Sometimes I must agree in Book Five: Working Through the Maze 2018

This is a sentiment being echoed by many U.S. allies. After all… Trump may have lucked his way into a Nuclear Disarmament with North Korea… a difficult task brought about almost exclusively because South Korea thought Trump would actually launch a nuclear missile at North Korea (thus obliterating South Korea.) So… Trump was on the verge of possibly getting a Peace Deal of such significance that he could have legitimately been given a Peace Prize. But this is a man who wants war. He, like his Russian master, believe that armed conflict is the ultimate sign of masculinity. Trump and Putin (and Duterte) believe in a toxic masculinity that equates the use of physical violence, racism, and bullying, and dictatorship with manhood. So… instead of potential peace with a nuclear threat… Trump recently announced that he wants to “militarize space.” This is significant. Because it is more than just “spy gear” or “floating laser beams”… he specifically mentioned that he wants troops in space. Troops. In space.

I was going to make some kind of scathing comment about that but the sudden aneurysm his stupid caused forced thoughts to erase. Now… there is always the possibility that Trump, psychotic, dangerous, and idiotic though he may be, was acting in a calculated fashion. This would be supported by WHEN he made this bonehead, fucking ridiculous remark. The big news story yesterday was that Trump’s Secretary of State was fired.

The abysmal story behind that? Well, lets go all the way back.
Within the last month, it has come to light that Rex Tillerson was not Trump’s first choice for Secretary of State. This makes sense as everyone assumed Mitt Romney would get the job and likely do a decent job of it. However, Rex Tillerson through his position at Exxon Mobile, had earned a reputation of being incredibly favorable to Russian interests. Including one time where, through legal loopholes and a bit of trickery, Exxon Mobile under Tillerson was able to do business in and with Russia at a time when other U.S. countries were being required to withdraw. Thus, according to reports, the Kremlin told Donald Trump that Tillerson was going to be the Secretary of State. Alarming, upsetting, and (if true) one of the worst fucking things a president has ever allowed to happen (knowingly allowing a hostile foreign power to set policy and staffing).

FAST FORWARD TO PRESENT DAY

Russia is being suspected of and investigated for a nerve agent attack in a U.S. allied nation. Most of the reports and evidence make it pretty clear that Russia did this. Rex Tillerson called the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter with a military-grade nerve agent in the U.K. “a really egregious act” that appears to have “clearly” come from Russia. In a statement released by the State Department on Monday evening, Tillerson called Russia “an irresponsible force of instability in the world, acting with open disregard for the sovereignty of other states and the life of their citizens.” Tillerson’s remarks echoed those of May, who had said Monday that it is “highly likely” Russia is responsible for the poisoning, either directly or because it lost control of the nerve agent.” “It’s almost beyond comprehension that a state, an organized state, would do something like that,” Tillerson said while traveling aboard a U.S. airplane during a trip to Africa. “A nonstate actor, I could understand. A state actor — I cannot understand why anyone would take such an action,” he said. Asked if the poisoning will trigger a mutual defense response with the close NATO ally, Tillerson said that “it certainly will trigger a response. I’ll leave it at that.”

WITHIN 24 HOURS OF THESE COMMENTS REX TILLERSON HAD BEEN FIRED. And not fired like a big boy would fire someone (in person or on the phone) but fired like a bitch would fire someone (via Twitter). And again I would have to echo just about every SANE political pundit, journalist, and comedian at this point::::: a man is judged by his actions, not just his words. While Trump keeps openly saying he has no political ties to Russia, he sure as fuck keeps acting like an employee of the Kremlin!

Credible evidence produced by the American intelligence services that our democratic institutions were corrupted by deliberate efforts of a hostile power is essentially denied by the president. And to even raise the issue with him makes him upset and is taken as a “personal affront.” The President of the United State, despite a bi-partisan bill to impose sanctions against Russia, has refused to take any action against Russia in any way. The Senate Intelligence Committee warned that Russia absolutely attacked the US and was planning to do so again during the Midterm Elections… and the President says “fake news.” McMaster, a top official, suggested that Russia is absolutely a threat to freedom in the West. Trump spent a week mocking him in any press appearance he could scrounge together. And… lets never forget his successful firing of James Comey and his attempt to fire Robert Mueller.

At some point… we have to learn to treat the current sitting President like a toddler with a messy room. If we smell rotting dead fish, we need to find it and extract it. No matter how loudly or often the child says “But there aren’t any fish in here!” we need to follow the evidence, not his protestations. And when we find that dead fish? Even if the toddler didn’t put it there… he didn’t do a damned thing to find it or clean it… and he should be punished for it.

Fun Job Item:
I got to the new office at 8:35 am this morning. Because the bosses say we need to be here around 8:30 now. Dylan was here. Time passes. 9:00 am rolls around. Muse arrives. Time passes. I check the calendar to see if there are meetings or reasons to be at other offices. There is nothing on the schedule until 10:00, and that is a MediaCom meeting at the office that, as per usual, they’ve assigned Dylan to handle. Time passes. At 9:45, I honestly feel my soul whisper “I stopped giving a fuck.” (came back to update: first boss through the door? White Boss at 10:03).

Here we are. White Boss trying to manage my out of work time. Chinese Boss making consistently horrible assignment choices. But we’re down to the last 2.5 weeks. And in the next 7 business days, I have 6 court hearings. So… no matter what those buttheads tell me to do, I’ll get to say “I’ll work it into my schedule”. Though… I am thinking that a lot of the “I’m actively trying to transition my case load so that the firm and I aren’t penalized” work is going to have to be on my own time. Bullshit (because, you know, the whole constant element of this job being work but don’t get paid) but important. I’d rather have to put in my own time than owe these people any extra days. And… yeah… how shitty is that? I am using Department of Corrections language in reference to my job? “Owe them days” like this is a sentence!

I do have to say though… it has been interesting to see how I was a different boss and how I am and will continue to be a different kind of boss as compared to my current bosses. White Boss got in a full 93 minutes after Dylan. Goes to his office. Tells Dylan to go get him a cup of coffee. When I was a boss? First off, I tried to be one of the first people in the office every time. Lead by example, let your actions support your words… not lead by hypocrisy.
And unless Cecilia offered to get me something because she was already up, she isn’t a “personal assistant” she is an individual with a specific job and job duties. Even when she would offer, I’d usually say no. Because if I had a need that wasn’t outlined in a job description… I’d fucking take care of it myself. Because, and this has been proven time and again, in my belief: Staff are not simply people that do what you say. A staff, in a wise and professional environment, are people that know exactly what is expected of them… do their job… and owe you nothing more than what is clearly laid out for them as At Work Expectations. Fetching coffee, getting dry cleaning, helping you set up for a personal party? That is P.A. work… not legal secretary work (or lawyer work, for that matter). But then again… I’m the soon to be out of work lawyer that has trouble keeping a job… so what do I know?

So hungy. Must/will go get lunch. Have spent hours (and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours) on this damned Chinese Language Research project. I still have 1 section to complete, then the review with Chinese Boss (where she is likely to ask that I do a lot more work for it). ALREADY this damned thing is 30 pages long. This is supplemental evidence for an Immigration Case where the client is a Television Producer from China. I get that Immigration is fucked up these days but… really? Like… an Immigration Officer is not going to sit there and carefully scan and research everything in a 30 page document. ESPECIALLY when the Immigration Officers (and this is true) don’t speak Mandarin and will be using Chinglish bullshit if they try to verify anything at all. So… thanks for making me do this bullshit thing that took forever and created literally HUNDREDS OF PAGES of paper waste when we print this in triplicate.

But… that is to be expected. Because wise choices are not the strong suit here. Like this for instance: You know how I’m leaving in two weeks. And it takes more than two weeks for almost anything to be accomplished by the Judicial System? Well, White Boss continually says he is “super swamped” with work and “can never get a break.” Chinese Boss continually says she is “super swamped” with work and “can never get a break.” AND YET they want me to get a contract signed with a client tomorrow. They… they do know I won’t be working on his case, right? Like… they know if I get them a new client that I’m genuinely just making more work for them? Seriously… these people are dumb. They’ll “be wealthy” but work themselves to an early grave after a miserable life. I kind of want to wave a magic wand and suddenly give them perspective.

This will become particularly troublesome on Friday. Because in order to return my Rent-a-Car and deal with my now completely totaled car… the place closes at 5. I literally have no choice but to leave early in order to take care of this. But (all things considered) if an hour early on a Friday Afternoon is that big a deal… fuck off.