Tom Brady will not attend White House ceremony for "family reasons"

Brady will skip the festivities with Trump today for what he describes as "family reasons".

I know his Mother is very ill, but I don't think that's the excuse for not attending. After all, it's only one afternoon and it is off season, so he gets to spend almost all the time he wants with his ailing Mother, and that's commendable.

No, I speculate that he is not attending because of his wife, Geisel. She hates Trump. I can more readily see a scene like this, "Tom, if you go for that photo-op with that piece of shit fascist bastard, you may as well stay at the White House, 'cause you can't come home".

After all, during the election and NFL season, Brady told the Press, that "my wife told me to stop talking about politics". That was when he said kind words about Trump.

I believe this is the "family matter" he's talking about.

Why My Family Would Rather Not Have Me Attend Holiday Dinners

Well, I come from a big family. although I only have one brother, we have 100 Aunts, Uncles, cousins and their spouses combined from both sides of my parent's families. Our get togethers are usually 20 or more.

I'm 65 years old and can't ever let a stupid comment go unchallenged.

Today's version: My cousin Jack, married into my family, has two boys. Both in their 20's. Jack wore a "Make America Great" red hat for Christmas 2015 and 2016. He rails against immigrants so much, that my Filipina wife of 14 years will not attend another family gathering. Although, when he says his bigoted comments, he did say, "I don't mean Cora". What a fucking sport. Cora's Niece is serving in intelligence on a U.S. Navy ship in the Sea of Japan.

So, anyway, I digress. Let me get back on point. Today Jack was praising Trump for his "strong leadership in Syria, Afghanistan and North Korea". Jack, of course, never served and his 2 boys are not in the military. Here was my response:

"Well, Jack, at least you, Fred and Donald Trump all have something in common. I lived through the Viet-Nam War and the Iraq War and it always amazes me that the big mouths with big balls are always ready to go to war with other people's kids."

I left early.


Me and Cora:

http://archive.boston.com/lifestyle/specials/bill_brett/nov08seen2?pg=27

In line at a Deli: "I'm afraid of that crazy mad man with nuclear weapons"

I was in line, waiting my turn at a Deli in a middle class suburb of Boston this morning, buying some odds and ends for Easter. In the queue, a person I know casually, said, "It's crazy what's happening in North Korea". I replied, "I know, I'm a little worried. My Niece is stationed in Japan". "Ya", he said, "That mad man with nuclear weapons scares the shit out of me". I replied, "I agree, and that guy in North Korea scares me." He said, "That's who I meant." I replied, "Oh, I thought you were talking about our mad man."

Middle East Choices are Only Bad and Worse

I will include the North African Arab and Muslim states in my analysis.

In the Middle East the political, social and sectarian conflicts are as complicated as anything can get. American decisions, action, limited action or inaction all turn out to be bad choices and only after we choose one, do we find out if it was a bad choice or a worse choice.

With shifting allegiances and various cultures and political alliances, your allies one day could be your enemies the next. Iran is fighting Isis in Iraq and Syria, yet remain on our terrorist watch list as supporters of terrorism against Israel and the United States. The Turks are supporters or ours in Syria and the deadly enemy of out staunchest allies in the region, the Kurds. Shiites hate Sunnis. We could go into much greater detail, but you get my point.

Let's look at two decisions that President Obama made in the region to illustrate this point. In Libya, President Obama used air strikes to prevent a slaughter of Libyan Rebels in Benghazi. The action helped depose Mohamar Khadafy, a brutal dictator who was directly responsible for the terrorist attack on Pan Am 103 that killed American civilians. The Republican backed Congress criticized Obama for his actions without authorization and (including Trump) find him responsible for the failed state in Libya.

The second decision was to stay our of Syria. Of course, this was after President Obama's famous red line announcement. What the Republicans and Trump never mention, is that in this case, President Obama did ask for Congressional authorization. The Republican controlled Congress didn't even bring it up for a vote. Why get involved with a bad choice and a worse one. Now, those same pieces of shit, including the biggest piece of shit on the planet, Donald Trump, try to ridicule President Obama's "red line" stance.

Trump will learn this lesson the hard way in the coming months. Damned if you do and damned if you don't, and Congress will not have his back.

Hey Donald, welcome to the real world, you piece of shit.

All Politicians Lie, but They Don't All Bullshit

Here's my take on the difference between Lies and Bullshit. All bullshit are lies, but not all lies are bullshit. Bullshit, as I define the term, is a fabricated story used to enhance your own standing or diminish the standing of a rival or opponent. A lie, on the other hand, is a protective measure because the truth could get you into trouble. An exaggeration is somewhere in the middle. Again, this is my opinion, and I'll give some examples.

I'm driving down the street going 75 miles an hour in a 55 mile an hour zone. I know it. A police officer pulls me over and asks me, "do you know why I pulled you over?" My reply is "no". Lie 1. "I pulled you over because you were speeding. Do you know how fast you were going?" I reply, "no". Lie 2. "You were going 75 miles an hour". I reply, "gee officer. I didn't think I was going that fast. I'm sorry." Lie 3. You get it. I lied. But to protect myself.

Let's say I'm having an affair with a woman. My girlfriend sees me with this other woman. I claim "she's just a friend". That's a lie.

Example: Bill Clinton "I did not have sex with that woman." You get my point. It's not just that all politicians lie, we all lie (unless we lie about lying). But we don't all bullshit.

We have all known a bull shitter. "Ya, I went out with Madonna 20 years ago, but I broke up with her". "I played for the Red Sox". "I could have gone to Harvard, but I turned them down". or "I saw your husband with another woman" (an untruth to make trouble for a woman you don't like).

That's Trump. He's worse than a liar. He's a Bull Shitter "I saw Muslims celebrating from my window on 9/11". "3 to 5 Million illegal votes cost me the popular vote." "Raphael Cruz was involved in the JFK assassination". "Obama wasn't born in America".

These are not merely lies. These are beyond the pale. This is unadulterated Bull Shit.

If you are in a crowd of 20 people who know each other. All 20 would have lied at one time or another, in their lives, as adults. Yet, I would bet only 1 would be a bull shitter. And that one would have no credibility and be the laughing stock of the other 19. And anyone who believes a Bull Shitter knows repeating his story puts you in jeopardy.

Anyway. That's my take on the difference between a lie and bull shit.

Self-Deleted. Wrong Forum