bathrooms, and “makers” and “takers,” Limbaugh played “Barack the Magic Negro,” talked of “femiNazis,” and said “Liberals” were “socialists,” redistributing tax dollars from hardworking white men to the undeserving.

Constantly, he hammered on the idea that the federal government threatened the freedom of white men, and he did so in a style that his listeners found entertaining and liberating.

By the end of the 1980s, Limbaugh’s show was carried on more than 650 radio stations, and in 1992, he briefly branched out into television with a show produced by Roger Ailes, who had packaged Richard Nixon in 1968 and would go on to become the head of the Fox News Channel. Before the 1994 midterm elections, Limbaugh was so effective in pushing the Republicans’ “Contract With America” that when the party won control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1952, the Republican revolutionaries made him an honorary member of their group.

Limbaugh told them that, under House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the Republicans must “begin an emergency dismantling of the welfare system, which is shredding the social fabric,” bankrupting the country, and “gutting the work ethic, educational performance, and moral discipline of the poor.” Next, Congress should cut capital gains taxes, which would drive economic growth, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and generate billions in federal revenue.

Limbaugh kept staff in Washington to make sure Republican positions got through to voters. At the same time, every congressman knew that taking a stand against Limbaugh would earn instant condemnation on radio channels across the country, and they acted accordingly.

Limbaugh saw politics as entertainment that pays well for the people who can rile up their base with compelling stories—Limbaugh’s net worth when he died was estimated at $600 million—but he sold the Movement Conservative narrative well. He laid the groundwork for the political career of Donald Trump, who awarded Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a made-for-tv moment at Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address. His influence runs deep in the current party: former Mayor Boyd, an elected official, began his diatribe with: “Let me hurt some feelings while I have a minute!!”

Like Boyd, other Texas politicians are also falling back on the Movement Conservative narrative to explain the disaster in their state. The crisis was caused by a lack of maintenance on Texas’s unregulated energy grid, which meant that instruments at coal, natural gas, and nuclear plants froze, at the same time that supplies of natural gas fell short. Nonetheless, Governor Greg Abbott and his allies in the fossil fuel industry went after “liberal” ideas. They blamed the crisis on the frozen wind turbines and solar plants which account for about 13% of Texas’s winter power. Abbott told Fox News Channel personality Sean Hannity that “this shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America.” Tucker Carlson told his viewers that Texas was “totally reliant on windmills.”

The former Texas governor and former Secretary of Energy under Trump, Rick Perry, wrote on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s website to warn against regulation of Texas’s energy system: “Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,” he said. The website warned that “Those watching on the left may see the situation in Texas as an opportunity to expand their top-down, radical proposals. Two phrases come to mind: don’t mess with Texas, and don’t let a crisis go to waste.”

At Abbott’s request, President Biden has declared that Texas is in a state of emergency, freeing up federal money and supplies for the state. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has sent 60 generators to state hospitals, water plants, and other critical facilities, along with blankets, food, and bottled water. It is also delivering diesel fuel for backup power.

Link:

Heather Cox Richardson - Letters from an American

A Deepset Conservative on this President

 Yes sir and ma'am, a deepset conservative, none other than Bill Kristol, on this Republican Party President

And for proof? Look no farther.

Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered months ago to sell the U.S. more vaccine doses

Trump's pandemic blindness and election denial darken America's desperate winter

I can hardly believe what I read about this man sometimes.

Look What Uber Right Wing Republican Said Trump Should Concede!

Peggy Noonan, folks! Check that out!

A Bogus Dispute Is Doing Real Damage – Peggy Noonan

Conspiracy theories are damaging the country today and will hurt Republicans tomorrow.

No hard evidence of widespread fraud, no success in the courts or prospect of it. You can have a theory that a bad thing was done, but only facts will establish it. You need to do more than what Rudy Giuliani did at his news conference Thursday, which was throw out huge, barely comprehensible allegations and call people “crooks.” You need to do more than Sidney Powell, who, at the same news conference, charged that “communist money” is behind an international conspiracy to rig the U.S. election. There was drama, hyperbole, perhaps madness. But the wilder the charges, the more insubstantial the case appeared.

More than two weeks after the election, it’s clear where this is going. The winner will be certified and acknowledged; Joe Biden will be inaugurated. But it’s right to worry about the damage being done on the journey.

Even very Right Wing, very, very, uber conservative PEGGY NOONAN calls Trump's attempts at voter fraud a "bogus dispute" and that i's doing "real damage" to the nation! Even Peggy Noonan gets it!

Yes!

For once, I agree with her!

Concede, Mr. Trump or #Throwthebumout

Quote of the Day -- Dangerous President Edition

From Conservative, very Right Wing, Republican Bill Kristol today.

I hope President Trump has a swift and complete recovery from COVID. 

I hope the United States has a swift and complete recovery from President Trump.

From his keyboard tray to God's eyes.

Let's do this, folks.

86 45

BYEDON

#BlueWave2020

Conservative Jesus? Republican Jesus?

 Yeah. I don't think so.

Tweets of the Day: RNC Presidential Edition

Bill Kristol  @BillKristol
·Aug 22

"Mr. Trump...now plans to directly address the nation in prime-time on each of the convention’s four nights." It's not a party. It's a cult.

Bill Kristol  @BillKristol

The Republicans, in 2020, for the first time, have no platform. Instead: "RESOLVED, That the Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda." It's no longer the Republican party. It's a Trump cult.

Dan Rather  @DanRather

I am confident that every other president in my lifetime would be speaking forcefully in support of the pro democracy protesters in Belarus. This is a shameful abdication of American leadership.

Dan Rather  @DanRather

I cannot remember a time when political journalists so needed backgrounds in criminal law.

And finally, what I think is probably the social media quote of the day.

Dan Rather  @DanRather

There are times I get online, see the latest news, and wonder how we are living in a world where Kafka writes for the Twilight Zone starring the Marx Brothers.

God help us, folks.

God and the heavens help us get to November 3.

And then January 20.

Vote!

VOTE BLUE!!

#BlueWave2020

Donald Trump, According to Another Republican

From very conservative and long-serving Republican Party member Steve Schmidt @SteveSchmidtSES:

I find it necessary to reach for the language and colorful colloquialisms of my native land, New Jersey, in order to express my feelings about today’s event in Bedminster. It was a fucking travesty. Truly. An utter Fucking disgrace.

The President of the United States of America stood behind the Seal of his office framed by American flags and his private club’s membership,slurring and raving about his victimization. His titanic self-pity was only exceeded by his dishonesty and uncontrolled lying. His lying was only subordinate to his staggering idiocy, ignorance, ineptitude and incompetence. |

The incompetence, even after all this time, shocks the conscience. 162,000 Americans are dead and the economy is shattered. So many more will die. The evictions, foreclosures and small business closings are just beginning. We are in the early hours of one of the greatest tragedies in our country's history. None of it had to be, but it has happened because Donald Trump is President. His malice, stupidity, ego and insecurity are a lethal combination.

He has wrecked this country in less than four years. He has induced a national nosedive, a decline that is precipitous, dangerous and humiliating. The world is more dangerous. American soldiers are hunted like animals by Taliban killers who are paid bounties by Russian killers and Trump does nothing but kowtow to Putin and advance his agenda.

Trump has divided the country and pitted Americans against each other. He has loosed violence against peacefully assembled U.S. citizens and deployed militarized paramilitary forces to escalate tensions in American cities in the name of law and order, when the real purpose and mission is to stoke the embers of chaos and create fear. Fear, built on a mountain of lies, is the autocrat's sword and shield. Trump stokes fear to abuse his power and press forward with his assaults on the rule of law, our essential constitutions and our national comity, all in the name of his corruption, aggrandizement and cult of personality.

It is a despicable hour in the life of this country. This will be ended because it must end. We will lose the country if Trump isn’t repudiated. Make no mistake about the intentions of a President who is openly undermining the 231-year-old tradition of American elections. He is undermining the legitimacy of the coming election with no regard for the consequences to liberal democracy here and around the world.

Fascism didn’t rise in the 1930s because it was strong. It rose because Democracy was weak. American Democracy is weak, decayed and led by an illiberal man who would cancel the election, lock up his political opponents, enrich his friends and remain in power for life.

Trump is the greatest failure in American history. No American has failed history’s test in a more spectacular fashion. His stoking of racial tensions and a cold civil war in our land will live in infamy. His disgrace will be eternal.

Thanks, Republicans.

Donald Trump, from a Fellow Republican and Conservative

 Over the weekend, Republican Steve Schmidt, who ran John McCain's 2008 campaign for president, was interviewed on MSNBC.

In response to a very general question regarding the Trump Presidency, Mr. Schmidt spoke for two solid minutes and gave the most insightful and brutally honest response of what the Trump Presidency has done to our great country.

“Donald Trump has been the worst president this country has ever had. And, I don't say that hyperbolically. He is. But he is a consequential president. And, he has brought this country in three short years to a place of weakness that is simply unimaginable if you were pondering where we are today from the day where Barack Obama left office. And, there were a lot of us on that day who were deeply skeptical and very worried about what a Trump presidency would be. But this is a moment of unparalleled national humiliation, of weakness.”

"When you listen to the President, these are the musings of an imbecile. An idiot. And I don't use those words to name call. I use them because they are the precise words of the English language to describe his behavior. His comportment. His actions. We've never seen a level of incompetence, a level of ineptitude so staggering on a daily basis by anybody in the history of the country whose ever been charged with substantial responsibilities.”

"It's just astonishing that this man is president of the United States. The man, the con man, from New York City. Many bankruptcies, failed businesses, a reality show, that branded him as something that he never was. A successful businessman. Well, he's the President of the United States now, and the man who said he would make the country great again. And he's brought death, suffering, and economic collapse on truly an epic scale."

"And, let's be clear. This isn't happening in every country around the world. This place. Our place. Our home. Our country. The United States. We are the epicenter. We are the place where you're the most likely to die from this disease. We're the ones with the most shattered economy. And we are, because of the fool that sits in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk."

Thanks, Republicans.

What Donald Trump Is--And Is Not

From a former Navy Seal and ER doctor as well as a true conservative and Republican.

Let's do this, America.

Vote November 3.

Quote of the Day -- Presidential Edition

Bill Kristol  @BillKristol

We have a president who's a con man, a vice president who's a talk radio host, a White House chief of staff who for years claimed to have a B.A. but doesn't, a health secretary who's a lawyer-lobbyist, and an education secretary who's not an educator. What could go wrong?

And that's only a partial and very short, very abbreviated PART of the list.

Drain the swamp, indeed.

This President and his administration ARE the swamp.

Thanks, Republicans!

On Being a Liberal

Reputedly, supposedly, reportedly and hopefully, from Ron Howard, found out there on social media:

January 24 at 5:41 AM

I'm a liberal, but that doesn't mean what a lot of you apparently think it does. Let's break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:

1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. PERIOD.

2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that's interpreted as "I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all." This is not the case. I'm fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it's impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes "let people die because they can't afford healthcare" a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I'm not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.

3. I believe education should be affordable. It doesn't necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I'm mystified as to why it can't work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.

4. I don't believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don't want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can't afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.

5. I don't throw around "I'm willing to pay higher taxes" lightly. If I'm suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it's because I'm fine with paying my share as long as it's actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.

6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn't have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.

7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is - and should be - illegal). All I ask is that Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I'm not "offended by Christianity" -- I'm offended that you're trying to force me to live by your religion's rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That's how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don't force it on me or mine.

8. I don't believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.

9. I don't believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN'T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they're supposed to be abusing, and if they're "stealing" your job it's because your employer is hiring illegally). I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).

10. I don't believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It's not that I want the government's hands in everything -- I just don't trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they're harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.

11. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I've spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.

12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege -- white, straight, male, economic, etc. -- need to start listening, even if you don't like what you're hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that's causing people to be marginalized.

13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is the enforcement of present laws and enacting new, common sense gun regulations. Got another opinion? Put it on your page, not mine.

14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you're using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?

15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.

16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?

I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I'm a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn't mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don't believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.

Added to all that, the definition of a liberal:

liberal  [ˈlib(ə)rəl]

ADJECTIVE

willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.
"they have more liberal views toward marriage and divorce than some people"

Synonyms:
tolerant · unprejudiced · unbigoted · broad-minded · open-minded ·

relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.

"a liberal democratic state"

synonyms:
progressive · advanced · modern · forward-looking · forward-thinking ·

relating to a Liberal party or (in the UK) the Liberal Democrat Party.
"the Liberal leader"

given, used, or occurring in generous amounts.
"liberal amounts of wine had been consumed"

NOUN

a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.Often contrasted with conservative.

"are we dealing with a polarization between liberals and conservatives?" ·

a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.

"classical liberals emphasized the right of the individual to make decisions, even if the results dismayed their neighbors or injured themselves"

a supporter or member of a Liberal party or (in the UK) the Liberal Democrat Party.
"the Liberals are looking to defend a seat in Tuebrook and Stoneycroft"

Jack Cashill Comes Out Against Mass Transit?? Say It Isn't So!

BREAKING NEWS TODAY!! (last week?)

None other than very Right Wing, conservative JACK CASHILL has come out SQUARELY AGAINST MASS TRANSIT here in the Kansas City area!

Shocking!

Imagine that!!

A middle-aged (senior?), very white, middle- to upper-class, again, Right Wing, conservative--Republican? Libertarian?---coming out against MASS TRANSIT!!

Naturally, I first read of this shocking, shocking development over at some local blog.

KANSAS CITY URBAN PLANNER FACT CHECK: CONSERVATIVE JACK CASHILL EXAMINES DENSITY & PUBLIC TRANSIT ROLE IN DEADLY CORONAVIRUS!!!

Thank goodness I checked that out! (Thanks for the heads up, Ton...)

You just can't get any more controversial or daring than that!

Be able to take light rail from, say, the airport to downtown? Or out in the city??

Have the city bisected by light rail with East/West and North/South routes??

This daring Right Winger is having nothing of it!

And Mr. Cashill so rightly makes a DIRECT CONNECTION between this MASS TRANSIT NONSENSE and the current CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC!!

We knew there was one, right??

So what if light rail is successful in St. Louis and Denver and, oh, I don't know, Chicago and New York and EVERY OTHER CITY it's in ACROSS THE ENTIRE WORLD!!

Next thing you know, people will want to---oh, I don't know--SAVE MONEY and SAVE TIME and have it be CONVENIENT and POLLUTE LESS??

I say again---GET AROUND THE ENTIRE METROPOLITAN AREA EASIER AND FASTER AND MORE CONVENIENT AND LESS EXPENSIVE AND POLLUTE LESS??

We'll have none of that!

We'll be gripping our steering wheels UNTIL WE DIE, right Jack??!!

Thank God someone, someone is taking on these tough, tough, controversial issues in this day and age and area!

God bless you, Jack Cashill!

Keep up that great, ground-breaking, courageous work, sir!!  We're right with you!!

Back here in the 1890s.

(I'm dyin' ovah heyah).

Links:

Mass Transit System - Advantages of Mass Transit System

Mass Transit and Smart Growth Save Time, $ and the Environment

Take Public Transportation - Save Money, Save The World

The Environmental Benefits of Riding Public Transit

Can We Please Stop Pretending Cars Are Greener Than Transit?

Cars, Mass Transit and the Efforts to Reduce Emissions

Irony Much?

Hypocrisy much?

Photo of a protester, wanting a "stay-at-home" order be taken off.

That's about as delicious as the ice cream they serve in the store just behind her.

Be well out there, y'all. Stay safe. Stay at home.

Quote of the Day -- On That Second Amendment

Link:

Warren Burger and the Second Amendment 

What Burning So Much Carbon Is Getting Us

This is, one more time, what burning all the carbon we do and putting all the carbon dioxide we also do, into the atmosphere, gets us.

Wildfires burn homes in California, forcing residents to evacuate

And let's be clear, these are not "one off" events. It's part of a far larger trend and not just nationally or even on this continent but world wide.

How climate change is increasing 

forest fires around the world

Science suggests that over the past few decades, the number of wildfires has indeed increased, especially in the western United States. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS),every state in the western US has experienced an increase in the average annual number of large wildfires over past decades.

Extensive studies have found that large forest fires in the western US have been occurring nearly five times more often since the 1970s and 80s. Such fires are burning more than six times the land area as before, and lasting almost five times longer.

Meanwhile, foolishly, our nation's leader is taking us backward and in the completely wrong direction.

EPA chief says White House to roll back 

Obama-era clean power plan

#Resist

Link:

Wildfires Rage In California Wine Country, Forcing Evacuations

Right Wing, Republican, Conservative Saint Ronnie, On Assault Rifles

Really, When Did This Happen?

And why did we let it happen?