Trump’s Executive Order is just a shiny object. Remember that. It has loopholes, and, in fact, Paul Ryan is bringing a bill to the floor of the House today that will allow for mass incarceration of immigrant families. Mass incarceration sounds pretty much like a concentration camp to me. Keep calling, my friends. I called my Representative (who I fervently pray gets voted out in November) this morning. And, there is no plan in place to reunite the children with their families. Parents have been deported, children have been moved to various parts of the county. How is a baby going to articulate his surname?
Trump’s MO: offer up something so egregious that any move on his part after that, no matter how substance-less, seems like a big improvement. I’m not buying it.
On to the garden:
The milkweed flowers are beginning to open.
Crown vetch, which used to spread all over the garden, is beginning to bloom. Crown vetch likes shade and when we lost a limb on the maple a couple of years ago, we lost the shade that the crown vetch thrived on. It’s still there in pockets of the garden, but not like it was.
I see a few bee balm flowers beginning to show themselves.
The bees are busy over in the spirea (and in the catmint.)
I mowed yesterday and am going to mow today as well. I have to get it done before the weekend, even though the grass isn’t all that long, because I might get stuck in jury duty next week. I’m hoping I’m not called or, if I’m called, it amounts to nothing. There’s a lot of my plate at the moment, not the least of which is that the show is ending in less than two weeks. I feel sadness creeping in, felt it last night, when I think of those lovely people, and the joyful experience they create every performance. I’ve never seen a nicer group of people and when I realized that when I watch the show on July 1st, it will be the last time I see them together, I cried. Don’s going to have to navigate a big change and although I can’t do it for him, I want to be there for him every step of the way.
Happy Thursday.
The orange monster was in Duluth , Minnesota last evening for a rally. 10,000 people were turned away because the venue was already full. Duluth is in the Arrowhead region and near the Iron Range (iron ore mining). The area has been economically depressed like the rust belt states for many years. The promise of tariffs on foreign steel has reinvigorated the iron range populous. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to understand the ripple effects of these tariffs! I am so worried about Minnesota turning red in the midterms. We hung on by our fingernails in the last general election (HRC won by 1%).
I am active in the immigrant rights movement and personally know undocumented families. You are 100% correct! His executive order is a giant ploy! We must fight on behalf of these vulnerable people. We must put ourselves in their shoes. My friends who lost family in the Nazi concentration camps warn that we are perilously close to the same.
The real question is: Why would they believe one word that man says? He’ll turn on them. He always does.
It’s all smoke and mirrors! And Paul Ryan is as bad as the rest of them…believe me…..those of us in Wisconsin know all too well!
My hubby said to me this morning…can you remember a time when we weren’t discussing politics and the state of the country? Short answer…NO! Although….I think there was a time…oh I miss those days.
It’s the first day of summer….and our high…is supposed to be 66. And, it’s raining again. We don’t need more rain…we’ve had enough. Thanks for the pretty pics! ;)
I can remember a time. It was during Obama’s presidency. I trusted him. I actually relaxed.
Send your rain our way. We really need it!
Oh yes..,,wasn’t that a grand time? Going to bed and feeling safe and secure. Sigh.
xo
You really should put a Like button on your posts. Also, in response to yesterday’s post, “I Can’t.”
I can’t either.
Just as long as there’s not a Don’t Like button! Thanks, my friend!
Beware of shiny objects indeed! I couldn’t believe it when I saw the news about the Executine Order yesterday – what a crock! And there he was looking proud of himself and his “ability to make things right for us!” Wow – just when you think things can’t get more ridiculous! How do people fall for this! Anyway – loved looking at your flowers and I will go outside to look at the pretty, shiny koi in my water garden – that’s the only shiny I will fall for today! Take care! –
Go look at your pretty koi, Jane!
I will not, for even one moment, be fooled by ‘the golden slimeball’ who resides in the White House. He is surrounded by witless sycophants who have spent the last few days justifying his actions and calling those caged centers ‘a summer camp.’ A pox on all of them!!
… and while we keep investigating these atrocities, let’s not forget to work toward abolishing the electoral college and getting a government elected by a majority vote.
This is just an ongoing time of sadness and misery and shame- it is exhausting, so thanks for moments of beautiful flowers and fun furnishings.
Sycophants who might as well be down on their knees kissing his ass. Disgraceful. Thanks, Barb.
Out of one mess into another. I don’t think he will get out of this one anytime soon. I have noticed one thing this year, a lot of bumble bees. I have some lavender in front of my back porch for a couple of years and this year so many bumble bees.
I haven’t seen a lot of them yet, so the fact that you’re seeing them makes me happy!
We live in Texas, and with Senators Cornyn and Cruz and Representative Randy Weber have exactly zero representation in Washington. In the years we’ve lived here, Galveston County has turned almost solidly red. Our current state representative, a Republican, has been reliably good on matters affecting Galveston (the governor and lieutenant governor are determined to eradicate virtually all local control of everything from tree planting/felling to short term vacation rentals), but lost the recent primary.
It must be extremely frustrating for you! My rep is a Republican and I detest him. Thank heavens our Senators are Schumer and Gillibrand.
Beyond frustrating. Galveston itself is very liberal, but the county’s population has exploded in the last couple of decades and is largely a conservative bedroom community for Houston. Weber is against a lot of the new tariff stuff and is a proponent of newspapers and the free press. The state government is an abomination into the lord it claims to worship. .
I’ve never seen so many hypocrites who call themselves Christians, Margaret.
Stomach-turning, isn’t it.
It is.
We have to work hard for Beto, Margaret, and then turn our eyes on Cornyn in 2020. I have decided to stop my frequent calls to Cruz, Cornyn and McCaul’s (my congressperson) offices and instead to turn my efforts to the future. It’s the only way I can stay sane. Right now, my efforts are mostly limited to making donations, but it’s my hope to schedule and recover from the next brain surgery in time to do some door-to-door walking as November nears.
Oh, yes, Beto for the win! And yes, the futility of e pressing our views to Cruz and Cornyn – although Cruz did backpedal on the kiddie concentration camps. My very best wishes for a successful surgery.
I love Beto.
Linda, you are one strong woman. Sending wishes for quick healing.
What a Charlatan he is!! When I saw him yesterday and his arrogance, well I just can’t! Time to unfriend a few more people also. Anyone who thinks any part of taking children from their parents and jailing them cannot be someone I can be a friend with. My anxiety level is already off the charts and this isn’t helping.
I keep seeing last two weeks of ETM and I just keep getting sadder and sadder. How hard for all who have worked so long for this time on Broadway to have it cut short my critics who really don’t matter. I’m thinking of Don and the whole cast as this journey comes to an end. Hugs to you and him!
I will not continue a friendship with someone who supports him. They are not for me.
We’re very sad. Don’s trying to be upbeat, but next week will be awful.
I am so glad to hear you say that. When I heard about this “EO” which he claimed for days and days that he could NOT do ~ of course my response was wondering what the hell he was up to. It was abundantly clear. He is such a liar, I do not know why ANYONE would believe he grew a conscience or compassion suddenly. Seriously????
Also, Melania is on a “surprise visit” to one of the concentration camps. Right. I’m sure it is a “surprise” and there will be absolutely NO staged photo ops. Over the past couple of years I have read several WWII books, and those Red Cross visits come to mind. “Nothing to see here!”
I have a month of Federal jury duty coming up in July. I am dreading it because it is in downtown Madison. I’m already having stomach issues worrying about it. I know it is my duty, but for what I think the Fed govt is worth right now, I just don’t feel that I owe them a thing. Bad attitude, I know.
Have a good Thursday. Hope the mowing goes well.
But a totally understandable attitude. Then again, we have to fight for our court system, one of the things that keeps the traitor in check.
Melania visits one of the facilities that is pretty much on the up and up. Why not have her visit a tent or a Walmart filled with cages?
Our con man is like that guy on tv saying that if you give him money his prayers will make you rich. Meanwhile he stays at the big hotels and fancy restaurants and we pay the bill. I will never vote for a republican as long as I live. And the con man has made our hispanic citizens really mad. I hope they have their revenge. I will join them in voting against the idiots who think babies should be used as coercion.
I also hope they have their revenge. Never Republican for me as well.
When I hear he was going to ANOTHER bizarre “rally” I nearly threw up. Where do these people come from who attend these grotesque events? I live in a RED state, Texas, but there has never been a rally here, thank God. We have, instead silent-but-deadly Republicans who although they say they don’t “like” the tweets etc, still VOTED for him and his toadies (Cornyn, Cruz etc.) Some are inching towards doing the right thing with this latest crisis, but ONLY because it’s so universally detestable. They (Texas Congressmen and Representatives) voted for Trump’s self serving “tax cut” openly. They voted for his health care cuts OPENLY and PROUDLY. They are just as shameful.
His life is a ‘reality show.’ He has to have constant adulation and sure enough, when things get tough, someone schedules a rally so he can get all pumped up again.
I saw a few clips from that rally and I, too, felt like puking. I don’t like his preening; completely arrogant. With such serious, serious things going on – – at his hand – – how can he not realize how this all makes him look? It’s a mockery of other people’s suffering. I swear the man has no heart. And he’s totally in love with himself. How can an old dude be so childish, is what also strikes me.
He’s a narcissist. Pure and simple. He has absolutely no compassion for others.
He doesn’t need to hold rallies here as he’s assured of the Texas vote. I live in Galveston which we like to say is “near Texas, ” but of course we still have to deal with Cruz and Cornyn and the loathsome Abbott and Patrick in Austin.
I went to the doctor today and told him flat out that my skin has been itching since the election. Because I am a 64 year old gray headed white woman some assume I am NOT the raging fight the man liberal that I am. The doctor said it’s happening everywhere…people are literally sick about TRUMP! A man named Beto O’Rourke is running against Ted Cruz for Senate. I signed up, gave money, and crossed my fingers.
I’m a 73 year old gray headed white woman and the same flaming liberal I e been since the Sixties. Beto will probably take Galveston Island, but not the county. We’re behind him all the way.
I can feel your pressure and I’d so hoped you could get in some good time yet to take advantage of that nice apartment in the city while you have it, although the weather sucks and your time is crunched. Sigh. A lot of disappointment you’re having; I feel for you and Don. Dashed plans…
On the one hand, jury duty is a privilege and I feel everyone should serve once. I personally don’t feel it’s fair when the same people are called multiple times, like my husband. I have known too many people who have NEVER served on a jury and they’re even older than I am. I did my time, and we convicted the guy on a felony in superior court; was two months out of my life and did my employer no good. Thereafter, they hit me up every single year for jury duty until my doctor finally put a lid on it because my physical health did not make me a good jury-server candidate anymore. Otherwise, I’m sure I’d still be called like clockwork every single year.
Wiping tears from my eyes right now as I just looked at that July cover of TIME mag with Trump and the child; speaks volumes.
My husband and I could talk of nothing else last night. We’re in a border state. It’s not like we don’t understand some of the problems with the massive waves of immigrants coming into Southern California. Trump is just doing this to support the wall, right? Leverage? I hate the idea of a wall. As a very young woman, I’d always thought two things: In my lifetime, I wanted to see the Berlin Wall come tumbling down, and Cuba truly freed.
My head’s been in the sand for months. I had to turn off headlines. I was going nuts. The danger in that, is being uninformed of current events. For the first time in awhile, I watched Rachel last night. It took me a long time to go to sleep afterward. I thought her interview with the erudite gentleman whose name escapes me at the moment (the former immigration official under Pres. Obama) was really key, and I especially zeroed in on his point about the dangers in Latin America (not just Mexico – – Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, etc.) forcing the people out, such that until we help those countries stabilize, the problem of mass exodus will not be solved.
You know, Claudia, we’ve talked before of how some of us are old enough to remember the Viet Nam War, all the horrific events of 1968, Watergate; a myriad of stuff in the U.S. But this year and last year in American ‘politics’ is like nothing we’ve ever experienced and it’s due to the one man in office who we can’t get out of there. God help us; all he does is bring us down.
I read an old article in US NEWS this morning to understand again how anything could happen for Trump to leave the Oval Office earlier and they said this, “…by far the most likely outcome is that he is president until at least noon on January 20, 2021…and given the advantages of incumbency (yes…he’s unpopular but 54 percent of the country voted for someone else…yet we’re stuck with him), there’s a real possibility he’ll get another four years…”
(Again, that was a 2017 piece; I don’t know if Mueller was on-scene yet…)
I doubt very much whether Trump will make it to the next election. He will be indicted, impeached or will resign. And he surely won’t get another four more years. There’s too much that is going to come to light. He won’t be able to survive it.
I’ve served on a jury before. I don’t really want to again, especially not now. I had no idea when I scheduled it for next week, after postponing once, that the show would be closing. It sucks.
Your words about Trump give me hope.
I remember you’ve served; I wish you hadn’t been called to the jury duties AGAIN. Especially right now; the timing is awful! Maybe it’ll be over in one day; fingers crossed.
xo
We have a white supremist/self proclaimed pedophile running for our state senate thanks to our former governor.
This same person that I am writing about was a felon. He wrote a threatening letter that threaten to kill either former President Bush or President Obama. He spent time in jail. And somehow or other he got his name on the ballot that is coming up in the fall. And somehow or other it had to do with what our former governor (Democrat) signed into law when he was in office. If you want I can give you his name. I guess what I am trying to say is compare to all the ones in office right now. They don’t sound so bad, do they? Thankfully he is not in my area.
He should never be qualified to run for office. It’s shameful.
But I have to disagree with you. They are all despicable. And let’s remember Trump supported a pedophile running for office. No, they all sound as bad as ever.
You must be talking about Nathan Larson in Charlottesville, VA. He is the scum of the earth.
I’m a unclear – are you saying Trump and the Republicans supporting Trump aren’t so bad?
I hope she isn’t. I can’t speak for Trina, though. I think it’s more a case of ‘how low can you go?’ and a self-professed felon/pedophile is pretty low.
That is what I am trying to say. Thank you Claudia.
Oh, good! I’m glad my take was right. Thanks, Trina.
I’ve read about that. Horrific. Simply horrific. He should be in jail.
I never believe anyone unless they have proven they can be trusted…DT has been a lier since day one and shows no signs of improving…he is totally disgusting!
Love the photos.
I won’t talk politics because I disagree with so many people on so many things. However, I do agree with the point that if someone is not happy with how things are they need to be vocal and try to impact change. It doesn’t always work out for everyone to get things the way they want them but it does much more good than just complaining.
Sending good vibes to you and Don as things wind down for him. Peace.