GOP First Or Country First

Bary Goldwater famously or infamously said “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in defense of liberty is no virtue.” But liberty does not mean anarchy even to Barry Goldwater who also said: "Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”

We often see the lunatic right and the religious right as the same because of evangelicals supporting people like Roy Moore. While it is true that a large percentage of the right wing nut cases are religious fanatics, however, there is a significant percentage of those nut cases who are not that religious or are only religious when it is convenient to be so. There are also a large enough number of very religious people who are not right wingers. In other words, the religious divide is probably not as much of a problem as tribalism and an ideology demagogues market and sell in absolute terms and with a religious fervor that leaves no room for questioning or examining the underlying assumptions regardless of how obviously spurious those assumptions may be.

With nothing to sell but the bogus economic hypothesis of “trickle down” the Republicans have resorted to pandering to the tribalism of less educated white people who think their tribal values are under attack from those other, lesser people. And the federal government actually has the nerve to tax those white people in order to help those lesser people have a better life they do not deserve the Republicans say. That is the Republican cocktail – add one part xenophobia and one part anti government phobia, then shake vigorously. Ah, but fear not, the Donald will greatly diminish the state to create a new birth of freedom and liberty (read anarchy) where the virtuous majority can crush the undeserving minority to set things right again! Bleach those sheets and white hoods because the klan will ride again. It sounds a bit like communism with a peculiarly odious American twist? The dictator of the proletariat will destroy the government to free us! From what? From reason and a sense of social responsibility perhaps? Never in our history have we had a President as nihilistic and destructive as Trump, nor a political party as nihilistic and destructive as the Republican Party has now become! I would go so far as to say that with the help of his party Donald Trump is trying to install in this country the same sort of kleptocracy that the Russian oligarchs have installed in Russia. And yes, there is solid evidence of collusion and/or a conspiracy between Russia and the Trump Campaign to defeat Hillery Clinton.

Now that Special Counsel Mueller's investigation is coming ever closer to the White House, Trump and the diapers trying to cover Trump's butt are using the old fascist tactic of discrediting and smearing an impartial investigator they see as a threat. In this case they fear that the truth Mr. Mueller is likely to uncover will set them free of their political offices, and it damn well should! The right wing disinformation machine has been cranking out vile accusations against Mueller, the Department of Justice, and the FBI only to watch most of it slide down the wall into a putrefied heap. Ah but then! Then, much to the surprise and delight of people with an IQ of less than eighty, solid evidence emerged proving that FBI agents and investigators actually have political opinions and that some of those agents and investigators are not even mindless reactionaries. Oh, happy days!

Over the summer Mueller fired one of his investigators, Peter Strzok, who was on loan from the FBI. Mr. Strzok was fired because he sent and received text messages in 2015 and 2016 calling Trump an idiot and saying that the prospect of Trump's election is “fucking Terrifying.” News of the firing of Strzok and the text messages describing Trump in accurate but disparaging terms had the Republicans all a twitter and they pounced with both feet. During the hearing in which Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein testified the Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee assailed Mueller and his investigation regardless of the fact that Mueller had fired Strzok and that in one of his earliest messages Strzok had also called Bernie Sanders “an idiot like Trump...” As Mr. Rosenstein pointed out it would be unrealistic to think that investigators or agents have no political opinions. The real test is whether they can set those opinions aside to conduct a fair and impartial investigation. I might add here that if you say agents and investigators cannot set those political opinions aside you would be hard pressed to find anyone who could investigate any Democrat because an overwhelming percentage of law enforcement officers and investigators are Republicans.

But facts and/or the truth are not what Republicans on the house Judiciary Committee want. What they want is to cover Trumps ass and end the investigation, and they are more than willing to lie and dissemble in order to protect Trump. Hey guys, how about a renewed witch hunt? That is what the Chairman of the judicial committee, Bob Goodlatte called for when he told Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appoint a second special counsel to investigate a host of Clinton-related matters.  Now that will fix Trump's problem won't it.  Just yell “and so's your old lady” and all of Trump's culpability in the Russian hacking and interference in our election will go away.  Gee, I bet Trump will even stop acting like Putin's man ho!

When it comes to absurdly assailing Mr. Mueller and the FBI in total disregard for the safety of this country, however, it would be hard to beat Rep. Jim Jordan. While performing a very credible imitation of the late Joseph McCarthy Tail Gunner Jim Jordan (R-OH) used the Strzok's texts

“...'to assert, without any evidence, that the FBI both paid for the Fusion GPS dossier on Trump and used it as the basis for a foreign-intelligence surveillance warrant. Jordan portrayed Strzok as a rogue “James Bond” and revived a failed congressional GOP effort to fire Mueller – with the twist of assembling a new probe to go after Mueller’s team.

'You can disband the Mueller [probe], and appoint a special counsel to look into this,' said Jordan, his voice raising.”

You would have to be deaf, dumb, blind, and stupid not to see where the Republican Party is taking us. It is far away from anything resembling truth, reason, or patriotism. Our country and its political system came under attack from a foreign adversary that is still using those tactics against us. We must have the truth about the culpability of a president who appears to do the bidding of Vladimir Putin and appears to have conspired with Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton. We need that and other information to protect ourselves!

The shell game the Republicans are playing in regard to investigating the Russian matter is indicative of the way they approach everything because what they are doing cannot stand the light of day. Just look at the way the Republicans are trying to rush through their tax cuts and hose jobs bill without allowing time for debate or a proper examination that would reveal just how badly the middle class is getting screwed. It is not unlike like the FCC removing the consumer protections of net neutrality without any proper hearings or the approval of congress. If 2018 does not see the voters expel from the body politic the debilitating and life threatening cancer that has become the Republican Party than American democracy will deserve to die from the terminal stupidity of the voters and/or the people who did not bother to vote!

Crimes Were Committed

Alan Dershowitz is far more impressed with his own brilliance than I am. He has lately been hitting all of the right wing disinformation outlets in defense of the indefensible acts of Donald Trump et al. Last Friday Ari Melber gave Professor Dershowitz a forum that is very familiar to any law school Professor. It was a moot court setting, but the arguments would begin and end with opening statements that could be no longer than four minutes. This greatly favored Mr. Dershowitz because as the defense attorney he did not have the burden of proof. But lets look at what Mr. Dershowitz argued about Russia's interference in our election and the collusion of Trump and his campaign because Mr. Dershowitz'  argument is both instructive and potentially destructive!

Mr. Dershowitz did not try to deny that Trump colluded with the Russians, instead he admitted it. His stated reason for admitting it is that a denial of the collusion would not be credible! On that point he is obviously right. The public record alone makes Trump's denials about the hacking and his collusion with the Russians patently absurd. So how do you defend a guilty client. If you are Alan Dershowitz and your client is the President you argue that there is no law that protects “we the people” from the President's dangerous and unethical acts even when those acts involve colluding with an adversarial foreign power!

One of the things Mr. Dershowitz is ignoring in making this argument is the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which states in part that “...no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” There is now pending a civil lawsuit filed against Donald Trump by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. This suit alleges among other things that all of the conflicts of interest created by representatives of foreign governments patronizing Trump's hotels, golf courses, and other businesses are in violation of the Emoluments Cause.

Whether this suit will succeed or not I cannot say, but the fear our founding fathers expressed about the corrupting influence of foreign powers makes it very clear that the Emoluments Clause is to be interpreted broadly. In fact I agree with the attorneys who argue that colluding with Russian hackers and trolls to use the materials stolen through hacking is a violation of the Emoluments Clause. The hackers stole emails because those emails and the information contained therein have value. Indeed, candidates spend tens of thousands of dollars for opposition research. What was the price Trump paid for the benefits he reaped from the use of that information? I fear that it may be higher than any of us suspect. And yes, I believe that conspiracy laws and laws about knowingly receiving stolen property may also apply to the case at hand regardless of what Mr. Dershowitz contends.  Furthermore, Mr. Dershowitz' likening of the Trump campaign's use of the stolen information to a news paper publishing something like the Pentagon papers is utter nonsense; the Emoluments Clause applies to office holders not to the news media!

Not argued at the Ari Melber's moot court are the obstruction of justice allegations, and it is the obstruction of justice and abuse of power allegations that may prove to be most dangerous to Trump. The purpose of any legitimate investigation is to uncover the facts. Whether those facts indicate that a crime has been committed is for a prosecutor and then a court to determine. It is illegal to interfere with or obstruct an investigation conducted by a government agency or prosecutor regardless of whether or not the investigation would have uncovered criminal or illegal acts. Therefore, even if you accept Dershowitz' contention that Trump did nothing illegal in regard to the hacking and Russia's interference with our election, Trump's firing of FBI Director Comey and other acts he has committed in an effort to interfere with the investigations of him and Russia were and are criminal acts.

I might add here that it is not for Mr. Dershowitz to tell a jury what the law is, that is done by a judge who reads the jury instructions to the jury. So a moot court as constituted on the show may not have been the best forum for an argument that should be made in a summary judgment motion or some other motion to dismiss.

Tax Cut And [Hose] Job Bill

I cannot speak for others but I am hoping that I will be able to say I am thankful for Senators who had the conscience and good sense to vote against Republican tax bills. As usual it is only large corporations and the rich (the donor class) that will really benefit from any bill put forward by the party of Greedy Old Plutocrat. In the bills the Republicans have proposed in both the House and the Senate the tax cuts given to corporations and the wealthy are permanent whereas the sun set provisions in those bills mean that the middle class and the poor will actually see tax increases by 2027. Furthermore the PayGo budget rule will result in decreases in the benefits from paid benefits programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. I should add the provision in the proposed Senate bill eliminating the individual mandate in the ACA will also result in a steep increase in the cost of health insurance. So to all you white males out there let me say you are well advised to set aside your feelings because the feelings you are getting from the Republican Party ain't a prostate exam!

Hand Wringers Still Wringing!

The pundits are all a twitter. Look at the division in the Democratic Party they chirp: “They have no single message. They have no party talking points or policy statements! They can't win without some sort of manifesto!"

As usual the pundits have turned up the drama at the expense of reason and reality. As Will Rogers said: “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” Even in Presidential years when the parties set forth their platforms there is rarely the sort of lock step unity the pundits seem to be demanding because “all politics are local.” This is not to say that there is not a difference between the parties. There is a huge difference between Franklin Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover, between George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and between Donald Trump and anyone who has any knowledge of history and/or government!

Democrats have good reason celebrate the results of the last election. It was a disaster for Republicans and many voters said Trump was one of the reasons why. Some of the results were really amusing as well as heartening. Consider the following:

The NRA (National Rats Ass) can't win 'em all: Chris Hurst, a former news anchor whose girlfriend and colleague, Alison Parker, was shot and killed on air in 2015, defeated NRA backed Joseph Yost to win the 12th House District seat in the state’s Legislature.

Hell hath no fury like a woman mocked: Atlantic County Freeholder John L. Carman, had posted a picture on Facebook the day of the Women’s March. The picture was of a woman stirring a pot over a kitchen stove. Above the picture was the meme: “Will the woman’s protest be over in time for them to cook dinner?”  Ashley Bennett was so offended by the picture and the meme that she ran against him and defeated him! That earns a big: “Way to go girl!”

Where's a homophobe to go? Or a defeat for potty politics: Danica Roem, a transgender candidate for a seat in the House of Virginia Delegates, defeated incumbent Bob Marshall, who is perhaps the most anti-LGBTQ politician in America and has held that seat since 1992.

What is not funny or heartening is the Republican nomination of accused pedophile Roy Moore for the office of Senator from Alabama and the way Republicans are defending him against what appear to be well founded accusations. Using the Bible to defend Mr. Moore in this instance is like singing hymns while lynching people. Unfortunately many Trump chumps are so morally and intellectually bankrupt that they will try to rationalize anything in their opposition to the Democratic Party.

Fortunately the tide seems to be turning. The Democratic Party cannot take the voters for granted but Trump's absurdly destructive behavior, his incompetence, his obscene and possibly illegal conflicts of interest, and his pandering to Putin are even making traditional Republicans think twice about what they have wrought. Furthermore, the Democratic Party does have a program; it is comprised of the very things Trump is destroying: affordable health care, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, a real State Department, Environmental Protection, Regulations to prevent another 2008 style economic crash, and a tax code that is not weighted in favor of the rich at the expense of the poor and the middle class.

Diapers And Despair

Real wages have been dropping for decades while eighty percent of the wealth of this nation has floated up into the hands of the wealthiest two percent of our citizens. Furthermore, the loss of manufacturing jobs that required only a high school education makes it tempting to put blue collar workers on the endangered species list. Add to this the Republican Party selling fear and loathing and obstructing all of the Democratic Party's* efforts to get us out of Bush's recession and it is not surprising that the result is the elevation of people who would be laughed at in saner times. The problem is that Donald Trump and Stephen Bannon are far too destructive to be funny. But that is the whole point if you are a Trump chump. “Burn it down,” they shout. “Burn it all down!” There is no reasoning with hard core Trump supporters; facts and logic cannot penetrate the fog of despair or the wall of anger they have erected! There is a reason why we often use mad an anger interchangeably. Figuratively speaking the Trump chumps are rioters burning down their own neighborhoods and destroying what little they have in protest over what they feel has been taken away from them. “That'l show 'em, -- those snooty billionaires, corrupt politicians, and know it all intellectuals.”

Most Republican politicians know we have never had a President who so boldly flouts his conflicts of interests, his ignorance and his incompetence. Most Republican Politicians know that Donald J. Trump is so unsuited for the office that he presents a serious danger to our country. Unfortunately Senators such as Flake, Corker, and McCain who will publicly criticize Trump are the rare exceptions. Most Republican politicians quake in fear over the 30% of the voters who are nihilistic Trump chumps and now control the Republican Party. In cowing to those base supporters, the Republican politicians are putting their careers ahead of the best interests of this country, and in doing so they can no longer be called “public servants.”

What has brought all of this to mind is House Intelligence Committee Chairman Diaper Devin Nunes' (R-Calif.) recent announcement of a joint probe by his panel and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee into the uranium deal that Senator Grassley is also looking into. How absurd this probe is can be seen by the fact that “at a news conference, Nunes grew testy as multiple reporters asked him how his role in the probe jibes with his pledge earlier this year to step aside from his panel’s investigation into Russian interference.” Furthermore, as Mother Jones also reported, Dianne Feinstein and other Democratic members Judiciary Committee have finally had enough of what they rightly consider the “GOP efforts to pursue matters Democrats see as gambits to distract or provide cover for the Trump administration.” The straw dog that finally broke the camel's back as far as Dianne Feinstein is concerned is Grassley's focus “on inquiries into matters such as the sale of a uranium company to Russians while Clinton was secretary of state, and allegations that the Justice Department soft-pedaled its Clinton probe.” Like most of the public, Senator Feinstein obviously thinks the real issue is Russia's interference in our election. It should also be pointed out that Snopes found the allegations about Hillary Clinton and the sale of a Uranium company to Russia to be false.

Another indication of how much the Republicans are trying to hinder any investigation of Trump or his campaign is the case of Barbara Ledeen. “Barbara Ledeen, a longtime conservative activist who works for the Republican senator Chuck Grassley on the Senate judiciary committee – which is now investigating alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia” decided in 2015 to launch her own investigation into Clinton’s use of the server. At the time, she was a staffer on the Senate judiciary committee.

“She sought out the help of an unnamed defense contractor and also turned to Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the House, for help. According to the FBI notes, Gingrich 'wanted to speak to others about the project' and asked Judicial Watch, the conservative activist group, for financial assistance.

Judicial Watch allegedly turned to another, unnamed, contractor who was familiar with the 'deep web and dark web', according to the FBI files. The parties were concerned about what they would do if they came across any emails that contained classified information. According to the FBI investigation, the project was later halted.”

Barbara Ledeen is still on Senator Grassley's staff although he claims she is no longer involved in the committee's Russia investigation.

It is difficult not to despair over an entire political party, the Republican Party, acting like a diaper covering Trump's ass, but that is where we are. Fortunately, we still have the Mueller investigation. We can also work hard to replace many of the soiled diapers during the elections of 2018. Perhaps I am being too optimistic but I disagree with people who say that a huge loss in 2018 will not cause the Republicans to impeach Trump. If the Republicans see the threat of losing general elections by supporting Trump to be at least as great as the threat of losing primary elections by impeaching Trump there are bound to be Republicans of conscience who will do the right thing. A good example of this is Watergate. The impeachment of Richard Nixon was a no win situation for all Republicans. Since they had nothing to lose by doing the right thing they did the right thing!


*I hate to get Trumpian about this but I have heard one too many Republican moron call the Democratic Party the Democrat Party. I guess the tag line for that should be Re-pube Party speak!

It's Always About Him?

It is not about four brave and honorable men (Sgt. La David Johnson, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright) who chose to serve their (our) country at great risk to themselves and paid the ultimate price for doing so. It is not about the inconsolable grief of families who have lost their loved ones, or a pain so great that no words can begin to blunt it. It is not even about honoring those patriotic heroes who died on a mission that still remains unclear!  No sir, it is always about that great man who thinks he is unfairly criticized by people who expect him to show some compassion and competence.

It was some twelve days after the tragic events that took the lives of those brave soldiers in Niger before Donald Trump uttered a single word about those soldiers or about what happened on that fateful day.  And when he finally did say something about the loss of those lives it was in answer to a reporter who asked if he had called the bereaved families.  "Had he" was all the license Trump needed to make it about himself.  He instantly become defensive and lied about what he normally did when soldiers died and about what his predecessors normally did.  He then said he intended to call those families.

Donald Trump is as socially awkward as Richard Nixon and is not even close to being as articulate as Nixon was. So what could go possibly go wrong with Trump calling grieving families? It did not take us long to find out. During his condolence call to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson Trump managed to upset her, Sgt, Johnson's mother and his father as well as a good friend of the Johnson family, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson, all of whom were listening to the conversation on a speaker phone. Congresswoman Wilson was so upset by what she heard that she publicly criticized Trump as being insensitive for saying that Staff Sgt. Johnson ...“must have known what he signed up for.”

Trump responded by denying Congresswoman Wilson's account of the conversation and by saying he had proof that her account was not accurate. Sgt. Johnson's mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, however, has corroborated Congresswoman Wilson's account.  And she added that “President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband.” As usual the fake President is blaming this issue on what he falsely calls the fake news and the “liars,” who have this nasty habit of telling the truth!

With Donald Trump trying to pull us all into the dark and smelly place where his head and ego reside it is often difficult to keep sight of the questions we should be asking. What actually happened in Niger?  Why were our brave soldiers caught off guard by a force that was not considered to be that competent or strong? Could Rachael Maddow have found the answer to that? Last night she reported that Donald Trump inexplicably included “Chad on the travel ban against the advice of foreign policy experts and multiple officials.”  And Chad started removing its troops from Niger within a week of being placed on the travel ban list.

"[T]hose Chadian troops were really doing something in Niger. They were protecting those villages in that whole region from ISIS militant groups being able to operate freely and be able to take more territory from there once again," Maddow explained. "And pulling those troops out had an immediate effect in emboldening those ISIS attacks.”

As Ms Maddow said, four American soldiers were ambushed and killed less than a week after Chad started pulling its troops out of Niger.

Whether Ms. Maddow has found the answer or not we need to know why Trump put Chad on the travel ban list and what really happened in Niger. John McCain is right when he says we need to get to the bottom of this. This is not Trump's Benghazi as I have heard someone say. Republicans ignored five investigations of the Benghazi incident and used that incident to conduct a highly partisan witch hunt. We do not want a witch hunt we want the truth whatever that truth may be. We can sort out questions of culpability, if anyone was culpable, when we get the facts.

I have to add here that I wrote most of this post yesterday and events have moved so fast that I now feel compelled to add a comment.  Donald Trump dragged General Kelly into this controversy by saying that when General Kelly's son was killed in Afghanistan President Obama did not make a condolence call. Trump also said that General Kelly was there and could confirm that Trump did not say what Congresswoman Wilson accused him of saying to Sgt. Johnson's widow.  General Kelly has now held a press conference in which he affirmed that President Obama did not call him, and he said it would have been unusual for a President to have made such a call.  Not being content with that General Kelly, Trump's Chief Of Staff, went on to make accusations against Congresswoman Wilson that were untrue and extraneous to the issue at hand!  Unfortunately for General Kelly he is now one more piece of evidence proving that no reputation goes unsullied in the Trump administration.  You simply cannot serve Trump and the truth at the same time!

Dangerous Shambles

Donald Trump is an emotional toddler with diaper rash and nuclear weapons. If that does not scare the hell out of you nothing will! Trump's lack of intellectual curiosity and apparent inability to grasp anything more complex than what he considers to be an annoying rash of criticism touching him where it hurts has turned his Presidency into a dangerous shambles. He weaves and staggers unpredictably through what appears to him to be an almost incomprehensible maze of complex issues. In doing so he leans heavily and far too frequently on the badly worn schtick that still manages to entertain his base supporters. His apparent inability to foresee the consequences of any of this actions make it almost impossible for him to take the responsibilities of his office seriously. If you doubt this just take a look at the contradictory actions he is taking in regard to North Korea and Iran.

Here you have Trump trading middle school insults with Kim Jong Un and threatening North Korea with war because North Korea is developing nuclear weapons. The amazing thing is that Trump is actually doing this while trying to renege on an agreement that is preventing Iran from also developing nuclear weapons! And many Republicans, reflecting the moral and intellectual bankruptcy that has plagued that party for at least the last ten years, are actually praising Trump for decertifying Iran's compliance with the nuclear weapons agreement and thereby passing the fate of that agreement off to congress. Those Republicans say this is not a matter Trump abrogating his treaty making powers as President. Trump is merely recognizing congress as a coequal branch of government they say. Republicans who secretly agree with Rex Tillerson's characterization of Trump as a moron echo that thought with a wink and a nod, hoping that you and I will agree with the unstated thought that it is a good idea to let the adults in congress decide whether to violate the agreement with Iran by restoring the sanctions against Iran.

Unfortunately no one with a memory can or should trust a Republican congress with that task. How ironic it is that Senator Cotton[mouth], author of the absurd and illegal letter cautioning Ayatollah Khomeini not to negotiate with President Obama, should now be one of the senators saying that he is trying to find some solution that might serve as a salve for Trump's bad rash while leaving largely in tact the agreement that seems to irritate Trump so much. And please bear in mind that 47 Republican Senators violated the Logan Act and the separation of powers stated in the Constitution by signing that ridiculous letter.

While some Republicans, such as Senator Corker, are beginning to tell the truth about Trump's incompetence and the danger he poses to our country and the world, most Republicans are still functioning as a diaper occasionally irritating but always covering Trump's butt. Those Republicans actually applaud Trump as he acts like a jealous Egyptian Pharaoh who is trying to erase the name and all of the accomplishments of his predecessor regardless of how beneficial those accomplishments are. But be of good cheer. Do not worry about Trump destroying DACA or the Affordable Health Care Act. If he starts WWIII you won't need them!

How long will you suffer Trump and the Republican fools?   

Fiddler On The Green

Trump golfs while Puerto Ricans burn over the unseemly delay in delivering much needed aid to parts of the island in desperate need of food, drinking water, and power. I am sure I am not the only one analogizing Trump's golfing to Nero's fiddling while Rome was burning. But it is not just the optics that are so bad because the audio portion of this story is even more appalling. Furthermore, all of the insensitivity and incompetence fits into what has become a well established pattern of behavior.

In reporting on Trump's remarks following the first of three devastating hurricanes, Hurricane Harvey, the Washington Post commented on Trump's narcissism and lack of empathy as follows:

“‘Thank you, everybody,” the president said, sporting one of the white “USA” caps that are being sold on his campaign website for $40. “I just want to say: We love you. You are special. . . .  What a crowd. What a turnout.”

Yet again, Trump managed to turn attention on himself. His responses to the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey have been more focused on the power of the storm and his administration’s response than on the millions of Texans whose lives have been dramatically altered by the floodwaters.

He has talked favorably about the higher television ratings that come with hurricane coverage, predicted that he will soon be congratulating himself and used 16 exclamation points in 22 often breathless tweets about the storm. But as of late Tuesday afternoon, the president had yet to mention those killed, call on other Americans to help or directly encourage donations to relief organizations.”

Needless to say that Trump was widely criticized for the lack of empathy he displayed in regard to victims of Hurricane Harvey. So he responded to that criticism and to his dip in the polls by handing out sandwiches to victims of Hurricane Irma during his visit to Florida.  But in spite of his best effort to appear concerned about the suffering of the hurricane victims his tweets near that time still show a lack of genuine compassion.

Now we come to the worst: in spite of the fact that the damage to Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria is absolutely devastating, Puerto Rico has not received the same robust and effective response that Texas and Florida received after hurricanes Harvey and Irma. In an emotional statement to the press the Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Carmen Yulin Cruz, pleaded for help. Without specifically naming Trump she addressed the issue of the widely inadequate relief effort by saying, "[w]e are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency.”

Instead of acknowledging the dire situation in Puerto Rico and offering more support Trump took to twitter to insult Mayor Cruz by saying she showed “poor leadership” and that they, the Puerto Ricans, “...want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.”

All I can say is congratulations to the bungler in chief! If this does not give the Trump chumps buyer's remorse nothing will.

Urgent Need

There is a large group of Americans who mistake the mythology of this country for its history and the liturgical expressions of patriotism for patriotism itself. They are the ones who are inclined to talk about beliefs rather than provable facts and are far too often persuaded by slogans rather than sound arguments. The less educated you are the more likely you are to be one of those people and the more likely you are to be among the 30 % who support Donald Trump.

As you may have surmised I do not care much for a flag waving, pledge reciting type of patriotism, particularly when it is used to suppress the protests of people who are seeking the redress of very real grievances. But that does not mean that I consider all people who wave the flag and/or recite the pledge of allegiance to be unreasonable. That is why my first reaction to Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the playing of the national anthem was to say he was making a mistake. While I admire his courage and support his cause, it seemed to me that he was offending people he might have been able to persuade using a different tactic. Now Donald Trump, in his bombastic, xenophobic, race bating way, has made Colin Kaepernick's case far more effectively than any argument I could make in favor of what Mr. Kaepernick was doing.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” the president said at a rally for Republican senator Luther Strange, who is running in a special election next week to remain in the seat vacated by attorney general Jeff Sessions...”

The crowd cheered! As far as they were concerned Trump was calling out someone showing disrespect for this country.  They and Mr. Trump simply refused to acknowledge the enormity of the grievance Mr. Kaepernick was expressing:

As the Huffington Post reported “[b]lack people are 2.8 times more likely than their white peers to be killed during encounters with police ...” This is literally a life and death issue! There is no equivalence between the offense Donald Trump and his supporters take over Mr. Kaepernick's protest and the offense we all should take over the needless loss of innocent lives! In this regard I have to admit that it took Trump's demagoguery to remind me of how urgent it is for us to deal with the deadly racial divide that still exists in this country. And to those of you still offended by players taking a knee during the national anthem let me say that true love is not blind love; the greater patriot is the one who tries to make our nation a better fairer place to live for all people.

What An Embarrassment

I tried to listen to the whole thing, I really did, but I was so embarrassed by our President that I just could not make it to the end. Donald Trump's speech to the U.N. was chalked full of “I,” as in ignorant, idiotic, and “me, myself, and I.” The Donald lied about his achievements as if he were back on the campaign trail. Then he talked about the Marshall Plan and the United Nations Charter, demonstrating such a superficial knowledge of both subjects that you had to wonder where he had been during his high school history and civics classes. News flash: the Marshall Plan was not just an aid package to help the devastated nations of Europe rebuild after World War II; it was part of an overall economic and defense strategy that emphasized cooperation and interdependence rather than narrow nationalistic interests. Similarly, the United Nations was created to help resolve issues in a peaceful manner and to encourage compromise and cooperation among its members.

Donald Trump is a throwback to an era of isolation that ended badly with a great depression followed by a horrible war! Trump sells fear and loathing as others sell bread. He indulges in absurd name calling and bombastic threats, and he does so at a body created to help avoid war. There is no one in the world who can seriously doubt our ability to defend ourselves and our allies. Letting the world know that we will do whatever it takes to defend ourselves and our allies from the likes of North Korea is sufficient with out the bombast. The pitch to get other nations to help us avoid a military solution by helping us enforce the sanctions on North Korea would have then been better received without boastful statements that made it sound like we want war. Furthermore Trump compounded the error by emphasizing the sovereignty and independence of all nations and the right of all nations to selfishly pursue their individual interests.   And he did this while asking those other nations to sacrifice some of their interests by not trading with North Korea!  He seems to lack the ability to avoid or even recognize inconsistencies.

If people in other nations are thinking that our President is a great big pile of stupid I sure don't blame them!

Deep Idiocy

There is in this country a strong anti-government streak. At their best the anarchistic folks who embody that streak talk about rugged individualism, and at their worst they talk about the deep state, inferring that all public servants are somehow part of a nefarious plot to take away the rights of free citizens. “Free citizens” sounds like something from a dark past when there were slaves and other people who were not so free, and it is. Therein lies part of the myth. Free citizens meant privileged citizens, and the fear is that those others, those who are less fortunate and therefore less privileged might try to get from the government what the government so freely grants to the privileged. What a terrible thing that would be! Why that's almost egalitarian socialism. And how are you supposed know who you are better than if you don't have privileges not enjoyed by everyone?

“Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism." [Address to National Press Club in Washington DC, as quoted in Freedom and Union (April 1952)]” ― Earl Warren The deep state idiots don't need no stinkin' government until they do! Then by God! They paid for it, didn't they?

Unfortunately the demonization of government by Trump and the Republican Party is far too likely to make “you can't depend on the government” a self fulfilling prophesy. As the Washington Post pointed out “Trump would slash disaster funding to the very agencies he’s praising for Harvey response.”  So what is the role of government in the event of natural disasters? The government must go beyond the first response of  helping to save lives. The Federal Government must embrace the same philosophy that provided the infrastructure spending commerce and manufacturing depend on; it must take the long term view and help to rebuild this productive and prosperous hub of industry. It must do this in spite of the fact that Texans did their best to set the precedent of telling other states (particularly Democratic ones) devastated by Hurricanes to go to hell. That is right, almost every congressman from Texas and both of its Senators, John Cornyn and Ted, the Canadian Texas turd, Cruz voted against funding aid to the parts of New York and New Jersey ravished by Hurricane Sandy, and they did this in spite of the fact that such funding has always been provided without question! Now that Texas is in need of such aid Ted Cruz is denying that he refused to vote for such aid. He says he just wanted to make sure the aid was paid for. Considering the fact that he wanted to pay for it by robbing senior citizens on Medicare it is not surprising that every legislator with a conscience told him to stuff that proposal back into the dark and smelly place where it was formed.

The fact that Democrats will probably vote to provide the Huston area with the funds it will need to rebuild rather than using the refusal of Texans to provide such funds to New York and New Jersey as a precedent is a sure indication of which party is responsible for the great political divide and hyper partisanship we see today.  I would like to think that Republicans in general and Texans in particular would learn something from the responsible behavior of Democrats in this instance, but I would not hold my breath because most of them are still Trump chumps!

Celebrating Sin

I do not mean to get biblical about this, but our nation was born in sin. The precedent of waging almost genocidal wars against native Americans had already been set and slavery was already considered an institution by the time our founders declared our independence. Racism was used as a justification for both of those sins. It was a classic case of blaming the victims of oppression for the oppression; they (those other races of people) do evil things and are not capable of governing themselves, don't you know?

As I have written elsewhere educated people do not celebrate whatever intent they can glean from the very difficult compromises our founding fathers had to make in order to establish or preserve this nation. What educated people celebrate are the ideals expressed by our founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Preamble to Constitution and other documents stating the virtues of democracy and the rights of all people. Indeed the need to reach compromises that forced an inconsistent application of the proposition that “all men are created equal” weighed heavily on the minds of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and many other delegates to the Continental Congress. This can be seen in the following excerpt from Thomas Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence:

 "He [King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where Men should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce...” 

This paragraph condemning slavery caused an absolute furor, and many delegates from colonies that profited from slavery threatened to walk out. It is very doubtful that there would be a United States of America if the delegates of good conscience had insisted on condemning slavery. Needless to say that the compromise they reached was a pact with the devil that caused untold suffering. Some eighty years later it was a pact that also cost tens of thousands of men their lives. While I cannot say that the North entered into the Civil War to end slavery, there is absolutely no doubt that the South entered into that war to preserve slavery. Therein lies the difference between the founders of this nation and the founders of the short lived Confederate States. Our founding fathers did not fight to establish or preserve slavery they fought to establish a new nation. The founders of the confederacy fought to preserve slavery, and they tried to found a nation in order to accomplish that end!

While the Civil War did put an end to slavery on this continent it could not and did not put an end to the denigration of an entire race of people. The racism used to justify the “peculiar institution” of slavery remains an ugly part of this nation to this day. At the end of the reconstruction era and well into the nineteen hundreds, as Jim Crow laws were passed to codify the superior position of white people, those southern white people celebrated their lost cause by erecting statues of Confederate Generals and by displaying the flag that has come to represent the old Confederacy. This was both an affirmation of their belief in their racial superiority and a threat to anyone who might challenge that belief.

Many of Trump's apologists say he is not really as racist as the absurd comments he made about the demonstrations and violence that recently took place in Charlottsville, VA would seem to indicate. I disagree with those apologists, but it is a moot point. Whether Trump is a racist or he is merely pandering to racists does not matter one whit to the victims of the violence or prejudice encouraged by his apparent rationalizations. In this regard Trump is as guilty as any Neo-Nazi. He is a disgrace to this nation, and the fact that so many in his party are still willing to support him is just another indication of how morally and intellectually bankrupt the Republican Party has become!

Cartoonish Bellicosity

Since the repressive Kim regime of North Korea failed in its quest to conquer South Korea in the nineteen fifties, the dear leaders of North Korea have been cutting a comical figure with their braggadocio and bellicosity. It did not matter what you were talking about Kim Jong Un's father Kim Jong II always did it better than anyone else and disputing that was deadly if you were in North Korea. Furthermore, like a small yapping dog, Kim Jong II was always shouting absurd threats at South Korea, Japan, and the United States. Now we have his son and successor Kim Jong Un who is also shouting threats that would result in his own destruction if he tried to carry them out!  But it would be a serious mistake to dismiss Kim Jong Un as nothing more than the Pillsbury Doughboy with a bad haircut. The cost of a conventional war with North Korea would be staggering both in terms of human lives and resources, and there is a very good chance that nuclear weapons would come into play before such a war was over. Therein lies the rub. It is one thing to make absurd threats when you do not have the power to carry them out it is quite another thing to make those threats when people have to take them seriously.

Like the Kims, Donald Trump also cuts a comical figure with his outrageous braggadocio and bellicosity. The only reason people do not see him as a cartoon character with a bad haircut is because he controls the most powerful military in the world. This makes him a truly frightening force. He does not have the good sense to listen to career diplomats or historians who know anything about North Korea, or to the generals who are urging him to be cautious. So now we have two blustering, egotistical buffoons trading threats and insults that are likely to result in a tragic miscalculation. This is a terrible time to have an idiot as the President of the United States!

Alt Wrong

The first time I heard about the Alt Right was when I saw the title “Alt Right Comes To Washington” of a January/February article written for Politico by Ben Schreckinger. In that article Mr. Schreckinger warned us that a “new generation of nationalists sees a chance to ride Donald Trump's coat tails into the capital.” So why do I say Mr. Shreckinger's article was a warning? Because the people who identify themselves as Alt Right say they are working to protect or advance the rights and interests of White Americans, and many of them make no bones about promoting white nationalism. This racism makes the Alt Right Alt Wrong, and the fact that Stephen Miller and Stephen Bannon represent the Alt Right in the Trump Administration is a real and present danger to what our country stands for. Indeed it is at least in part the nativist aspects of the Alt Right agenda as reflected by Trump's stand on immigration and immigrants that have earned Trump the epithet of fascist!

One would think that a would be fascist style despot like Trump would try to increase the power and role of government, but in order to seize the power a despot craves he must first weaken the present government and all of the institutions that might check his ambitions. In this regard the traditional Republican demonization of government and the destructive pursuits of the Alt Right suit Trump's purposes. And to that end Trump talks about draining the swamp. What does Trump mean by Draining the swamp? Unfortunately, he does not mean getting rid of the corrupting influence of money or conflicts of interest that work against the interests of the hard working men and women of this country. What Trump means by draining the swamp is getting rid of the bureaucrats who do the work of the government and keep it functioning. In other words, Trump's swamp is what the Alt Right calls the deep state, and like the Alt Right Trump blames the deep state for everything. How dare they make the government work!

Far from objecting to Trump pissing in the swamp by appointing to head up sundry agencies and departments people such as Rick Perry and Tom Price who have vowed to destroy those very agencies and departments, the traditional Republicans such as Paul Ryan are actually applauding the destruction. Those Ryan Republicans object to the government regulating or restricting the oligopoly in any way.  They think the oligopoly should have the political power of an oligarchy.  Not surprisingly one of the things the traditional Republicans do object to is Trump giving to the Russian oligarchs the power and influence our oligarchs have spent so much money to obtain. The Traditional Republicans also object to the fact that the Trump administration is a rudderless ship constantly changing directions with no apparent coarse or destination. Indeed it is the ineptitude and inconsistencies of Trump and what passes for his management style that sets factions in the white house against each other and causes so many of the leaks Trump complains about.

The conditions under which Reince Priebus resigned make it appear as though the Bannon, Alt Right, faction has emerged victorious in this internecine warfare, but it is not that simple. Where do Jared and Ivanka fall? There are also the generals Trump is so fond of. Generals do not like disorder in the ranks, and they know the importance of well defined objectives and clear directives. General McMaster has come under attack from the far right for expelling Stephen Bannon and other conservatives from the national security staff and for advocating a responsible foreign policy, such as keeping the nuclear agreement with Iran. Since General McMasters also knows how dangerous Vladimir Putin is, Russia's trolls have joined in the attack on McMasters. At least for now Trump is facing some resistance from traditional Republicans who are reacting to his low approval rating, and he is trying to reassure those Republicans by supporting the adults in the room, the generals.  How long that will last is anyone's guess.

No Confidence!

In parliamentary systems the Prime Minister can be removed from office by a vote of no confidence that does not require hearings or trials. Removing a President of the United States from office is not that easy, but make no mistake about it the Republicans in Congress have cast their votes of no confidence in President Donald Trump. In passing the bill regarding sanctions against Russia this Republican Congress has made it clear that even members of the President's own party have no faith in him when it comes to dealing with Russia or Russians. The financial ties Trump and the people closest to him have with Russian oligarchs combined with Trump's fawning admiration of Vladimir Putin are troubling to say the least. The few members of congress who did not vote to protect America from Trump's obsequious behavior are guilty of a dereliction of duty, and I stand by that statement knowing full well how unusual it is for a political party to limit the power of their President, particularly in the area of foreign affairs.

Now lets address the subject of the investigations conducted by the Special Counsel and by Congress. Those investigations are going beyond looking into Russia's interference in our election and who may have aided and abetted the Russians. Special Counsel Mueller is looking closely at the financial entanglements mentioned above because those financial connections are conflicts of interest that will probably explain why Trump seems so eager to do Putin's bidding. The question now is how far will the Republicans go to protect this country from an incompetent President who is determined to squelch the investigations and hide the truth. Many Republican Senators are telling Trump not to fire Attorney General Sessions, and at least some of them are also telling him not to fire Special Counsel Mueller. But are there enough Senators who are willing to toss Trump out of office if he does fire Mueller? And what about the House? How many Republican members of Congress are willing to impeach Trump for obstruction of justice if Trump does fire Mueller?

The vote of no confidence mentioned above is encouraging, but an anxious nation wants to know what it will take to get the Republican Party to do the right thing! Donald Trump is presiding over (some would say under) the most dysfunctional White House ever. The recent staff shake ups are not going to solve that because the problem starts with President Trump! In the very short time he has been in office he has already demonstrated an unwillingness to accept the responsibility for anything that happens on his watch. He praised the Republican Representatives for passing a health care bill that would have thrown tens of millions of people off of their health care plans, and then he called that bill “mean” when it became apparent that those millions and others vehemently demonstrated their displeasure. This is a President who has no loyalty to anyone or any institution. He has already thrown Jeff Sessions, Reince Prieibus, and every member of congress who voted for that horrible bill under the bus! In light of Trump's behavior it is difficult to imagine anyone placing Trump's self interest ahead of the interests of this nation. And the interests of this nation are served by the investigation being conducted by the Special Counsel.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said “...he intends to introduce his bill next week with the support of 'all' the Democrats and some Republicans. It would require 'judicial review' if a special counsel is fired while investigating the president or his staff. 'Judges will have to look and see if the reasons stated meet the statutory definitions,' he said.”

The passage of Mr. Graham's bill would avoid the question of impeachment for now. The results of the investigation would then determine whether that question is revisited and whether impeachment is warranted! The problem is that Mr. Graham's noble bill will require a veto proof majority! I am hopeful but not optimistic about Congress passing the bill with the majority needed to override Mr. Trump's veto.

So get active my friends! We have dodged the repeal of Obama care bullet for now because of the protests. We must keep demonstrating and fighting. We must insist in the strongest possible way that our Representatives and Senators pass Mr. Grahams bill with a large enough majority to defend us from the dangerous behavior of this incompetent, imperial President!

Shaken Up Donnie Twists and Shouts!

In the Trump white house truth is an unwelcome transient that shows up at the most inconvenient times. For six months or so Sean (Baghdad Bob) Spicer has been loyally dishonest. Now Mr. Spicer has finally decided to pack up what is left of his shredded reputation and depart, not because of the damage done to his reputation but because of the bruising of his ego. He was being demoted from his position as Director of Communications. Enter the new Director of Communications, Anthony Scaramucci, throwing wet kisses to Trump and doing his best imitation of Susie sunshine. In his first press conference Mr. Scaramucci denied that the train was off the tracks, and, mixing metaphors, insisted that the ship was on course. If Mr. Scaramucci thinks Donald Trump's ship of state is on course, he (Scaramucci) must be mistaking it for a submarine.

This latest white House shake up is prompted by desperation. Like Nixon during Watergate, Trump is feeling besieged. The Special Counsel is following the money, and the people closest to Trump, including members of his family, are being hauled up in the investigative net. All of those people are going to have to testify before the Senate or Congress and/or the Special Counsel. So Trump is in a panic and is lashing out. He is attacking the Special Counsel and the justice Department, including his Attorney General. In particular, he is highly critical of his messengers. They should be able to turn public opinion in Trump's favor even if he does undermine their efforts by tweeting ever changing and inconsistent stories.

Trump is hoping that shaking up his staff and bringing aboard another huckster like Scaramucci will solve his problems and give him the room he needs to squelch the investigations. He thinks this might work because he believes he can get away with anything as long as his delusional base stays with him. The Republican Party would not dare to anger Trump's base by impeaching him, would they? Probably not, but the Republicans are likely to lose control of congress if they do not pass any legislation.

The problem is that the Republicans have spent eight years demonizing the government and making it as dysfunctional as possible. They have forgotten how to govern, and they are led by someone who never knew how to govern. Furthermore their lies about Obama care and pledges to repeal it have created the bog into which they now find themselves ensnared. The hard right wingers like Rand Paul do not care that 30 million people will lose their health care coverage if Obama care is repealed but not replaced. Other Republicans think they are being more reasonable than Rand Paul. They want to replace Obama care with a plan that would throw only 23 million people off their health care plans. They call this a deal, not a compromise, non dare to present it to the uncompromising base as a compromise. The governors, both Democratic and Republican, who took advantage of the expanded Medicaid funding stand to lose big if either of those options are chosen. But not to worry, the third option is to repeal now and replace later. “It is not as bad as it sounds,” the Republicans say. “Honestly, it is not.” The repeal would not go into effect for two years and that is plenty of time to come up with a replacement. But the ineptitude the Republicans are now displaying indicates that two years is enough time to pass an acceptable replacement for Obama care only if the Democrats regain control of congress in 2018 elections. Now that sounds like a plan I could endorse if most economists did not agree that the uncertainty created by that two year laps will cause the price of insurance to skyrocket. Unlike Trump who is sabotaging the insurance exchanges to make Obama care fail, I believe that profiting from the suffering of my fellow citizens is unacceptable!

The reason I brought up the health care issue is that even many of the dullards who voted for Trump are still smart enough to know what eventually happens to people who do not have health care coverage. There is no issue, other than a total economic collapse, that can determine an election quicker than the health care issue. By the way where are the jobs? And why aren't wages going up? Trump will blame the Russia issue for his lack of accomplishments, but that is an issue of his own making! It is not the investigators who have become Putin's man ho. Nor does that issue prevent Trump or his party from doing the work of the people. There will always be a large minority who will stand by Trump no matter what, but his support will fade as he tries to put the unkept promises he has made farther and farther behind him.

Wonder No More

I can explain it. I know why the Trump administration is holding so many press conferences off camera. It has taken them a long time but they have finally figured out how we know when Donald Trump, Baghdad Bob Spicer, and Huckabee Sanders are lying; its when their lips are moving! So now they are using the old no see no tell tactic.

Meanwhile there is an overwhelming stench arising from the soiled diapers trying to cover Donald Trumps butt.  I realize that most of those diapers come from places that are intellectually challenged, at least in regard to politics and government, but you would have to have the intellect of a retarded  turtle to think that working with Russia to win an American election is not an illegal and immoral act!  Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and or Paul Manafort knew or should have known that meeting with a person purporting to be a representative of the Russian government in order to obtain information harmful to Hillary Clinton would violate campaign laws and very possibly the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

The fact deniers are telling us that there is only a possibility of fire where there is smoke, and they keep demanding to see the flames.  But if there is no fire why is the white house paint blistering from the heat!  I doubt that it is just because junior is playing matches.

A horrible Time Has Us All

The world is a mess. The North Koreans are threatening us with Nuclear weapons. A resurgent Russia is interfering in our elections and is posing the greatest threat it has posed to us, its neighbors, and the mid east since the cold war. It is little wonder then that as the G20 Summit begins there are protesters in the streets of Hamburg demonstrating in favor of a large number of causes and against myriad conditions. Many of the conditions causing those demonstrations, such as Donald Trump pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and an obscene wealth gap in which “...the richest 85 people in the world are worth more than the poorest 3.5 billion...”should be of grave concern to everyone.

But fear not, President Donald Trump always has secret plans to deal with all of this. He cannot tell you what those plans are because they are so secret that even he does not know what they are! They are great though. You know they are because he says so. “So great,” he says. “You're going to love them!” I bet you'll love them even more than you love the health care plans he supports. And the latest plan, the Senate Plan, has a whopping 17% approval rating by American voters according to the latest poll. Americans are not terribly impressed by the fraudulent panel of voter suppressors either judging by the fact that 44 states are giving that panel the middle finger rather than the voter information requested. Well, all right I guess some good things are happening.

Bromance is in the air. At long last Trump is going to meet Putin face to ass, no long range kisses this time. Putin says great things about Trump and Trump replies in kind. “Why shouldn't I?” Trump asks. Well, there is that invasion of the Ukraine, the annexation of the Crimea, and the hacking and interference in our Presidential election. But Trump benefited from the hacking and interference, and it is all about him, you know. Trump simply cannot let go of the fact that he is a minority President who was helped by the illegal activities of Russia. So he consistently denies the hacking by Russia or says that the hacking may have been committed by them or others. Forget about his teleprompted speeches; they are written by adults for the most part. It is his tweets and extemporaneous comments that tell us what he really thinks, if thinking is the right word for what Trump does in those unguarded moments. The one thing you can say with certainty is that he never lets an inconvenient fact get in the way of his comments and contentions. Obama did nothing about the alleged Russian hacking and interference according Trump. Well, I guess that is true if you don't count the seizure of property, privately threatening Russia with retaliation, fortifying our cyberdefenses, and publicly warning the nation about the hacking and the false news planted by the Russians. I might add that the false news benefiting Trump is usually propagated or perpetuated by the fake media, not what trump calls fake media, but the media that gives fact checkers carpal tunnel syndrome because of the sheer volume of lies. That is right, I am taking about Fox News, right wing blogs, and so called conservative radio blowhards. By the way, can anyone with an IQ above eighty tell me what Obama has to do with whether or not Trump should confront Putin over the hacking and interference in our election or whether we should keep the sanctions against Russia in place?

I cannot tell you how sad it makes me to have to say that the greatest threat the world faces right now might well be the incompetence, petulance and lack of control too frequently demonstrated by America's fake President.

Faking It:

Donald Trump is what happens when the side show barker becomes the show. Bad! So Bad! Believe me!

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                     

The Trumped up populist (aka the President and faker in chief) is babbling again (in 140 characters or less) about “Fake News.” So fake!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Mika B bleeding from face lift. So fake. Talking about facts - not alternate facts, but real facts. The National Enq. will get her 4 that.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Forget about how insulted women feel over Trump's comments about Mika! Although many members of his party feel compelled to express outrage because of how women are reacting, those Republicans actually regard his tweets to be mere idio[t]syncrasies, and they will support him because he is their idiot.

Meanwhile back in the real world of complete thoughts and full sentences the Donald now advocates repealing “Obama Care” before passing a bill to replace it. This will deprive tens of millions of people of health insurance and allow insurance companies to reinstate all the exclusions and coverage caps that made health insurance useless when people needed long term care or very expensive treatment. What Trump is advocating is like blowing up your house and telling you, as you stand amidst the rubble wearing nothing but your underwear, that you are going to love your new house if you do not die from exposure before it is built. That is how obviously desperate Trump is for anything he can call a victory!

And how are members of Trump's party reacting to his bellows of desperation? The usual suspects are echoing the bellows. In regard to the investigations of Trump they are also acting like dirty diapers covering Trump's beleaguered ass! This is not good for the country!

The Washington Examiner reported that: “[I]n a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe sent Tuesday and made public Wednesday, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., request "all proposed and final applications for surveillance warrants."

I do not think Rachael Maddow was being paranoid when she said: “[t]hese Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are now asking about why you started that investigation, what you have, what you submitted to the court, how you got your warrants? What they appear to be up to is trying to discredit the FBI for having started this investigation at all. What they are implying is that the whole FBI investigation all stemmed from that dossier of allegations against Trump and his campaign that one that was published in Buzzfeed in January, the Christopher Steele dossier. They’re saying implicitly that dossier of materials in unproven and suspect and that that’s what the FBI’s whole investigation is based on, and therefore, it’s nonsense.”

In other words this outrageous demand for highly classified information is an attempt to undermine an ongoing investigation of national importance.  Some would call that obstruction of justice.  Whether you agree with Ms. Maddow or not, her reasonable suspicions speak volumes about the need for a special committee to conduct an impartial investigation.

The Villains Villainize

Yesterday I posted on Daily Kos a diary entry entitled "Chasing Unicorns In Georgia." In that piece I was using the defeat the Democrats suffered in the special election in Georgia's congressional district six as a metaphor for all of the recent special elections taking place because of Trump appointing Republican congressmen to cabinet posts. My point was that all those elections were in safe, dead red districts. The defeats in those districts are disappointing only because our optimism made us expect unrealistic results. In spite of the demographics none of those districts were swing districts, and they are not indicative what we can expect in the mid-term elections where many swing districts are up for grabs.

Ah but the optics! In politics appearance is all important, don't you know? So say the pundits. And the pants wetters are now looking for someone to blame for the defeats and for lessons we can learn from the defeats. Perhaps that is why many of the people commenting on my post on Daily Kos seized upon the following paragraph:

“Supposedly some of the most effective advertisements against the Democratic Party's congressional candidate, Jon Ossoff, were the ads trying to tie him to Nancy Palosi. Interesting who the Republicans choose to villainize, isn't it? And what was Nancy Pelosi's great crime? She is widely considered to be one of the most effective Speakers of the House ever. She managed to get passed by the House Of Representatives a very impressive body of legislation such as Dodd Frank and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. What legislation did John Boehner usher through the House? Well, we had an almost monthly repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act, two government shutdowns, and a downgrading of America's credit rating because of the refusal of the house to raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner. Paul Ryan's record is even worse than John Boehner's record. I guess the Republicans do not like competent politicians. All right, in all fairness I guess I should say they do not like competent politicians who actually get things done that Republicans do not want done: things like health care reform, raising the minimum wage, protecting our economy from the abusive behavior of Wall Street and investment banks, and/or protecting women or members of the LBGT community from employment discrimination and wage discrimination. The bottom line is that Republicans hate Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton because they are very good at what they do, and the government should not be doing anything at all according to Republicans!”

Before some of you get your panties in a wad over what I have just written let me say that we should improve our approach to the upcoming elections, and yes, I would like to see some young, dynamic leaders such as Barack Obama emerge to carry our party forward. But that does mean we should replace someone as capable as Nancy Pelosi because the Republicans have succeeded in demonizing her. That is cowardice.  We must stand by our people no matter how good the Republicans are at demonizing them, and I will grant you that the Republicans are very good at it. They started very early with Hillary Clinton and have spent decades castigating her for faults and offenses exaggerated and/or imagined. They have also succeeded at portraying Nancy Pelosi as an arrogant, liberal intellectual. In Republican world knowing too much is worse than knowing nothing. The Republicans believe ignorance is bliss because they blissfully exploit the ignorant! But that is an aside and another topic. My point is that we must realize that Nancy Pelosi is not the problem, and we must fight back!

Do not let the Republicans make it a battle of personalities, make them address the issues.  When they castigate you for voting with Nancy Pelosi, choose the ACA, the increase in the Minimum Wage, etc. and ask those bozos if they appose affordable heath insurance and living wages. Remind the voters that it is policy that will determine whether we will have an economy that will work for them, and that starving just because you do not care for someone who is sitting at the table is not a wise thing to do! That is not an intellectual statement unless you think hunger is something you have to go to college to learn. Hunger is actually something college grads and working people share. For college grads it is a post graduate coarse they inadvertently enrolled in when they took out their student loans. For the working men and women in this country hunger is a condition brought on by the jobs they lost and the wages that have not kept up with inflation.  Trump exploited the anger over that, and he is now demonstrating what everyone should already know, to wit that wrecking the car will not make it run better.

Ignore the anti-intellectualism.  Ask yourself why Bernie Sanders is not considered a know it all intellectual? I know some wag will probably say because “socialism” is a bogeyman the Republicans like better. That is probably true, but in using that bogeyman they are still fighting on the ground of issues, and that never favors them. We must make this about jobs, health care, and increasing the opportunities for all.  

Lordy, We're Screwed!

All right, the title is a play on James Comey's comment of “[l]ordy, I hope so” in regard to the possibility of Trump having “tapes” of the conversation in which Trump asked Comey for loyalty. The thing is that the possibility of Trump's Presidency ending well is as likely as Trump turning over his tax returns or recordings of his conversations with James Comey. I hate to be so gloomy about it, but there are no good options available to us at this time.

I recently had a conversation with someone who said the election is over and we should accept the results. But the investigation of Russia's meddling in our Presidential election is not an investigation of the results of that election or an attempt to overturn the election. Most people realize that no one has come up with a way to determine what the results would have been but for Russia's meddling. Which means there is no reasonable way to dispute the results. The question of whether there was collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia is therefore a question of criminality that is separate and apart form any questions regarding the legitimacy of the election.  But our inability establish a causal relationship between the results of the election and Russia's meddling does not mean that we can or should ignore the fact that Russia's acts were an attack on this country. That attack by a foreign power and anyone who aided and abetted the attacker pose a serious threat to our democracy and the very foundation of our political system.

Lets apply a bit of logic here. The question of whether Trump should be impeached is not partisan because the Democrats have nothing to gain by removing him. Granted that Trump is a horrible President, but he has no real ideology or agenda. It is Paul Ryan and other Republicans in the House of Representative that are trying to repeal Obama care and deprive millions of people of health insurance. It is Paul Ryan and other members of congress who have the desire and power to eliminate the safeguards provided by Dodd Frank and restore “too big to fail.”  Even in regard to enriching the rich at the expense of the poor and the middle class, it is Republican members of congress who want it. Trump merely wants to further enrich the rich; he does not care whether the tax breaks he wants to give to himself and other rich people are paid for or not. I will grant you that Trump is a dangerous demagogue who panders to the fear and loathing of the xenophobic reactionaries, but he has no idea of how to get anything done in Washington. That is why he is more than willing to go along with what the Republican leadership wants even when it breaks some of his campaign promises. He just wants to take the credit for what is done and to pass along the blame when what is done turns out to be unpopular. As Ted, the Canadian Texas turd, Cruz would have said during the primaries, "Some outsider, eh!"

Unfortunately here is what will happen if we impeach and remove Trump from office. Mike Pence, a right wing Republican, will succeed Trump. Right now Trump is mired in scandal and controversy, and his ineptitude combined with his penchant for demonstrating how unsuited he is to govern makes it almost impossible for him to get any legislation through congress. Mike Pence, on the other hand, is a competent politician who can get things done. The one trait he shares with Trump is that the things Mr. Pence favors doing are things that will ream the people who voted for Trump along with the rest of us! What I find so frustrating about that is that we still need to impeach Trump because he abuses his power, puts his own financial gain ahead of the best interests of this nation, and acts like Putin's man ho! To put it simply, Trump poses a serious threat to this country and its democracy because he acts more like the ruler of a banana republic rather than the elected leader of the Great Republic.

I sincerely believe Trump will be removed from office before the end of his term. I will take no joy in that. It is an extreme but necessary remedy. My greatest hope is that the American people will learn from this debacle, and that they will give the Democrats control of congress so that the Republicans cannot cause another economic crash and erase all of the progress we have made under President Obama.  

Memorial Day And Enduring Values

It is Memorial Day weekend and Tom Brokaw is once more celebrating the greatest generation. Somehow I find it particularly appropriate for him to honor the men and women of that generation at this time when President Trump is showing such a troubling disregard for NATO, our most trusted allies, and the European Union, much to the advantage of a militarized, resurgent Russia that has so recently interfered in our democracy, and is threatening its neighbors. Let us learn from the men and women of the greatest generation who came out of a great depression and terrible war to build the middle class and the greatest market economy we have ever known. It was a generation of Americans who steadfastly opposed tyranny and who helped to rebuild the ravished economies of friends and foes alike. They guided the actions of America after the war and elevated the goals of that war far above some narrow national interest to a world wide concern for the freedom and well being of all people. In essence, they made America the moral and economic compass for all nations.

Pax Americana was built on three main pillars: The Marshall Plan which rebuilt Western Europe, NATO which protects the free countries of the alliance, and the United Nations which is an organization and forum of all nations and for all nations. I will submit to you that when we want to express the values for which the brave men and women in our armed services have sacrificed so much over the decades we could not do better than the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights written for the United Nations by Eleanor Roosevelt. The Preamble of the declaration alone speaks volumes about who we are and what we struggle to make universal for our own sake and for the sake of all human kind:

“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction. “

A special thank you to the members of our armed forces and to our loyal allies who have so often fought beside us and who stand with us on the pillars built by the greatest generation. We are committed to our allies and each other and to the cause of freedom and human dignity everywhere.