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.