Trump is impeached

It’s not complicated. He did it. Violated the Constitution.  Tried to bribe a foreign country to rig the 2020 election. Abuse of Power. Refused to honor all Congressional subpoenas for documents and testimony. Abuse of Congress

It’s not a coup. It’s Constitutionally authorized impeachment of a president that violated the Constitution.

It’s not complicated.

Britain's crushing defeat of Socialist Corbyn is a warning to to U.S. liberals

I hope my liberal friends hear the shouted lesson of the British election yesterday where the bombastic and unpredictable conservative Boris Johnson won a landslide victory over his far left opponent, Jeremy Corbyn. 


It will happen here if the Democrats nominate a Medicare For All candidate - i.e. Warren or Sanders.  I strongly support a Klobachar, Buttigieg, or Biden instead - or any other non-Medicare For All candidate.


I know that the far wing of either party gets all the passion and hullabaloo, but they won't get the votes.


I know Trump will call any Democrat a far leftist, but the country can elect a liberal but it won't elect someone they see as an extremist (and Medicare For All and free college tuition are very far left, indeed)


To beat Trump, which I believe is necessary to save/restore democracy and the institutions of democracy (unintimidated free press, unintimidated intelligence agencies, unintimidated judiciary, unintimidated State Department, science based policies in weather and health and environment, fair elections, functioning governmental departments, etc.) the Democrats need to heed the failure of their British counterparts and move far away from the American versions of Corbyn.

Putin instructs Trump how to handle his impeachment

Amazingly, Russia's "Foreign Minister" Sergie Lavrov rushed to the White House from Paris for a closed door meeting with the Russian Puppet, President Trump.  There can be no doubt that Putin/Lavrov and the Russian Oligarchy are giving Trump marching orders during his impeachment.  Look for actions from the Putin Puppet that most help Putin.


I can understand that Putin controls Trump through blackmail or money or some such, but why on earth have the Republicans in Congress and the Senate turned into Putin propagandists? 


They are not capable of shame, it seems.

It's not hate, it's the violation of the Constitution that drives the impeachment of Trump

 “Do you hate the president, Madam Speaker?”  This question was given to Nancy Pelosi by a conservative from the Sinclair Broadcast Group.  He was voicing the main anti-impeachment propaganda message from conservatives.  It is spin, not a real question. 


It is not hate, it is Trump's violation of the Constitution that is driving the impeachment process. 


Trump violated the Constitution by trying to bribe a foreign leader to manufacture damaging info on a political rival.  That is a violation  of the Constitution.


Trump violates the Constitution when he obstructs Congress by refusing to turn over subpoenaed documents and refuses to let subpoenaed Administration officials testify before Congress. 


Trump violated the Constitution when he obstructed justice and intimidated witnesses during the Mueller investigation.


Trump violated the Constitution by trying to bribe a foreign leader to manufacture info blaming Ukraine rather than Russia for interfering in the 2016 election - that is just the president of the United States following the orders of the head of a foreign power - Putin of Russia.  The Founding Fathers were more afraid of a foreign power dictating the affairs of America than perhaps any other thing - except, perhaps, being afraid of a President trying to become a king - another real fear in the case of our current temporary occupant of the White House.


Speaker Pelosi's response to the pointed question from the Sinclair Broadcasting man was swift and strong:


“As a Catholic, I resent your using the word ‘hate’ in a sentence that addresses me. I don’t hate anyone. I was raised in a way that is full — a heart full of love — and always pray for the president. And I still pray for the president. I pray for the president all the time."


“So, don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that.”


It is clear to all that are willing to see it that Donald Trump is a disturbed man who is should be pitied rather than hated.  It is only because of his position of power in the country and the world that he is a danger to anyone other than himself and his immediate family and businesses.  But he is a danger to all of us.


It is not hate, it is Constitutionally mandated responsibility that forces the House to impeach Donald Trump.

At this point, we all think that the Republicans in the Senate won't convict. But that is on their consciences and on their eternal historical legacies that they have to live with.


I don't know why Republicans have decided that defending the childish and incompetent Donald Trump is the hill they should die on.  But, so far they are doing so.  Will they win this impeachment battle in the Senate?  Probably.  But what do they lose, besides their reputations and sacred honor?  Their Party? 


Strange times when a political party abandons all of their principles and risk the future of their very party to defend a man they are embarrassed by and secretly despise.

Conservative calls for Trump removal

Brett Stephens is one of the ever growing list of conservatives who are appalled by Trump and the current Republican Party.  He is calling for the removal of the President. 


His most recent article shows how Trump is turning America into the old Ukraine that was steeped in corruption.  The current Ukraine has been moving to rid the old corruption and replace with anti-corruption forces, including the new President, Zelensky.  Trump, of course, is on the side of corruption and has tried and is trying to corrupt Zelensky by forcing him to dig up dirt on a political rival, Biden, and fabricate a case that it was Ukraine and not Russia that interfered in the 2016 election. 


Stephens sums it up in a very revealing paragraph:


"...we’ve been living in a country undergoing its own dismal process of Ukrainianization:

• of treating fictions as facts;
• and propaganda as journalism;
• and political opponents as criminals;
• and political offices as business ventures;
• and personal relatives as diplomatic representatives;
• and legal fixers as shadow cabinet members;
• and extortion as foreign policy;
• and toadyism as patriotism;
• and fellow citizens as “human scum”;
• and mortal enemies as long-lost friends —

and then acting as if all this is perfectly normal. This is more than a high crime. It’s a clear and present danger to our security, institutions, and moral hygiene."

An excellent summary of today's disgusting administration and Republican Party. 



Impeach him and remove him from office.  And punish his corrupt toadies by voting them out of office.  Please.

The Sound Bite Defense

The testimonies in the House Impeachment hearings were decisive and specific - Trump and his administration tried to bribe the newly elected president of Ukraine to investigate Trump's political opponent, Joe Biden and his son, and to fabricate evidence that it was Ukraine rather than Russia that interfered with the 2016 presidential election. 


But the responses by the Republicans on the committee were interesting. Rather than deal with the testimony itself they simply created an alternate reality that had nothing to do with the testimony.  They waged a Sound Bite Defense. Sound bites that can be fed to the Trump base on Fox News and the Right Wing media bubble.  Ignore the news, they say, just hear the Republican Sound Bites.

For example, the testimony was that Trump demanded a quid pro quo in order to release Congressionally authorized military aid.  the Sound Bite Defense by Nunes and Jordan is that Ukraine got the aid, so that is proof that there was no quid pro quo.  What?  The aid was only released after Trump was caught, after the whistleblower blew the whistle, after Congress was in the process of forcing the release.


The testimony was that Trump pressured, demanded, the Ukrainian president to announce an investigation before aid would be released.  The Sound Bite Defense is that the two people on the call - Trump and Zalensky - both said there was no pressure.  What?  Of course the accused, Trump, will say there was no pressure. And of course the one who was pressured, Zalensky, has to say he wasn't pressured - he needs Trump's help in his war against Putin's Russia.  He has no choice.  He is still under pressure.


The fact is that Trump was caught in a flagrant violation of the Constitution's Bribery Clause.  The Sound Bite is that this is a coup to overturn the will of the people.  What?  Bribing a foreign country to announce an investigation into a political opponent isn't a violation of the Constitution?


The fact is that the Democrats are following precedent and law in their impeachment hearings along the lines of the impeachment hearings of Clinton and Nixon. The Sound Bite is that the investigation was all hidden and underground without Republicans having a chance to question witnesses.  Even while Republicans were on the committees asking questions of the witnesses.


I expect Trump and the Republicans to fight back.  But their strategy is to feed Sound Bites that simply ignore the evidence so that the only place the Trump base gets its news - Fox News and the Right Wing Media Bubble - ignores the evidence and presents the fictional reality of the Sound Bite Defense.

Bribery is impeachable

Donald Trump is guilty of bribery, as outlined in Wednesday's impeachment inquiry. Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states:


"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."


Trump tried to bribe Ukraine when speaking to it's new president and the Ukrainian thanked Trump for military aid and Trump responded with "I would like you to do us a favor, though".  It was much more than that one line in the fateful phone call.  Wednesday's hearings outlined a concerted effort by Trump and his administration to withhold assistance until and unless the Ukrainian president publically announced that he was investigating Joe Biden and Biden's son, and was investigating whether Ukraine rather than Russia was the one interfering in the 2016 U.S. elections.  (The CIA, FBI, the Mueller Report, and all 17 U.S. Intelligence Agencies have concluded that it was Russia that interfered in the 2016 elections - to get Trump elected)


The Republican defense seems to be that nothing happened.  In the end the aid was given and the weapons were sold to Ukraine.  So what? 


To say that there was no bribery because there was no quid pro quo because the aid was eventually given is a pretty dumb defense.  It is like saying a politician is in a room soliciting a million dollars for his upcoming campaign in return for a billion dollar contract, and having the FBI swoop into the room to arrest him, and then have his defense say that there was no bribery because he never got the money. 

Republican Congressmen and women seem to have a very low opinion of their constituents if that is all they can come up with for a defense. 



Indeed, the completion of the "deal" doesn't matter. The offer of a bribe is impeachable all by itself.  Plus, the blackmail/extortion/bribe was only removed after the White House whistleblower made the impeachable offense known to Congress and it became public knowledge, plus with the threat of Congressional action forcing the administration to release the assistance.


By the way, Ukraine is fighting for its democratic life against military invasion and coercion from Russia.  Actually, they are fighting for their actual lives.  About 13,000 Ukrainians have died in this war.  But Trump is more interested in his re-election than helping Ukraine fight against Trump's favorite dictator - Putin's Russia.


Corruption, corruption, corruption..... it goes on forever with this man and his enabling Republican Party.


Is it really that important to them that they keep out brown people?  or get their corrupt tax cuts? or pack the courts with religious fanatics?  Or be allowed to pollute our waters and air? or get to devastate the social safety net?  Or keep their women in the kitchen and pregnant? Or be mean to gay people?  Or to keep a house full of assault weapons waiting for the Apocalypse?  Or.... what is so important to Republicans that they tie their fate to this authoritarian and mentally unstable man-child?

Virginia tuns blue - thank you President Trump!

The Virginia legislature turned blue tonight for the first time in a generation. Thank you President Trump.  The Democrat won the race for governor, even though the Republican candidate has yet to concede. 

Loser?

It may not be too long before Republican politicians wake up and realize that President Donald J Trump is hurting them personally. It has been said that once the polls show a 60% approval rating of an impeachment of Donald J Trump the Republicans will show him the same loyalty that he shows all of them – zero.  Support for impeachment is already at 48%. 

Loser?

The impeachment testimony is clear, Trump is guilty of bribery of a foreign power to find dirt on a political opponent. That is a direct violation of the Constitution, and a very serious impeachable crime.

Loser?

He is affecting Republican politicians’ election chances. How long will it take before they finally get to turn on the man that so many of them privately loathe?

Look out. 

Trump's trillion dollar deficit

The deficit has grown to nearly $1 trillion under Trump ($984billion).  There are two reasons for this.


First, Trump himself is an ignorant nitwit who doesn't have the mental capacity to understand the consequences of his actions. His only concern is getting a good photo op and looking good in the media on any particular day.  So, he ceremoniously signed the only real bill of his presidency - an onerous tax cut that shifted wealth to the wealthy while guaranteeing an increase in the deficit.  He did this, of course, to great fanfare surrounded by gleeful Republicans.


Second, it is really the Republicans who designed the tax cut, and their motives were obvious - to enrich the wealthy, and to increase the deficit so they can do what they always want to do, which is cut social programs that help the poor and middle class.


So, everything is right on target.  Next step will be a big push to cut the social safety net in order to "lower the deficit."


By the way, the deficit was astronomical after the 2008 Great Recession, and Obama did a good job of lowering it.  Trump has done a good job of raising it again. See this chart:





Sad.  Cruel.  Republican.....

The Millenials will change politics to reflect the world they know

Sometimes I wonder if this will be the last presidential election fought along the old battle lines of right vs. left.  I am thinking both the Right and Left have become obsolete. 


I am a Boomer.  We were raised in the world following WWII. We were raised in the Cold War - the divisions were clear - Communism vs Capitalism -   Communist tyranny vs. fascist tyranny - Right vs. Left - Conservative vs. Liberal.


But, today's young never lived in that world.  Even the Millenials weren't born until about 1982, so the Soviet Communist Empire had collapsed by the time the oldest were just entering grade school.  They have lived in a world completely different than the world I and my Boomer cohort were raised in.

So, what is important to the Millenials and their successor generation (not sure what to call them)?

For one thing, they live in a world where they have had to learn how to try to survive a nutcase with military weapons trying to kill them in school.  Do you think they might want very effective gun control?

They live in a world where student debt for college is astronomical and sets their financial future back many years.  Do you think they might want some strong regulations on Wall Street?

They were brought up in a world where jobs were scarce due to globalization and technological obsolescence.  Do you think they might want effective governmental industrial policy?

They live in a world where Climate Change is not a theory but a harsh reality of wild forest fires, hundred year floods and hurricanes.  Do you think they might want strong environmental action?

It's not right vs. left. Those are the obsolete battles of fading generations.  It is the Future vs. the Past.  It is up to them to define their new concerns.  But, they will base it upon their own experience of the world they were raised in and live now, not the old ideas of the world that the Boomers haven't noticed no longer exists.

Bless them and wish them Godspeed.

Trump forced to withdraw his Doral site for the next G-7 conference

Conservatives as well as liberals attacked Trump's unconstitutional and unethical money grab by having the next G-7 meeting at his own property, so he decided against it.


This shows that Republicans actually can contain this out of control ignorant president sometimes.


Keep it up, please....

Trump violates the constitution by hosting the next G7 meeting at his Doral resort

It is a clear violation of black letter Constitutional law for a president to use his office to enrich himself by accepting emoluments.  But this president thinks he can get away with anything so he announced the next G7 Summit will be on his property in Miami, his floundering Doral golf and country club. 

He keeps impeaching himself in the most public of ways.

The Constitution says:

"No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And 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"s


Trump will receive substantial emoluments (money) when the G7 brings foreign states contingencies to his property. 

Add to the impeachment articles.


Corrupt nitwit.

Does Russia benefit?

I think that any foreign policy move made by Trump should always first raise the question - Does Russia Benefit?


Trump is abruptly withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, abandoning our allies, the Kurds - an astonishing betrayal setting up the slaughter of American allies.  U.S. troops are humiliated and enraged by the depth of dishonor of this move by this dishonorable president.


So, who benefits?  It is said that Trump has investments in Turkey and this narcissistic president can only think in terms of what benefits him - and he is sucking up to the Turkey strong man Erdogan in order to make millions of dollars for himself.  That could very well be true given the character of this president.


However - Does Russia Benefit?  Well, it does. A lot.  Putin is allied with the Syrian dictator, Assad, and the forces of Assad, Iran, and Russia all move into the vacuum of the American withdrawal.  So, yes, Russia does benefit.


Looking at Trump foreign policy we see Putin's Russia benefits on almost every front - America weakens its foreign policy leadership in the world by pulling out of the Trans Pacific Partnership in the far east, weakens its foreign policy leadership by attacking and threatening NATO in Europe, weakens its leadership in the Americas by pulling out of NAFTA. 


Looking at Trump domestic policy we see Putin's Russia benefits by Trump's attack on and virtual destruction of the State Department, by his attacks on his own CIA, FBI and all Intelligence Agencies, by his attacks and weakening all science based policy across all government agencies.


Putin can't make Russia strong because it is a fairly insignificant economy, about the size of Italy as I understand it. So, Putin does what any top notch former KGB officer knows how to do - weaken and destroy his enemies - America, NATO, pretty much everybody in the world - by weakening their foreign and domestic powers.


Trump is an incompetent and ignorant man with no real foreign or domestic policy other than what can make him money.  Putin, however, has a very clear American domestic and foreign policy.  And it is pretty clear to me that Putin controls Trump.  Trump is pretty easy to control for a KGB agent - feed his fragile grandiose ego, feed him money, or.... threaten him with lifetime prison for things like money laundering and tax fraud. 


Trump hasn't a clue, but Putin and the Russian Oligarchs know exactly what they are doing.

New article of impeachment needed

It is a constitutional right and duty of the House of Representatives to conduct impeachment proceedings if the House decides there is a reason to do so. It is the constitutional duty of the Senate to vote to remove or keep in place the impeached President.

I think it is unconstitutional for the target of an impeachment investigation to refuse to allow witnesses to respond to subpoenas issued by the House. Apparently this lawless president has just declared nobody will be allowed to respond to House subpoenas.  

This seems to me to be an impeachable offense in itself. This should now be the first article of impeachment.  Obstruction of justice. Obstruction of Congress. 

Congress cannot allow this. Congress is equal to the president. 

Trump continues his march toward autocratic rule. He must be stopped. 

The TV Trump

The TV critic of the New York Times, James Poniwwozik, has an interesting view of our president - he can best be perceived as a reality TV character, rather than as a politician or as a normal person.


I am very grateful that I do not watch reality TV.  I watched the first (?) season of The Apprentice and was properly mesmerized by the horrors of watching Amarosa's disgusting antics. Plus there was the fascinating disgust of watching Trump preen as well. That was more than enough to turn me off to reality TV.  Never more....


But, reality TV has gone on to a number of successful shows, and they all seem to present a formula for success.  Apparently the biggest drive for a reality TV performer is to keep the red light on - i.e. have the camera on and watching them.  How do they do it?  What does Trump do now that he is on the biggest reality TV show of all time - "Trump is President". 


Here is the formula - I present Mr Poniwwozik's observations in bullet form.  I want this as a reference when I get especially disturbed by the latest outrage designed to "keep the red light on" and focused on the TV Trump::

• Using TV as a magnifying glass, to make himself appear bigger than he was.   
• What does TV want? It wants conflict. It wants excitement.
• It wants a fight.
• It wants MORE. It is always eating and never full.
• Playing a character on reality TV means being yourself, but bigger and louder.
• Telegenic brashness
• You do not attempt to understand other people, except as obstacles or objects.
• Project your "fullest" you.
• Encourages “getting real.” (resonates with a rising conservative notion: that political correctness kept people from saying what was really on their minds)
• To be real is to be the most entertaining, provocative form of yourself - that will focus the red light on you
• Amarosa wrote - “exaggerate the unique part of themselves.” - the “strategy” is to do what feels good.
• Fighting.
• Insulting
• The only solution for any given problem was a being a Trumpier Trump.
• Never de-escalate and never turn the volume down.
• He serves up one “most shocking episode ever” after another, mining uglier pieces of his core each time
• Be aggrieved over minor slights
• Taunting, insults, dog whistles
• He’s half-man, half-TV, with a camera for an eye that is constantly focused on itself.
• His character shorthand is “Donald Trump, Fighter Guy Who Wins.”

Before taking office, he told aides to think of every day as “an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals.” 


This perception of Trump actually explains his actions more accurately than any political or psychological analysis I have read.  He becomes easy to see now. 


He is still dangerous, because the nature of the Show is ever escalating outrage, and as a desperate performer losing his audience who happens to be president, killing people (wars - attacks by outraged "fans" - other countries feeling permission to act in their most authoritarian ways - etc.) becomes a ratings booster.




But, you know?  The act gets old.  Tired.  Used up.  No longer fascinating.  Soon it will be time to turn the channel.  Just like audiences did on The Apprentice. 


It went off the air.  It failed.
 


Ho hum....

Shoot migrants' legs???

Apparently, our president actually suggested that America shoot migrants' legs.  And, oh yes, there is that thing about snakes and alligators - and an electric wall:


"Privately, the president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate. He wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh. After publicly suggesting that soldiers shoot migrants if they threw rocks, the president backed off when his staff told him that was illegal. But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. That’s not allowed either, they told him."


There is really something wrong with this guy.


Really...

Trump threatens the life of the whistleblowers

Did anyone else notice that Trump actually threatened the life of the whistleblowers? He said:

“…he or she or whoever the hell it is — sort of like, almost, a spy. I want to know who’s the person that gave the whistleblower, who’s the person that gave the whistleblower the information, because that’s close to a spy. You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? With spies and treason, right?”

We used to handle them a little differently than we do now,”


Handle them differently now?  Death is what he means.   By the way, the law protects whistleblowers and their identity.  This lawless tyrant is in the process of adding to the charges to be leveled against him in his upcoming impeachment.


This is mob boss speak. Trump has many avid followers and some are dangerously prone to violence. This seems to me to be a call to “rub out” the whistleblower.


He thinks he can get away with anything.



This is going to keep getting uglier. This man and his enablers can always go beyond our darkest imaginings.  The closer he comes to impeachment the more desperate he will become.  And he is getting closer...   

What happens when an egomaniac narcissist thinks he can get away with anything?

What happens when an egomaniac narcissist thinks he can get away with anything?  He tries to get away with more and more and more and.....


Until he is stopped.


Our egomaniac narcissist president hasn't yet done what he speculated he could get away with - shoot someone on 5th Avenue in NYC and not lose any support from his base.  But, who knows what he'll try next?


So, he has to be stopped.  I think it may actually be happening now.

Quid Pro Quo doesn’t matter

 Trump spin doctors are trying to change the whistleblower story to whether or not there was a quid pro quo deal with Ukraine in order to get dirt on Biden and his son. That is not the story. That is not the hurdle to impeachment. The story is requesting aid on a political opponent of a foreign government. That is conspiracy with a foreign government to help the presidents reelection.

Quid pro quo would be worse but not necessary for impeachment of this lawless man.

Everybody does not do it. Getting help for your presidential election campaign from a foreign government is conspiracy with the foreign government. Asking for help from a foreign Government is impeachable whether or not the foreign government helps.  He did more than ask. He did more than request. It was a mob boss shakedown. It was worse than a request. But all it had to be to be impeachable was a request. 

This is not hard to figure out.

Of course he should be impeached. The phony criteria of quid pro pro is just that – phony.

The man has no shame. Does the Republican Senate?

Whistle blower update

This ongoing story seems to be changing to Trump pressuring Ukraine to dish up dirt on Joe Biden's son.  I guess that means Trump is afraid of Biden.  That probably helps Biden.


If the current version of the story turns out to be true, that would be Trump actively soliciting help from a foreign power to help him get elected.  Conspiracy?  Perhaps this time, the foreign power refused.  Or maybe not.  Trump escaped being charged with conspiracy with the Russians in the Mueller report, not because he rebuffed Russia's help, but because it couldn't be proven that he sought Russia's help.


This time, Trump himself seems to have not only sought a foreign power's help, he coerced it. 

Impeachable?  Of course.  Will the Republican Senate finally get sick of this nitwit's unconstitutional abuse of power? 


I wouldn't count on it.  This is really disgusting.


The story develops.

Whistle blower says Trump made an alarming promise to an un-named foreign leader

What has Trump promised a foreign leader, and who is that foreign leader?  An intelligence official was so alarmed by this promise that he or she filed a formal whistleblower complaint. 

"Trump’s interaction with the foreign leader included a “promise” that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community..." 

This doesn't look like just some anti-Trump "gotcha" event.  For an intelligence official to feel they have to go to this extent to warn the country of what they obviously see as a threat to our country is pretty serious, and could be very serious indeed.

It is not a mystery that Trump has had numerous secret conversations with Putin of Russia, and that Trump has been doing remarkably damaging things to American interests, and remarkably helpful things to Russian interests, ever since his campaign and election.  For example: 

Internationally:

• Attacking and weakening America's relationships with America's allies around the world - withdrawing from NAFTA and the TPP, attacking NATO, attacking the European Union by supporting English extremists Brexit, pulled out of the Iran nuclear accord and ceding leadership in the world on disarmament
• Destroying America's reputation of being the nation of hope and opportunity for refugees seeking asylum
• Destroying America's moral leadership in the world by leading cruel attacks and treating refugees heartlessly
• Demanding that Russia be re-invited to the G7 after all the nations had driven Russia out after Russia attacked Crimea

Domestically:

• Threatening to question the validity of the 2016 election (if he would have lost) And already threatening to question the validity of the 2020 election if he loses.
• Weakening each and every government department, from the State Department, to the Department of Energy, to the Environmental Protection Agency, to all but the Defense Department.
• Getting rid of science experts in agriculture, environment, nuclear cleanup and safety, etc. etc.   (He hates experts because they actually know things)
• Overtly and proudly declaring his white supremacy and inflaming racial divides in the country as an expression of his beliefs and as a campaign tactic to arouse his base
• "Joking" that he will be president for three or more terms.
  So, an intelligence official was so alarmed by the promise that Trump made to a foreign government, Russia is the obvious most likely, but it could be North Korea, Israel??
   
  Our president is a threat to American security.  He is either a ridiculously bumbling fool or under the control of a hostile foreign power (or both).

Don't trust Trump with sensitive foreign intelligence

Trump has proven himself to be untrustworthy with U.S. intelligence secrets.  The latest proof of this is that we find out today that the CIA is fully aware of Trump's stupidity/perfidy.  Michelle Goldberg writes:


"According to CNN, in a secret mission in 2017, America “extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government,” partly because of worries that Trump’s cavalier handling of intelligence information could expose the person. On Monday evening, The New York Times added to the story, reporting that the source was a Russian official whose job provided “access to the highest level of the Kremlin.”

“The secret removal of the high-level Russian asset has left the U.S. without one of its key sources on the inner workings of the Kremlin,” reported CNN’s Jim Sciutto"  So he loses key info on Putin's Kremlin.

And let's remember some earlier Trump revelations to our enemies of sacred state secrets:

"Trump, you’ll remember, was in office for only a few months before he revealed to Russia classified intelligence about ISIS that originated in Israel, potentially endangering a source who was, as The Wall Street Journal reported, “the most valuable source of information on external plotting by Islamic State.”  So, he loses key info on ISIS.

And, another memory:

"Not long after, Trump bragged to Philippine strongman Rodrigo Duterte about the presence of American nuclear submarines off North Korea. (“We never talk about subs!” stunned Pentagon officials told BuzzFeed News.)" So he warns North Korea of military secrets.

And another in a long line of this man's attack on U.S. security:

"Less than two weeks ago, Trump tweeted what was likely a classified photo of the aftermath of an explosion at an Iranian space center. From the image, journalists and internet sleuths were able to deduce important information about the type and location of the satellite that produced it. “This is the first time in three and a half decades that an image has become public that reveals the sophistication of U.S. spy satellites in orbit,” reported Wired." So he gives Iran info to help them hide from the world their missile work.

So, is Trump just an unstable, mentally ill, unbalanced fool?  or is he an agent of Russia following orders to weaken and destroy America's leadership in the world.

I think it is the latter.  I am tired of giving him the benefit of the doubt and saying he is just stupid and nuts.  He could well be reacting to Russian blackmail.  And America and the world loses.

Is Trump a tyrant?

I think that many conservatives write off Trump's behavior as damnable but not all that serious.  I don't.


Is Trump a tyrant?  He is not Hitler, and he is not Caligula.  But I just finished a Netflix special about Caligula - "Roman Empire" season three.  It was very interesting, and it showed a man who was badly psychologically wounded and dominated in his youth, thrust into the position of Emperor of Rome (the third emperor after Augustus and Tiberius) and who started off courting popularity from the people and cooperation with the Senate.  That changed after he suffered a very serious illness of three months where he almost died, an illness that drove him into paranoia, madness, and violence. His behavior was debauched, and he slaughtered tens of thousands accused of treason. He ended up being assassinated by his uncle, Cassius after only three years of being an emperor at the age of 28.  Cassius went on to be what Caligula was not - a competent Emperor.


So what has this to do with Trump?  Trump is not an unfettered Emperor and although the Senate is doing nothing to curb his whims and abuses of power, there is an opposition press and opposition House of Representatives that are having some effect. And the judiciary has not been compromised by his commands.


However, there are some descriptions of Caligula by the historians in the film that are interesting to us in America today:


"Caligula did not know what he was doing.  You have this damaged individual that you now have thrust into power, with no skills, no background, nothing but his damaged psyche who you have now given all the power in the world to, and asked him to behave properly" 


Sound familiar?


"Caligula needed to make sure that the people knew that he was all powerful and could do anything.  So he built bridges, he built temples, he was putting up  statues of himself everywhere.  He tried to be worshiped as a God while still living."


Sound familiar?


The most frightening thing about the Caligula story was that after he had lost the adoration of the crowds he decided to lead Rome into war and conquer Britain, which was a total failure because of his incompetence, so he staged a fake victory and returned in a fake triumph. It didn't help him all that much. 


Hoping and praying that Mr Trump doesn't decide to become popular by attacking some country....


Of course, Trump has not slaughtered tens of thousands for treason, but he does accuse critics of him as being treasonous, doesn't he?  He hasn't built statues and monuments to himself, but he does put his name, TRUMP, on buildings and anything he can get away with, doesn't he?


The Romans didn't have the tools of impeachment and elections to replace terrible Emperors, and America does.  The only way they could get rid of Caligula, and indeed get rid of Caesar, was assassination. 


I hope my conservative friends recognize the danger that this incompetent, ignorant, erratic, and mentally unfit man is and support any and all challengers to Trump in the upcoming primaries.  And if that fails, I hope that they hold their nose and vote for his opponent in the general election.


The man is no Caligula, but not because he wouldn't like to be...

Conservartive calls for Trump primary upponent

Some conservatives are finally waking up to the damage of the Trump presidency and calling for a primary challenge to him in the upcoming election cycle. 


Joe Walsh, former Illinois Republican Congressman and Tea Party darling writes:


"At the most basic level, Mr. Trump is unfit for office. His lies are so numerous — from his absurd claim that tariffs are “paid for mostly by China, by the way, not by us,” to his prevarication about his crowd sizes, he can’t be trusted...At times, I expressed hate for my political opponents. We now see where this can lead. There’s no place in our politics for personal attacks like that, and I regret making them...I soon realized that I couldn’t support him because of the danger he poses to the country, especially the division he sows at every chance, culminating a few weeks ago in his ugly, racist attack on four minority congresswomen....he sides with Vladimir Putin over our own intelligence community. That’s dangerous. He encouraged Russian interference in the 2016 election, and he refuses to take foreign threats seriously as we enter the 2020 election....That’s un-American...We need someone who could stand up, look the president in the eye and say: “Enough, sir. We’ve had enough of your indecency."


Anthony Scaramucci, formerly briefly in the Trump White House, call for a primary challenger as well:


"my public criticism of the president has been mounting over the past two years. His response to the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville was repellent. I was appalled by the administration’s child-separation policy along the southern border. His ranting about the news media as the “enemy of the people” was dangerous and beyond the pale. But the final straw came last month when Trump said on Twitter that four congresswomen — all of them U.S. citizens, and three native-born — should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” ...like all demagogues, he is incapable of handling constructive criticism. As we lie on the bed of nails Trump has made, it’s often difficult to see how much the paradigm of acceptable conduct has shifted...I challenge my fellow Republicans to summon the nerve to speak out on the record against Trump. Defy the culture of fear he has created, and go public with the concerns you readily express in private."


Scaramucci is appealing to former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump.


"...OK, the guy's unstable, everyone inside knows it, everyone outside knows it, let's see if we can find a viable alternative,'"..."I predict in middle or late fall there will be a trove of people that will come together in unity to say this is what's going on. This is how the person's acting."


There has been a relentless parade of Conservative Never Trumpers, from George Will and Charles Krauthammer to Michael Gerson and Jennifer Rubin. These two are not pundits, and they are actively calling for conservatives to Replace Trump at the top of the Republican ticket in 2020.


That would make this country, and the world, a safer place.

America's Spirit needs to renew and awaken

I continue to struggle to understand the presidency of Donald Trump.  His flaws are pretty much all that he is - corruption, racism, bullying domination, lying, incompetence, ignorance, disloyalty - the list can be extended I am sure; these are just what comes off the top of my head. 


But why is he our president?  I want to look at it in a much broader scope than electoral constituencies and grievances. 


I think that Trump is a face of America that has always been there, and one that the rest of the world has always known.  It is one that blacks and browns and yellows and reds in America have always known.  It is a racist and violent face that I, and I think a very large majority of Americans, had thought was behind us.  I think we thought we were beyond the George Wallace, Jim Crowe South, white supremacist racist domination of the past.  It is a shock to me to see it take over the county.


But, even deeper than the horrors of racism, I think there is something underneath it holding it up - a toxic masculinity, a macho chauvinism, that is dying out and is making a last gasp effort to reassert its tyranny.  We are in the emergence of the Me Too movement that includes punishing sexual predators, but also includes the emergence of women as a political force.  And more than that, I think we are in the process of awakening more feminine energies and turning away from the twisted masculine energies of brutal domination and violence.


Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote that the Muslim extremists were violently reacting against the what they saw as the corrupt influences of the West, and especially they thought the West had lost control of their women, and Islam was not about to lose control over their women.


I think the emergence of Trump and the Trumpsters is a kind of a parallel to that desperate urge - they want to assert their control over women - and even more so they want to assert their control over the feminine energies - to make sure that force and domination and bullying are in charge of America, not the more feminine energies of caring, compassion, negotiation, win-win solutions, and respect for people who are different.


I am hopeful that this remarkably toxic president and his domineering and racist followers, by marching proudly into the light, lets America see them clearly and know we can no longer turn away and pretend they aren't there. 


I am hopeful that Trump and the Trumpsters are exposing themselves and the true Spirit and Soul of America is in the process of waking up and turning away from their toxic brew of bigotry, hate, and domination.


It is time for a renewed American spirit to emerge.  Or so I hope.

Ignorant Trade War

Donald Trump does not understand trade deficits. He thinks if we have a trade deficit with China it means that China is pulling money out of America.  It just means that our economy buys more from China than it sells to China.  If we lower the trade deficit with China we will just increase a trade deficit with other countries.  We buy more than we produce, so we have trade deficits.

And Donald Trump doesn't know history - especially the history that says that the Smoot Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 was a contributor to the collapse of the U.S. and world economy of the Great Depression of the '30s.  This has been explained to this poor hapless guy in the White House, who is in way over his head, many times by many people, but he is incapable of learning because he thinks he knows it all already. 


Or he just doesn't have the mental capacity to understand complicated things, as has been reported by a number of former staff who tried to deal with him. 


Or maybe he is under other influences?

So, Trump announced a ridiculous 25% tariff on China.  He thinks he is negotiating.  He thinks the way you negotiate is with sledge hammers. He only is capable of imagining using force, and incapable of imagining or using persuasion.  He can only see the world in win-lose terms, and hasn't a clue to what win-win is.   He is the worst negotiator in U.S. history, as far as I can tell.  So, China responds with its own draconian measure, dropping the value of their currency.  And today the stock market dropped 767.27 points. Is this a surprise to anyone?

That Trump is ignorant is obvious.  That Trump is incapable of learning is obvious.  That Trump is incapable of admitting a mistake is obvious.  

I just hope and pray that he doesn't complete his mission of plunging the country into a real depression. 

It is almost as if he were taking orders from a hostile foreign power waging war against America and having him do those things most destructive to America, and America's economy, and America's leadership and standing in the world, and America's power in the world.  

Did someone mention Russia?

Williamson and Yang

The Democratic contenders for president are all focusing on policy.  And, of course, that is what they would do.  The basic idea is that whoever is nominated will be a vast improvement over the ignorant and corrupt president Trump.  And they are right.  But....


Two of the contenders are focusing on problems much bigger than policy.  Marianne Williamson correctly runs on the idea that the country is in a moral and spiritual crisis, and what we need is what conservative commentator David Brooks calls "An Uprising of Decency".  He writes:

"It is no accident that the Democratic candidate with the best grasp of this election is the one running a spiritual crusade, not an economic redistribution effort. Many of her ideas are wackadoodle, but Marianne Williamson is right about this: “This is part of the dark underbelly of American society: the racism, the bigotry and the entire conversation that we’re having here tonight. If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days.”

And she is right about this: “We’ve never dealt with a figure like this in American history before. This man, our president, is not just a politician; he’s a phenomenon. And an insider political game will not be able to defeat it. … The only thing that will defeat him is if we have a phenomenon of equal force, and that phenomenon is a moral uprising of the American people.”

I hope and trust that America will rise up and demand a leader who is simply a decent human being rather than the dark, twisted, deeply corrupt and toxic leader we now have.

The other visionary on the stage, also who has no chance of winning the nomination, is entrepreneur Andrew Lang whose message is that the exponential growth of computer and artificial intelligence capabilities are and will continue to eliminate jobs that human beings do.  This effect is obvious in manufacturing. As Yang pointed out in the debates this week it is robotic machines that fill up the auto plants in Michigan, not illegal immigrants.  We are heading toward a country without work where it is not just mechanical work being replaced but intellectual work as well - AI does better diagnosis than the best doctors in some instances, and what white collar or blue collar jobs will be safe against the exponential progress of technology?  I understand that the computers will need to be programmed and the robots will need to be repaired, but those jobs won't be enough to occupy the entire country.

His solution is paying everyone a monthly survival stipend. Not sure that is the answer.  I think we might be moving toward an economy based on services, entertainment, artistic expression, hands on medical care, for example - the kinds of things that it takes a human heart and human creativity to do. But Mr. Yang points out that jobs and careers that we know of are going to go away.

Interesting times.

Step one is get rid of the dark vortex of hate and ignorance that currently runs our government.

Trump support

I think 35% will vote for Trump no matter what. That is his real base.  That is the core Republican base and it always has been and always will be, I believe.


The current Trump approval rating is about 43%. That means about 8% of the people who currently support him are not really his hard-core no-matter-what base. 46% actually voted for him in 2016. That’s about 11% who actually voted for him are not his hard core base.

I think there has been a change in Donald Trump ever since the Mueller report and now especially since the Mueller testimony in Congress. The change is that Donald Trump thinks he has gotten away with it. The Mueller report and the Mueller testimony said there was no criminal conspiracy.  And although neither the report nor the testimony exonerated Trump on the question of obstruction of justice, there has not been it outcry from the country that included Republicans to prosecute impeachment.

So I think that Trump feels freshly empowered to go for his reelection with no holds barred. And since the only real issue that Donald Trump has ever cared about is white supremacy that seems to be the issue that he is going all in on.

It used to be that the Republicans used racist dog whistles and talked about things like law and order or states rights or welfare queens or the menace of drug gangs. Those issues were not exactly subtle references to minorities.  But  they were disguised just enough that people could vote for a Republican and pretend to themselves or others that race was not their issue, but rather their issue was law and order, drugs, or tax cuts, or fiscal austerity, or balancing the budget, etc. So they could think of themselves as good people caring about issues other than white supremacy and racism.  Indeed, many just put up with the racist appeals that did not appeal to them and voted on the basis of conservative economic or social issues.

However, now Trump is in full out white supremacist mode. He attacks four women of color and tells them they should go back to where they came from – which of course everyone understands they should go back to their brown countries even though they are all actually from America and are American citizens. 


And then he attacks Elijah Cummings and says that his state Maryland is a rat infested disgusting place and said "No human being would want to live there." No human being? Black and brown people are not real human beings? So there is no longer any question about who Trump thinks real human beings are - white people are real human beings in Trump's twisted mind. 

White supremacists certainly hear this toxin and are thrilled. So the 35% that will always vote for Donald Trump knows they are speaking to them. What about that 8% to 11% that voted for Trump or still approve of Trump who are not white supremacists. Who are perhaps Republican out of habit, or ideological belief but who do not think of themselves as racist or white supremacist? Who might not even be white? The cover is blown. How do they support this overtly white supremacist and racist presidential candidate now?

Oh, you say to yourself, this is just a moment in time and he won’t be saying these kind of things for very long. And he will get smarter as the election cycle continues.  Are you kidding? Trump will never stop being Trump. Trump has always been a white supremacist. Trump has always been a racist. And Trump is sure that that is why people voted for him. 


And indeed, political scientists and sociologists struggled to understand the Trump election, and they studied many options that could explain his victory - the economic dispossessed and forgotten voted for Trump? The lower classes ignored by the elite so they voted for Trump? Racists voted for Trump? The unfortunate result of a many very good scientific studies was that the biggest predictor for a trump voter was racial resentment (racism).   

Trump knows this even if Democrats think they’re supposed to be trying to come up with programs for farmers and abandoned manufacturing sectors - he knows his real draw is racism. And I think Trump will become more and more overtly white supremacist and racist as he campaigns for president. And I think that he is going to lose much of that 8 to 11% who currently support or voted for him because they do not want to be associated with that slime.

Trump will always be Trump.  He did not win the popular vote last time, he got 46.1% of the popular vote, and he lost by 2.1%. His result in 2020 could well end up being not much more than that core support of 35% as the non-racists finally peal away and turn their back on him.

Or at least so I hope.  I hope that my conservative friends who do not want to be associated with the white supremacy and racism of this president will, like me, will hold their nose and vote for a giraffe rather than for Donald J Trump in 2020.