Bill's Focus

Moral compass? What’s that?

One of the issues of having lived this long is that you remember that not so long ago our values and sensitivities were quite different. When people did things that were deemed immoral, they paid a price. Politicians lost careers. Quaint, eh?

2004
Howard Dean was running for the Democratic nomination for President and had been leading in some polls. Dean had a reputation for being a good governor and an energetic leader. But he had just come in for a disappointing third place showing in Iowa. His star had been on the rise but now his disorganized campaign was crumbling. He gave this speech and then was pilloried in the press. His candidacy collapsed. Some blamed this speech called “The Scream”.

1987
”…the Hart campaign had an air of likelihood if not inevitability that is difficult to imagine in retrospect. After Mondale’s landslide defeat by Ronald Reagan in 1984, Hart had become the heir apparent and best hope to lead the [Democratic Party] back to the White House.” Wiki

“During the Gary Hart scandal, the importance of evaluating the character of presidential candidates became clear. “We almost elected a compulsive sexual predator as president in 1988,” says Sheehy, “but we didn’t because he got himself caught.” Sheehy wrote for Vanity Fair

1974
Tricky Dicky says goodbye – elected in a landslide victory less than two years before. Brought down by the coverup of one burglary. Think about it.

I don’t need any more Epstein Files. I know enough about Donald J. Trump to suggest he could improve the world by getting on his Qatar grifted jet and charting a flight to Saudi Arabia – where he can get oil barons to build hotels with views of oil derricks. He and MBS can joke about the people they have tortured and murdered.

We knew enough to reject and eject the Orange Menace known as “47” as soon as we learned that Trump had a close 15+ year friendship with Jeffrey Epstein – a child rapist. They partied together.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

”It was a friendship that spanned three different decades. To Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein was a “terrific guy”. Epstein believed himself to be Trump’s “closest friend”, and praised the future president as “charming”. Guardian

What more evidence does a person need? 15 years. He “liked” Epstein. Shouldn’t that be enough to put this disgusting piece of humanity (is he really human?) on a plane to oblivion?

If the files can assist the victims in finding justice and perhaps some restitution, please, more info for the trials. Get it done. Prosecute those who deserve it.

For anyone who has known this and still supported this self admitted pussy grabbing pervert, I have a message:
You are supporting someone who is an accessory to rape, child abuse and sexual trafficking. Donald Trump did not go to the authorities. To what degree he participated, we don’t know. But he knew – and he didn’t call the cops.

It would seem Trump’s long friendship with a sex trafficker/child rapist is a bit worse than a scream, an extramarital affair, or the coverup of a politically motivated burglary.

It is long past time to reset the moral order. We can have all manner of political and philosophical differences. That can make life interesting and even exciting.
But we MUST settle on some basic codes of conduct. When one of your best friends is a molester of children, you have left civilized society. Can we agree on that?

Screw the files. Put the Creep on a Plane.

And just in case you needed an expert to tell you…
Here is a short version of the Trump diagnosis by a highly qualified psychologist.

And below is a longer explanation. The full interview.

“Take a good look at Donald Trump right now. Because this is the best Donald Trump you will ever see. Because dementia doesn’t stay the same and it doesn’t get better.”

For more:
https://mindsitenews.org/2025/04/01/sanewashed-trump-dementia-and-mental-illness/

More.
Does a “Stable Genius” vilify his greatest defender in Congress (MTG) because of one or two issues they disagree on? Does a Radical Right president have a “love fest” with the soon to be mayor of NYC who he just recently labeled a communist…who he promised to destroy?

47’s brain is like pinball game. You never know where the ball is going next. I refer you back to the good Dr. Gartner.

Personal Therapy Section. “Grow, Cook. Eat.”

The final crop of a Massachusetts vegetable garden is often kale. This one is called “Black Magic”. It is a Lacinato or Toscano variety. We have had several frosts but it keeps on giving. Great for soups and stews:

Chunked rotisserie chicken
Vegetable stock
Yukon Gold potatoes
Baby carrots
White beans
Sweet onion
Barley
Celery
Kale
Spinach
Garlic
Herbs de provence

My brilliant wife came across this poem that stirs some memories. And it is quite appropriate for right now.

Pity the nation whose people are sheep, and whose shepherds mislead them.

Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,

and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice,

except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.

Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own and no other culture but its own.

Pity the nation whose breath is money and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.

Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode

and their freedoms to be washed away.

My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.

By Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Pity the nation”