Weekly opinion wrap up...

I started the week out with a post about a black man who was brutally murdered by a white man; the latter shot the other three times from his apartment balcony after the black man had simply mistakenly knocked on his door. It rings loud and clear of racial hatred that was supposed to be improving gradually over the years but, in fact, is seething in the minds of many.

It was around this same time that we found out that measles are at the 2nd highest level since elimination was declared in 2000. For this we have that new screwed up group of Anti-Vaxxers to thank. As of March 28, there are 387 individual cases of measles that have been confirmed in 15 states. Folks, that's after science eradicated the disease. Pathetic!

With the above in mind, a terminally ill child was exposed to measles by anti-vaxxers at the U. of California Davis Jackson Souza Bell Medical Center. The mother wasn't told for two days after her child had been exposed. It's bad enough that these maniacs are passing their disease around on the street, but there should be some level of security in a hospital.

Later, the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) was fighting the extension of a law that would make it a crime to abuse a date, stalking him or her, after they break up. There are federal domestic violence laws protecting spouses, but if you're not married, the NRA considers you fair game. But it has always been the NRA that is the problem in getting gun control done. Yet there is a host of gun owners who think gun ownership standards should be raised. It all comes down to one man, Wayne LaPierre, head NRA gun nut.

I ended the week with Robert Reich's statement: "Mitch McConnell is destroying the Senate – and American government." This has been my position on Mitch McConnell for years, expressed regularly in this blog. But there's more: "No person has done more in living memory to undermine the functioning of the US government than the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell." Robert Reich agrees with everything I have ever felt or said about Mitch McConnell.

ROBERT REICH: Mitch McConnell is destroying the Senate – and American government

I have been saying the exact same thing in this blog for years that Robert Reich is saying in the above headline. Reich goes on...

A smug Mitch McConnell

"The majority leader cares only for winning, not rules or democracy itself. He is doing more damage than Trump"

Bingo, my thoughts replayed, and maybe with this international utterance (source is the UK's Guardian) coming from a leading political figure of the past (served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton and was Secretary of Labor from 1993 to 1997) a witless Senate will realize what a jerk they have leading this body. More from Reich...

"No person has done more in living memory to undermine the functioning of the US government than the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell."

He compares Donald Trump's stupidity in the Oval Office with Senate Head Mitch McConnell but qualifies his statement with the fact that McConnell is, "actively and willfully destroying the Senate."

It remains to be seen just how far Robert Reich's comments go, or if they just fall on deaf ears. If it's the latter, we're back to a half-baked Senate that does nothing.

My favorite post on Mitch McConnell. 

Your Political Bullshit of the Day

TRICKLE DOWN BULLSHIT

And now a New York Judge joins the anti-vaxxers...Can Trump demean Mueller Report enough to convince the uninformed?...If Barr's credibility tanks, what happens to release of Mueller Report?...Obama worries about Progressives' "rigidity" - he could have used more in his administration...New York wants to end religious vaccinations exemptions with new law

What we need are "inferences" on Trump tax returns

As the Democrats draw closer to getting the tax returns of the Oval Office lunatic, there is a federal law protecting them and him...

"it is a felony, punishable by up to five years, to improperly disclose private tax information."

Okay, then we have to plan our strategy something like, 'My cat paid more taxes than Donald Trump.' That would nail it on the head if he is avoiding paying personal taxes. Or, 'Sounds like something John Gotti would have done.' This tells us there is definitely something illegal in T-rump's tax filings. And I am sure the Dems can come up with a host of approaches that will reveal the personal side of the most corrupt president this country has ever experienced.

However, this is apparently not a done deal, getting Trump's taxes, that is...

"Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) demanded this week that the administration turn over six years' worth of Trump’s individual and business tax returns, giving them a deadline of April 10."

The potential hassle of obtaining Trump's taxes has been kinda downplayed so far but Democrats do have a card up their sleeve...

"They are relying on a statute that allows the heads of Congress’s tax committees to examine anyone’s confidential taxes. Advocates of the effort emphasize that the law says the Treasury Secretary 'shall' hand over any requested returns."

We can only hope that all this effort will be worth it.

Your Political Bullshit of the Day

TRICKLE DOWN BULLSHIT

God forbid, there are more NRA gun nuts on the street...This is where terminally ill child was exposed to measles by anti-vaxxers...Terrifying fact: "more than 20% of deaths of people aged 15 to 24 involved guns"...Trump continues to fight releasing tax returns-WHY?...Salon says the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) is an "international menace...Oh by the way, the NRA is expected to draw 80,000 gun nuts to its annual convention in Indianapolis Apr. 26-28 to talk more gun violence on the streets

If Michael Cohen drops the other shoe, will it be on Trump's head?

Michael Cohen wants to stay out of jail as long as he can, so one can only hope this new information is credible and damning to Donald Trump. Cohen's attorneys Lanny Davis and Michael Monico have contacted Congress alerting them that...

"Cohen has discovered substantial files on a hard drive that might be helpful to investigators."

Cohen not only has to worry about Congress but also the Southern District of New York trying to persuade them to postpone reporting to jail in order to review the files in question. It would appear that Cohen was only recently able to access the information that he proposes to Congress and prosecutors. He claims the new hard drive he found "contains millions of additional files."

New York prosecutors say "that Cohen shouldn't be considered a cooperating witness. Cohen did assist the special counsel's investigation but he...

"repeatedly declined to provide full information about the scope of any additional criminal conduct in which he may have engaged or had knowledge."

He has already been sentenced to three years in prison, but as the noose tightens, who knows what Michael will do, and it can't be good for T-rump.

Mueller team says AG Barr definitely withholding info

He said, they said. The "he" is Wm. Barr, Atty. Gen. who said about the Mueller Report, "evidence was not sufficient to prove that the president obstructed justice." The 'they' are members of Mueller's investigative team saying, "their findings on obstruction were alarming and significant." Don't know about you but I'm inclined to believe "they said." They're also concerned that, "the summaries they had prepared for different sections of the report for quick discharge, "were not released by Barr.

The Mueller team is pissed, and rightfully so. Barr makes a piddly number of pages available from a 400-page report that is purported to prove Donald Trump's part in some collusion with Russia in his win of the 2016 presidential election, and his part in the obstruction of justice, like firing James Comey. Barr said...

"Mueller did not reach a conclusion “one way or the other” as to whether Trump’s conduct in office constituted obstruction of justice."

But the Mueller team countered...

“It was much more acute than Barr suggested."

If when this is all over and the shit hits the fan as Donald Trump is tried for treason and obstruction of justice, will his double-digit followers then admit just how stupid they have been? Probably not. Pathetic!