Iowa 29-year Republican dumps Donald Trump

I lived in Des Moines and while I wouldn't recommend it as a residence, I do know the people of the state of Iowa have the ability to think through things and arrive at a logical conclusion. That's why presidential candidates make it number one on their list to visit before an election, and why we pay so much attention to the Iowa caucuses scheduled for February 3, 2020. Having said all this, I can admire one of the longest-serving Republican state lawmakers for switching parties to the Democrats. Granted, it's at the state level but considering the 29 years tenure, it is definitely significant.

State Rep. Andy McKean is a moderate from eastern Iowa and announced his switch by calling Trump...

"a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children." He'll seek re-election in 2020 as a Democrat.

McKean continued...

"He sets, in my opinion, a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children by personally insulting -- often in a crude and juvenile fashion -- those who disagree with him, being a bully at a time when we are attempting to discourage bullying, his frequent disregard for the truth and his willingness to ridicule or marginalize people for their appearance, ethnicity or disability."

That statement pretty much sums up Donald Trump and emphasizes the rancor in the ranks of the Republican Party that apparently is seething across the country...that is when they are willing to admit it. The question is what effect this might have on the Iowa caucuses since they are the first indication in the country of how the presidential election might go, just nine months away. But what we really want to know is could this sink Trump in Iowa? This is how McKean describes the dilemma...

"I believe that it is just a matter of time before our party pays a heavy price for President Trump's reckless spending and shortsighted financial policies, his erratic, destabilizing foreign policy and his disregard for environmental concerns."

"If this is the new normal, I want no part of it."

The nation as a whole wants no part of a lunatic that has brought the United States to its lowest point in years, and one can only hope that Andy McKean's move will only be one of many similar acts.

Jared Kushner: The 2016 Russian interference "a couple of Facebook ads.”

Jared Kushner has finally made a statement since the release of the Mueller Report, and it is typically Trump-family stupid. He said the "Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election didn’t amount to more than a couple of ads on Facebook." Let's look at the facts...

"Russian agents actually purchased about 3,500 Facebook ads during the 2016 presidential campaign, spending more than $1 million a month to reach about 10 million users. Meanwhile, Russian agents also purchased ads on Instagram and created thousands of bot accounts on Twitter that almost exclusively spread propaganda aimed at helping Trump by damaging Hillary Clinton."

Kushner, who is repeatedly mentioned in the Mueller Report and is considered easier to indict after its release, according to an ex-Watergate lawyer, actually made the following statement...

“You look at what Russia did, buying some Facebook ads to try to sow dissent and do it, and it’s a terrible thing. But I think the investigations and all of the speculation that’s happened for the last two years has had a much harsher impact on our democracy than a couple of Facebook ads.”

This from a man who had questionable credentials for a White House security clearance, and still faces a potential indictment for his part in the Russian investigation. Vox explains his participation...

"He was in the room during the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between a Russian lawyer who had promised dirt on Hillary Clinton as 'part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump' and suggested creating a secret back channel to communicate directly with the Kremlin, going around US intelligence. He’s mentioned many times in Mueller’s report for these and other activities that still have not been fully explained."

In addition, Kushner completely avoided talking about "the Kremlin-orchestrated hacking campaign against Democratic targets — hacks that resulted in WikiLeaks publishing tranches of emails online during key stretches of the 2016 campaign." In other words, it is all about selective editing of the truth and then modifying that into another Donald Trump lie. And the beat goes on.

Sarah Sanders has no credibility

Sarah Sanders

That's just tragic since Sarah Sanders is the spokesperson for Donald Trump, who, of course, has zero credibility himself. Which means when the lie comes out of T-rump's mouth, it is immediately compounded by Sanders. If this all hadn't already dropped to the depths of the ludicrous, I would have to say again it's getting worse. But we're way beyond worse after Columbia Journalism Review editor-in-chief Kyle Pope remarked...

“Reporters have to start assuming that this White House is going to continue to lie and manipulate the media.”

That is one of the most pathetic statements on the Trump administration I have ever heard, but it will still fall on the deaf ears of hard-core T-rump supporters. In addition, Pope...

"even questioned the value of quoting or interviewing Trump’s principal spokesperson, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who admitted to Mueller’s investigators that she made unfounded claims that the ousted FBI director James Comey had lost support among rank-and-file agents."

And even worse, Sanders tried to maintain her credibility even after admitting to Robert Mueller's investigators that her Comey comments had no basis in fact. Lather she went so far as to denounce the media while Trump bashed The New York Times on Twitter, calling on them to “get down on their knees & beg for forgiveness.” This whole damn administration is a gang of certifiable freaks, and the tragedy is they are in control of the most powerful government in the world. There is literally no one who can be trusted, and that's scary as hell.

Another example, first T-rump claimed “total exoneration” from the Mueller Report. Later this changed to Mueller's findings were “total bulls--t" while at the same time berating his staff who blew the whistle on him. Peter Baker of the New York Times said...

“Journalists shouldn't take anything said by any president at face value, but the Mueller report reminds us that this president in particular says so many things that are flatly untrue that we shouldn't trust anything without checking it.”

There's not much more left to be said than please, please let the 2020 elections get here as soon as possible so we can rid ourselves of this fraudulent president. Unless he wants to resign now???

Bernie says don't impeach Trump-He's right

Bernie says the most important thing to him in the time left leading up to the 2020 election is to see that Donald Trump is not reelected. That would be the attitude of most of the U.S. population, minus the Trump hard core supporters, which was around 18% in 2018. I have been in contact with a few of these uninformed citizens recently and can say their less than rational mentality will never change. As I mentioned in another post today, much of the Trump base is completely disenchanted with the Oval Office lunatic and are looking hard at Bernie Sanders. The gist of Bernie's statement...

"At the end of the day, what is most important to me is to see that Donald Trump is not re-elected president, and I intend to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen."

 He does want a thorough investigation by the House and would reconsider his position if anything damaging to Trump were to develop. Meanwhile, here's CNN Politics assessment of the right direction for Democrats...

1) Abandoning the Mueller report conclusions is unacceptable to the party's political base.
2) Impeachment will allow Trump to paint himself as a victim of overly partisan Democrats looking to run him out because they lost an election.
3) Senate Republicans will simply not abandon Trump en masse, ensuring that even if impeachment succeeds in the House, Trump will not be removed from office.

Bernie's position is, and I agree, that the left shouldn't fight a campaign of personalities, rather, emphasize the issues like healthcare, minimum wage, climate change, gun control and racism. A sensible public is not interested in revisiting the bizarre antics of a moron who has proven time after time that he is unfit to be president of the United States. And since impeachment is the epitome of Bernie's base, he must justify this position by convincing his people he can win in 2020. Early polls show him well out front in New Hampshire, but Joe Biden declaring tomorrow could change things.

Karl Rove says Bernie can beat Trump in 2020

Bernie Sanders

Coming down the stretch for the first U.S. primary in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders has a commanding double-digit lead at 30 percent, followed by Biden at 18 percent and Buttigieg at 15 percent. Biden hasn't officially declared and N.H. is right next door to Sanders home state of Vermont. But the real surprise is the fact that newbie Pete Buttigieg is surging in the Democratic race, trailing former V.P. Joe Biden by only 3 points. Could the primary end up with a Bernie Sanders/Pete Buttigieg ticket, and, if so, could they beat Donald Trump?

Karl Rove says so. He "thinks Democratic contender Bernie Sanders could beat Donald Trump in 2020 to become the next president." Rove even added...

"After watching the Vermont senator’s Monday Fox News town hall, Rove complimented Sanders on Fox and Friends Friday, saying participating in the event was a 'smart move on his part.' He was also impressed with the response Sanders got, saying, 'Bernie comes on to Fox, and gets the largest viewership of any campaign event thus far.'”

Now that's very interesting considering Fox plays to a conservative, Republican base.

The word is out some Trump supporters who are disenchanted with the Oval Office lunatic's bizarre antics are looking at Bernie Sanders for 2020. But Bernie still must contend with the fact he is a Democratic Socialist, a trait becoming more acceptable but not quite there yet. I have had two people recently question my Bernie 2016 bumper sticker, still affixed. One "patriot" actually walked up to my wife on the passenger side window and said, "Just wanted to see what a Socialist looks like." I pulled out of the parking place quickly hoping to run over his toes. Unfortunately not.

Trump-Giulani statements...Can this get any more stupid?

The Bobbsey Twins-Trump, Giuliani

Of course the double-digit Trump supporters will just schluff this off as a simple mistake by Donald Trump and another dumb remark by Rudy Giuliani. Neither would be correct. They are each examples of two morons--one of which runs the most powerful country in the world--who perpetually run off at the mouth, with the result that the sane people of America just shake their heads in disgust. These are the two scenarios...

TRUMP: “Heartfelt condolences from the people of the United States to the people of Sri Lanka on the horrible terrorist attacks on churches and hotels that have killed at least 138 million people and badly injured 600 more. We stand ready to help!”

GIULIANI: "There's nothing wrong with taking information from Russians,"

To begin with, Trump's figure of 138 million people is six time the entire population of Sri Lanka. Second, Giuliani's statement is just...stupid. Apparently the idiot doesn't realize that this very issue is what the Robert Mueller investigation was all about.

But the real concern here is that we have a lunatic sitting in the Oval Office that has absolutely no tether whatsoever. His mouth is allowed to run rampant daily with no one able to control him and often resulting in disasters. Like his comment on John McCain's heroism...

“He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

 That's just one of many Trump major gaffes compiled by Politico you can see here. As far as Giuliani is concerned, we just consider the source and hope that he doesn't do too much damage. However. because all of this has become a daily, almost hourly, occurrence, one has to wonder what kind of condition the U.S. is really in with people like these in high places. Is impeachment the answer?

Trump guilty of same charges Bill Clinton impeached for

Bill Clinton acquitted of impeachment

Did the Mueller Report accuse Trump of witness tampering, one of the offenses Republicans impeached Clinton for? The answer is an unequivocal, YES! "It accused Donald Trump of obstructing justice by witness tampering, one of the offences that led Republicans to impeach Bill Clinton 20 years ago." The Mueller Report revealed that Trump...

"repeatedly made efforts to 'encourage witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation' into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election."

Is this why Democrat Elijah Cummings and his House colleagues feel confident about the possibility of reintroducing the idea of impeachment? Senator Elizabeth Warren, also a Democrat plus presidential candidate, is a proponent of impeachment saying...

"The severity of this misconduct demands that elected officials in both parties set aside political considerations and do their constitutional duty. That means the House should initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the United States."

Trump as much as offered His former campaign mgr., Paul Manafort, a pardon, while at the same time encouraging his prior personal attorney, Michael Cohen, "not to 'flip' and help Mueller’s inquiry." Clinton's guilt pales when you consider the corruption Donald Trump has spewed throughout his administration. This is what the slime ball Mitch McConnell said of Bill Clinton...

"… I am completely and utterly perplexed by those who argue that perjury and obstruction of justice are not high crimes and misdemeanors."

Yet this lowlife lets Donald Trump go on his merry way. The U.S. Congress is itself a cancerous stigma in the American political system. This could be their chance to make amends.