Random Thoughts for Christmas in Russia

I would like to wish our overseers in Russia, a Merry Russian Christmas.  I know that you guys are basically change of our Executive Branch so I hope that your Christmas wish for your servants in the United States will be that you do not force us into a war in 2018.

My suggestion for how the Golden Globes to address the sexual harassment in Hollywood is to implement a 7 second second delay on tonight's broadcast so that we can have some honest open and graphic discussions.  Then ask either Samantha Bee or Sarah Silverman to dress as General Patton to deliver the message.  Put one of them in front of a giant American flag and have them give those gathered and those watching a manifesto of the new state of affairs. General Silverman or General Bee could say, there is no more casting couch mentality.  No gender inequality in pay will be tolerated and the next Harvey Weinstein will be dealt with in a much more violent manner to match the demoralizing and harm caused to women in the creative arts.  Women in Hollywood will form a commando squad who will receive tips from actresses, behind the scenes movie makers, and anyone working in the television or movie industry.  These women will show up in the middle of the night and remove abuser's weapon of choice: their male dignity.  They will make sure that the punishment fits the crime, but they will deliver some Marcellus Wallace of Pulp Fiction type justice.  A Women's Equalizer force or Star Chamber will beat some sense into these guys or remove some body parts until the message is received.

There was an interesting show about Puerto Rico called the Profit on CNBC. The show traditionally focuses on a guy, Marcus Lemonis, investing in struggling businesses with his own money and trying to turn it around.  I have no idea why he repeatedly went to Puerto Rico to check in on the disaster, but it was a good show.  He talked to the people focused on the failing infrastructure and he got outside of San Juan.  I guess Puerto Rico is a failing business so this makes sense.  He also gave many suggestions for how to help.  The best was to see the guy from Iowa and his restaurant, The Marigold, come back after the disaster.  He was flooded out and it practically destroyed his will to go on as a small business owner.  Lemonis talked to many who gave up on the island and were relocating to the mainland.  The owner of the Marigold had invested so much in the business and spent weeks trying to get it back up and operational to provide an income to the 31 employees.  Good show check it out.  The full episodes are posted with a three week lag.

Why doesn't Congress give up the ghost and go to 2 year budget cycles so they can spend more time begging for money, golfing and driving around in their SUVs touring the destruction they have ignored.  Every year they pass continuing resolutions and they really need more "executive time" in their schedules.

That was an amazing interview on CNN with Stephen Miller--the man recognized as the current holder of the Neidermeyer-Killed-by-His-Own-Troops award.  It took an incredible amount of restraint for Jake Tapper to not whip out a ruler, rap Miller on the knuckles and send him to the CNN timeout corner.  It was interesting to note that he did have to be escorted out of the building.  But the most amazing aspects of the interview was how noted White Nationalist, xenophobic Steve Bannon Jr. had to publicly disown his own mentor.  Miller did not answer the question about how Bannon had brought him into the administration.  Sure, Lewendowski had hired him so therefore had the most to do with his hiring, but without Bannon there is no Miller.  It is the height of hypocrisy to mention CNN mistakes for which they apologized while not mentioning the nearly 2,000 lies and misstatements by the President for which he has apologized a grand total of zero times.   Tapper could have taken the rest of the hour to just list the misstatements including inauguration crowd size, good people on both sides, stable genius, repealing Obamacare, no Russian collusion, creating the most jobs, and on and on and on.  This was a golden moment for the impeachment video being compiled for a House Judiciary Committee in January 2019.

Strange that the Narcissistic Personality Challenged President did not recognize that most of America was mocking him with his "awards to the fake media."  He has delayed release of these "fakies" because of the level of "interest."

"I know the reason that you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd you're in with
Do you take me for such a fool to think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with."
Bob Dylan

by Brian Davis

What Do We Know and What Have We Learned Over this Strange Year?

It was just about a year ago that the worst of America took hold and rose to power. Every day the level of outrageous behavior rises.  It is almost as though the President is daring the do-nothing Congress to impeach him.  We have learned a ton over the last year about America.  I tried to put together a list of all that I learned.

• For all these years and all these elections, it was all just a game to maintain power.  They kept saying what about the debt?  We have to do something about the debt, but today we learned that it was just words.  We can't support the Obama infrastructure bill because it will add to the debt.  We know that this was just bunk because infrastructure did not enrich the right donors.  
• We know that the Trump campaign had some amazingly talented coffee people who were well connected and traveled extensively. 
• We know that some former Generals regret saying "Lock her Up" regularly on the campaign trail.  
• It seems that a President has more power than we originally thought.  They can use their office to enrich themselves and send foreign powers attempting to curry favor to stay at businesses owned by the President.  He can obstruct justice by firing people and attempting to cover up crimes.  He can slander and defame his opponent and his predecessors in office without consequences.  We now understand there is a qualifier on the freedom of press that says Congress can make a law restricting the freedom of press if that press is attacking the dear leader of our country. 
• We now know that no matter how many times you practice repealing something (like 50 times), it is hard to do when it means something in Congress. 
• We learned in January that American was a hellscape that only one man could possibly change (not Superman).
• In a shocking revelation, we know that people are more likely to accept being led by the decedents of a slave over being bossed around by a woman. 
• But along the same lines, we learned the backlash after being led by an African American was breathtaking with blood in church pews (Emanuel African Methodist Church of Charleston) and daytime protests in Charlottsville without the white hoods.
• We know that things are going well today with the stocks flying high and unemployment at an all time low, but we still need to cut taxes in order to....?  I have no idea.
• People are far angrier with smart people.  Professors, brainiacs, college presidents, and scientists don't carry the same weight in our society that they had previously. 
• We don't trust the media and most likely would not take arms to protect the First Amendment. 
• We do trust the second amendment and no matter how much it is abused and how many people die because of lax gun laws it is untouchable. 
• Congress is probably the least respected institution in our society.  They are no longer the people's house, but are a group of prostitutes owned by pimps on K Street.  
• There was always a small number of people who could be loyal to El Trumpe and that small number is getting smaller by the day with few people interested in joining his cabinet or the Executive Branch. 
• We now have a President who only governs one party and the other party is the enemy.  He will not talk or consult with the enemy party that only represent 53% of the population so who cares. Democrats as the enemy is something new that we will have to get used to. 
• We found out over the last year that Puerto Ricans are American citizens, but that does not mean that we treat them any better than second class citizens. 
  
• We found that Native Americans are citizens of the United States, but that does not mean we cannot mock them to their face and take back their land preserved in a national monument. 
• We all now understand that immigrants are the source of most of our problems especially the crime, opioids, and terrorism that are keeping our country down.  It is not a big step to placing yellow stars on all their clothing and closing down immigrant owned businesses. 
• Evangelical religious leaders were also yanking our chains when they said character matters, and those who do not practice what they preach should not be in positions of power.  It turns out that it really does not matter if you follow the ten commandments as long as you appoint conservative judges.  
• Anti-abortion policies are the single most important issue above every other issue facing the United States. 
• It does not really matter if the United States leads the rest of the world on human rights or humanitarian aid, or nuclear disarmament or free trade or anything.  We are all fine with taking a back seat to Europe, China, India and even Russia in helping refugees, developing Africa, or  working toward peace in the Middle East.  

I am sure that there are plenty more that we have learned, and I will post those.

Brian Davis

One Year Later: Elections Have Consequences

I feel like November 8, 2016 was my last day of innocence.  I worked on the streets of Cleveland so I knew about anger by homeless people and the anger toward people who are different.  I knew about the opioid crisis and the many friends who were dying.  I knew the face of poverty, and understood that the United States had many problems, but  I still thought that most people believed all men were created equal.  I still thought we all had a foundation of the four freedoms, the Kennedy inaugural, and the Great Society. I thought that we were working to fulfill the expressions in the "I have a dream" speech or as Ted Kennedy said, "The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society." Then a sizable number of Americans cast their lot with a fraud in 2016 and I had to face the reality that there is a large amount of hate, fear and hypocrisy washing over the country. I really could not comprehend the change. Every rule was broken and every norm was violated, and voters selected a perversion. 

This is me on Nov. 8,  2016

I could not fathom, Donald J. Trump winning the election.  It would be like if person could select any car on the lot for the same price and they selected the Pontiac Aztek because they saw it on Breaking Bad.  My whole world was turned upside down.  People were so angry in the United States that they were willing to turn the keys over to a novice who openly talked about his contempt for government.  Some of my friends warned me (you were correct, Gino), but I dismissed them as just flirting with chaos.  They were saying that some of their Republican friends were embracing this guy because "nothing else had worked."  I guess I should have known because when I was doing voter registration work in 2008 and 2012 no low income person was signing up so they could vote for McCain or Romney.  Then in 2016, I found about 30% of the low income people I registered were saying positive things about a reality star, but again I figured that they were just saying the extreme for kicks.  I took it as an idol threat and the vast majority of people would sober up when they got in the election booth.  I could not imagine throwing away my vote on a charlatan.

I can't even describe how shocked I was with the election of the guy who admitted on a bus that he had no problem grabbing women's vaginas and kissing them without permission.  I had worked since early in the morning driving people to vote until the polls closed.  So, I was exhausted and fell asleep at around 8:30 p.m. on Election night.   All was fine with only early returns.  Nothing out of the ordinary and everything was going as expected with New England blue and the South red.  Then I woke up at around 1:30 a.m on November 9 and things were starting to break apart.  I really felt like Rip Van Winkle who had fallen asleep and woke up decades later.  The hyper active graph guy on MSNBC was madly circling states and Electoral College numbers.  Ohio was lost which was amazing to me.  Our Republican governor and Senator was not voting for the candidate so how could these guys not bring 15 to 20% of their own GOP members with them?

How I felt on November 9, 2016

Michigan was lost, Florida was lost, Pennsylvania was lost, Wisconsin was lost and all that was left was the concession speech.  At 3 a.m. I saw the celebration by this vile, arrogant, narcissistic liar.  What the hell was his young son doing up still?  And by the way, what kind of 70 year old guy has such a young son?  I immediately went outside to throw away my Hillary Clinton yard sign in disgust for what a bad campaign she had run.  I had no idea how many things she was fighting while sulking at 3 a.m.  I had no idea about Russia and the Facebook/Twitter campaign.  I had no idea how many sexist voters there were in America.  I could not imagine the whisper campaign that was going on from the right wing media and fringe web based outlets. The lack of enthusiasm among progressives and the number of minority members of our society who sat at home were all working against Clinton.

I went to work, but hardly spoke.  I think I left early and cancelled any appointments.  I could not think about anything but the disrespect for a Prisoner of War who spent five years in a cage in Vietnam.  How to wrap your head around attacking a Gold Star family?  How could the United States install a leader who turns against the Muslim religion?  It is impossible that a racist who makes fun of those with a disability could take control of the nuclear football.  It just seemed inconceivable that a hate-filled person who was so disgraceful to his political opponent would now be responsible for picking federal judges.

I knew that the world had changed and that I could no longer do my job in advocacy.  I knew within a day of the election in 2016 that the federal government was going to dramatically change and the federal government was responsible for 80% of the funds going to address homelessness in Cleveland.  I knew that I could not go on seeing the despair and pain that was ahead.  Elections have consequences and I knew that America was fundamentally different November 10, 2016.

By Brian Davis

A New Low for the Administration This Week

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This is probably the most overused statement of 2017, but there is no other way to view this week and not use this phrase, "in a new low for the administration this week..."  How else can you discuss this week except with "disgusting" and the bottom of an "empty barrel?" Just a quick list of some of the low lights:

• Tried to point attention to the person who lost the election when the first indictments were released.
• White House keeps trying to point to a strange deal between a Canadian and Russian company for non weaponized uranium that was approved by 19 people in the previous administration as some kind of Hillary Clinton controlled deal.
• Found out the extent of the alleged crimes, fraud and corruption of the campaign manager for the Republican candidate for President of the United States.
• We now realize what a horrible job the campaign did on vetting campaign managers and staff. 
• Politicized a terrorist attack on the United States with attacks on all immigrants.
• Called the American Justice system (which he is the head of) a joke and a laughing stock.
• Chief of staff claimed the Civil War was a failure to compromise and of course the propagandist who was asking the questions did not follow up with, "What the hell are you talking about?" as every other reporter on the planet would have asked. 
• Waited over 24 hours to reach out to the Mayor/Governor of a major American city attacked by a terrorist. 
• Attacked a sitting Senator over immigration policies ignoring the fact that very Senator attempted to propose a reform of the immigration and elimination of the program that let this terrorists into the United States. 
• 45 asked for extreme vetting immediately after the terrorist attack despite the fact that the terrorist was from a country never included in his "Muslim ban."
• Chief of staff and previous general in the US Marines claimed a treasonous general who took up arms against his country was "honorable." 
• The President keeps insisting that there is no "collusion" (most of the time in all CAPS) despite evidence of two meetings between Russians and the campaign to provide dirt on the opposition. (It is a conspiracy against the US and not collusion.)
• No one saw the hypocrisy of claiming to not want to talk politics after Las Vegas shooting, but no problem talking politics after a Muslim attack on America. 
• A person in the White House Correspondence Daily Briefing had to legitimately ask if this White House supports slavery. 
• A Chief of staff refused to apologize for clearly defaming a sitting member of Congress. 
• Based on the guilty plea of George Papadopoulos, he met with foreign policy "experts" during the campaign and brought up the meeting with Russia. So, 45 either lied to the Washington Post about the expertise of his advisors or he was lying now that "George" was a low level volunteer. 

ALL this in just this week and it is only Wednesday. I really worry that all these comments made by the Deceiver in Chief about this "animal" and "so-called man" when referring to the NYC Halloween Terrorist that he is harming the open and shut case.  A good lawyer could make the case that the President poisoned the jury pool and this criminal will not be able to get a fair trial.  Time to exercise the 25th.

by Brian Davis

The Uncertainty in Puerto Rico is the Problem

I was stuck in Puerto Rico for 12 days after Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico and had to sleep in the Disaster Center at the Convention Center for two days because there were no hotel rooms available.  I have documented the problems over the last few weeks, and held a protest about the slow response to the disaster unfolding in Puerto Rico.  I was there and was shocked at how nothing was happening after one week without power and water on the island.  The people of Puerto Rico were not angry and were not protesting or upset by the lack of urgency.  They put their shoulder to the grindstone and were busy standing in line for part of the day and cleaning up the other parts of the day.

Today, the weak Governor of Puerto Rico came to Washington to beg for help.  He should have prepared some flattery for the President or he is liable to go back empty handed.  I could see the President totally withdrawing all assistance if Governor Ricardo Rossello were to tell 45 that people had died because they were drinking contaminated water, and that the slow federal response was the reason behind these deaths.  Wouldn't it be great if he came with some backhanded compliments or gave us a wink and a nod that he was just playing the game of stroking the Commander-in-Chief's ego?  The Governor could say something that the Prez would not understand, "I know that this President has done all that he can based on his limited capacity..." He could say, "Puerto Ricans are glad that we are only colonists because we have a long history of begging for help from a superpower."  Governor Rossello, non sequiturs are always good fodder for the White House.  Try this, "I am positive that the President would have moved mountains to get us power, but the NFL players are disrespecting the flag."  He could be grateful for what he got, "Thank you Mr. President, for not forcing us through flooding and making us wait at the Superdome before sending aid." There is always the classics, "We would be at 100% of the island with restored power if the Democrats were not obstructionists."  Finally, Governor, try the Hail Mary of, "I guess it could be worse, at least there is no travel ban on Puerto Rico yet."

The Governor is using the argument that he is just looking for equal treatment.  This is a horrible strategy that plays into the White House narrative.  If they got the same as Houston, then FEMA would be evacuating right now in Puerto Rico.  Mr. Governor, you are selling yourself and your fellow Americans short by demanding equality.  You need restoration of these American's lives with the utmost speed.  You need the power restored today.  You need every hospital and health clinic fully operational by today.  You need running water to every part of the island.  We have not seen anything like Maria in the United States in the last 30 years.  Puerto Rico does not need equality because the closest would be to Katrina and we all know how that ended.  You should be demanding extraordinary action from the federal government to meet the extraordinary disaster the island experienced.  They need every power company employee available from Maine to Oklahoma to go to Puerto Rico.  They need thousands of water authority experts from all around the United States to be airlifted down to the Caribbean.  Asking for equality cheapens the needs of the residents of Puerto Rico and downplays the power of this storm.

Today was the first day we heard a time line for recovery from the Governor.  He said that San Juan would have power restored in two weeks and the entire island by December 15. This is long overdue, but it did not come with how the citizens of Puerto Ricans going to survive for the next two months.  We needed a plan for how to distribute 2 million meals daily to the population including water.  We needed to hear a plan for where to go in every single municipalities to pick up water and food every day.  They should have released immediately the plan for getting generators to sensitive buildings and getting them diesel every few days.  None of this was done and we still have not seen a plan for how to best serve his people.  The Governor ended the curfew after one month which is long overdue, but has not done much more. He has held his tongue in blasting the administration, and that has not served his people either. 

I was most disgusted with the Governor's mansion in Puerto Rico--the opulence among the devastation of the rest of the country.    The compound had a second generator delivered two days after the Hurricane.  He lives behind huge walls on the ocean.  It could be only more fairy tale like if they installed a moat around it.  He has a huge security contingent who have their own kitchen across from his estate.  He was not suffering while the Mayor of San Juan was sleeping on a cot.  Governor Rossello has slept peacefully for the past month while his constituents have been through hell.  To the left is a picture of his home.  The whole experience was disgusting to see from an outsider.

by Brian Davis

President Responds to Question on Puerto Rico

The President of the United States today made both formal statements and then answered a question regarding the response to Hurricane Maria by saying that a former FEMA official gave the response good grades.  Here is the transcript from the Washington Post: 

I was very honored to see a man that I've had a lot of respect for, James Lee Witt, of the Clinton administration -- the head of FEMA. He gave us an A-plus; I just see -- it just came out. And I've always had respect for him. He gave us -- he's the FEMA director of the Clinton administration -- gave us an A-plus for how we responded to the hurricane aftermath -- all of the hurricanes. And that includes Puerto Rico. 

So I just want to thank Mr. Witt, wherever you may be now, wherever you may be listening. I just want to say, I really much appreciate it. Because that took it out of politics -- out of the world of politics, in that he was with the Clinton administration and I'm sure remains loyal to the Clinton administration. I hope he does.

Here is what the James Lee Witt told the Atlantic's David Graham on September 28

"It’s a reality of disasters that, as former FEMA Director James Lee Witt put it to me earlier this week, “If you’re one of the victims, every hour and every day is too long.” There are real obstacles that make it difficult to distribute aid around Puerto Rico. Roads are destroyed, gas stations are dry, the power grid is down, and telecommunications infrastructure is out of service. Even as the port of San Juan fills up with containers, people outside of the capital city can’t get basic supplies. These are not problems that the federal government, or anyone else, can fix instantaneously."

Pretty amazing that the White House found this nugget in the corner of the internet from the LMT online Laredo Texas newspaper. 

"But it's hard to identify exactly what more the federal government could be doing. Indeed, former FEMA director James Lee Witt told me he'd give the Trump administration an A-plus for how it's responding to all the hurricane aftermath - including in Puerto Rico.

"They've maxed out probably how many people they could put there," said Witt, a Democrat who ran the agency under President Clinton. "I know they're all working frantically, but sometimes that's not enough."

Then a question came up  asking if the President was standing by his assertion that the Administration had done an "outstanding job" in Puerto Rico.  Here was his response:

"Oh, I think -- well, that's according to the Clinton administration’s head of FEMA, it’s been outstanding. 

Puerto Rico is very tough because of the fact it’s an island. But it’s also tough because, as you know, it was in very poor shape before the hurricanes ever hit. Their electrical grid was destroyed before the hurricanes got there. It was in very bad shape, was not working, was in bankruptcy, owed $9 billion. And then on top of that, the hurricane came. Now, you're going to have to build a whole new electrical plant system. We're not talking about generators. We moved -- Puerto Rico now has more generators, I believe, than any place in the world. There are generators all over the place. The fact is, their electrical system was in horrible shape before and even worse shape after. 

So we are working right now -- as you know, relief funds were just approved and are in the process of being approved by Congress. And that includes Texas, by the way. That includes Florida. And it also includes Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, et cetera. But it was in really bad shape before. We have done -- I will say this, we have done --"

Then someone shouted a question about the people of Puerto Rico not having drinking water. His response:

Well, we've delivered tremendous amounts of water. Then what you have to do is you have to have distribution of the water by the people on the island. So we have massive amounts of water. We have massive amounts of food. But they have to distribute the food, and they have to do this. They have to distribute the food to the people on the island.

So what we've done is we now actually having military distributing food -- something that really they shouldn’t have to be doing.

But if you look at the governor, who is a good man, by the way, but if you look at the governor of Puerto Rico, he himself has said we've done an outstanding job. And most people have said we've done an outstanding job. But Puerto Rico is a very tough one.

This prompts a bunch of questions:

1. Was there anyone who ever said that the Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, was not a good man? 
2. Are good men those who do not criticize the President?
3. Does he know that people drink a lot of water on a hot island in the Caribbean or that there are 3 million people in Puerto Rico?  
4. He has to realize that just getting the water to the island is only a piece of the battle.  Getting it to the people is the harder part of the struggle.  
5. He never explained why people were not getting drinking water on Puerto Rico.
6. This was the first we ever heard that the power plants were wiped out.  This was first because upon further checking there were not problems with the power plants.  
7. Why does he keep mentioning the debt in Puerto Rico?  It has nothing to do with people need food, water and power.  Simple. Go Do It Now!

 by Brian Davis

All That Went Wrong Yesterday in Puerto Rico

This needs to be documented and spelled out because it is going to be part of legacy of US response to Puerto Rico disaster after Hurricane Maria.  This is emblematic of how the legacy of colonialism reigns supreme with regard to our treatment of Puerto Rico.  To have the President of the United States in a fun joking mood while touring devastation shows the level of disrespect to the US citizens living on the island.  We have never seen another President so cavalier, so loose with his language and so removed from the misery in all the history of the United States.  Can you imagine if George W. Bush stood on the stack of rubble of the World Trade Center and said, "You rescue workers have really thrown our budget out of whack, but that is fine we have saved a lot of lives?"  Or what if Bill Clinton had stood before cameras and said, "This assault on the Waco compound was an example of great law enforcement who did not play politics and the outcome was not as bad as the Pine Ridge Reservation assault."

Here is a run down of the fun one day outing for the Commander and Chief of the United States and his sight seeing tour of a Caribbean nation.

•  “Sixteen versus in the thousands,” was how 45 was quoted in the New York Times which went on to say that the President compared the storm’s certified death toll to the 1,833 killed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, which he described as a “real catastrophe.  You can be very proud of all of your people, all of our people working together,” he said. “Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud.”  This when sitting in a country that half the population does not have drinking water and people are certainly dying because they do not have power or water.  In fact, the reported death toll doubled within hours of the President leaving the island.
• “You were really generous,” 45 said to the non-voting member of Congress for Puerto Rico (a Republican),  “It’s so important when you have men and women that have worked so hard and so long, and many of them came from two other catastrophic hurricanes.” This contradicts what he said over the weekend.  He also heaped praise on US non-voting Representative Jenniffer González-Colón for praising him and federal officials last week.
• The leader of the Federal Government could not stay away from the debt issue and brought it up in the most condescending way, "Mick is in charge of a think called [sic] budget. [We are natives that only recently got a calculator on the island, please explain, Master...]  Now, I hate to tell you Puerto Rico, [no you don't since you tweeted this twice] but you have thrown our budget a little out of whack because we have spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico. And that is fine. We have saved a lot of lives," said the budget hawk who is known as a penny pincher.
• Comedians had a field day with the Leader of the Free World throwing out paper towels to a crowd of people in need like a free t-shirt at a basketball game.  There was much more at this same event to show his incompetence including not understanding that there were pills that you could drop in water to make the water safe for drinking or passing out flash lights but telling people,  "Flashlights! You don't need 'em anymore!" This in an island with only 5% having access to a power.  He also said, "There’s a lot of love in this room, great people,” which seemed out of place.
• The man with his finger on the nuclear codes kept getting distracted by the response to other Hurricanes.  "Well, you know in Texas, it came in, it did devastation, then went right out to the coast, it came in and out. It came in three times. It would load up with water and come in.  No one has ever seen water like that. And the Coast Guard would follow it...They saved 60,000 lives. Hard to believe." [Yes, very hard to believe since there is no way to verify this. He could have said any number and how could you fact check it? This is like Bush claiming that 332,000 people were saved in New Orleans because they did not drown.] This in a country facing weeks without power and an uphill climb to rebuild; residents don't care about how much better things are in Texas or Florida.
• When trying to wrap up the briefing and not having any more written statements, 45 said, "I appreciate your support, and I know you appreciate our support. Our country has really gone all out to help...Not only dangerous, its expensive, its everything. But I consider it a great honor. Maybe because I know so many people from Puerto Rico who are great people.  [Or maybe its because you are the President of the United States and it is your job?]
•  The focus of the whole day was to praise the Federal response and his own actions.  45 seemed to believe that if you say it enough times it will come true. “If you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died, and you look at what happened here with really a storm that was just totally overbearing, nobody has seen anything like this,”said the President. 
• Before taking off for Puerto Rico, 45 praised the federal response at clearing the roads and said, “We need their truck drivers.  Their drivers have to start driving trucks. We have to do that, so at a local level they have to give us more help.”  Many roads in the interior of the island remain un-passable with some sections of the country still not accessible because houses have slid down the hills and onto the roads.  We saw a report on Telemundo while in Puerto Rico from truck drivers pleading for trucks to drive to get gas and supplies out, because their trucks were damaged or flooded. 
• An older couple poured out their heart to the leader of the Executive Branch about how their house had been destroyed and that is why they were staying in the shelter.  The President responded,  “have a good time" and “Great to see you.”  Was he not listening? Or did he not care?
• The President later claimed that “most of the hospitals” on Puerto Rico were open. He said “the job that’s been done” on the island “is really nothing short of a miracle.”  This was disputed by FEMA press releases which indicated only a small number of hospitals had full power restored most were still operating on diesel, especially outside of the city of San Juan.

  

  This is the law enforcement and military standing around 

  
  

• “I think she’s come back a long way,” he said. “I think it’s now acknowledged what a great job we’ve done.” The President gave himself an A+ for the federal efforts in Florida and Texas and said, "And I'll tell you what, I think we've done just as good in Puerto Rico and it's actually a much tougher situation."
• For some reason, the President went off topic as the Daily Mail summarized, "Praising the military, he mentioned the F-35 fighter. 'It's hard to fight a plane that you can't see right? But that's an expensive plane that you can't see. As you've probably heard we cut the price very substantially." He also misidentified a member of the US Air Force as a member of the Coast Guard. 
•  "Thank you very much. It was a great trip and a beautiful place.  I have been to Puerto Rico many many times, as I think most of you have known. I have always loved it.  Your weather is second to none, but every once in while you get hit. And you really got hit; there is no doubt about it" said Captain Stuebing of the Love Boat 1.  The people of Puerto Rico do remember his trips to the island.  He bankrupted a golf course which added to the debt of the island. 
• The leader of the United States had some problems with time of the Hurricane, "I was going to be here a week ago, if you remember, that was the day of the Hurricane...the second Hurricane." Hurricane Maria hit on Tuesday September 19, while the President was speaking on October 3.  One week ago was Tuesday September 26 and was a hot beautiful day in Puerto Rico with residents suffering because most people did not have running water.
•  According to the Daily Mail, "But he continued to heap praise on first responders and on FEMA. 'I will tell you, the first responders, the military, FEMA, they have done an incredible job in Puerto Rico,' Trump said." 
• In his own "Heck-of-a-job Brownie" moment, the President praised his cabinet and military response, but first dazzled the crowd with the size of the Hurricane.  "This has been a Category 5 which few people have ever even heard of...a Category 5 hitting land, but it hit land. Boy, did it hit land...I want to thank Elaine...Elaine, thank you very much...fantastic.  Acting Secretary Elaine Duke has been incredible.  [She was the person who said that Puerto Rico was a good news story that prompted Mayor Cruz to go off last Friday.]...And to all of my people, and I have to say General Buchanan got here a few days ago and there is no doubt about it you are a General. There is a reason you are a General, right?  He is no games..." 
• 45 praised the current Governor of Puerto Rico who has held his tongue and not criticized the administration.  Governor Ricardo Rossello has not complained that it took two weeks to get the airport up and running or the lack of food or water distribution throughout the island or the inept response that I saw on Puerto Rico. "Right from the beginning, this Governor did not play politics. He didn't play it at all. He was saying it like it was, and he was giving us the highest grades. [Not sure this is true. I guess complaining and criticism are considered political.]
  
  

CNN caught up with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz after the briefing and she said, “The first part of the meeting was a public-relations situation.”  While she said the White House staff were helpful and receptive, Mr. Trump’s communications style sometimes “gets in the way. I would hope that the president of the United States stops spouting out comments that really hurt the people of Puerto Rico,” she said, “because, rather than commander in chief, he sort of becomes miscommunicator in chief.”  Cruz was criticized over the weekend on Twitter for speaking out against the slow federal response last week.

The one piece of good news from the day was that at the end he told Fox News that "We are going to have to wipe that out," when asked about the Puerto Rican debt.  I have no idea what this means and it could be bluster, but it was on piece of good news in a horrible, horrible day for Puerto Rico.

The President characterized all the negative coverage of his insensitive trip to Puerto Rico as "fake news" obviously.

by Brian Davis