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Comments Posted By MurphTheSurf3

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A Hardy Hidey-Ho to All Yabberzis and Welcome to the Planet

Gypsy, I had not idea that you were a Planeteer…..so glad to join you here..the fight does go on.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 30, 2019 @ 1:55 pm

Welcome to The Planet…..learning HOW to work the site is the necessary precursor to working it….the content will come….and yes time marches, romps, trots, gambols and runs on.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 30, 2019 @ 1:54 pm

BOO! Right back at you, my friend. So glad you are here. WordPress is great, but as you say, it requires a bit more techy savvy to manage it. As to the ringer to join….apparently that is true for some…..but fortunately our Admin is really good at troubleshooting. Please encourage others to come this way…..I think this is just what we need. Welcome, welcome, welcome.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 29, 2019 @ 7:27 pm

Hope to see more.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 29, 2019 @ 2:42 pm

Very Kool! You created this……

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 29, 2019 @ 2:42 pm

I can see the Hairball…am I supposed to?

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 29, 2019 @ 1:25 pm

BOY….am I happy to see you here….really…..really…bravo! I think you will find Medium more Yabberz-like than Medium. Take a tour. Try out some features. You can post right away at “Comments” above and to the right and then, if you want, work at the posting of articles….Let me know how it is going.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 29, 2019 @ 11:38 am

Yes, you did. I think you will find The Planet more Yabberz-like than Medium. Take a tour. Try out some features. You can post right away at “Comments” above and to the right and then, if you want, work at the posting of articles….Let me know how it is going.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 29, 2019 @ 11:34 am

Very sincere greetings to you. I think you will find Medium more Yabberz-like than Medium. Take a tour. Try out some features. You can post right away at “Comments” above and to the right and then, if you want, work at the posting of articles….Let me know how it is going.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 29, 2019 @ 11:33 am

I am with you on this….these first days of the relaunch will be important as we reach out to each other. Let me know how I can assist. What do you think of the new site?

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 27, 2019 @ 8:58 pm

Hey there…..welcome….let me know how I can assist you…..yes..I think The Planet will fit our needs. Please spread the word.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 27, 2019 @ 7:51 pm

Welcome to the New PlanetPOV!!!

Thank you my dear choice…..let all of us who stayed faithful to the vision of this site Be Glad in This New Day….(My Episcopalian Roots showing their influence)!

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 27, 2019 @ 12:58 pm

AdLib Your are the BEST!

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 27, 2019 @ 7:47 am

Something Earth Shaking is Happening At PlanetPOV

Hats Off to Kalima, KQuark and AdLib for their pioneering work on The Planet begun ten years ago.

I have very much enjoyed my time here with a special nod to the experience that Vox Populi offers. We are at a critical time in our Planet Earth’s History with the American Experience being particularly distressing. The Planet (Earth) needs places like the Planet (POV) as places to gather a community interested in honest dialogue and good company. The redesign is exciting and life giving.

Thanks to all, who over the years, have kept the vision that the Planet promotes alive and ready for today.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 24, 2019 @ 4:20 am

Missouri Joins The Club: Legislature Passes Very Restrictive Abortion Bill

In Roe v. Wade the Burger Court weighed the rights of a woman to control her body as an outgrowth of the constitutional right of privacy but that there were limitations that could be imposed on this by states. For example: At the level of medical science available in the early 1970s, the beginning of the third trimester was normally considered to be the point at which a fetus became viable. Therefore, the Court ruled that, from the beginning of the third trimester on through the rest of a pregnancy, the state had a compelling interest in protecting prenatal life, and could legally prohibit all abortions except where necessary to protect the mother’s life or health.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 16, 2019 @ 9:39 pm

ACTUALLY…..We agree completely on this. I chose not to analyze their motivation….but rather the essence of the legislation. Their motivations are craven and base I believe….just as you say. This is moral bankruptcy at its worst.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 16, 2019 @ 7:47 pm

I Want The Next President To Be Like Our Best Presidents: 5 Key Lessons

Is this in response to my post on the American Presidency or should it have shown up somewhere else?

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 1, 2019 @ 10:37 am

Seven Reasons Why Democrats Should Impeach Donald Trump

A brief reply.

Much of what you say is true in principal. Here is my concern. Will the public pay attention to what is actually going on? Much of your argument depends on the public being aware of what is happening, viewing it objectively, weighing its import and drawing a conclusion that is evidence based.

I do not see that happening. For many reasons.

It is based on my belief that I want the Congress and various judiciary entities to probe and to act on each probe and not create a massive diversion that Trump will use very effectively to rouse his base, frustrate his foes and confuse those in the muddled middle.

Take this:
President Trump’s approval rating reached its highest level since April 2017 in a new CNN poll released Wednesday. The poll found 43% approved of the way Trump is handling his job as president. The new tally is one point lower than his 44% approval rating two years ago. Those who approve strongly of the way Trump is handling his job hit an all-time high of 35% in the CNN poll.

I think the only thing taking him down is concerted, full throttle, frontal assault.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On May 1, 2019 @ 11:26 am

A Proposed Cheat Sheet for Running Against Trump in 2020

Grand.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On April 18, 2019 @ 6:54 pm

Please, Please, Please, Please….spiff it up a bit with images and then repost this at Yabberz ( noting that you are the admin at Planet POV). This is a quality piece, high quality in composition, in style, in language….and most importantly, in throughtfulness and tone.

You have written so many fine pieces that my statement may not be absolutely true…but as of this moment I say:

THIS IS THE FINEST ESSAY YOU HAVE DONE IN MY MEMORY. ( I want to boldface and use headline type with a large smiley face thumbs up).

It is a road map……
-Here is what is at stake.
-Here is what happens if HE wins.
-Here is the overall strategy for winning the big game.
-And here are tactics by which we will not lose and will win.

Ad……I do not know if you joined Medium but this is the kind of piece that seems to get attention there but I would sure love to see it there. If you don’t want to bother and I would blame you, give me your ok to reprint it with attribution and link at Medium and submit it for curation to make it available beyond the Yabberz page.

I will promote it at Yabberz by sharing it, and I will also sponsor it.

Outstanding work.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On April 17, 2019 @ 6:36 pm

In Search of Trump’s Tax Returns: THE BIG STALL

Greetings….just a quick response…..the cruz of the argument appears to be that impeachment proceedings are the ultimate leverage that the House can call into play in this matter but with Pelosi and the House leadership downplaying the idea out of an abundance of caution wary that they will give Trump exactly what he wants: a target for his bases’ and the undecided to focus on. Presidential Harassment, a coup with the government’s deep state, a plot by the know nothing fake news media.

My research led me to the conclusion that Congress may have no choice but to say that this request of the IRS is based on an impeachment inquiry to rise to the standard that investigations of the Executive Branch appear to require.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On April 8, 2019 @ 8:57 am

Donald Trump Has Built a Cave and He Will Pay For It

One of the best pieces you have written.

I am going to post the link at Yabberz, share it the community there and invite them to view it here.

Brilliant. Just brilliant. A fine summary of what was, reasonable prediction of what is coming, and all done in your inimitable style!

Bravo!

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On January 25, 2019 @ 6:54 pm

A Practical Plan to Get Trump to Resign

I agree with you Ad Lib. For the good of the nation a deal will have to be struck and what you suggest strikes me as a reasonable course of action. Let me add that the deal will have to be an umbrella that protects his immediate family…….next to his money, his daughter, his sons, and his wife (maybe?) come next. But they too will not be free from pursuit by other jurisdictions. Those jurisdictions would be less motivated to offer deals (but may be dragged into a cooperative agreement with Mueller IF Trump hangs tough.

Now what about Pence. He is clearly implicated in numerous acts of malfeasance. He would have to go as well in which case the President is….drum roll please…..Nancy Pelosi.

Another way this could go is that Pence, hoping to save his skin, invokes the 25th with the Cabinet, backed by House on appeal, and he becomes acting President. Would he have pardon powers? I suspect so. But then Pence could (would?) find himself as ground zero for investigation and removal. Of course, he could make a deal and step down too which results in….drum roll please….Nancy Pelosi.

What a hoot!

P.S. Your fine piece belongs on other sites……may I suggest….you know….

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On December 17, 2018 @ 7:23 pm

The Top Five Questions The Media Needs to Stop Asking About Trump

This is one of the very best pieces you have written for The Planet in my time. Please republish it widely…..at Yabberz, Daily Kos, at anywhere. This deserves to be passed along very widely.

Your analysis blends political commentary and personality study in a compact and studied fashion.

A brilliant synopsis.

Some other thoughts…..

Sometimes we become involved with disordered personalities because they have a compelling mask of sanity: they hide effectively their deviant natures and abnormal behavior by creating a veneer of uniqueness (“only I can….”)But we’ve also seen that psychopaths and other personality disordered individuals can’t maintain that mask on over extended periods of time for three main reasons:

a) they can’t keep straight all the lies and half-truths they tell us and other people, so inconsistencies and contradictions in their false stories start to become obvious in time (although zealous followers have an amazing capacity for denial and rationalization)

b) they don’t put as much effort into maintaining the false front since our value to them diminishes once the newness wears off and once they’ve gotten some of what they want from us

c) psychopaths and sociopaths form relationships in order to exercise control over others, which can easily turn into increasingly abusive and unequal relationships

It stands to reason that, after the honeymoon phase, something else blinds us to the truth about the psychopath’s/sociopath’s increasingly obvious personality disorder: the power of denial. Sigmund Freud coined the term “denial” to describe a situation when a person is faced with an uncomfortable or difficult to accept fact and denies or rejects it despite all rational evidence that it has occurred.

How often do people involved with psychopaths/sociopaths turn a blind eye to clear evidence of their lying and cheating? How often do they rationalize the psychopath’s wrongdoings, blame it on others, find excuses for it or accept the psychopath’s lies, projection of blame and (false) justifications? The more emotionally invested a victim is in the psychopath and the relationship with him, and the more he has succeeded in isolating her from others, the stronger the power of denial becomes.

What does this denial/rationalization look like?

a) simple denial: refusing to see the psychopath’s wrongdoings and bad character

b) minimization: rationalizing away the importance of the psychopath’s wrongdoings (for instance, by attributing it to his human fallibility, or a simple mistake, or someone else’s bad influence upon him, or inexperience in a certain area or in comparison with “others” who they claim are far, far worse etc.)

In her book Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them, Susan Forward also explains denial in terms of forgrounding and backgrounding of information. When people become invested in a toxic relationship, no matter how much they suffer as a result of their love addiction to a disordered personality, they foreground every positive quality they see in the psychopath and the relationship and relegate to the background all the information that contradicts that rosier picture of reality.

What ends up being in the foreground are subjective, fleeting and superficial impressions which have very little to do with what truly counts in a relationship: character. For those who stay long-term with a psychopath or any other personality disordered individual, character becomes relegated to the background precisely because psychopaths/sociopaths lack character. The only way to put up with the psychopath’s/sociopath’s constant lying, cheating, manipulation, and exercise of dominance over you is to deny the importance of facts that show what he really IS and focus instead on the superficial impressions and fleeting feelings related to the small (and fake) acts of kindness/insight/favor sharing he sometimes DOES. False image becomes more important than real substance.

Psychopaths/sociopaths do their part by doing everything in their power to maintain hold over their victims: by lying to them, by isolating them from others, by intimidating them and by rendering them dependent on them. However, the power of denial with rationalization is the strongest chain that keeps people stuck in a toxic relationship with a person whose evil nature is undeniable.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On February 13, 2018 @ 5:09 am

MORNING BLOG 7th ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Good day Kalima,

Thank you for your dedication to PlanetPOV and your loyalty to its vision and mission.

I regularly visit your Morning Blog to get a wider view of the world.

The U.S. media is so myopic that it takes extra effort to do as you have done for 7 years.

Thanks for providing MB as a valuable resource.

I agree with your thoughts about our President and I regularly find myself saying “this is the last time that he will….”. You might recall I worked for Barack’s campaign in 2007 and 2008 in five states. I became an ACA navigator and worked for his reelection. And I fought for the election of his endorsed successor, Hillary Clinton….I am deeply grieved at the election of this awful human being.

So, I thought I would share this with you…..

******************************************************
I listened as they called my President a Muslim.
I listened as they called him and his family a pack of monkeys.
I listened as they said he wasn’t born here.
I watched as they blocked every single path to progress that they could.
I saw the pictures of him as Hitler.
I watched them shut down the government and hurt the entire nation twice.
I watched them turn their backs on every opportunity to open worthwhile dialog.
I watched them say that they would not even listen to any choice for Supreme Court no matter who the nominee was.
I listened as they openly said that they will oppose him at every turn.
I watched as they did just that.
I listened.
I watched.
I paid attention.
Now, I’m being called on to be tolerant.
To move forward.
To denounce protesters.
To “Get over it.”
To accept this…
I will not.
I will do my part to make sure this great American mistake becomes the embarrassing footnote of our history that it deserves to be.
I will do this as quickly as possible every chance I get.
I will do my part to limit the damage that this man can do to my country.
I will watch his every move and point out every single mistake and misdeed in a loud and proud voice.
I will let you know in a loud voice every time this man backs away from a promise he made to them.
Them. The people who voted for him.
The ones who sold their souls and prayed for him to win.
I will do this so that they never forget.
And they will hear me.
They will see it in my eyes when I look at them.
They will hear it in my voice when I talk to them.
They will know that I know who they are.
They will know that I know what they are.
Do not call for my tolerance. I’ve tolerated all I can.
Now it’s their turn to tolerate ridicule.
Be aware, make no mistake about it, every single thing that goes wrong in our country from this day
forward is now Trump’s fault just as much as they thought it was Obama’s.
I find it unreasonable for them to expect from me what they were entirely unwilling to give.”
Author unknown.
============================With those those words, I bid you a good day.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 23, 2016 @ 12:44 pm

There’s Only One Affirmative Response To Trump’s Victory…Warren 2020

I think that trend to older leadership is not a good one.
My experience with older people is the source of that hesitation.
I am 66 but do a lot of work with those in the mid 70’s and up.
As a group it is a population with lessened resources in energy, focus, and endurance.

So, as a matter of principle, I look to those in their 50’s for the kind of leadership I am looking for. Warren might be just fine but I have my concerns.

I have no idea who would be better than Warren- someone I like very much and admire even more….and, yes, she has a lot of presence with the Sanders wing and perhaps those who decided to either sit it out will more fully engage.

Ad, I remain the voice of doom in regard to the fundamental problem within the entire system….an increasingly stupid citizenry…left, right, and center. Easily manipulated, emotionally facile, and terribly short sighted and egocentric.

The unwillingness of critics on this night after to grapple with that (and one affect of this, a low Democratic turnout especially among blacks, but also among those are white and have aligned with the democratic party for so many years but now do not.”

It all worries me.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2016 @ 6:28 pm

Another magnum opus…with the same observation as the last one…..an invitation to publish at Yabberz.

Several observations: Warren will be 71 in 4 years. I know the Clinton was 69 and Trump is 70. Both are also too old to hold the office of President….given its wear and tear.

And she is attached to this campaign.

I don’t see it. She could be a leader of the opposition but that will only be good for noise making.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2016 @ 3:17 pm

Which Trump Won?

Thank you. I am with Ad Lib in not wanting to single out Sanders…..and I too believe that Sanders through his ALL into campaigning for Clinton but One Thread running through your critique is that our system does not do well with the also-rans, the others in the mix who do not belong in either column A, GOP, or Column B. It further illustrates my ever-present criticism of our constitutional structure which promotes the kind of brittleness that led to last nights tragic results.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2016 @ 5:51 pm

They are three who I helped sign up/enroll last week for next year. I called all three today and told them what could be/is likely to happen. They each told me that I was wrong because Trump promised to do healthcare better. Invincible ignorance.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2016 @ 5:19 pm

This magnum opus deserves a wider. Please, won’t you consider cross posting at Yabberz.
Failing that….may I copy this and post it with attribution at Yabberz. It needs some headline divisions for easier reading that I would like to add.

P.S. The print here is very small and hard to read. Is that intentional. When I post it returns to the usual format. Weird.

PPS….To add to your post. Hillary may have gotten off the hook here. I really believe the GOP would have summoned her to Congress, both House and Senate, right now for grillings on her server, her foundation and whatever else they could come up with. I have no doubt she would have been impeached, although not likely convicted. All to weaken her, to immobilize her and to distract from GOP incompetence, indolence, malfeasance and corruption.

» Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On November 9, 2016 @ 2:44 pm