Is Trump really on the edge of his cliff, ready to fall/jump?

T-rump cornered

Robert Reich asks, "What does a megalomaniacal president of the United States do when he’s cornered?" That, in itself, is damning, but it speaks to the tragedy of dealing with the sitting Oval Office lunatic. Reich continues...

"Senate Republicans have begun to desert him: Twelve defected on the wall; seven refused to back Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. Almost all have gone on record that they want Robert Mueller’s report made public."

Many are screaming, including some Republicans, Mueller "does not exonerate." Because T-rump has no capacity to contain guilt, there will be no abasement, thus, this idiot will merrily go on his way, continuing to destroy America. Here's what Trump said to Breitbart...

“I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump — I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad.”

A clear assertion of violence if he doesn't get his way. The Intercept asks..."Is Donald Trump inciting far-right terror in the U.S.?" Then they mention the killings by hate groups, including Charlottesville, VA. It goes on...

"contrary to Donald Trump’s warnings, terrorists weren’t coming from Mexico or Syria; they were here in America, and some of them attended his rallies."

Reich sums up "trump's mind" very concisely...

"congressional investigations that could cause him shame and humiliation, and quite possibly result in a prison sentence, will be countered by forces loyal to him: the police, the military, and vigilante groups like Bikers for Trump."

If not impeachment, what??? 

NRA teaches Aussies "How to sell a massacre"

NRA head Wayne LaPierre

According to an Al Jazeera investigation, the National Rifle Assn. has specific guidelines on how to steer the blame for mass gun massacres away from the real reason: too many guns on the street. This is how they coached  Australia's One Nation party... 

"First, 'Say nothing.' If media queries persist, go on the 'offence, offence, offence'. Smear gun-control groups. 'Shame them' with statements such as - 'How dare you stand on the graves of those children to put forward your political agenda?'

Aha, a blatant admittance that, in general, gun nuts are responsible for the gun violence we experience daily. Well, not so much daily "down under" but certainly here in the U.S. If the NRA didn't feel this tremendous guilt for killing children across the country, why would they assemble this "playbook" on mass shootings that was revealed during the course of a three-year undercover sting by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit.

Undercover reporter, Rodger Muller, infiltrated the gun lobbies in the US and Australia. With a hidden camera he recorded "a series of meetings between representatives of the NRA and One Nation in Washington, DC in September last year." Proof, he says of how the NRA "deliberates over mass shootings and seeks to manipulate media coverage to push its pro-gun agenda." And then NRA head Wayne LaPierre stands before the American public spouting his bullshit...

"In our thoughts and prayers," and "Guns don't kill, people do."

Pathetic! 

Mueller Report inconclusive-See below...

Although the smart political pundits are still saying that the Mueller Report is the least of Donald Trump's worries, an analysis of that report yields the following...

"To be clear, only a summary of Mueller's report, and none of his inquiry's underlying evidence, was released. What's more, federal and state investigations into the president's business organization, his charitable foundation, his payment of hush money during the campaign and his inaugural committee are continuing and could lead to legal troubles down the road."

Republicans, of course, will make hay with the fact that Mueller could not conclusively come to the conclusion that T-rump colluded with the Russians during the 2016 election. Despite the fact that many of Robert Mueller's post report statements have left open the fact that the fat lady hasn't sung yet. The special counsel said he couldn't reach a conclusion on the question of obstruction of justice saying...

"While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

Now this isn't exactly an indictment of Trump, it is certainly a sorry state of affairs when we're talking about the President of the United States.

NRA gun violence takes its 3rd suicide victim

JeremyRichman, Sandy Hook father

First it was two Parkland survivors, taking their life after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder from the mass killing of 19 fellow students. And then yesterday, the father of a Sandy Hook victim where 20 children died from mass gun violence, Jeremy Richman, was found dead in his Connecticut office building.

Continued "thoughts and prayers" and "guns don't kill, people do" bullshit from Wayne LaPierre's National Rifle Assn. and a cowardly U.S. Congress continue to add to the misery. To say that these suicides are by-products of the mass killing spree that has been going on for some time would be true but tragic.

What is even more tragic is the fact that nothing is being done. Yes, despite the fact that 69 percent of Americans, including 85 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans, want strong or moderate restrictions placed on firearms, there is still that fear of the NRA, thus, nothing is done about gun violence. And here's the worst...

"Among those who want tougher gun laws now, only 14 percent said they were “very confident” their representatives understood their views on firearms, and just 8 percent felt “very confident” their elected representatives would do anything about it."

As long as gun nuts control this country, there is no hope of controlling gun violence.

Trump drives U.S. to recession

Manufacturing is down to its weakest position since June 2017, most likely due to T-rump playing games with China in the trade dispute. This is the second major program he has failed on; the first was his tax reform law that bombed. Here's one outlook...

"The New York Federal Reserve’s projections for Q1 2019, growth will average about 1.29 percent, which is well short of the 2018 growth figure of 2.9 percent."

 And Bloomberg prompts, "Bond Market Flashes Recession Warning Before Round of Auctions," while "investors are about to absorb $131 billion of Treasury note auctions at the lowest yields in months." Yet, Trump has expanded the deficit by $234 billion, which is the largest deficit ever. If we did have a recession, with this deficit "the government would be unable to raise funds for economic stimulus from debt markets due to its already overextended position."

Economists say this is all unsustainable, but if the administration did try to put the clamps on the deficit, we would most likely experience a recession now. Politically there is only one choice for the Oval Office lunatic, but the future won't look pretty. 

Welcome to rampant racism for the ages

U of GA Tau Kappa Epsilon racism

The U.S. doesn't have an exclusive on racism; it is worldwide, says the site Global Issues. It also suggests an interesting concept that racism is a "misunderstanding of Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution." It goes on...

"Some took Darwin’s theories to imply that since some races were more civilized, there must be a biological basis for the difference. At the same time they appealed to biological theories of moral and intellectual traits to justify racial oppression. There is a great deal of controversy about race and intelligence, in part because the concepts of both race and IQ are themselves controversial."

I do not believe the xenophobic red necks who hate anyone who is different than them are smart enough to figure out the above, thus, it is most likely attributed to their double-digit IQs. In other words, they can't rationalize the difference between a white and a black person so the black must be bad. And then there are those with a slightly higher IQ like the University of Georgia fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon.

I am originally from the South and experienced the worst kind of racial hatred, including KKK lynchings. And then along came the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and many of us believed we had solved the problem. Not so, and my gut tells me that today it is worse than those earlier times and for much of this we can thank Donald Trump.

Bernie's weekend in California a YUGE success

Just received an email from the Bern with the interesting news that "in 2020 California voters will receive their ballots in the mail right around the time people in Iowa head out to caucus." It is important that Sanders' supporters continue to stand behind their man. He took his campaign to California this past weekend with a gungho crowds in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Bernie has already accumulated 245,000 supporters in the state.

In San Diego, where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech to the people of that city 82 years ago., The Bern attracted 6,000 people; in Los Angeles, 15,000; and San Francisco brought out 16,000, with a total of 37,000. He also stopped by the Islamic Center of Southern California to talk about the recent New Zealand mosque shooting, more encouragement that Sanders is firmly behind gun control for 2020.