25 security clearances given to Trump officials who were denied clearances

In what ways are Donald Trump hurting America?  There are many ways, actually, but here is a particularly frightening one - Trump has given security clearances on his whimsical say so to 25 people who had been denied clearances by the professionals whose job it is to vet officials for security clearances.  We have people who have access to high level security secrets who shouldn't be having them!  When will my conservative friends wake up to the damage their beloved president is doing to America?


Politico's Andrew Desiderio writes that a whistleblower in the White House Security Office, Tricia Newbold, has testified to the House Oversight Reform Committee:


"According to Ms. Newbold, these individuals had a wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use, and criminal conduct,”..."noting that her internal complaints were ignored even as she amassed a list of more than two dozen officials whose clearances were approved despite an initial denial....Newbold, who currently serves as the adjudications manager in the personnel security office, has worked at the White House for nearly two decades under both Republican and Democratic presidents. She was suspended without pay for two weeks earlier this year, an action she described as retaliation.... other whistleblowers have “corroborated” Newbold’s allegations, “but they were too afraid about the risk to their careers to come forward publicly."


This president actually thinks that the laws and rules don't apply to him.  He thinks he has been made king.  I know that each president usually expands the powers of the office, but this president's changes are not a difference in degree, but rather are a difference in kind.  He is trying to be an authoritarian ruler.  It is up to America to make sure he fails in his attempts to become the American Mussolini.


It is a courageous woman who has finally decided that she must speak up even though the price she will pay could be very steep.  So many of the reforms needed in America are coming from brave women.  Our country owes them a debt of gratitude, and the hits will just keep coming....

The Mueller Report does not produce a “gasp moment “ in the country

I have written a few times that the only way for Trump to be impeached is for the Republicans to impeach him, and that would only happen if something came out that caused a majority of the country, including Republicans, to gasp in horror and disgust.  The Mueller Report apparently has no such revelation, at least according to the Trump appointed Attorney General, William Barr, who issued a four page synopsis and conclusion yesterday after a 48 hour review of the Mueller Report.

Did the Russians try to interfere with the election?  Apparently Mueller says yes, there is enough evidence that says that is true.

Did Trump conspire with the Russians in that effort?  Apparently Mueller says there is not enough evidence to prove that to be true.

Did Trump attempt to obstruct justice?  Mueller says the evidence neither condemns nor exonerates him.

“According to Barr, on the obstruction of justice front, the Special Counsel wrote that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” “

Barr then stated that he would not be pursuing an Obstruction of Justice charge because there was not conclusive evidence of intent on the part of Trump to obstruct.  Seems clear to me that Trump’s actions were obstructive, but proving intent beyond a reasonable doubt is too hard, according to Barr.   Barr wrote:

“Generally speaking, to obtain and sustain an obstruction conviction, the government would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person, acting with corrupt intent, engaged in obstructive conduct with a sufficient nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding.”

Will the Mueller Report be released to Congress and the American people?  The House voted 420 – 0 demanding it, so I don’t see Barr refusing to do so, but there are likely to be some redactions – not implicating people who have not or will not be charged with a crime, and not revealing national security secrets, I suppose.  But I would expect to see the report pretty fully exposed.  Trump will try to stop it, so fights to come, I expect. 

Was the president “fully exonerated” as he claimed?  No.  Mueller explicitly said the evidence could not conclude that he committed a crime but also could not exonerate him.  Trumpsters will believe Trump, of course, because that is what they do.

Was/is Pelosi right in saying the House should not impeach Trump unless something comes to light that makes it necessary?  Yes.  We did not get a “gasp moment” yesterday that turned the Republicans against him. 

Is Trump still in legal jeopardy? Yes.  Not from conspiracy charges, but investigations into his current and deep history of corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion will continue.

What sweethearts Trump and the Republicans are

The Trump proposed Budget is dead on arrival in Congress, of course, thank goodness. But his Budget reveals a lot about him and his Republican Party.  He breaks a number of promises that he made to his gullible Trump voters in 2016 - he said he wouldn't cut Social Security or Medicare.  Of course that was a lie.  Sorry his voters didn't see who he was when they voted to help the Russians install him in the White House.


Here are some of the cuts.  Over ten years:

• Medicare - cut $845 billion - aren't most Trumpsters old white folk?
• Social Security - cut $25 billion - again, old folks being hurt?
• Medicaid - cut $1.5 trillion - these people really hate poor folks!
• Food stamps - $220 billion - punish the poor for being poor?
• Student loans  - $207 billion - we have a generation in debt, serves them right for not being rich!
• Education - $8.5 billion - let them all go to private schools like good Republicans should!

Plus shots at Public Broadcasting (they say bad things about el Duce you know), and stop heating subsidies for low income people - just cruelty for the sake of cruelty, I guess.

Of course, these are the same folks who pull brown children from the arms of their parents - and then lose track of them.
What sweethearts these people are.....

Deficit grows as planned after Trump tax cut

The "good" Trump economy has a dark side - growing deficit spending.  Not a surprise, of course.  When Trump and the Republican controlled House and Senate passed their super wonderful tax cut to transfer money from the middle classes to the upper classes the economy improved because it was a good old fashioned Keynesian stimulus.  So, what's wrong with a Keynesian stimulus?  Well, it is something you do in a recession, not when the economy is going well, which it had been for years after the Great Recession of 2009.  It is a tool that you can't use all the time because when you use it up it has no room to be used again when it will actually be needed, during the next economic downturn.


So, Trump and the Republicans, blinded by the Supply Side Economics of Reagan, apply lower taxes to stimulate the economy and just forget about the fact that doing so will balloon the deficit.  How much?  an increase of 21% in fiscal 2018. 

"America’s deficit is rising sharply and will surpass $1 trillion per year by 2020, a gap that has grown since Congress cut taxes and increased spending, the Congressional Budget Office reported Monday.

The federal deficit — the gap between how much the government takes in and how much it spends — will hit $804 billion in fiscal 2018, up 21 percent from 2017, the CBO said".

This is simple mismanagement of the economy by the remarkably ignorant president, but it is quite a deliberate manipulation by his heartless Republicans in Congress - they want the deficit to grow so they can use it as an excuse to cut social programs, which they despise - helps poor folks you know, and they really don't like that.- kick 'em out into the streets, that'll show them for being poor! 


So, for my conservative friends who know that Trump is a monstrous fool but still support him because of the "good economy", it's a sugar high at best, and is a cynical ploy to attack the poor and middle classes.


Social Security and Medicare are on the chopping block.

The worst thing and the saddest thing in Cohen's testimony against Trump

Michael Cohen testified to the House Oversight Committee yesterday.  What were some takeaways?

The worst thing he said was that based upon his knowledge of "Mr. Trump" there would be no peaceful transfer of power if he loses in 2020.  I am afraid I would expect the same thing. If he had lost in 2016 he said he would not concede the result.  It's just who he is.  He can't admit a loss.

The saddest thing about Trump that he said is that Trump directed him to write threatening letters to his schools to not release his SATs or grades.  We know that Trump has claimed to have a "very good brain" and "a very stable genius".  Nonsense of course, and he is desperate to keep evidence of his intellect out of the public record. Just for the record, by the way, William T Kelly, a former Wharton professor said, long before Trump entered politics and was just a TV reality show personality, "Trump was the Goddamned dumbest student I ever had".

How about felonies?  Max Boot listed at least five that Cohen outlined:

• Conspiracy with the Russians during the campaign when he coordinated with Roger Stone to get Wikileaks' document dump from Clinton emails
• Lying to the Justice Department and the FBI about coordinating with Stone
• Suborning Perjury when he directed Cohen to lie about his ongoing efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow prior to his inauguration
• Violating campaign finance laws by paying off mistresses to keep them quiet just before the election day
• Bank and Tax Fraud when he inflated his assets in order to get underserved bank loans and deflating the same assets in order to pay less taxes

What was the most important outcome of these hearings? Other names to be called for testimony, especially Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.  Do you think Trump financial info might put Mr. Trump in jail?

Are these impeachable offenses?  Of course.  Will he be impeached for them? Probably not because only the Republicans can impeach him, and the only way Republicans are going to impeach Trump is if there is a sudden revelation that causes the entire county to gasp in horror and disbelief.  I gasp in horror and disbelief frequently, but I don't count and liberals and Democrats don't count.  Only conservatives and Republican Senators count.

Should Trump be impeached?  I am afraid that if he his impeached people will die by the hands of extremist white supremacist militia style crazies who will only see such as a coup.

Better that Congress just run the county and ignore this nitwit, and have both Republican and Democrat candidates run against him and defeat him in 2020.

Watching Trump is like watching a PBS docudrama about tyrannical kings of yore, but the roles are being played by the Three Stooges (actually Many Stooges)

Constitution? What Constitution?

I understand that Donald Trump campaigned on building a big, beautiful wall across the southern border of America to keep brown people out. And he got elected.  So, what about today?  Today, the House of Representatives and the Senate have voted overwhelmingly to keep the government open and provide about $1.4 billion for the president's wall.  He wanted $5.7 billion and wanted it so badly that he shut the government down for over a month. 


But he didn't get his wall funding.


So, what is he promising to do?  Sign the funding bill which will keep the government open, which he has finally figured out he must do since he caught the bulk of the blame for his heartless closing of the government. 


But, of course, since he is Donald Trump, he can't allow himself to lose a news cycle - he must give in to the real bosses of the Republican Party, Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity - he has to still prove what a magnificently masculine man man man he is. He has to Be Tough.


So, the solution?  He promises to sign the bill (where he looks like a loser even though it is a rational thing to do) and simultaneously declare a national emergency to fund The Wall.  Silly man.


Presidential nominees promise things all the time on the campaign trail and often actually try to get those things into law.  But, the genius of the Constitution is that nobody gets to be a king.  Presidential candidates promise, and then they get elected, and then they try to get the votes to deliver on their promises. 


Trump couldn't get the votes to build his wall.


He had two years to get votes to build his wall when he had both the House and the Senate in Republican hands.  But, he didn't.


Now that he lost the House to the Democrats he tried to get the votes.  Silly man.


The House of Representatives controls the purse strings - they are the ones to assign spending, not the president.  I don't see the Democratic controlled House letting this unconstitutional power grab by the president to go unchallenged.  I expect the House to pass a bill preventing the president from arbitrarily declaring an obvious false state of emergency (presidents declare states of emergency during actual emergencies - floods, hurricanes, massive fires, etc - not for keeping political promises)


I expect that many Republicans will vote to overturn the president's false claim of emergency.  The power of the Congress is being foolishly challenged by the man who wants to be king - the man who continuously pushes to become an authoritarian dictator and turn the country into Rule by Man rather than Rule by Constitution or Rule by Law.


It is appropriate that Trump's come-uppance could be over his signature inane campaign promise - The Wall.


He didn't get the votes, so he doesn't get The Wall.


Dems are fine with increased border security in exchange for Dreamer citizenship.  Dems are fine with increased border security that includes humane treatment of refugees.  Dems loathe The Wall.  As do I.


There is only one rule when going for a Power Play - don't lose.  He is going to lose.  I deeply hope.  Constitutional Separation of Powers is at stake.

Massive income inequality leads to massive political disruption

America's massive income inequality, a fairly recent development, can become very dangerous - to the wealthy.  What has happened in the past when the income inequality got too big?

1790s - The French Revolution. The impoverished revolted and cut of the heads (guillotine) off the aristocracy.  Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, was supposed to have said "Let them eat cake (brioche)" in response to hearing that the impoverished could not afford bread.  They revolted crying out for Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. And chopped off their heads.

In an odd parallel, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, billionaire Wilbur Ross, said that those who were unemployed or unpaid during the current shutdown of the government by President Trump should just go get a temporary loan until the government reopened.  He was unaware that some people do not qualify for a loan (other than perhaps usurious despicable Payday Loans); nor did he understand that loans take longer than many workers can wait for in order to eat either bread or brioche.

1917 - The Russian Revolution.  A bit more than 100 years later, the Russian impoverished rose up and killed the Russian Tsar Nicholas and his family and established the disastrous Communist Revolution. 

2019 - Now, after another 100 years, the inequality in America has reached shocking levels.  Today, the top 1% own as much as the bottom 95%! 

How does that compare to the past? 

• 1960 - top 1% had about 28%, bottom 95% had about 42%.
• 1970 - top 1% had about 27%, bottom 95% had about 45%
• 1980 - top 1% had about 23%, bottom 95% had about 49%

Then Reagan happened with Supply Side Economics and deregulation

• 1990 - top 1% had about 27%, bottom 95% had about 49%
• 2000 - top 1% had about 33%, bottom 95% had about 43%
• 2010 - top 1% had about 39%, bottom 95% had about 37%
• 2016 - top 1% had about 39%, bottom 95% had about 38%

So Obama flattened the curve some, but the damage was done.  See chart below.



So, what is happening now? 



In 2016, amazingly, a billionaire Real Estate mogul and television star convinced those suffering from the job dislocations due to technology and globalism that he could get their jobs back by building a wall to keep brown people out, and he would deregulate finances and industry and that would create jobs for them.  And they bought it!  Those suffering from the inequality in the country turned to a 1%-er to save them.  They are going to notice that it didn't work.


What else is happening now?  Democrats are looking at major reshaping of the economic landscape.  Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren wants to place a wealth tax on the top 0.1% of the richest in America.


And young freshman House member, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is proposing a top marginal tax rate of 70% on the ten millionth dollar earned.


Seems to me that taxes are better than guillotines or Communist Revolutions.

Hilarious solution for fat president with small hands problem

What occupies our current president's mind?  Government shutdown which is slowing the economy and hurting the lackluster stock market?  Russian interference in democracies in America and the world?  Anything other than his poll numbers amongst this fervid base?  Well, there is something - his fat body and small hands, or rather, photos of himself revealing his fat body and small hands.  From columnist Dana Milbank:

"The longest government shutdown in U.S. history shows no sign of resolving, and Americans wonder what President Trump and his team are doing.

Now we know. They are doing the important work the people sent them to do. They are elongating Trump’s fingers.

The tech website Gizmodo reported this week that it found at least three retouched photographs on Trump’s social media pages since October, including two in the past few days, in which his body and face have been slimmed, his face and neck wrinkles tightened, his hair cleaned up — “and in one of the strangest alterations, Trump’s fingers have been made slightly longer.”

Comparing the original photographs to the doctored ones, Gizmodo speculates that Trump aides have been using Photoshop or Facetune and finds it “especially weird that his fingers have been made longer, which might lead one to believe that the president has had some input in these alterations.”"

I feel sorry for my conservative friends who feel that they need to defend this silly person.  How did they ever decide that this is the person they wanted to represent them?

The basic rule in dealing with hostage ransom tweets

I think the basic rule in dealing with ransom demands is never pay the ransom since it will only guarantee future hostage taking.  This is the what is happening with Trump's capricious decision to close down a large parts of the government in order to please his anti immigrant base.  He has taken the Federal Government hostage and is demanding a ransom. 


This is not a negotiating tactic. Negotiations are successful attempts to find a solution where both sides have some kind of a win, especially if you are negotiating with a party that you want to or need to continue to work with in the future.  Very, very unfortunately, our current president only sees "negotiating" in terms of a "winner" and a "loser" - and his pathological ego cannot allow himself to be seen as the "loser".  He is the worst negotiator I have ever seen. When you negotiate you make sure the other side wins as well as yourself because you will be back at the table with them again, and again, and again. 

As a reminder, the Senate approved the Continuing Resolution to fund the government with a unanimous voice vote.  Trump refused to sign the authorization to fund the government, even though he and his administration had earlier said he would. 


He betrayed his word because he was criticized by Ann Coulter and Rush Limabaugh, for goodness sake! These are media personalities whose responsibility is to build and keep an audience.  They do so by simplifying their message to get a small segment of the populace - which is a big enough media audience to make them a lot of money. 


But he is a president whose responsibility is to govern a complicated country, and he is supposed to do so by juggling complicated needs of that diverse country.  He acts like a radio talk show host, not the head of the executive branch of government.  He is ever simplifying his message, like a radio talk show host, to attract and keep his audience, which is a relatively small segment of interests in a vastly more complicated country than he is aware of.

Which leads us to the first rule of negotiating - you must be trustworthy.  If nobody can trust your promises then you can't be negotiated with.  Nobody in their right mind could ever trust anything that our current president says or promises.  He just says whatever his current audience wants to hear. So people learn that what this deeply flawed person says is meaningless.


Which leads us to the second rule of negotiating - you must find the decision maker.  Who on earth would that be?  Rush Limbaugh?  Laura Ingraham?  Ann Coulter?  Sean Hannity?  It is certainly not the current president as he has proven that his decisions are made of jelly if he is criticized by the Right Wing Media.


Which leads us to what is really going on here - our current president is not negotiating.  Our current president is not governing.  Our current president is doing the only thing he knows how to do - campaigning - Building his Brand.  And he is campaigning by doing what he thought got him elected in 2016 - by speaking only to and for his base - the hard right wing of the Republican Party.


To bad we don't have an actual president rather than a media personality. 

Why I think our president is controlled by Russia

There were two huge stories that broke in the last week.


First, we found out that the FBI was so concerned about Trump's behavior that it opened an investigation into whether he was secretly working on behalf of Russia.  Secretly?  Seems pretty much out in the open to me, but the fact that the FBI is investigating this is one of the biggest stories in U.S. history.


Second, we found out that Trump hid the content of his in person meetings with Putin.  He met without any Americans present other than an interpreter, and he confiscated the notes.  Sounds like someone taking directions from his KGB officer to me.


So, these are two reasons I think the president of the United States is being controlled by Russia.  There are more...


What does Russia want?  To destroy its arch rival, America, both domestically and internationally. 


Internationally, how has Trump weakened America?  He destroyed our influence in the Far East by pulling out of the Trans Pacific Partnership in which America was the key player in trade and commerce in the Far East.  Now we are gone and China is the key player.  America loses.  Putin is happy.



Internationally, Trump attacked our neighbors - Canada and Mexico - and pulled out of NAFTA, only to re-establish a modified NAFTA and called it??? Trumpfta?  Putin laughs.

Internationally, Trump pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal where America was the controlling power, only to have the rest the signatories stay in without America.  America loses influence.  Putin smiles.


Internationally, Trump attacks and threatens to pull out of NATO.  WHAT?  There is nothing more important to Putin and the Russians than destroying NATO so that Putin can recapture the Balkan states and re-establish the old Soviet Empire, but now it would be the Russian Empire - which was all it ever was, turns out the Communism part was just the cover story for Russian hegemony and empire.  Putin dances in the streets!!!


How about domestically?  How is Trump destroying America domestically?


Domestically, Trump has done all he can to destroy the government internally by firing, ignoring, and understaffing all of the Government departments, from the State Department to the Department of Energy - see Michael Lewis's "The Fifth Risk" - a terrifying exposure of how the protections of the government of all of us is being destroyed. Putin rubs his hands gleefully.


Domestically, Trump has encouraged and empowered white supremacists and racists and drives as many wedges between Americans as possible.  Putin watches in amazement.


Domestically, Trump has started trade wars, ignoring how trade wars helped kick off the Great Depression of the '30s.  Putin should be worried about this one because Depression becomes a world wide disaster.


Domestically, Trump has shut down the government for 27 days so far, hurting government workers, supporting businesses, and those served by the government workers - us.  Just to show Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, two pretty horrible people, that he is STRONG, STRONG, STRONG!!  Of course all he is showing is that he is w e a k, w e a k, w e a k by cowering before their disapproval.  Putin has to slap himself in the face to make sure he isn't dreaming this one is so good for him.


I could go on forever, but I just get worn out thinking about all the ways Trump is hurting America and helping Russia. 


The fate of the country is in the hands of the Republicans.  Which is to say, the fate of the country is in the hands of those conservatives who continue to support Trump and approve of Trump and who frighten cowardly Republican Senate and House members who are afraid, afraid, afraid of losing their jobs.


Only the Republicans can stop Trump. The Democrats do what they can, but it is up to Republicans.


The shutdown?  Just have the head of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, bring to the floor the continuing resolution to fund the government that they passed unanimously last time with a voice vote, which was passed by the House and re-sent to the Senate.  It will pass again in the Senate.  Send it to the president. He will bitch.  He will complain.  And he will sign it because he doesn't have the sand to veto it.  He is a coward.


Time for Republicans to admit what is obvious - their president is under the control of Russia, and their president is destroying America both domestically and internationally.


It is time.....

Trump - the One Trick Pony

When Trump is in trouble he trots out his one major trick - The Wall - or, more precisely, Be Very Afraid of Brown People. He sees impoverished and threatened families fleeing Central America as dangerous and filthy infestations which need to be turned back, with maximum cruelty preferably.


Trump is feeling the real walls, the walls of exposure and possible prosecution, closing in on him.  And we can reliably count on his whipping his base into a fear frenzy as a way to rescue him.


His first statement of his campaign in 2015 was closing off the country to brown people.  His big campaign push last year in the mid term elections was to create a false crisis of The Caravan of invaders coming up to infect the purity of our (white) country. 


Now, once again it's The Wall, The Wall, The Wall.  Shutting down the government to put up The Wall, The Wall, The Wall.


I suppose his speech, a rerun of his normal fear mongering speech repeated ad nauseum, appealed to his shrinking base, but I found it pretty - nauseating.


There is no crisis at the wall.  Illegal border crossing are about a tenth of what they were in the early '00s.  Most drugs come through airports. Of course, it is true that most immigrants are not white...


I do not find it comforting that our president is so weak that criticism from Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter will make him shut down the government and create ever growing hardship.


He is a One Trick Pony - fear brown and black people.  (And I guess his other tricks are do whatever Russia or the hard right media tell him to do)  Not much of a leader....

It's Time for America to Recover Its Character

America's character has fallen so far in the last two years under the control of Trump the Republicans. An old saying is that the fish starts to rot at the head, and the head of our Administration is a sadly and terribly rotten character.  And, I am afraid I have to say much the same for his Republican base that so avidly supports this truly horrible person. 


What happened to Christians in this country?  They went from the Christ of love and forgiveness, of caring and compassion, to the Trump of Grab 'em by the Pussy, and Getting Rid of People from Shithole Countries. 


The list of examples of the extreme lack of character of this president goes on forever.  His indifference to the suffering he causes in so many ways - the latest is in shutting down the government in order to keep brown people out of the country causes suffering of the government workers who go without paychecks, causes suffering of tax payers who don't get refund checks, causes suffering of tourists who go to parks which are understaffed, filthy and dangerous, and causes suffering of brown people fleeing crime and poverty seeking asylum in what used to be the Land of the Free.  His indifference to all people other than himself is endlessly appalling to me.


His lack of character showed up initially, of course, in his campaign as he actively sought the assistance of a hostile foreign power, Russia, to propagandize for him and against his opponent.


His lack of character showed up immediately upon taking office by refusing to divest his assets and put them into a blind trust - thus actively inviting bribery by foreign powers and domestic political actors to enrich him by using his properties.


His lack of character has been showing up for as long as he has been a public figure by his endless bullshitting and lying about essentially everything that he talks about.


His lack of character shows up with his endless pandering to the white supremacists in his base, especially by saying that there were "very fine people on both sides" in Charlottesville - I don't think there were any very fine people amongst the white supremacists carrying torches and shouting racist filth.


His lack of character showed up in his Trump University which was a scam for which he was found guilty and had to pay fines.


His lack of character showed up when he stiffed his vendors in building his towers and casinos, which failed.


His lack of character showed up when he mocked a disabled reporter.


His lack of character showed up when he was indifferent to the suffering of the brown people is Puerto Rico after a disastrous hurricane.


His lack of character shows up when he supports our border control ripping children from their parents and putting them in cages or barracks apart from their parents.


His lack of character shows up when he puts his cabinet members at a table and demands that they shower him with praise in front of cameras.


There are many, many more examples of this man's complete lack of character, and I am tired of thinking about them.  Suffice it to say that his lack of character is his most defining feature.


The "Alt Right", otherwise better know as white supremacists, will never abandon him. But when will more conservatives find their conscience and turn on him?  What will finally make them gasp in horror and disgust, the way he makes liberals and independents gasp in horror and disgust many times a week? 


It is time for America to get tired of this endlessly narcissistic, ignorant, and pitiless headline stealer. 


It is time for America to recover its character.

Betrayal by a man without honor

Trump's betrayal of allies is perhaps the signature characteristic of his presidency.  It started with pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, attacking NATO, pulling our nuclear deal with Iran, pulling out of NAFTA (only to make minor changes and get back in with a different name he can claim credit for).


But now his betrayal of the Kurds in Syria is a new level of betrayal.  Many who have fought side by side with our Special Forces are going to die.  Why did he do it?  As I wrote earlier, he satisfies Russia by turning the Middle East over to them. 


But, as subsequent stories have revealed, he did this infamous deed at the direct request of the dictator of Turkey - Erdogan.  This gives green lights to the Turks and to ISIS. 


Turkey now has full permission from the U.S. to slaughter the Kurds who are fighting to defeat ISIS.  Turkey now has full permission to slaughter Kurds in Turkey.  Turkey now has permission to slaughter Kurds wherever it wants to slaughter Kurds. Turkey sees the Kurds as a revolutionary force inside of Turkey and wants to crush their efforts to create a Kurdish state, as I understand it.  So, let the blood bath escalate, with full permission of our Honorless president.


ISIS of course is not defeated despite the ridiculous Presidential claim.  They have been given a tremendous morale boost by the announcement of U.S. withdrawal.  They have sent waves of suicide missions against the Turkish forces who have been working with U.S. special forces.


David Ignatius of the Washington Post is an expert on the Middle East.  His interview of the Kurdish leader, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, alongside our Special Forces today is disheartening and says obvious truths.


"Mazloum explained the dangers of a terrorist resurgence after Trump’s sudden decision. Islamic State communications last week showed new hope they can restore their caliphate, which was on the way to destruction"..."after this decision, what are people going to say about America? All the credibility and trust that was built, we have lost.”..."With American air support, SDF fighters destroyed the Islamic State’s capital of Raqqa and all its major strongholds. The Kurds and their Syrian allies paid a severe price: They have suffered about 4,000 dead and 10,000 wounded since 2014. Over that same period, the United States lost only three soldiers in Syria, according to a U.S. military spokesperson"..."Mazloum said his forces had suffered at least 27 killed in action since Trump’s abrupt decision, and many more wounded, as a revitalized terrorist adversary sent a wave of more than 10 suicide attacks against Mazloum’s front lines."...“Right now, we are fighting for ourselves, for our existence,” Mazloum said. “Because all our fighters know that if they don’t defend themselves [the Islamic State] will come back and be stronger, murdering and beheading their families.”


I pay special attention to the following statement by Mazloum -


"...after Trump’s announcement, he’s scrambling to open channels with Russia and the Syrian regime, "to fill this vacuum left by America.” 


Note - Russian and Syria will enter the vacuum left by the U.S  - no, the vacuum is not created by the U.S., the vacuum is created by Trump.  Is it just ignorance?  stupidity? a distraction from the Mueller investigation?  Treason? 


A man without honor is turning America into a nation without honor.  WHERE IS CONGRESS?  WHERE ARE THE REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS?


Speaking of betrayal of allies, anyone who has worked with Trump in his campaign or administration knows full well this pathologically narcissistic man-child will turn on them in an instant - just look at the Kurds.  The Betrayer in Chief is a very dangerous.

Trump to pull Special Forces out of Syria

Trump suddenly and without warning decided that America is pulling about 2000 special forces out of Syria.  I don’t know if this is wise or foolish. 

 

Why did he do it?  Probably just to distract America and the world from the ever growing criminal investigations into his criminal activities.  The long arm of the law is reaching out for the Criminal in Chief.

 

I think Putin is happy because that leaves Russia as the only superpower in the region and elevates Russia’s influence in the region.   Did Putin order Trump to leave?  He certainly seems to benefit from Trump’s foreign policy, and he seems to me to have some form of control over our president.

 

Who benefits from American withdrawal from Syria?  Putin.  He finally gets his long term goal of being  the sole power broker in the Middle East.  He gets to push America out and put Russia into the power vacuum.

 

Who benefits?  The murderous Syrian president, Assad (fully supported by Putin) because the Americans have been helping the anti-Assad forces.

 

Who benefits?  Iran and their support for and control of Assad.

 

Who benefits?  The authoritarian despot Erdogan of Turkey who now has full permission to attack and destroy the Turks who have been backed by America.

 

Who benefits?  ISIS, who were badly damaged but have never gone away, melted into the populace, and will very likely emerge newly, dangerously, and powerfully.  They could claim a victory in pushing America out of Syria as a recruiting ploy, and perhaps multiply alarmingly.

 

Who benefits?  Russia, of course, as they become the power broker in the Middle East.

 

Who benefits?  Perhaps the American boots on the ground who are no longer in harms way.


Who benefits? Trump - in some way since his only motivation is to benefit himself - pleasing someone on Fox News? pleasing Putin? thinking he will get votes in 2020? probably just another day's distraction from his legal problems I suppose.

 

Who is harmed?  Perhaps American boots on the ground in the future if ISIS and Iran and the forces of chaos multiply with the absence of American influence.

 

Who is harmed?  Perhaps America.  We lose all ability to negotiate and shape things in Syria.  We flee the arena and turn over power to our avowed enemies -  Putin’s Russia, Iran, and Assad.

 

Who is harmed?  American allies who have fought and died with us and under our direction and protection.  As always happens in the Middle East, America has proven beyond a doubt that we are not reliable or trustworthy allies.

 

What is likely to happen?  Russia and their ally Iran will control Syria.  America will not have influence in Syria.  ISIS will rise again.  America will be drawn back to fight and die all over again.  I hope I am wrong, but….

The Criminal in Chief

The Trumpsters haven't figured it out yet, but their president is a criminal, always has been, and will continue to be.


His long time attorney, Michael Cohen, was just sentenced to three years in prison for carrying out the orders of his boss.  His boss is guilty of the same crimes, of course.


Step one is to show the country and the world that Trump directed felonious activity to violate campaign finance laws by covering up sexual affairs that were about to be revealed just prior to the election.  He did it. He is guilty.  Will the Republicans impeach for this? (only the Reps can impeach Trump, the Dems can't do it on their own) - No, they can't impeach for covering up sexual affairs, look at what happened when Clinton was impeached for a sexual affair.


Step two is to show the country and the world that Trump received and solicited the help of a hostile foreign power, Russia, to get elected.  We already know this is true (the Trumpsters pretend not to know this as they keep their heads buried in the right wing media bubble which ignores, discounts, diminishes, denies, and deflects actual news about the conspiracies between the Russians and Trump's campaign, and Trump himself).  I expect Mueller will be revealing hard evidence of this going forward.


Regarding the Trump Russian connection, it is a matter of record now that Trump was negotiating with Russia to build a 100 story Trump Tower in Moscow up until the Republican convention that nominated Trump to be their candidate.  Part of that negotiation with the Kremlin was to gift Putin himself with $50,000,000 apartment in the tower.  


So what?  Well, I think it should give the Trumpsters a reason to notice that Trump lied, over and over again, when he said that he had no connections with Russia. (By the way, do you think it might be possible that after Trump leaves office Putin will approve the Moscow tower and Trump can flee to Russia and live in his own tower there?)


So what? Hard evidence of Trump-Russian conspiracy in the hands of Putin gives Putin the leverage of exposure and empowers Putin to control Trump's foreign policy - which we have been witnessing for two years.


Step three will be when Muller and/or the Southern District of New York Attorney General exposes Trump's decades long crimes of money laundering for the Russian oligarchy.  This crime is an even stronger leverage that Putin has over Trump.  You will never see Trump strongly displease Putin. Jail time for this one. 


Eventually, the best option for Trump will be to do what Nixon did - resign with a promise of a pardon from his Vice President who will become president and have the power to pardon him for federal crimes.  Of course, that won't protect him from prosecution by New York, Illinois, or New Jersey, so he may just have to flee to Moscow and trust that Putin will treat him nicely.  But why would he?  Trump will no longer be useful to the wealthiest criminal on the planet. 


Trump's future could be quite bleak.  And he knows it. So, watch out world, the desperate actions of a cornered man-child who happens to have influence over America's military and nukes could become unbelievably ugly. 


It could be that the real ugliness is about to begin.

Trump tarrifs reduce manufacturing jobs in America

General Motors is cutting its workforce 15%.  A big reason for this is dramatically increased steel prices due to Trump's idiotic tariffs.  A lot of steel goes into cars and trucks.  Caterpillar needs to raise prices.  GM too, plus they cut jobs.  This was very predictable.  Trump's lack of knowledge about trade deficits and the effect of tariffs hurts America.


So, what does our I-Never-Ever-Admit-To-A-Mistake president do?  He blames someone else.  In this case it is the Fed.  But it's Trump.


Ignorance combined with a preposterous narcissistic ego becomes a willful ignorance incapable of admitting mistakes and making corrections.   We all get hurt by this, but many of those hurt the most are Trump voters as they watch their jobs go away.  This is a very sad time in America. 


But it will pass and this temporary president will tumble off into the garbage pile of of failures.  America will find its spirit and soul once again and become a beacon of hope, freedom, and heart.

Democrats win back the House while Trump pretends to be triumphant

The Dems won at least 30 seats (some races still to be decided) and the Reps won at least 2 states (some races still to be decided).  Trump is pretending that he personally has had a fantastic victory, historical, monumental, historical - did I say historical? Whistling in the dark.


One thing for sure, Trump has screamed at the top of his voice that he is going to make the next two years as ugly as possible.  First, he fires the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, for having recused himself from the Mueller probe into Republican and Trump.  Next step, of course, is to appoint someone who will fire Mueller, which will be in itself an obstruction of justice.  The target of an investigation firing the investigator is pretty much by definition someone who is obstructing justice.  So, I expect justice will actually get done, but it is likely to be more ugly than I can imagine at this point.


And, another thing he rushed off to do is ban a CNN reporter from White House press conferences for daring to ask him a question.  Worse yet, his press secretary provided a doctored video that tried to portray the reporter, Jim Acosta, as striking a young woman intern as she tried to take his microphone away.  Pure propaganda.  Very disturbing. 


Trump's attack on the News, calling them the Enemy of the People, is pure authoritarianism.  I believe the only thing he ever studied relative to politics is propaganda - Nazi propaganda.  Unfortunately, he does it pretty well.  For example. Himmler said that whatever you are guilty of accuse the other side of the same thing - Trump (and his Russian enablers) have been flooding the country with actual fake news since early 2016.  So, what to do?  Accuse real  news organizations who report actual news of being Fake News.


Another example is following Goring's admission on the stand at the Nuremburg Trials after WWII where he said "The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.  That is easy.  All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the Pacifists for lack of Patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works in any country."  Sound familiar?


By the way, there has been absolutely no mention of the terribly frightening Caravan of brown people hundreds of miles away from the U.S. border in Mexico now that the election is over, of course.  Just a stunt to terrify the Trumpsters and get them out to vote. Make them fear brown people.  Not allow a man with a last name of Acosta to attend press conferences.


The fight against Trump is not left wing against right wing, not liberal against conservative.  It is democracy against burgeoning authoritarian tyranny.


Democracy is going to win.

May the light push back the darkness

I have many conservative friends, and I trust that most of them are not overt racists and I hope they are impervious to the darkest energies coming out of the woodworks in this election - Trump and many Republican candidates are not sending out racist dog whistles that can only be heard and responded to by the racists they are messaging, but rather they are sending out loud trumpet calls of overt racism to play to the hardcore Trump supporters, far too many of which are hard core right wing anti-semites and racists.


The ridiculous false claims that the caravan of refugees fleeing poverty and violence in Central America to seek asylum in America includes Isis and hard core drug criminals is just an overt message to those who fear brown people to vote Republican who also fear brown people.

The astonishing voter suppression in Georgia and Kansas and other Republican strongholds is an echo of voter suppression in the Jim Crow south.  There is not even an attempt to hide the racism in these efforts.


When the Republican candidate, Desantis, for governor in Florida says that voters shouldn't "monkey this up" by electing a black man, there is nothing subtle about that racist message to his base.  And when Trump's Agriculture secretary says that the Florida governor's race is "cotton picking important" this again is an overt message to anti-black voters.


But, there is so much more to conservatism than racism.  I am very saddened that the avid Trump base is so mired in the darkest places of the party - from racist fears to the darkest and most vile conspiracy theories such as Jews like Soros are trying to replace whites with brown people. 


I have a fervent desire and hope that the forces of light amongst conservatives, and my conservative friends, will be repulsed by these forces of darkness and push back. As many long term and reputable conservatives have said, the only way to defeat the Trumpster darkness is to vote against it.  Indeed, I believe the only way for conservatives to prevail and return the Republican Party to conservatism is to punish this relentless overt racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, isolationist campaign being led by Trump and the Trumpster candidates.


I expect that the forces of light are stronger than the forces of darkness.  And I expect that many Republicans appealing to the darkest energies in the conservative movement will be defeated this Tuesday. 


I certainly hope so, but even if I am pleased with the outcome of this mid-term election, the forces of darkness will still be there. Perhaps electoral losses can be a wake up call for what used to be called compassionate conservatives, and maybe even a wake up call for those in the thrall of the flim-flam leader of the Republican who is temporarily leading the Republican Party.


America has always been a light in the world, and that light is not going to be extinguished by Trump and his appeals to the darkest corners of America.

Please vote - against Republicans this election

There are many conservatives who are advocating for voting against today's Republicans because today's Republicans have been captured by Donald Trump, who has been captured by the Alt Right - who are racist, authoritarian, cruel, exploitive, and essentially un-American.


Max Boot, conservative historian, just wrote an article entitled "Vote against Republicans. Every single one."


Conservative columnist George Will wrote an article entitled "Vote against the GOP this November."


Former George W Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson wrote an article entitled "The only way to save the GOP is to defeat it."


There are many many more conservatives who are adamantly against Trump and his subservient Republican Senate and Congress who are all afraid of offending the offensive alt-right base.


As I have written before, I was a Democrat in the '60s and '70s, but a Republican from1980 until the extremism and cynicism of the Tea Party pushed me to register as an independent.  Then Trump pushed me to become a Democrat.  Today's Republican Party which refuses to stand up to the morally bankrupt Trump is itself morally bankrupt.


My conservative friends think that opposition to Trump is liberal opposition to conservatism.  It's not.  It's opposition to racism, hatred, violence, and incipient fascism.  The Alt Right collection of KKK, neo-Nazis, racists, and torch bearing violence used to be on the fringes under Reagan and the two Bushes. They are in charge now, and a country as great and the United States must just say no to these white nationalists and white supremacists.


We are in a time of the crumbling of old institutions, but that doesn't mean we have to be in a time of domination by a racist and fascist morality.