Legalectric

AP Photo – Seth Periman

There’s a good editorial in the STrib today about Donald Drumpf’s abject incompetence and nailing journalists for not reporting it, not holding him accountable, not exposing it, and the bottom line:

But the media in general haven’t really made enough of it. Journalists are quick to accuse him of bullying and bigotry (and rightly so), but he’s rarely called grossly incompetent for his basic factual understanding of the world, or even called out on his inability to speak coherently.

Here’s the full OpEd:

The scariest thing about Trump is his incoherent gibberish.

This headline puts it well, and “incoherent gibberish” is exactly the sort of thing we often heard from Sarah Palin.  It is just bunches of words, often code words a la Wallace’s hate speech, puked out and strung together, and it does not make any sense.  Read it.  Worse, read it out loud!

What does it mean when there’s such strong support for someone who cannot even speak sufficiently well to communicate a coherent thought?  What does this say about his thought process if this is what comes out?  And what does it say about media, where reporters do not raise their eyebrows, screw up their snouts, and say, “WHAT?”  “What did you say?”  “What do you mean?”  “What you said makes no sense, what are you trying to say?”  “What on earth are you talking about?”

Here’s the transcript of his meeting with the Washington Post editorial board, something that I want to preserve in case they disappear it, it’s that _________ (scary?  mind boggling?  bizarre?  inexplicable?).

A transcript of Donald Trump’s meeting with The Washington Post editorial board – The Washington Post

I’m confident that he will not be elected President, one way or another, but that he is regarded as a contender, and that he is commanding so much of our country’s collective time, OH MY DOG!

Today, Alan was scratching Little Sadie’s neck, and found a lump.  We corralled her, dumped her over, and did an inspection, and it was a slightly engorged tick.  Got all of it out rather easily.

But isn’t this a bit early?  YES!!  Another climate change impact.  Turns out the tick season here usually starts in May.  Not long ago, it was June 13:

Tick season starts full throttle in Minnesota

All of you with dogs, time to start fighting those ticks, starting with a head to tail inspection, right NOW!

Is Tree City sign next to go?  Well ???

Mayor Chilsen testified before the La Crosse Board of Zoning Appeal, and didn’t address the impact of moving this transmission line on the scenic overlook.  Is he well representing the City’s interests?  This is an election year.

Be it Sanders or Clinton, there is no Democratic nominee yet, and that nomination will not occur for some time.  There are many primaries, and compared with 2008, MANY that have not occurred yet that were held much earlier in 2008.

There are “some” saying that Clinton now is ahead of where Obama was at this point in 2008, using that to argue that she is the presumed nominee.  Ummmmm, NO!

Look at the schedule, we’re more than a month behind now in primary and caucus scheduling:

2008 Democratic Caucus and Primary Schedule

As of this time in 2008, the following states had had primaries but as of this time in 2016, they have not, they’re yet to occur (in 2008 date order, with 2016 date written in):

Alaska – March 27

Arizona – March 22

California – June 7 (2008 2/5!)

Connecticut – April 26

Delaware – April 26

Idaho – March 22

New Jersey – June 7 (also 2/5 in 2008)

New Mexico – June 7 (ditto)

New York – April 19

North Dakota – June 7 (ditto)

Utah – March 22

U.S. Virgin Islands – June 4

District of Columbia – June 14

Maryland – April 26

Hawaii – March 26

Wisconsin – April 5

Rhode Island – April 26

Wyoming – April 9

Sooooooo… see what nonsense it is to state that there is a presumptive nominee at this point in time?  But I’ll wager this perspective is promoted by a certain candidate who doesn’t want to be bothered with the facts.

Just stop it, folks, and let’s keep moving forward with this contested nomination campaign.

Before, Onalaska’s scenic overlook, gazebo, and “Sunny” the famous Onalaska fish:

After Xcel Energy’s chain saw workout:

What do you think of this clearcutting  for Xcel’s 69 kV line along Hwy. 35 as it goes through the heart of Onalaska, at the Mississippi overlook and “Sunny,” the Onalaska Fish?  Is that butt ugly, or what?

Xcel Energy’s Nancy Dotson and ___________, their engineer (where are my notes?) said the line would be moved to down below Sunny and the observation deck/gazebo, and that they would not clear cut the area.  I was skeptical because if they run the line through, trees come down, that’s the story of transmission.  When trees come down for transmission, it’s permanent impact, because you can’t grow trees under or near transmission lines.  Oh, but no, they said, it’s not going to be that bad.

Well, it is that bad.  It looks like shit.

And Joe Chilsen, the Mayor of Onalaska, knew this would be the result when he went before the La Crosse Board of Zoning Appeal to allow an exemption to the airport height restriction to get this project through.  He signed off on Xcel Energy’s application on January 21, 2016, a month before it went to the La Crosse Board of Zoning Appeal, and about two months before Xcel Energy took their chain saws to the trees.