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Fear and Loathing and Lying in Amerika. ShapoJuice.

Now it’s time for another of those JuicyLessons from Canadian Jerry, or CJ for short.

Donald Trump, the present occupant of the White House, has been known to lie, mislead and generally subvert the truth by basically attempting to misguide his audience in an effort to spin what are pretty well indisputable facts into a set of circumstances more favourable to him.
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To that end, he has said some ridiculously stupid things but what he said a few days ago was something special, and not in a good way. While entertaining the Louisiana State Tigers, who won the national collegiate football championship by defeating Clemson last Monday, 13th January, 2020, Trump had this to say:

“Many presidents … some good, some bad, … you have a good one now, … and they’re trying to impeach the son-of-a-bitch … “
“Trying”to impeach?? Come off it, Trump. You have already been impeached whether you like it or not and we should not and will not let you get away with your feeble attempts to spin the situation into something less negative for you. You got yourself into your troubles regardless of the high degree of probability that you will blame others for that sooner than later.
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The fact that he called himself a son of a bitch is notable for three reasons, briefly discussed here in no particular order:
Firstly, his use of such language should be frowned upon considering the pomp and circumstance surrounding yesterday’s event; secondly, and not for the first time, the Amerikan president is speaking of himself in the third person which is a reflection of the narcissism which pervades the totality of his personality; and last but by no means least, the guy, deep down, seems to have a very low opinion of himself. Do you need or want a president who hates himself? The guy’s a complete and total fuck up, like it or not.
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Now the process has ended up in the Senate, for the trial of the president and a vote to determine whether or not he should be removed from office. This ain’t likely to happen for two reasons: First, the Republicans hold a majority of Senate seats (53-47*)and most of these Republicans are not likely to want the president removed. Second, it takes an absolute (two-thirds) majority of sixty-seven (67) votes to remove Trump from his position as chief executive, the president in other words, which is means that if all forty-seven (47) Democratic* Senators vote to rid the country of this scourge of Trump, it would require an additional twenty (20) Republicans to turn coat. Given the fact that getting even the four Republicans required to get the fifty-one (51) vote majority necessary to call witnesses is itself highly unlikely (regardless of statements from Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney, three Republicans, suggesting that they’re open to the having witnesses testify at the trial stage), it becomes sheer fantasy to assume that sixty-seven votes to get rid of Trump will ever happen, not in a million years.
*Note that the Senate is presently composed of fifty-three (53) Republicans (G.O.P), forty-five (45) Democrats, and two Independents who are part of the Democratic voting block.

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Events are unfolding daily. Lev Parnas, a man indicted on two criminal counts, has decided to spill the beans on the goings on related to Ukraine. According to this guy, who seemed credible to me by the way, Trump knew everything that was going on. Parnas’s boss, Rudy Guiliani, is also, COHENcidentally Trump’s personal attorney, and the person who gave Parnas to go ahead to tell Ukrainian President Zelinsky that unless he publicly announced, within twenty-for hours, that the Ukraine government would be launching an investigation into the Bidens, that the over $300 million in American security aid would not be forthcoming, nor would Vice-President Mike sixPENCE be attending Zelinsky’s inauguration ceremony.

Since no such announcement was made, Pence, citing a scheduling problem, did not attend the ceremony and the military assistance was withheld for a while. The only reason that this congressionally-sanctioned military assistance was finally released was because a whistle blower, with seemingly intimate knowledge of the goings-on, had become known to exist which forced Trump’s hand.
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I’m sure Trump would rather that Parnas had not come forward because of the latter’s contention that Trump knew everything, that he was indeed trying, through his intermediaries, Giuliani, and through Rudy, Lev Parnas, to pressure Zelinsky to do his bidding related to investigating the Bidens, not in the interest of seeking out and eliminating as far as possible, corruption in the Ukrainian government as Trump and his sycophants are claiming, but in an effort to get some kind of dirt on Joe Biden, perceived by Trump to be his most significant foe in terms of presidential election upcoming next November. In other words, Trump was operating in his own interests, attempting to get foreign interference in the American election, rather than in the national security interests of the United States and in the process was in fact compromising U.S. national security, or so goes the argument. Trump’s claim that he doesn’t know Parnas simply doesn’t come close to holding water.
164C4FBC-6E81-4427-AA88-A2736BB91D0CLev Parnas, Rudy Giuliani’s former associate who stands at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, has threatened to release a new photo of himself with Donald Trump every time the president denies knowing him.

And now for something completely different, the prestigious New York Times newspaper has just broken with tradition and endorsed not one, but two Democratic Party nominees for president – none other than lying Elizabeth Warren and wishing-washy corporate shill, Amy Klobichar. WTF! What about Senator Bernie Sanders?

Oh, I forgot, Sanders is a “socialist” which is something which that newspaper and other members of the elite view as an assault on capitalism which it is. Sanders supports, and has supported for at least the past three decades, Medicare for all, a policy which will force the wealthy in society to pay additional taxes to support it; even some in the upper bourgeoisie (middle class) will see their taxes increased to pay for Medicare as well as for free post-secondary education, the latter another plank in Sanders’ platform.
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So what? Far be it from me or from anyone else for that matter to argue that people in the upper socio-economic echelons have enough money and can thus afford to pay additional tax to support policies which would probably help those that need it most – the impoverished and desperate in American society – so I won’t.
What I will say is the following: the elite, those who have benefited the most from the sweat of the working class (proletariat) obviously feel threatened in a circumstance where a university education is available to any and all who desire it since this would doubtlessly lead to a more educated population asking certain questions which the privileged would not want to hear. For higher education specifically, and education in general, give people a certain perspective which the uneducated lack, a perspective which might cause people to question why there is such an unequal distribution of wealth and, consequently power, not only in American society, but in certain other western nations as well, Canada 🇨🇦, for example. More significantly, the question about how to redress such inequality would arise, which is a direct threat to the status of those in power.

Further, a formally-educated population would become cognizant of the fact that there is more that draws us together than that which drives a wedge amongst us. This would certainly cause people to understand the following: the people who pull the strings love to see people fight with each other rather than focussing their energies on confronting the elite, itself, who, in my humble opinion, is the real enemy of the people. Educating people would also go far in eliminating the racism which is prevalent in the contemporary U.S.A.

In addition, an educated population would be able to see Trump and people of his ilk for what these people are – self-serving and as dishonest as the day is long.
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Enough said … for now.

Now for something relatively short and not so sweet to finish off today’s JuicyLesson (JL) for all you Dennis Shapavolov tennis fans.

This morning I saw the lowlights of Shapovalov’s first round loss to a dude from Hungary whom I’d never even heard of prior to these incidents in the Australian Tennis Open. Shapo, seeded thirteenth, made over fifty unforced errors in his four set loss to unseeded Marton Fucsovics, (6-3; 6-7; 6-1; 7-6)

I really don’t know what was bothering Shapo, whether it’s the fact that he came into his first round match zero for three in his three previous Grand Slam first rounds, and I couldn’t care less. There is absolutely no excuse for his behaviour – smashing (but not breaking, as he was quick to tell the Chair Umpire who had taken a point away from him for a code violation after the third occurrence), and then throwing a fit which can only be described as a childish temper tantrum, and that from a twenty year old supposedly professional tennis player, ranked first among Canadian men entered in the Open.

Having the unmitigated gall to go off on the Chair Ump after having been a hit by the aforementioned code violation, arguing that he hadn’t actually broken the racket and therefore had not committed the violation for which he was being penalized. “I can do whatever the hell I want”, he yelled as part of what may be described as a totally unhinged mini-rant. Included in his outburst was telling the ump to “do your job … “ as well as offering this parting shot to the beleaguered ump. (I paraphrase): It’s my racket and I can do whatever the hell I want with it, to put the previous “whatever the hell I want” remark in context.
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And then to offer up the following in the post-match presser as his excuse for behaviour which is totally inexcusable in my opinion:
“It has happened to me a couple of times, last year at Wimbledon it was the same thing,” said Shapovalov. “It was kind of different for me, the wins weren’t coming at that time and I wanted to do well at Wimbledon. I feel like grass really suits me. It was the same story. It happens. I think it happens to every tennis player and it is just about learning to deal with it.”

It’s funny how Shapo, who, btw, has a net worth of approximately $1.5 million, says that this has “happened” to him three times in the past, and thereby taking zero responsibility for his very immature behaviour.

Believing that every tennis player goes through the same things is ridiculous.BAB6A8E8-A889-4ADA-B9DE-0DDDC548B860 There are brats, that’s true, and Shapovalov now joins their ranks, but I’m fairly sure that most tennis pros on tour – both men and women – behave themselves, abs Bouchard, currently ranked #262 in the world, whom one could aptly describe as a spoiled little bratess, 92C82D35-5096-478D-A57A-B2A58E1B23F8who has never learned to develop the work ethic required to aspire to a much higher standing than at present. She was bounced in the qualification third round, after posting wins in her first two matches. Genie. Genie. Genie. Nor was she able to cope with her fame, seeking to better her brand rather than to improve her game – both physically and attitudinally.AC883096-B181-4C09-8529-6C9254746535

I don’t think Denis-boy is headed in that direction, but one never knows. Smarten up. Grow up. Step up.

Peace and love to you, my friendly readers.

11 Comments

  • Jerry Cohen says:

    Vivian Lois Hatfield comments as follows:
    I for one can’t stand him. Bullet

  • Shawn says:

    I believe it’s time to refrain from using the title “Republican” for those formerly belonging to the Republican Party, as it has been replaced by the Trump party, whose raison d’être is the protection and empowerment of the Trump family.

    As for Sanders, he isn’t a socialist and the use of the term and association with Venezuela is simply fear mongering on the part of the Trumpists. Sanders is a social democrat who believes in using the fruits of capitalism to afford socialist programs to help progress society.

    • Jerry Cohen says:

      He himself refers to himself as a socialist, Shawn. “The difference between me and Elizabeth Warren is that she’s a capitalist and I’m not.”
      – Bernie Sanders

      • Shawn says:

        Hi Jerry,

        He does and I think Sanders is wrong and doing himself and his campaign a disservice. He should stop referring to himself as that because that’s not what he is promoting, unless he is lying, which I do not believe to be the case

  • Jerry Cohen says:

    Faigie Coodin says:
    Right on.

  • Jerry Cohen says:

    Ginny Hughes encourages with this:
    Good one. Keep it up.

  • Jerry Cohen says:

    Tony Keeler says:
    Jerry,Unfortunately I agree with everything you’ve pointed-out re Trump et al. Very Sad situation and I don’t know if the US can ever fully recover from his term(hopefully just one) as President.Is ultimately the USA going the way of The Roman Empire or some kinda of societal revolution where th 1% will be forced to share a crumb of their uge Cake??

  • Jerry Cohen says:

    Emily Polisano says:
    Nothing will change until we unite under 1 common cause, the defeat of Richie Rich. We’re all getting screwed. The only color Richie Rich respects is GREEN!!!

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