Another mass shooting, this one in a veteran's home in California.

Courtesy of SF Gate:  

A military veteran who had been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder burst into a veterans home in the North Bay town of Yountville on Friday with a rifle, killed three women connected with the treatment program and then killed himself, authorities and program officials said. 

Law enforcement officers found the bodies of the victims and the killer at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville shortly before 6 p.m., more than seven hours after the incident began, said Chris Childs, an assistant chief of the California Highway Patrol. 

Authorities had earlier said the gunman was holding staff members of the Pathway Home, a program on the Veterans Home campus that had been treating him for PTSD until he was asked to leave several days ago. 

One of those killed was the program’s executive director, Christine Loeber, the Pathway Home said in a statement. Also killed were Dr. Jen Golick, a therapist with the program, and Dr. Jennifer Gonzales, a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Francisco, the statement said.

The killer's name was Albert Wong, a man suffering from PTSD after serving overseas and fighting in the unnecessary wars started by the Bush Administration.

There are hundreds of similar afflicted veterans in this country, and virtually all of them continue to have access to firearms.

After all if you listen to the conservatives that was one of the rights they were fighting for over there. Which of course makes no sense.

"I was over there in Iraq shooting the enemy so that I could return back here and shoot a couple of doctors as is my God given right as an American."

Well I guess we have no choice but to install some bullet proof glass, add some reinforced doors, and post a couple of cops at all of the veteran's homes in the country.

I mean what other solution could there possibly be, right?

Fox News features a fake Navy Seal in a story supporting Donald Trump.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Fox News ran a story on Oct. 8 about a decorated Vietnam War Navy SEAL and glass artist who created an enormous presidential glass seal he hoped to give to President Trump. On Thursday, 11 days later, the network retracted the story after being told the Trump supporter never served in the SEALs or in Vietnam, much less earned commendations for his service. 

In the segment, John Garafalo said he served in the Vietnam War with the U.S. Navy SEAL team. Fox News reported that he also received two Purple Hearts and about two dozen other medals for his service. 

The man’s claimed record turned out to be a fabrication. It was first discovered by former Navy SEALs. Both these SEALs and family members of Garofalo contacted Fox News about the story, according to the Navy Times. 

Don Shipley, a retired SEAL, told the Navy Times that he contacted Fox on Oct. 9, the day after the story ran. 

But the story was still on the news outlet’s Facebook page on Oct. 19. By then it had amassed 1.5 million views.

Fox News eventually published a correction but of course was after a million people had been fooled by their story.

 What a crackerjack team of researchers they employee at Fox News.

Now this same thing could of course happen to other cable news outlets like MSNBC or CNN, after all they have to present 24 hours of news each day.

However Fox News has a particular problem with the folks they present as experts, intelligence officials, or even actual journalists.

You know it's almost as if they care less about a person's credentials and more about whether or not they are willing to support the station's ideology and spout their talking points.

Or an I just being cynical?

While supposedly honoring military veterans Donald Trump instead attacks media while saying "I'm president, and they're not."

.@POTUS: "The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House but I'm president and they're not." pic.twitter.com/QdqF7h7CbU

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 2, 2017

Courtesy of the New York Times: 

President Trump used the first part of his holiday weekend getaway to issue more denunciations of the news media, using a celebration of American veterans and freedom at an evening rally to thunder that he would not allow the “fake” media to stop his agenda. 

Speaking to raucous supporters at a faith rally at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington Saturday night, Mr. Trump brought the crowd to its feet by condemning news organizations. 

“The fake media is trying to silence us,” Mr. Trump told the crowd at the concert hall, after returning to Washington briefly from his weekend getaway at his golf club in New Jersey. “But we will not let them. Because the people know the truth. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House. But I’m president and they’re not.”

"I'm president, and you're not." So incredibly juvenile.

Remember countries around the world are watching this, and learning something about America that we have been denying for decades.

That there is a large segment of the population who are easily manipulated, and who respond to authoritarian language containing any buzzwords about freedom, patriotism, or family and religious values, regardless of who spouts them.

That was how the Russians used social media to inspire support for Donald Trump, and turn voters against Hillary Clinton.

And it is how they, and others, will continue to manipulate us for many years to come.

That is unless we educate a whole lot of people, in a very limited period of time.

Veterans group releases ad demanding that there be an investigation into Trump's ties with Russia.

Courtesy of Liberal Speak:

America’s military veterans say they’re “putting Trump on notice” and demanding a full investigation into President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. 

More and more evidence suggests that the Trump team is connected with Russian special interests and that Russia helped influence the presidential election in Trump’s favor. Thousands of military veterans around the country are saying enough is enough. 

Vote Vets is a political organization that supports military veterans. They’re circulating a new advertisement that calls out President Trump and demands answers from the Republican leadership.

Go ahead Trump, ignore the veterans, see where that gets you.

Army veterans return to Standing Rock to stand with Native Americans in their protest against the Dakota Access pipeline.

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

US veterans are returning to Standing Rock and pledging to shield indigenous activists from attacks by a militarized police force, another sign that the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline is far from over. 

Army veterans from across the country have arrived in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, or are currently en route after the news that Donald Trump’s administration has allowed the oil corporation to finish drilling across the Missouri river.

The growing group of military veterans could make it harder for police and government officials to try to remove hundreds of activists who remain camped near the construction site and, some hope, could limit use of excessive force by law enforcement during demonstrations. 

“We are prepared to put our bodies between Native elders and a privatized military force,” said Elizabeth Williams, a 34-year-old air force veteran, who arrived at Standing Rock with a group of vets late on Friday. “We’ve stood in the face of fire before. We feel a responsibility to use the skills we have.”

Well this is going to make it substantially difficult for the local police to bully these protesters and stomp on their civil rights. 

It also presents a real challenge for the Trump administration.

After all how can they stand arm in arm with their corporate buddies when that might mean seeing military veterans dragged away in handcuffs because they were exercising their constitutional right to protest?

Move aside Sarah Palin it looks like at least one prominent Democrat is pushing for former Senator Scott Brown to get the VA cabinet position.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Thursday praised her onetime opponent Scott Brown, who President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating to be secretary of veteran affairs. 

In an interview with Boston’s WGBH, Warren offered enthusiastic support for Brown, whom she unseated in the often-contentious 2012 Massachusetts Senate race. 

“If Scott Brown is the nominee for Veterans Affairs, I have no doubt that he would put his heart and soul into trying to help veterans,” she said. “And I would put my heart and soul into trying to help him do that. You bet I’d support that.” 

Warren has a personal stake in the Department of Veteran Affairs ― all three of her brothers served in the military.

Apparently Brown HAS met with Trump about the job and publicly thanked Warren for her endorsement.

My thanks to @SenWarren for her kind words. If nom. for SecVA, I will welcome her support, passion and help to serve our Vets. #truce

— Scott P. Brown (@SenScottBrown) December 1, 2016

While it would seem odd that Warren would endorse the man who she beat out for the job as Massachusetts Senator for a cabinet position, perhaps considering her families connection to the military she is just desperate to keep the VA out of the hands of Sarah Palin.

 I don't know much about Brown's qualifications, but at least he himself did serve in the military, and is not simply trying to get credit for raising a kid who joined the Guard to avoid jail time, or for marrying off one his daughters to a Medal of Honor winner.

A little reminder for those who think that Sarah Palin is fit to run the VA. This is how badly she screwed up health programs here in Alaska.

(I had almost forgotten this so thank you to all of you who reminded me.)

Right after Palin quit as Governor, a story broke over at ADN (Now removed) which revealed that she had seriously neglected a program to help elderly Alaskans so badly that it had to be taken over by the Federal Government.

Here is the post I wrote about it back in July 2009: 

State programs intended to help disabled and elderly Alaskans with daily life -- taking a bath, eating dinner, getting to the bathroom -- are so poorly managed, the state cannot assure the health and well-being of the people they are supposed to serve, a new federal review found. 

The situation is so bad the federal government has forbidden the state to sign up new people until the state makes necessary improvements. 

No other state in the nation is under such a moratorium, according to a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

In the meantime, frail and vulnerable Alaskans who desperately need the help are struggling. One elderly woman is stuck in a nursing home, for lack of care at home. Another woman, suffering from chronic pain and fatigue, said she's so weak, she often can't even pop dinner into the microwave. 

A particularly alarming finding concerns deaths of adults in the programs. In one 2 1/2 year stretch, 227 adults already getting services died while waiting for a nurse to reassess their needs. Another 27 died waiting for their initial assessment, to see if they qualified for help.

When the Feds took it over they managed to fix it right away, but of course not in time to save those 200+ lives.

So if Sarah Palin cannot even manage to run a small program to help the elderly in a sparsely populated state like Alaska, how could she possibly be able to run the whole VA?

(For those who are interested here is Mudflats take on that story, and Shannyn Moore talking to Keith Olbermann about it.)

While we are on the topic of veteran soldiers it should also be noted that when Palin was governor a soldier named Jeremy Morlock wrote her a letter, which she ignored completely: 

Web mail from: Mr. Jeremy Morlock 
address: 2 bn 1st inf reg bct Ft. Lewis WA 98433 
706-662-7266 

MESSAGE: Mrs. Sarah Palin rnrnSarah I wish I knew of a better way of getting in contact with you and I know your busy having a whole state to run but, I was writing because I had a question to ask. I guess I'll start off by letting you know where im at with things, being in the Army as an lower enslisted man its hard to get things done, I've been looking in to a regulation we have called a 'compassionate reassignment (AR 614-100).' It stipulates under certian circumstances a soldier can request to move duty stations to help care for family in need . I know you have known my family for some time and I think of you all as friends and you know my mother is now taking care of all the girls by herself while trying to keep a job. I'm not asking for pity for my family or myself, I'm just asking if there is anything you could do to help me with my process of getting home to Alaska to help. My direct chain of comand (team, squad leader) have been trying there best to help with out causeing! problems for them selves but, the fact is that my Unit is not really supporting me and trying to coax me to stay. I appreciate your time in reading this and any help you can offer.rnrn sincerely,rnPFC Morlock, Jeremyrn2/1 INF 5 SBCT

Later Morlock would plead guilty to killing innocent Afghan citizens for sport and posing next to their dead bodies.

They even made a documentary about it.

Could Sarah Palin have prevented this tragedy by personally responding to that letter? A letter that came to her from one of her children's friends?

We'll never know, because she did nothing.

The same nothing that she did to protect those 200+ elderly Alaskans.

And the same nothing she will do if she is appointed Secretary of the VA. 

Reports say that Sarah Palin is under consideration to join Trump's cabinet as the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs. Update!

A source close to Sarah Palin tells NBC News fmr gov is interested in VA Secretary post, has been in touch w/ Trump transition team

— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) November 30, 2016

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Palin was a strong supporter of the president-elect throughout his campaign. 

She endorsed the billionaire in January during his primary campaign, ahead of the Iowa state caucuses. 

Reports surfaced earlier this month that Palin was a possibility to head the Interior Department. 

Some lawmakers, however, questioned whether she would be up to speed on policy.

So is Palin up to speed on policies concerning the VA?

Of course not.

However she has a faux combat veteran son and an actual Medal of Honor winner for a son-in-law, so if she wants it she's a shoe in.

And since Trump seems to be choosing his cabinet based on how much damage they can each do to their prospective agencies, I have little doubt that he would gladly stick Palin into this position.

Don't think that the confirmation process will weed her out either, I cannot imagine the Democrats wasting too much of their time fighting this appointment when there are so many more troubling appointments to contend with.

Speaking of ole Dakota Meyer it appears that he might have been disinvited from a Marine Corps ball due to his vocal opposition to the Obama Administration: 

On Nov. 12, the Tribunist website reported that Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer (who is also the son-in-law of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin) had been invited to the Marine Corps’ 241st birthday celebration at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, but his invitation was revoked by the Obama administration (or, at least, by a U.S. ambassador) at the last minute for political reasons, Snopes.com reported. Due to security issues inside Afghanistan, the ball was to be held inside the embassy itself. 

“As arrangements were being finalized, however, the Medal of Honor recipient was told that he would not be able to come. Why? Because Meyer has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration. 

“Ambassador P. Michael McKinley ordered his chief of mission to “look into” the Medal of Honor recipient and, based on the report he was given about Meyer’s political views, decided he would not allow Meyer to attend the ball inside the embassy.” 

Meyer told Snopes.com in a phone interview that “I was told he [McKinley] doesn’t like my position and comments on the administration, but those views are my right. Blocking access to the American embassy is his right as the ambassador.”

By the way Snopes says that this remains unproven, and it really does not sound like something the Obama Administration would condone, but none of that really doesn't matter because we are now in a new fact free reality it seems.

Besides with Donald Trump in the White House, and Sarah Palin heading up the VA, I am sure that Dakota will be allowed to attend any damn military ball, Right Wing kegger, or conservative frat party that he wants to attend.

Hoohah! (Or something like that.)

Update: Yep it looks like Palin's all in alright.

This nightmare is really never going to stop is it?

Donald Trump insults veterans who suffer PTSD by saying they are not strong and "cannot handle" the things they've seen in war.

Courtesy of Slate: Donald Trump appeared on Monday morning at an event hosted by the Retired American Warriors PAC in Herndon, Virginia.

..... you can see a response to a question about military suicides in which Trump's attempt to pander to the crowd by complimenting them for being "strong" and able to "handle" the trauma of war goes badly awry.

Here is a transcript of his remarks:  

When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat, they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you're strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it. And they see horror stories, they see events that you couldn't see in a movie, nobody would believe it, and we need a mental health help and medical and ... it's one of the things that I think is least addressed, and it's one of the the things I hear the most about when I go around and talk to the veterans. So we're going to have a very, very robust level of performance having to do with mental health. We are losing so many great people that could be taken care of if they had proper care.

I wonder if Trump removes his foot from his mouth just once is awhile to wipe the spit off of it and allow it to dry out a little.

Once again Trump has no fucking idea what he is talking about.

He just says words that he thinks his audience wants to hear.

However this time our veterans perhaps heard his remarks a little to well.

I guess my buddy who I deployed with, who suffered from PTSD, and who took his own life wasn't as strong as a roomful of Trump's supporters. https://t.co/iLb5V4PYs8

— Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) October 3, 2016

My BF served 15 yrs in USMC w/ 3 tours in Iraq. He has a service dog for PTSD & now works for USSS. #Trump has no grasp of that kind of life https://t.co/qkQOUBOK7L

— LawBlarg‽ (@LawBlarg) October 3, 2016

@iava As a veteran of the USAF I cannot take the way this man speaks about any group of people including veterans. https://t.co/JTuxy9axyH

— Kevin Cracknell (@kevin_cracknell) October 3, 2016

And it made the usually cool as a cucumber Joe Biden just about lose his shit.

Well I guess we should all just sit back and wait for Sarah Palin, that "combat veteran's" mother (With a son who she also clams also suffers from PTSD.), tear Trump a new asshole for being an insensitive POS.

Yep, going to wait right here for that. Should be any minute now.

Yep, still waiting.

Probably taking awhile because you know she is all the way up in Alaska. Wait.....

Former World War 2 POW speaks out against Donald Trump in new advertisement.

Joel Sollender, WWII veteran and POW, on what it means when he hears Trump insult our vets. pic.twitter.com/3ZIezeRTl9

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 18, 2016

Courtesy of Tablet Mag: 

On Friday, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign released an arresting new ad. In it, Joel Sollender, an American Jewish soldier who was taken prisoner by the Nazis, responds to Donald Trump’s infamous claim that he doesn’t consider John McCain a war hero because “I like people that weren’t captured.” 

Sollender, who will soon turn 92, lives in California and has been speaking out against Trump and his candidacy for over a year, which is how the Clinton campaign found him. “I was very pleased that they contacted me and that I had a chance to voice my opinion,” he told me. Sollender worked for two hours with the film crew to produce the spot. The online ad runs for 90 seconds, while a 30-second version is now airing on TV. It has already gone viral and been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. 

Something that didn’t make it into the short clip, Sollender said, was his fear at the time that the Germans would discover that he was Jewish. “As a prisoner of war, and being Jewish, I had some concerns about my dog tags, which were obviously marked ‘H’ for Hebrew,” he recounted. “But they never looked at them. I had blond hair and blue eyes and spoke a little German, so it helped me along.”

I have to admit that this ad really got to me.

Especially when him tear up in memory of the war, and his time as a POW.

Very powerful, and as ad that I would think might speak directly to some of those folks who are typically conservative and having a hard time deciding who to vote for in this election.

The Obama administration has quietly cut the number of homeless veterans in half.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Veteran homelessness has dropped nearly in half since 2010, thanks to partnerships and programming, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on Monday. 

On a given night in January, there were fewer than 40,000 homeless veterans, according to the country’s annual Point-in-Time count. That marked a 47 percent decrease since the same count was conducted six years prior. 

The success was due to the White House’s first-ever strategic plan to end veteran homelessness and a unique partnership between HUD and the Department of Veteran Affairs. Through the collaboration, HUD provides rental assistance to homeless veterans and the VA complements it with case management and clinical services. 

Since 2010, more than 360,000 veterans and their families have been permanently housed, rapidly rehoused or were spared from becoming homeless through HUD and VA programs. 

“The dramatic decline in veteran homelessness reflects the power of partnerships in solving complex national problems on behalf of those who have served our nation,” Robert A. McDonald, VA secretary, said in a statement. “The men and women who have fought for this nation should not have to fight to keep a roof over their head.”

Okay this is the kind of thing that both irritates me and impresses me about President Obama.

If Donald Trump did anything even a tenth this impressive he would be bragging about it on every network news show in the country, and having t-shirts printed that advertised his success.

On the other hand Obama mentions it in passing during a speech at the Disabled American Veterans convention, and a handful of news sites bother to share the news with the public.

You mark my words, after President Obama leaves office we are going to be amazed to learn all of the amazing things he did while in office that he did not bother to brag about in public.

In other news I think that Donald Trump managed to go pee pee in the big boy toilet all by himself.

Donald Trump very honored to receive fake Purple Heart from supporter. Undoubtedly less honored to be called out by Dakota Meyer.

Did he really say "I always wanted to get the Purple Hear, this was much easier?"

Unfortunately for Trump the medal was not real.

The man who gave Trump his purple heart told me earlier today, it was a copy of his purple heart.

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) August 2, 2016

Okay he attacks Gold Star families, gets stuck in elevators, misspells words on Twitter, and now gets scammed by a former veteran?

But wait, there's more.

If @realDonaldTrump wants to be the Commander in Chief, he needs to act like one. And that cant start until he apologizes to the Khans.

— Dakota Meyer (@Dakota_Meyer) August 2, 2016

That's right he just got called out by his Trump Tramp's son-in-law. And Hillary Clinton just retweeted it.

I am not sure if I am watching a legitimate presidential campaign or the parody of a presidential campaign.

P.S. By the way Trump is also refusing to support John McCain, Paul Ryan, and Kelly Ayotte in their upcoming primaries. Yep, sounding more like a parody campaign every day.

So whatever happened to that six million dollars that Donald Trump claims to have raised for veterans? Some of them would like to know that as well.

Courtesy of MSNBC:

In January, the New York Republican skipped a debate in Iowa to instead hold a fundraiser for veterans. Trump repeatedly boasted at the time that, thanks to his bold leadership, he’s raised $6 million for vets. Trump added that he’d contributed $1 million out of his own pocket. 

Whatever happened to all of that money? The Washington Post took a closer look. 

Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said the fundraiser actually netted about $4.5 million, or 75 percent of the total that Trump announced. 

Lewandowski blamed the shortfall on Trump’s own wealthy acquaintances. He said some of them had promised big donations that Trump was counting on when he said he had raised $6 million. But Lewandowski said those donors backed out and gave nothing. […] 

Lewandowski also said he did not know whether a $1 million pledge from Trump himself was counted as part of the $4.5 million total. He said Trump has given that amount, but he declined to identify any recipients. 

The number of questions, which the campaign does not want to answer, represents a real problem. Exactly how much did Trump raise for veterans? His campaign doesn’t know. How much of it has been allocated? His campaign doesn’t know that, either. Who were the beneficiaries of Trump’s $1 million contribution? The campaign doesn’t want to talk about it.

Well as my daughter would say, "That's pretty sketchy."

And I am not the only one who thinks so.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:

A group of veterans went to Donald Trump’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan on Monday to demand an apology and answers after the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s campaign admitted a veterans fundraiser did not raise as much money as he had initially claimed.

Alexander McCoy, who said he was a Marine Corps veteran who helped organize the protest, described Trump’s handling of the January fundraiser as “unacceptable.” 

“We’re here as a group of veterans to reject Donald Trump,” McCoy said. “It is unacceptable that he made a commitment and failed to live up to it. He said he raised $6 million for veterans and claimed to have done so, and yet there has been no accountability for that money.”

As you an imagine this did not sit well with the Donald.

Amazingly, with all of the money I have raised for the vets, I have got nothing but bad publicity from the dishonest and disgusting media.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2016

Aww, hims got his feelings hurted.

More news outlets jump on fact that Track Palin is NOT a combat veteran.

I have been keeping tabs on who is, and who is not buying the Palin BS, this time around, and it seems that virtually NO ONE is buying her excuse that Track punched his girlfriend in the face due to PTSD that he suffered while serving overseas.

And then, as I reported earlier, there a bunch of blogs and news outlets that are posting the above discharge papers and stating unequivocally that Track is NOT a combat veteran.

Here are a few more to add to the list:

Star Pulse.

Ring of Fire. (This site does not display the documents, but does allude to their existence.)

Blasting News. (This one uses the same tactic as Ring of Fire.)

That's all I can find so far but I keep hoping that a more prestigious website like Politico or the Huffington Post will post them and that it will convince Palin to say something publicly about the documents.

By the way here is that photo of Track with Trig and Tripp, that Bristol ripped down from her Instagram account after the news broke that Track is a woman beater.

Sorry Bris, the internet is forever.

Military vets, and others, push back against Sarah Palin's claim that her son's domestic abuse arrest was due to PTSD. Or that it was the President's fault.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

Don't blame President Obama for the PTSD that Sarah Palin claims her oldest son is battling. 

That was the message Wednesday from the head of a New York City-based veteran's organization that has fought for years to get Iraq and Afghanistan war vets help with their post traumatic stress disorder. 

"It's not President Obama's fault that Sarah Palin's son has PTSD," said Paul Rieckhoff, who heads Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). "PTSD is a very serious problem, a complicated mental health injury and I would be extremely reluctant to blame any one person in particular."

Now this veteran's group does not dismiss Palin's claim, but simply states that blaming the President is ill advised.

One pundit on CNN was outraged that Palin would attempt to blame Obama: 

CNN’s Donna Brazile got really worked up tonight about Sarah Palin linking her son’s domestic abuse arrest to President Obama‘s poor treatment of America’s veterans, calling her a liar. 

Brazile said it’s a “damn lie” that Obama has disrespected veterans, giving examples of how the president has pushed to take care of America’s wounded warriors.

Interestingly enough one vet had a more personal take on the matter.

Speaking as a combat vet who literally slept in the same barracks as Track Palin, his mother is wrong and her son is not a victim.

— Jason Kirell (@jaykirell) January 21, 2016

Ouch that's going to leave a mark.

You might like to know that if you open that tweet fully it also has a copy of Track's discharge paperwork, which has now spread all over the internet.

Somebody suggested that this might be yet another "blood libel" moment for Sarah Palin.

However my response is "When is what she says NOT another blood libel moment for her?" 

In news I was too busy to cover yesterday, that "veteran's group" that Donald Trump did a fundraiser for loses its nonprofit status.

Courtesy of the AP: 

The Internal Revenue Service revoked the nonprofit status of the veterans benefit organization that hosted and sold tickets to a foreign policy speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump aboard a retired U.S. battleship, The Associated Press has learned. The group's endorsement of Trump at the event also could raise legal problems under campaign finance laws. 

Trump's campaign did not respond to questions from the AP about whether it was aware that the IRS had revoked the nonprofit status of the Veterans for a Strong America, which sold tickets to Trump's event for up to $1,000 as a fundraiser. The IRS issued its decision Aug. 10, citing the group's failure to file any tax returns for three consecutive years, according to IRS records reviewed by the AP. 

The group's chairman, Joel Arends of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, said the organization was appealing the IRS decision. He would not provide AP with copies of any tax returns, which would show how much money the group has collected over the years and how it spends its money. By law, such records are supposed to be available to the general public for inspection. 

"We disagree with the IRS determination letter," Arends told the AP in an interview. He appeared alongside Trump on Tuesday night on the ship.

"We disagree?" Doesn't he mean "I" disagree?

Gee I wonder if the Right Wing will suggest that this is yet another example of Obama's IRS hit men coming after conservative groups due to their ideologies, or if this smells a little too shady for even them to touch with a ten foot pole?

Rachel Maddow reveals that the group Donald Trump was fundraising for yesterday consists of one guy. Just one.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow exposed the “veterans group” using an appearance by Donald Trump as a fundraiser on Tuesday as an apparent one-man organization. 

Trump’s appearance aboard the USS Iowa, she explained, was an event benefiting Veterans for a Strong America, with tickets ranging between $100 and $1,000. 

However, Maddow said, the Federal Election Commission filings for the group’s PAC reveal that, besides having only $30 cash in hand and $318 in debts, the organization’s only member is founder Joel Arends. 

“Donald Trump was not in the military, but he did use a pretty military backdrop tonight to raise money for a non-existent veterans’ group, which endorsed him formally as part of his introduction — and he said they have hundreds of thousands of members,” she said. “And they don’t. And so the whole thing is fake.”

(You can see Rachel's full report right here.)

You know I am sorry to admit that I watched this "speech" last night, but I have no idea why the speech was given, or what the point was behind it.

Unless the entire point was to raise money for this one guy, which I also don't understand. 

Trump said he was going to talk policy, but unless I suffer from narcolepsy and passed out during that part nothing he said could be construed as having anything to do with a real in depth policy.

In fact the entire speech sounded as if the "I" key on his keyboard was stuck.

"I...I...America...I...I...drugs pour in...I...I...build a wall...I...I...make America great again."

Now look I enjoy a circus just as much as the next guy, but hasn't this particular clown overstayed its welcome?

Hard as I try I can find NO reason for Donald Trump to be at the top of the polls for GOP candidates.

At this point it seems as if the Republicans hate the Republican party so fucking much that they are willing to nominate a guy who will guarantee its demise.

Could that be it?

And if it is, does that kind of explain Sarah Palin as well?

Donald Trump's tweet to CNN is something that has to be seen to be believed.

A letter to @CNN President Jeff Zucker- pic.twitter.com/HKUYv9tFRm

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2015

In short Trump touts his ability to drive up ratings, and "suggests" that CNN donate all of the money they earn from advertising during their upcoming GOP debate to a veteran's charity.

So now he pushes Jeff Zucker, President of CNN, into a corner where he is either a cold blooded bastard not willing to help the veterans, or a lightweight who is easily bullied by the likes of Donald Trump.

And who really thinks this is about the veterans, and NOT about Trump's frustration that he cannot financially benefit from the uptick in the ratings?

Veterans named as supporters of Donald Trump say they "Don't know anything about it."

"Supporters, just names I found on a list somewhere, what's the difference?"

Courtesy of the Guardian:  

Several people listed as part of the “Veterans for Trump coalition” formed by Donald Trump following his incendiary comments about John McCain’s war record have denied they are part of the group, the Guardian has learned. 

Trump’s campaign announced the formation of the New Hampshire-based group in response to criticism of the business mogul’s labelling of McCain, who spent five and a half years in a North Vietnamese jail, where he was tortured, as “not a war hero”. 

A number of people were named as members of “Veterans for Trump” on Trump’s election website. “These veterans have pledged their support to Mr Trump in the primary, and they will be advocating for him,” a press release said. 

But when the Guardian contacted several claimed Veterans for Trump members on Friday, three said they had never heard of the organisation and had not signed up as members. 

“I don’t know anything about it,” said Ernie Fusi, an 88-year-old second world war veteran from Atkinson, New Hampshire. His name was among 51 “Veterans for Trump” whose details were sent out to the media and listed on Trump’s website. 

“I haven’t told anyone I want to get in on that,” Fusi said. “I’m not going to do any campaigning.”

There are two others quoted in the article as well. The Trump campaign's response to hearing this news was to say these men were liars and to claim they are "extremely proud of their support."

So to be clear the Trump campaign is saying the word of these men is not to be trusted, and yet they are bragging about having their support. Does anybody else find that a little psychotic?

By the way guess who is thrilled that he can now go after Scott Walker? 

Trump's antics have more than one journalist suggesting that he might be a fascist.

Yeah, I buy that.

George W. Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a fundraiser to benefit veterans maimed in the wars that he started.

Courtesy of ABC News:  

Former President George W. Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a charity fundraiser for U.S. military veterans severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and former First Lady Laura Bush collected $50,000 to appear a year earlier, officials of the Texas-based Helping a Hero charity confirmed to ABC News. 

The former President was also provided with a private jet to travel to Houston at a cost of $20,000, the officials said. 

The charity, which helps to provide specially-adapted homes for veterans who lost limbs and suffered other severe injuries in “the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said the total $170,000 expenditure was justified because the former President and First Lady offered discounted fees and helped raise record amounts in contributions at galas held in 2011 and 2012. 

“It was great because he reduced his normal fee of $250,000 down to $100,000,” said Meredith Iler, the former chairman of the charity. However, a recent report by Politico said the former President’s fees typically ranged between $100,000 and $175,000 during those years.

So Bush not only charged them for the "honor" of having him raise money to help with the wounds that his lies and arrogance caused, but he also lied about giving them a discount.

You know it is at special moments like this that I really wish there were a Hell, so that I could take comfort in the idea of this POS suffering for all eternity.

But you know what, I am a reasonable man, I will settle for him being charged with war crimes and caged like an animal for the remainder of his days.

Anything less would be a travesty of justice.