I woke up this morning and turned on the news as I usually do and was immediately assaulted by Wayne LaPierre spewing his usual bullshit at the CPAC convention currently being held in Maryland. For those who may not know, LaPierre is the executive VP of the NRA. One of the first things I heard him say was that if any of the European style socialists were to get into power, rights like the first and second amendment would be threatened. I love how conservative nut jobs always try to equate gun ownership with free speech. It is a false equation. When was the last time an American President spoke about curbing the rights of gun owners? Gun control, which the vast majority of Americans support, yes but taking away guns from law abiding citizens, no. In the past 25 years, we have gone through 16 years of Democratic administrations and idiots and mentally deranged individuals are still able to purchase guns legally. Contrast that with Donald Trump who has openly and notoriously talked about changing the first amendment to limit the rights of journalists to write the truth. He calls it "fake news" but there is nothing fake about it. He just doesn't like what they are saying.

LaPierre and the NRA have become far too powerful and far too influential for any advocacy group. He stopped short of stating it but many who listened to him had the current conspiracy theory in mind. The theory goes something like this: many of the student who are now very vocal about gun control in the wake of the Parkland Florida High School shooting are not real. You should not identify with their pain because they are actors just trying to push forward a liberal agenda. What they did do was blame the F.B.I., Democrats and the press for exploiting the victims' pain for political gain.

LaPierre and his attack dog Dana Loesch should be ashamed of themselves for sitting by and allowing the continued mass carnage from the easy availability of guns in this country. I suspect that if some whack job appeared at the next N.R.A. meeting with a gun that was  legally purchased and started blowing away these conservative boobs, their opinions might change, but I doubt it.

This blog has been silent since the day after the 2016 election. Frankly, I was stunned at the outcome. I am not the only one. I have watched over the past fifteen months as my country dives deeper and deeper into disrepair. The damage Mr. Trump has inflicted on the office of the Presidency is incalculable. It may take generations to repair the damage assuming it can even be repaired.

We've all watched the slow train known as the Mueller investigation rolling down the track and Trump's refusal to even acknowledge Russia's involvement in the 2016 campaign. Now, however as the train begins to pick up speed The White House has finally admitted that Russia did meddle in the election but clearly it had no impact on the outcome. Really?

I guess what they (the White House staff) would have you believe is that the Russians are incompetent. Clearly they meddled in our election but clearly it had no impact. And if you believe that, you must also believe in the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and Santa Clause. If I were Russian, I would be a bit miffed that you think we spent all that effort and all that money and got nothing for our trouble. Sorry to inform you but we got exactly what we came for.

Now I can't categorically state that the Trump campaign was in on the "fix" but they were certainly the beneficiary of what ever happened. I trust that Mr. Mueller will uncover the truth of the matter but at the moment, it seems all roads lead to the Trump campaign. If indeed the Mueller investigation concludes that the Trump campaign colluded with a foreign government to throw a US election, that revelation would send shock waves through this government and anyone who defended this administration should be barred from ever serving in elected office ever again. In truth, they should go to prison for aiding and abetting treason but the current political climate would never allow that to happen.

Stay tuned.