Posted inNational politics

Initially irate, now I’m OK with Democrats giving up on government shutdown

This would have been a very different blog post if I'd written it last night, after I heard that eight Senate Democrats had agreed to vote with Republicans to end the longest government shutdown ever. I was so irritated, I felt like changing my party designation from Democrat to unaffiliated. After all, just a day before I'd written a post called "Democrats need to continue shutdown as long as it takes to get Obamacare subsidies." I didn't believe that post would have any effect on what was going on in Washington D.C. But I figured that the shutdown would continue…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Democrats need to continue shutdown as long as it takes to get Obamacare subsidies

I'm not a fan of government shutdowns. Hardly anyone is. But along with lots of other Democrats, I want my party to stand strong on not reopening the federal government until Trump and his fellow Republicans commit to an ironclad guarantee that expiring subsidies to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, will be put into law for the next ten years at an estimated cost of $350 billion, or $35 billion a year. That's $5 billion less a year than the Trump administration just paid to prop up the Argentinian currency. In the big scheme of things, it isn't much…
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Posted inJulie Hoy Vanessa Nordyke

Mayor Julie Hoy lied about not wanting City Manager Stahley gone. That’s her third lie about Stahley.

Salem Mayor Julie Hoy must have a desire to follow in Donald Trump's lying footsteps. That's a difficult task, given Trump's almost constant battle against the truth, but Hoy is showing that when it comes to spouting political falsehoods, she deserves the title of Mayor Liar. These are the lies Hoy has inflicted upon the public in regard to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission conclusion that she violated Oregon's public meeting law in her quest to have City Manager Keith Stahley forced to resign last February. Lie #1: Hoy claimed that in her illegal private conversations with members of the…
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Posted inNational politics

Democrats score major victories in today’s elections. I feel great!

Turning on the television to watch election returns tonight, I had a bit of PTSD, since the last time I did that in November 2024, Trump beat Harris and I was hugely depressed. But things turned out perfectly for Democrats this time. I couldn't have asked for a better mood elevator. A CNBC headline sums the evening up. A Politico sidebar conveyed the good news. Democrats kicked butt in every important race. Also, in less important races, given what I heard reported about other election results. Somewhat strangely, the race I was most interested in, because it was one Republicans…
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Posted inJulie Hoy

Check out demobrats podcast where we talk about Mayor Hoy’s ethics violation and other juicy subjects

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being part of a demobrats podcast episode, "The Mayor, In the Office, With the Ballot Measure." You can listen to it by either clicking on that link, or via this embedded player. Virginia Stapleton and Victoria Schaaf, the demobrats duo who have a pleasing repartee (hardly ever get to use that word, but it beautifully fits how they converse together) offered up this description of the episode. Hopefully this is the last time we have to talk about this (fingers crossed). In this episode, Brian Hines, an avid writer and community member who filed…
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Posted inDonald Trump

Trump fits narcissistic personality disorder diagnosis perfectly (no big surprise)

Donald Trump is a despicable human being and the worst president in the history of the United States. But that description doesn't fully capture all of his flaws. That's why we need to turn to psychiatric nomenclature in order to better understand why Trump is so dangerous to the United States and the world. One step in that direction was made clear by an article in the September 27, 2025 issue of New Scientist: The Truth About Narcissists: How to Handle Them, and Can They Change? Here's a PDF file. The truth about narcissists: How to handle them, and can they…
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Posted inDonald Trump

Seven reasons why Trump’s destruction of White House East Wing enrages me

I'm used to being irritated by Trump. That's to be expected when the worst president in American history almost daily challenges his own record for worst'ness. But there's something about his destruction of the East Wing of the White House so a $350 million ballroom can take its place that has pushed my irritation to new heights of outrage. Here's why, in no particular order. (1) The gigantic ballroom is an architectural travesty. It will be almost twice as large as the entire White House was when the East Wing was standing. This rendering shows how the ballroom will overpower…
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Posted inCitizen involvement Donald Trump

Photos and videos of No Kings rally in Salem, Oregon

Yesterday I joined at least 6,000 other people for a No Kings rally near the state capitol here in Salem. We protested Trump's authoritarianism and inhumane policies. The rally was energizing. Also, highly positive, fun, and entertaining. It felt great to be among so many people who felt the same way about Trump's destructive actions in his second try as president: disgusted and shocked, yet optimistic about our nation's future if we stand together and resist Trump's efforts to turn our democracy into an autocracy. Here's photos that I took, followed by several brief videos. Lots of blow-up animals. Zero…
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Posted inDonald Trump Humor National politics

Me and my senior citizen Marxist, Antifa, Hamas-loving friends will enjoy the No Kings rally tomorrow

I'm really looking forward to attending the No Kings rally here in Salem, Oregon tomorrow. But I'm confused about what Republicans have been calling the Hate America rally. It sure seems like me and my senior citizen friends love America. However, since President Trump is known for never lying, being even more honest than George Washington, who lied about chopping down a cherry tree (some say this is a myth, but that's another bit of fake news), naturally I assume that Republican leaders are just as truthful as Trump. [Note: some people may hear what Trump said at a press…
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Posted inChris Hoy Julie Hoy

Must watch City Council videos: Chris Hoy and two other people call out Mayor Julie Hoy for her lies

Speaking truth to power. It's not just a cliche. It was on full display at last Monday's City Council meeting when former Mayor Chris Hoy and two other people stood at the public comment podium, looked directly at current Mayor Julie Hoy, and called her out for the lies she told in the course of violating Oregon's ethics law that governs public officials. Lie #1 was Mayor Hoy telling the City Council president, Linda Nishioka, that after she'd spoken with all but one of the city councilors in private conversations that  are prohibited by the Public Meetings Law, a majority…
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Posted inCity Council Julie Hoy

At ethics commission meeting, Mayor Julie Hoy denies lying, which almost certainly is another lie

Salem Mayor Julie Hoy is digging herself deeper into an unethical hole. Yesterday Hoy claimed at a meeting of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission that contrary to the finding of a commission investigator, she never told City Council President Linda Nishioka that after speaking privately with members of the council, a majority wanted City Manager Keith Stahley to resign. Joe Siess of the Salem Reporter wrote in a story, Ethics commission finds Salem Mayor Julie Hoy, 5 councilors broke public meetings law: Hoy and Nishioka each disputed the other’s version of events during the commission meeting. Nishioka has repeatedly said…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump memo on domestic terrorism singles out common beliefs as indicators of terrorism

Today the Justice Department came up with another sham indictment of people on Trump's enemies list. Letitia James, New York's Attorney General, was indicted for the non-crime of stating on a mortgage document that it was for a second home, then later renting the house out. The only way this is a crime is if prosecutors can prove that James intended to rent the house at the time she signed the document, because obviously people rent out second homes all the time. Since James can't be called by the prosecution as a witness, this is another instance of illegal selective…
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Posted in2026 election Julie Hoy Vanessa Nordyke

Given Julie Hoy’s serious lie, her future as Salem’s mayor seems bleak

Four days ago I wrote a blog post about how Salem Mayor Julie Hoy lied to the city council president, Linda Nishioka, about how Hoy had supposedly learned that a majority of the council wanted the City Manager, Keith Stahley, to resign. After Nishioka passed that falsehood on to Stahley, he resigned -- setting in motion a fiasco that culminated in a recently-concluded investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. The investigation found that instead of a majority, five, of the city council members wanting Stahley to resign, actually just one did: Mayor Hoy herself. Yesterday I talked about Hoy's…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Julie Hoy

Salem Mayor Julie Hoy lied about a majority of the city council wanting the City Manager to resign. Actually, only Hoy did.

A recently concluded ethics investigation found that the Mayor of Salem, Julie Hoy, violated our state's Public Meetings Law in February 2025 when she orchestrated a private series of individual conversations with city councilors about whether the City Manager at the time, Keith Stahley, should resign. That was bad. But this is worse: Julie Hoy lied when she told the city council president, Linda Nishioka, that her conversations revealed that a majority of the city council (at least five of the eight members; one seat was vacant at the time) wanted Stahley to resign. At the request of Mayor Hoy,…
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Posted inCity Council Julie Hoy

Ethics investigation concludes Mayor Julie Hoy and five city councilors violated Public Meetings Law

Today I received the results of an investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission into whether Mayor Julie Hoy and seven city councilors violated various provisions of Oregon's Public Meetings Law. I got those results because I was one of two people who filed a complaint about the actions of Hoy and city councilors that resulted in the resignation of then City Manager Keith Stahley earlier this year. Elliott Lapinel was the other complainant. My complaint was in the form of a blog post, appropriately titled "Here's my Oregon Government Ethics Commission complaint about Keith Stahley's forced resignation." Josh Sullivan,…
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Posted inNational politics

Why the Democrats shouldn’t vote to keep the government open

I was undecided about how the Democrats should handle the looming federal government shutdown at midnight on October 1 until this dawned on me: the Dems shouldn't vote to keep the government open. That's different from voting for a government shutdown. Sure, this is a subtle difference. But it's an important one. Trump and his Republican cronies are all set to scream from the (metaphorical) rooftops, "We wanted a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open for seven weeks, which would allow time to negotiate a budget for the next fiscal year, but Democrats rejected our oh-so-reasonable offer because…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Health tip: Don’t take medical advice from Donald Trump or RFK Jr.

I'll say this as non-gently as possible. Anyone who takes medical advice from Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., or anyone else in the Trump administration is a fucking idiot! Okay, not you, if you've done what I said you shouldn't do, because I adore  each and every one of my blog visitors. I'm just talking about everybody else who listened to Trump's incoherent recent remarks about how pregnant women shouldn't take Tylenol (acetaminophen) even if they have a high fever, because Tylenol causes autism. Both of those statements aren't true. But you shouldn't take medical advice from me either.…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump has gone full authoritarian by demanding Bondi prosecute political opponents

I used to wonder why Trump had such fondness for authoritarian leaders of other countries: North Korea, China, Russia, Hungary. Those nations aren't exactly exemplars of freedom and human rights, to put it mildly. But now that Trump is unleashing his own authoritarianism to a much greater degree than he did in his first term as president, it's obvious that Trump adores authoritarians because he's one himself. And if there's one person Trump loves (there may only be one), it's himself. Yesterday Trump posted this on his Truth Social propaganda account. "Pam" is Pam Bondi, Trump's Attorney General. James Comey…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Jimmy Kimmel suspended after pressure from FCC chair shows autocracy of Trump administration

I’ve gotten used to learning about outrageous goings-on in the Clown Show of the Trump administration. But when I heard this afternoon that Jimmy Kimmel Live, his late night show on ABC, had been suspended indefinitely because of a comment he made about how conservatives are using Charlie Kirk’s killing to score political points, that struck me as beyond outrageous. In a story about Kimmel’s suspension by ABC, the New York Times reported what he said. The comments at the center of this week’s firestorm came during Mr. Kimmel’s opening monologue on Monday night. “We hit some new lows over…
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Posted inNational politics Uncategorized

Charlie Kirk didn’t deserve to be killed. But he spewed falsehoods and hate.

I'm sorry Charlie Kirk, a well-known right-wing activist, was killed by an assassin in Utah last Wednesday. No one deserves to die for expressing their political beliefs. However, I'm amazed at how the Trump administration reacted to his death as if he was a former president. The vice-president flew to Utah on Air Force Two and transported his body back to Arizona, where Kirk lived. The FBI director went to Utah to oversee the manhunt for his killer, even though Kash Patel has no experience in this area. Flags were flown at half-staff. Praise of Kirk from Republicans made him…
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