Putin and Trump - World-Class Liars

Trump – “There is no collusion. Absolutely none. I have nothing to do with Russia.”

Putin - "Thank you, President Trump. Information obtained from the CIA was sufficient to search for and arrest of criminals.”

          Today, it is revealed by White House press manipulator Sarah Huckabee Sanders that on Sunday Russian President Putin phoned Trump to thank him for a tip from the CIA that thwarted a terrorist attack being planned at Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. A tip from the CIA? And Trump had a hand in providing it?

Countries share intelligence occasionally, but this call was highly unusual since presidents rarely, if ever, thank one another for something from the other's spy agency. According to the White House press release, which was offered only after the Kremlin had mentioned it in their own TASS dispatch, “The Federal Security Service said Friday that seven members of a terror cell had been detained for their involvement in the plot, and that "a significant amount of explosives," weapons and "extremist literature" were confiscated.

          TASS also reported that when caught, the perpetrators even obliged by confessing to the whole terrorist scheme on camera. It was almost as if it was STAGED!!!

For the fifth time this year, this information was released by the RUSSIANS…not by the White House. Not until the Kremlin made the phone call known did our own president acknowledge he had been colluding with…I mean, in contact with, Putin. So we’re just now finding out OUR intelligence agency is working with the RUSSIAN intelligence agency and American citizens have deliberately been kept in the dark. Yet both governments now want to openly brag about it, so it’s not like they’re trying to keep it a secret so they can thwart future terrorist attacks. Why is Trump telegraphing this information? He said so many times on the campaign trail that he wasn’t going to let our enemies know what the U.S. is doing. (What he seems to mean is he doesn’t want U.S. citizens to know what he’s doing.) As if it has always been done this way, Trump is pointing out how our intelligence service is helping the Russians.

This then begs the question of why didn’t our CIA do the same for the Pakistanis who supposedly are our allies when a terrorist bomber struck at a Christian church in Quetta last Sunday killing 9 people? Why didn’t our intelligence services provide any help to Nigeria in recent weeks when Boko Haram killed hundreds of people in separate attacks across that country since mid-November? Closer to home, why didn’t that vaunted intelligence stop Akayed Ullah the New York City subway bomber on December 12th? On top of all that, as recently as last month, Trump said he didn’t trust our intelligence agencies, and less than a year ago he was comparing them to the Nazis. Why was their untrustworthy intelligence good enough now to pass on to the Russians?

Does anyone believe this nonsense? What evidence do we have that the CIA provided the information? There is nothing to show it sent anything or contacted the FSB at all. Neither Trump nor Putin has provided proof of cooperation between the two agencies. We just have to take their word for it. But things that are asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. Putin called to thank Trump for the CIA tip, after Thursday's call congratulating him on how strong our economy is. Why would the Russians congratulate the U.S. on a booming economy? How does that help Russia?

          This is just the latest pack of lies from two world-class liars. It was invented (by Putin or Trump, or both) to gloss over something entirely different. Both leaders agreed that this serves as an example of the positive things that can occur when the two countries work together. Here’s the bizarre part…you notice that “when the two countries work together,” the Trump administration never works with Brazil, Thailand, Iran, Denmark, China, Sri Lanka, or any other country in that manner. It is always…ALWAYS…the Russians - and only the Russians. Why?

          Do you believe Trump when he says there’s no collusion?

Something Caught in your Throat? Trump's Recent Weird Speech

On December 6^th 2017, Trump gave a speech about moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in Israel. If you were watching you most likely heard something odd in the last minute where he slurred through much of the remainder of that speech. It sounded as if, if he had dentures, they had come loose and were bumping around in his mouth, or that his tongue wouldn’t cooperate. The next day, in response, the White House announced that Trump would have a physical “early next year.”

Spoiler Alert: That physical exam will be a smoke screen. It will be to cover up what has happened. The people protecting Trump are not going to allow anyone to know what he really suffered or what is actually going on. Any results that are eventually made public will be false.

It could simply be that Trump is finally choking on his own bullshit.

He has been unfit for office since before the election that was flipped to him by the Russians, but this escalates the danger to our nation by having a man mentally unfit for office compounded by being physically unfit for office.

Trump’s physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, or as he is referred to by late-night comedians “Dr. Feelgood”, may have contrived with Trump to cover up serious health concerns when he admitted last year that he wrote the letter declaring Trump would be the “healthiest president in history” in just five minutes while a limo sent by the candidate waited outside his Manhattan office. That four paragraph letter is the only medical information that’s been released about and by Trump and it really says nothing at all. It is composed of assertions and grandiose expressions about how astonishingly healthy Trump is but it is nothing close to a medical record. Intriguingly, Bornstein may have been giving us an oblique warning when he later said “the Oval Office has been occupied by presidents with dementia or tumors or even men who were "paranoid" or "psychotic." Was he acknowledging something that implicated Trump’s deteriorating health?

Bornstein’s letter was a bungled attempt to make Trump appear to be Superman but Trump’s diet alone speaks volumes about how he takes care of himself. He frequently eats sodium-heavy, high-fat-content, high-cholesterol-laden, low nutrition fast food like McDonald’s hamburgers, fries, and filet-o-fish sandwiches, KFC’s heavily-breaded chicken pieces, cheese and pepperoni pizzas and large chocolate milkshakes for lunch and sometimes even dinner. When he eats steaks they are so well-done they are almost charred – hidden under a thick layer of ketchup, occasionally accompanied by mashed potatoes smothered in gravy or a salad swimming in Roquefort dressing. When everyone else is served one scoop of ice cream at the White House, Trump has demanded and gets two scoops, plus large pieces of chocolate cake whenever he wants. He rarely eats vegetables and throughout the day he snacks on Vienna Fingers, potato chips, Oreos, and slurps down numerous cans of Diet Coke. He doesn’t exercise, and, as anyone who follows his Twitter account can verify, he gets very little sleep.

He maintains that his golf game is his exercise, and he does play A LOT of golf…more than PGA pros play. But he rides in a golf cart everywhere on the course, even right across the greens. He walks only from the cart to the ball and back. Picture after candid picture of him golfing shows a large belly and an expansive waistline. (Only William Howard Taft was a more...rotund...president.) No one knows for certain how overweight he is because he won’t release his medical records. Nutritionists, dieticians, and doctors who have studied the pictures say he is at least 50 lbs overweight. They have no ax to grind. They are simply making an observation about that person’s body mass in the photographs. Trump does not take his health seriously. So something like a stroke is almost expected given Trump’s callous regard for nutrition and an aversion to physical activity.

Notice that it takes two hands to get the small bottle up to his mouth

The White House issued an explanation for Trump’s slurred speech - and the made-up story was further advanced by their consummate liar, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders - that Trump was just having a problem with a dry throat. So why would Trump need a medical exam? My grandfather suffered a stroke when he was in his 70s and Trump’s speech pattern is exactly what my grandfather’s speech sounded like after his stroke. Grandfather also had dentures but he never sounded like that from loose dentures. From the beginning, Grandfather’s stroke noticeably affected his speech and it only got worse until he died. If Trump actually had a dry throat, why didn’t he just take a swig of water as he has done previously (even though he made fun of Marco Rubio for doing the exact same thing on camera?)

Suffering a stroke is nothing to be ashamed of, but since Trump has been lying to us about showing us his tax returns before election day, about how he now doubts that it’s his voice on the Access Hollywood tape (even though there were nine people on the bus with him at the time who all attest that yes that is Trump), and because he has lied over and over about how he has had nothing to do with Russia, even though he signed a letter of intent in October 2015 to build a Trump Tower in Moscow WHILE HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, there is no reason to believe the White House’s excuse (probably dictated by Trump) that he just had a dry throat.

Trump is either finally starting to choke on his own lies or most likely suffered a mild stroke and has demanded everyone around him lie or keep quiet about it.

I hope his cabinet is brushing up on the 25^th Amendment.

"If we use big words like 'responding to Presidential disabilities' he won't know what we're talking about."

THE POOR, FORGOTTEN RICH WILL FINALLY GET SOME TAX RELIEF

I will go on the record right now to state that I am rich. No, I am not anywhere near being in the 1%. My wealth did not come from an accumulation of money and property. My wife and I live very comfortably but there is not a chance we'd be confused with any of the small number of Americans who have financial assets in excess of seven figures.

I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice because I have three of the best children in the world; all college educated, all successful in their careers, all still wanting, and looking forward to, spending time with my wife and me at any time. I have three wonderful, well-adjusted, very intelligent grandchildren. All three grandkids go wild with happiness when my wife and I visit their homes, or when they come to see us. I am their gymnasium. They love when my wife reads and sings to them - and they love everything that comes out of her kitchen. They make the two of us feel richer than Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined. Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway), I have a wonderful wife who I have been married to for 38 ½ years. I live in a modern, desirable southeastern US city with nice weather, close to the ocean. I recently retired from a highly successful career in broadcasting. I am an award-winning author and perform with a local band. So I am quite content.

          But I have never pursued money. I saw my father engage in that as I was growing up, but for all his pursuit, he never seemed to be happy about it. He was grouchy, distant, self-centered, devious…but never happy. Money accumulation only gave him a dour look as he sought a way to get more.

          I took a cue from that and decided whatever he did I wasn’t going to do…so I never chased the almighty dollar. I have had a successful career and by any measure I have done well, contributed to my savings account along the way, lived frugally, and invested in my wife’s and my retirement. But I did not try to rake in as much cash as I possibly could. I was far more interested in spending time with my family, watching the kids grow, teaching them, being with them, being the best father and husband that I could. I turned down dozens of lucrative opportunities to make substantial additions to our bank account…because of how I saw my father’s accumulations did nothing for his well-being, but generally it was because what those opportunities required of me…far too many nights, weekends, even months away from my family. My family was, is, and always will be, tremendously more important than money. But I apparently got it all wrong.

          The GOP is going to punish me for NOT pursuing the almighty dollar to make myself a millionaire - by making sure my taxes will go up while providing an enormous wealth redistribution to the very well-off, uber-wealthy, and filthy rich. People making over a million dollars a year will get a massive tax cut from the Republican tax plan by taking that money away from people like me to give to someone who’s net worth is ten to a hundred times what mine is.

The poor will just waste that money, anyway.

          

              Why do I deserve to have my taxes raised and my financial wealth diminished? Because, as Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa explained in a November 29^th interview with NPR’s Robert Siegel, part of the reason for repealing, say, the estate tax is “I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.”

So my tax burden will have to go up substantially because I'm not throwing my money at the stock market, plus, to make up the difference from the government's loss of Estate Tax revenue. I am not deserving of a huge tax cut because Grassley has imagined I spent most of my "pennies" on a house, college funds for my kids, day-to-day living expenses, utility bills and the like...which Grassley equates with booze, women and going to the movies. As my wife, children and friends will all attest, I rarely drink any alcohol, the only women I’ve spent money on the past 40 years are my wife and daughter, and when we go to the movies, we almost always go to the dollar theater, if we don’t just wait for the edited version to air for free on TV. So I don’t know where Grassley got his information. He is implying I’d be a millionaire now and could look forward to getting some of that GOP wealth transfer from poor and middle-class people to fatten my own bank account if I had just pursued a hell of a lot more money the past 50 years.

              

          Put simply, the GOP tax plan has been written to favor asset-based incomes, passive business investments and inherited wealth (like Trump’s, so Trump is lying when he says this tax plan is going to hurt him), and it penalizes those foolish enough to actually work for a paycheck. Hey, if your income is obtained from your stock portfolio or you were born into a rich family, you’re going to love this plan. Otherwise, tough sh*t.

Grassley let the cat out of the bag in that same interview. Siegel asked him “…you agree that before you begin to do that [paying down the $20 Trillion National Debt], this bill would increase deficits and the debt by at least $1.5 trillion...unless you really do take away middle-income tax cuts, $2 trillion, right? Are those numbers about right?” Grassley’s response? “Yeah, if you look at it on paper the way the Congressional Budget Office does, that is right.”

He went on to claim that since Trump SAYS the economy is going gangbusters and IF we can boost our economic growth, up from 2 to around 3%, then the $1.5 trillion additional debt will be made up. 

Not one economist thinks that is realistic. They say that is something Grassley "made up."

         Except for a few years doing factory work and then teaching for a short duration, Grassley has spent his career in Congress where he voted in favor of almost every pay raise Senators and Representatives could give themselves, helped to run up the National Debt (while blaming it exclusively on the Democrats), gave the military Carte Blanche for whatever it wanted, and fleeced American taxpayers. He is fleecing us again…only bigger, badder and bolder than ever before. But by the time the worst of the wealth transfer…uh, I mean the fair and equitable tax policy...is implemented, Chuck Grassley will be well into his own retirement. So he won’t need to make any pretense that those “tax cuts” in the GOP bill were aimed at the middle class.

               Grassley claims the massive tax cuts (like eliminating the Estate Tax which only affects .2% [that's point two percent] of Americans) is really just a question of “basic fairness.” Yes, but fairness to whom? It damn sure isn't fair to people like me who are not millionaires.

Afghan Hero - Lt. Sayed Basam Pacha

This is what a hero looks like.

Afghanistan’s image has suffered considerably over the years, but especially since the Soviet Union invaded in 1979 and then when the U.S. followed suit in 2001. Since the Soviet occupation, news reports have consistently pictured a country in chaos, where life was cheap and religious extremism made it barely inhabitable. But it still produces heroes.

The latest is police Lieutenant Sayed Basam Pacha. And he will be sorely missed, not just by his family, but by the entire nation of Afghanistan. On Thursday, November 16^th Lieutenant Sayed Pacha along with the 2^nd Company of Police District 4, the unit he commanded, was guarding the security gate to the hotel in the Khairkhana area of Kabul where regional and national dignitaries were meeting. A man walked up wearing a heavy coat and Pacha apparently suspected he was a suicide bomber. When the Lieutenant called on him to stop, the man began running and without hesitation, Pacha took several quick steps, threw his arms around the man in a bear hug…and was killed along with his 7 police companions and 6 nearby civilians when the man detonated the suicide vest under his coat. 18 others were wounded.

No one will ever know what Pacha’s last thoughts were, but he knew his duty was to protect and serve. He did this without flinching in the face of certain death. The powerful blast destroyed nearby vehicles and blew out windows in buildings hundreds of yards away. But by all accounts, the death toll would have been much higher without Pacha’s body blunting the effect of the bomb blast.

Pacha’s father, Police Commander Gen. Sayed Nizam Agha, when reached by phone said: “My son sacrificed himself to save other people.” He wept as he recounted his son’s story. “He had two bachelor degrees, one in political science and another one at the police academy,” the father proudly said. “He studied five years in Turkey. He came back from Turkey a year and a half ago. He was 25 years old and was single.”

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack but they did not count on the bravery and devotion to duty of Lt. Sayed that blunted what would have been a much more devasting blast with numerous additional victims. 

        There will never be enough men and women in this world like Lieutenant Sayed Basam Pacha. His bravery and valor are in too short supply. He is a true hero and should be honored and remembered down through the halls of time. Afghanistan is fortunate to have called him a son.

Donald Trump – America's Greatest Character - Flaw

“Predisent” Trump proclaimed this week, October 15th through October 21st, as National Character Counts Week. It’s a week to "reflect on the character of determination, resolve, and honor that makes us proud to be American. Few things are more important than cultivating strong character in all our citizens, especially our young people." Character might be hard to define "but we see it in every day acts — raising and providing for a family with loving devotion, working hard to make the most of an education, and giving back to devastated communities." – Or so someone wrote for Trump last Friday.

Yes, character does count and a strong character is desirable and beneficial as an example to our children, to our friends and allies, and in the way we serve others. But why is it that the people with little to no character are the ones who go on to abuse the term? Of all the people to ever hold the office of president, Donald Trump has the most questionable character of anyone who has held it or aspired to it.

Trump's Presidential Characteristics.

          Trump’s character fosters determination and resolve to boast about how he could get away with anything, even grab women “by the pussy.” And then dismiss it as just locker-room talk. In all my years, I have NEVER, EVER heard any man in any locker room talk about women that way. But then, I never shared one with Donald Trump. He also bragged that he hit on and groped other women who were married, while HE was married.

          This character has shown loving devotion by being married three times and openly admitting he was cheating on one by trying to woo the next one into bed.

This is the same character who cultivated, at last count, at least 15 women who have come forward and accused him of sexual assault. How did he defend his character in all this? By dismissing them saying he couldn’t have done it because “just look at them”, or “she wouldn’t be my first choice, that I can tell you” as though either answer exonerated his character. Do those answers satisfy you that he is innocent of the sexual assault charge? On the Howard Stern Radio Show, he gave our young people a heads up on what to expect from him when he boasted that he would deliberately walk through and ogle a roomful of Miss Teen USA contestants while they were dressing or undressing - because he was the owner of the pageant or the venue.

He said he’s never asked any god for forgiveness because he hadn’t done anything that needed to be forgiven. That’s what men of good moral character always do, isn’t it? Yet the religious right clings to him like leeches. They ignore his lack the character and refuse to see what a liar and con artist he is.

His business ethics have provoked over 360 lawsuits; for stiffing people on payments, reneging on contracts, turning off water and electricity in buildings he bought to force out the people who lived there, false advertising, and for fleecing thousands and thousands of people - like his fake Trump University. Even after losing that particular case and being ordered to pay back $25 million, it didn’t faze his 'character’ in the eyes of his supporters or the GOP. To them, he’s just a savvy businessman who was treated unfairly.

Trump’s character includes disrespect for military people who were captured…because they aren’t war heroes. He likes "people who weren’t captured, okay?” By extension, that also means he doesn't like soldiers who get killed either. So why do any veterans support this character? Especially when he avoids the situation room as American troops are sent in harm’s way, like in Yemen last January where CPO William Ryan Owens was killed.

These men died in Niger and Trump couldn't even bother to be in the situation room when it happened,  couldn't be bothered to read the release put out by the DoD and NSC, and couldn't be bothered to be at the Air Force base when the bodies were flown home.

         On October 16^th in the Rose Garden, his lack of character allowed him to deflect answering a question and falsely claim President Obama hadn’t called families of soldiers killed in combat after he was pointedly asked why he had yet to say anything about four Green Berets killed over two weeks ago in Niger. He didn't go to Dover Air Force Base when the body of the last of the four, Sergeant La David Johnson, was returned. Instead, he was busy with the more presidential duties of golfing and tweeting that NFL players should be fired for kneeling during the national anthem. Which shows less reverence for our nation and flag...kneeling in protest over police brutality, which is protected by the First Amendment, or when the president pointedly ignores a soldier's body returning home, a soldier who was killed on Trump’s watch and due to a Trump directive?

There's not much difference between these two...character-wise.

When most people use the word character, they mean ‘personality’. To say someone has character means they have a sense of humor and endearing idiosyncrasies. The British use the expression “he’s a bit of a character,” which means “he is eccentric, or maybe lives in a hollowed-out tree and steals nuts from squirrels.”

Trump is far and away a character, but not in the good sense of the word…not even in the British way of using the term. Trump is a living, breathing character flaw. He represents the worst characteristics of a portion of the U.S….with his casual racism, his crass materialism, his relentless self-aggrandizement, his vulgarity, his lack of honesty, his sexism, his defense of Nazi supporters as “fine people”, his sleaziness, and he is dismantling everything that makes America safe and prosperous. 
Just so the rest of the world understood Trump’s lack of character, he even shoves other world leaders out of the way so he can be in the front of any photo opportunity - as he did in Europe last summer.

"Get out of my way!"

But this massive character flaw worked on one group of people…his supporters. They believe Trump was sent by God to save the world. Everything he says is true and he has never lied. His snake oil really does work. He’s going to make all of them filthy rich just like he is. And he loves everyone…Amen!

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Bob Corker

Robert Corker Junior, go crawl back under your Tennessee rock and stay there. Now that you’re leaving the Senate and no longer running for office, you've discovered the freedom of being honest - by pissing, whining, and moaning about what a big baby Trump is. You're now quick to point out that his administration is in a downward spiral, that Trump shows neither the stability or competence to hold the office of President, that Trump has to have 24-hour adult supervision, that the Oval Office is nothing more than a daycare center when Trump is “in the house”, that Rex Tillerson is spot on in calling Trump a f*cking moron, and that Trump’s thoughtless, inappropriate, and juvenile comments are putting the U.S. on a path to World War Three. But how did we get here Bob?

On April 28, 2016, you, Bob Corker, praised Trump's evolution as a politician, calling his previous day's foreign policy address in Washington DC a "really good transition in the campaign.” As one of the most powerful men in the Senate, you offered an early and strong endorsement for this man-baby. It was you who assuaged skeptical members of the GOP establishment to support Trump as the party’s nominee. You then considered accepting Trump’s offer to join him as his running mate and, gushing like a teenage schoolgirl, said “The reason you love him so much is because he loves you” as Trump stood next to you. I’m sure that was your "honest" reaction, not the words of a sycophant.

                             One down, eighteen to go.

        You used your position to vote for almost all of Trump’s legislative agenda and you supported and confirmed EVERY SINGLE ONE of his nominees. You didn’t question their competence or qualifications - including Michael Flynn, Betsy DeVos, Tom Price, Jeff Sessions, Rick Perry, Steve Mnuchin, Scott Pruitt…etc. These are, or were, some of the most incompetent people to ever hold their respective offices and you helped put them there just as Trump wanted. You voted in favor of repealing Obamacare - without anything to replace it - every time it came up for a vote.

At the end of May 2017, you were practically swooning over Trump’s first overseas trip as president, a trip that virtually everyone else at home and abroad labeled an unmitigated disaster, claiming it was “executed to near perfection.”

You have always been willing to play a part in this Potemkin village called the Trump administration by being Trump’s adviser, confidante, dinner companion, and golf partner. You couldn't suck up to this Russian-installed clown any more than you already have. You made your pact with the devil, so to speak, and now you’re complaining because of the heat?

Why did it take you until you retired to say what you REALLY thought of Trump? Since 2011 he has repeatedly demonstrated that he is unfit for any office. Had you spoken bluntly and authoritatively a year ago about all the things you can plainly see now, we could have avoided having this self-centered, easily-offended, Twitter-bullying, small-minded, pussy-grabbing, bigoted, dishonest, misogynistic, childish nitwit as our president.

You have no shame, no integrity. and no reason to bitch, Robert Phillip Corker Jr. We got here because of YOU!

In Trump's America - Who Needs that Pesky First Amendment?

Apparently, free speech in America is only that which is approved by Donald Trump. Trump thinks people should be punished and even deported for showing a "lack of patriotism" by refusing to do something that has always been voluntary in our country regarding the flag. Where was all of Trump’s patriotism when he invented that bone spur in his foot to avoid military service during the fighting in Vietnam? Shouldn’t that be a punishable or deporting offense? How about it, Trump?

When the First Amendment was adopted in 1791, our Founding Father’s apparently needed to include “This article is not subject to re-interpretation by any future president or official” to protect coming generations from the whims of some dictator who managed to attain the White House. One of its provisions was to allow unpopular views to be spoken or written…like, say, when writers in the mid-1700s vented about King George III or British actions. The writers and speakers were to be allowed and encouraged to disagree with mainstream thought so public debate could determine what course of action was best for the colonies. That’s why we had people arguing in favor of, and against, the British. It’s why we allowed many different religious practices (although hindsight has shown that the tolerance was primarily limited to Christian-style religions). It’s why newspapers were not subject to censorship by the government. It protects you from the government punishing or censoring or oppressing your speech. Symbolic speech is protected by the constitution, too. Simply put, you have the right to not speak. You have the right to silence. So if you were to be fined or punished by your employer for not standing during the national anthem, that’s a major First Amendment issue. But now, Trump has redefined what that amendment really means. Stand, or get out of the country.

Here we are trying to contend with major issues around the nation and the world, including powerful hurricanes, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes, unprecedented flooding, rising sectarian violence, record droughts, suicide bombings, health care, tax reform, and threats of nuclear war (thanks to our president acting like a third grader taunting the second grade bully in North Korea, and then unzipping his pants and flipping out his tiny member at Iran to taunt them as well)...and what does Trump want to address? He decides to escalate a non-issue by attacking the NFL, calling on fans to boycott NFL games until players who refuse to stand for the national anthem are suspended or cut from the team.

So which is it...do fans stop going to games, or are the team owners supposed to fire the players? 

On ABC TV’s “This Week,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin defended Trump’s attack on NFL players. “You know, the NFL has all different types of rules.You can’t have stickers on your helmet. You have to have your jerseys tucked in. I think what the president is saying (Mnuchin doesn't really know, he just made this up on the spot) is that the owners should have a rule that players should have to stand in respect for the national anthem. This isn’t about Democrats, it’s not about Republicans, it’s not about race, it’s not about free speech. They can do free speech on their own time.”

Mnuchin (who never served in the military or as a first responder) needs a thorough lesson on the creation of the First Amendment. He makes the same mistake so many others do about the intent of the amendment - and what the NFL players kneeling represents - by erroneously claiming “This is about respect for the military and so many people who put their lives at risk and what the country stands for, and the owners should meet and they should decide on this rule the way they decide on any other rule.”

Incredulous, ABC’s Martha Raddatz immediately asked: “Is it not about their first amendment rights? Is it not about the first amendment?”

“No, it’s not,” Mnuchin replied. “They have the right to have the first amendment off the field.”

Free speech is only to be enjoyed in private, on your own time, away from everyone and everything. So voluntary standing, voluntary putting a hand over your heart, voluntary singing of the anthem is no longer acceptable. Now it must be coerced and if the NFL players don’t like it, they should be penalized or thrown out of work - or out of the country.

When former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick initially knelt rather than stand at games in 2016, He was NOT disrespecting the flag, the military, or our nation. He was protesting racial injustice and police brutality. That’s all.  He recognized the U.S. as his country too and he knew his First Amendment rights. In his display, he was calling attention to the increase in the number of police shootings of unarmed blacks as well as more overt discrimination against non-whites - yet there seemed to be no concern for it by government officials. There's even less under the Trump administration.

Thanks to Trump’s ignorant tweet and Mnuchin’s failure to understand what was the intent of the First Amendment, protest events and comments were commonplace at NFL games this weekend. At the day’s very first contest, a London showdown between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens, more than two dozen players knelt, as did Ravens owner Ray Lewis. Jaguars’ owner Shad Khan, who had been a Trump supporter, locked arms with his team in a show of unity. So did Ravens coach John Harbaugh. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers posted a photo on Instagram of him kneeling with several of his teammates. The Pittsburgh Steelers sidestepped the anthem entirely by staying in their locker room to demonstrate unity. (Only Alejandro Villanueva broke with them and went out to stand on the field.) LA Rams owner Stan Kroenke, a Trump supporter, released a statement affirming the players’ “freedom to peacefully express themselves”  as did the Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner. Over half of the Denver Broncos kneeled on the sideline at their game while numerous members of the New Orleans Saints remained sitting. The Houston Texans locked arms in a show of unity...the New York Giants locked arms too as several players took a knee. Yes, there were boos from the stands, but that is the fan’s First Amendment right. No one said they can’t do it because it might offend someone.

What Trump is calling for is a new interpretation of the First Amendment. If you live or work in the U.S., you must stand when the national anthem is played. You must stand and face the flag. You must show respect no matter what. And only Trump gets to interpret what “respect” means. When just one man gets that kind of power, it’s called a dictatorship.

So what the hell have we become?