Trump, Clorox and that Straw Man

Many trump supporters have been taking to social media in the last couple of days to defend their Moron-in-Chief.

They're saying that those of us who're reacting to the president's remarks in last Friday's press conference -- those of us who can't stop laughing at trump's stupidity, in particular -- believe he expressly told Americans to chug, inject or bathe in Clorox.

It's pretty funny stuff.

They are, of course, missing the point entirely. None of us who don't like the president are saying he told people to ingest or shoot up disinfectant.

But we are 100% certain that he asked Dr Birx if she and the other scientists who are advising the country while the pandemic is raging would look into it because he thought it might work.

Anyone who sees the video of exactly what he said and still thinks he didn't do that are simply too partisan to acknowledge the truth.

Here is exactly what trump said:


"And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we’ll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute. That’s pretty powerful."

Trump supporters need to stop knocking down a straw man with their "you're claiming trump told people to drink or shoot up Clorox" assertion.

We are not saying that. No one in the media has said that. We're saying that trump thought the disinfectant angle could work and that he wanted the scientists who study such things to look into it. That is extremely clear in the video, which I've seen three times.

And yes, it's entirely appropriate that we talk and post and blog about how very, very stupid trump is to have thought that such a thing could work and that competent scientists should investigate it.

It's way past time for the right wing talking heads and trump supporters in general to stop spreading the lie that we're claiming trump told people to drink or shoot up disinfectant or squirt Lysol up their asses.

Our mind-numbingly stupid president really, truly did think getting disinfectant into the bodies of people who're sick with the virus might be a good treatment and his lying, sycophantic supporters need to set aside their feeble defenses of this moron and start putting together a workable plan to get off the trump train.

More on how this incident is very similar to other insane things trump has said in other situations is coming in the next post. That post will also lay out in some detail why so many Americans -- including Yours Truly -- oppose trump with such vehemence.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

Earth lovers are smiling today

A huge victory today, especially for those of us who care about our Planet. The Supreme Court has ruled that a Utility Co. providing water to Maui County must stop injecting contaminated wastewater into the ground where it eventually reaches the Pacific Ocean.

Because we’re living in the trump era, our EPA had sided with the polluters in this important case. No surprise there. But they’ve now been stopped by the SCOTUS and the utility company must now comply with the law and clean up the water before they inject it into the ground.

The real shocker for me was that Justices John Roberts and Neil Gorsuch sided with the four progressive justices and against the polluters on this important case.

The Hawaii-based environmental groups that brought the suit, nature lovers and clean water advocates everywhere are smiling today.

The trump-appointed industry lackeys that now run our EPA are pissed today, no doubt. And that makes my day.

For the details on this important story, follow this link.



“Bulldog Ben” Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

National Arbor Day 2020

Yes, it's National Arbor Day today. But with most of America — and the world, for that matter — staying close to home, celebrating this auspicious day is just a bit different this time.

My celebration of the day this year includes two things. Small things, but things which nevertheless help the cause.

I just made a donation to the National Arbor Day Foundation. This is something I look forward to doing each year.

If you would also like to do that, follow this link.

I’m also going to use today’s hashtag on my twitter account. And that is: #ArborDayAtHome. When you use that tag, the Foundation will plant a tree for your gesture of support and good will. Up to 50,000 trees.

That’s a wonderful thing.

One more thought: if you’d like to take a look at the blog for the National A.D. Foundation, go here.

A certified, hard-core tree-hugger, I am,

“Bulldog Ben” Basile


© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile

What next? Bill Gates has some thoughts

Like so many of us, I've been spending a lot of time in the last few weeks wondering how our current devastating health crisis is going to affect our lives going forward.

Our lives and our collective life, together, on this planet.

I just came across an article laying out some of  Bill Gate's thoughts about where we might be heading and it sounded very plausible to me.

I've always respected Bill Gates for his obvious business acumen and the visionary way he led Microsoft in its formative period.  

And I certainly laud Bill and Melinda for taking a wide world view and for their extraordinary philanthropy.

I think his thoughts about the COVID-19 crisis here deserve a very wide reading and I recommend this article for anyone who'd like to read some cogent and well-informed thoughts on where we might be heading.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© Ben Lawrence Basile

Ready to shoot up some bleach?

Just about everybody on the Planet right now is wondering what we might be able to do to prevent infection or treat folks once they've become ill from COVID-19.

It is, no doubt, very much on the minds of many Americans; our death toll here just passed the  50,000 mark.

The very, very smart and stable genius who now occupies the Oval Office is very hopeful that injecting folks with disinfectants after they've become infected will help.

Yeah, no doubt the clinical trials will crank up soon.

What will it take for trump's cult followers to stop supporting this madman?

America wants to know.



"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

Our Sports File: UFC 193

It was in the late summer of 2015 that Dana White and the other powers-that-be in the UFC decided that MMA Goddess and UFC Bantamweight Champ Ronda Rousey would defend her title against former boxer Holly Holm who -- at that time -- had only nine MMA fights under her belt.

As you know if you've followed mixed martial arts at all, no one in the MMA world gave Holly a snowball's chance in hell of besting Ms. Rousey in the Octagon. The fact that she had gone 33-2-3 as a pro boxer, holding multiple boxing titles in her long career, didn't carry much weight with many talking heads in the sports world.

In fact, the Vegas odds two days before the fight took place were 12 to 1 against Holly.

The now-legendary match took place on November 14, 2015 at a sold-out Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

And there were millions of shocked fans and hundreds of thousands of angry, confused and thoroughly-stunned bettors looking on when the challenger's foot caught Ronda squarely on her tender neck and she fell -- unconscious -- to that cold canvas.

UFC 193 was nothing short of stupefying in its time. Finding a site where you can view that fateful fight without a subscription is next to impossible, but I found one a couple of weeks ago.

If you'd like to have a look at one of the biggest upsets in the history of martial arts, just follow this link.



"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

Looking for Lost Apples

Did you know that there was a group of dedicated botanists and nature nuts who spend a lot of time scouring the American northwest looking for lost apples?

Well, I didn’t either!

But there is and I just found out about these folks and the work of the Lost Apple Project by reading an article I found in a friend’s tweet.

It’s by far the most interesting thing I’ve found while web-surfing for quite a while.

It was from reading that article that I learned that North America once had around 17,000 named varieties of apples and that botanists believe that all but around 4,500 had disappeared.

And folks who work with the non-profit Lost Apple Project have been trying to find, identify and preserve as many of those lost varieties as possible.

It came as very welcome news that they’ve had quite a bit of success this year; the article mentioned that they’ve come across at least ten varieties this season that were previously thought to have been lost.

Being the nature nut that I am, this was by far the coolest thing I’ve read in a good long while.

To read the article in its entirety, follow this link.

And here’s a link to the Facebook page for the Lost Apple Project.

“Bulldog Ben” Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

Ben is not the owner of the banner photo and believes it to be covered under Fair Use.

Let's have more Sports coverage, please!

If you've taken even a causal look around here, no doubt you've noticed that Ol' Bulldog here is a very political animal.

That's another way of saying that the content here on da bulldog blog is somewhere around 98% political.

However, I do also "speak sports" fluently and am not quite sure why that love of and knowledge about sports has not resulted in more sports content around here.

Well, it's time.

Yes, it's just a bit ironic that I've come to this epiphany now that almost all live sports have been put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. There's precious little sports going on anywhere in the world right now; even the Olympics have been pushed back 'til 2021.

Well, I want to step in and do exactly what ESPN and all the other major players in the sports world are doing. I'm going to give my take on some of the major sports stories I've found to be surprising or noteworthy in the last 30 years or so. Lots of those, don't you know!

And I'll begin doing that tomorrow.




Yours forever in the love of sports, I am,

"Bulldog Ben" Basile



© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile

Poser Prez claims "total authority" in presser

The hateful, petulant and thoroughly-incompetent grifter who is currently occupying the White House is up to his old tricks again.

In yesterday's press conference -- which was ostensibly about the coronavirus pandemic -- one of the main subjects was trump's desire to re-open the Nation and its wounded economy.

And our megalomaniacal moron said this: "when somebody is the President of the United States, the authority is total".

As anyone who passed a 9th grade Civics class can tell you, that's not true. It's just one more falsehood from our lying, loser prez.

If you'd like to take in an article that treats this issue objectively and in considerable detail, just follow this link.

It's time for me to log off the internet and check out the nightly news. Let's see what insane, self-serving drivel Mango Mussolini will spew tonight.



"Bulldog Ben" Basile

 © 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

War and Compassion

As is true for so many of us, the coronavirus crisis has had huge effects on how I live my life day-to-day.

I've been furloughed by my employer for the time being, and so I've been spending even more time than usual looking through my reading collection and all over the net for good things to read.

This piece is about a German WW II veteran's experience when an American medic risked his life -- going behind the enemies' lines -- to treat their wounded.

Reading stories like this one often touch me deeply and remind me that -- although people often do terrible things to each other -- we are also capable of acts of great love and compassion.

The surprising story in this piece is well-worth the next few minutes of your day.



"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

The banner photo of a different incident from the Axis History Forum

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said WHAT?

One of the big stories of the last couple of days concerns today's stay-at-home order issued by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.

Kemp is one of the holdout Governors who seemed to be in no hurry to take actions which public health officials have been urging to at least try to keep the coronavirus in check.

It must be said that it is newsworthy that the Governor waited until now to issue the order.

But what was truly shocking about his statement today was the reason he gave for waiting.

The Governor claimed that he -- and his advisers -- had only just learned that some people infected with coronavirus can and do spread the virus, even if they have no symptoms at all and don't even know that they're infected.

That was stunning.

I'm not an expert, but I first read that at least a month ago. And it's something that you just don't forget once you've learned it.

It's certainly one of the main reasons I've taken all of this very, very seriously and have been observing that whole stay-at-home thing since I first heard public health officials say we should.

So, of course, thousands of people have been wondering whether Gov Kemp truly just learned about about asymptomatic transmission of the coronavirus or was just looking for some plausible-sounding reason to explain why he waited so long to ask Georgians to stay at home.

I think most folks believe the latter explanation is the correct one.

I most certainly do.

Kemp is quite likely taking his lead from our arrogant science-denier-in-chief. There is certainly no shortage of features and articles about trump's foot-dragging since his advisers first began to sound the alarm many weeks ago.

It was just one more colossal failure on trump's part.

The fact that so many of the trump sycophants who hold elected offices all over our country are channeling Dear Leader here is making this public health catastrophe much worse than it has to be.

Here's the sad truth about all of this: the chances that Kemp or his know-nothing role model will change course while we're facing this once-in-a-generation crisis are very, very small.



"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile