Under 50% of Trump supporters like him

I really am loyal but I don't like the jerk. Those are my words, but it is actually a fact that less "than half of Trump supporters ascribed any positive traits to their chosen candidate, according to a June-July 2016 Pew survey." The survey also found...

"Very few consider him well-informed or admirable. Only a minority expected that he would be willing to work with those he disagrees with, that he could unite the country, and that he is honest."

And there's more...

"They did, however, feel that he has deeply held beliefs and that he is extreme."

Wow! I knew that Donald Trump supporters were double-digit maniacs, but this kind of information leads me to believe that they are complete morons. There are more interesting demographics...

Trump draws more men than women; And the voters are older, 40+,the 18 to 29-year-ages don't care for him; his followers are uneducated; they are in a lower income group; his flock is mostly white, only 7% black, around 25% Hispanic; and he attracts evangelicals, which is a huge surprise based on his blatant immorality; Finally there is a racial diversity with his anti-Muslim and immigrant policies.

The study by Pew Research, one of the highest rated and respected in the field, illustrates just what the typical Trump supporter looks like...

"They are primarily white, older men with low levels of education and income. They believe that immigrants and free trade deals have harmed their earning power (and they're right about the free trade deals), and they prefer an America in which white people are the majority. Trump's worldview and platform ​seem to resonate with them."

But, looking toward the future, Pew also claims that 20% of Trump's voters have soured on him. Please hold that thought until 2020.

Please let me have your comments.

Did Trump predict his war with Iran?

CURRENT WRAP-UP ON TRUMP'S IRAN WAR

Trump and man who would start ANY war-John Bolton

In 2011, Trump warned "a desperate president" would attack Iran to win re-election...Trump plans air strikes and ground invasions against Iran...No de-escalation plan for Iran threat...Bernie Sanders says, war with Iran would be "many times worse than the Iraq War"...John Bolton most likely responsible for Iran aggressiveness...Heavily armed US carrier strike group headed for Iran

Is Trump's White House another version of "The Godfather?"

Just call me Donald Corleone

Just yesterday there were new discoveries about Michael Flynn that shows he was approached by individuals allied with Trump who wanted to influence his dealings with Mueller and perhaps buy his silence.” Does that sound like Marlon Brando telling one of his made-guys to take care of a situation? This is brand new from the Mueller Report and "confirms the feeling a lot of folks have had, that we might just be living in the midst of a mob movie, "according to CNBC.

Here's more from MSNBC...

"Rachel Maddow had a similar reaction, calling the news a 'mafia-esque' move' from the president’s goon squad.”

As we know, Flynn lasted only 24 days on the job, and T-rump had been warned repeatedly not to hire him. There's more...

"He pleaded guilty back in December of ‘17, lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian Ambassador, and he’s been cooperating with the special counsel’s investigation ever since.”

And here's something even more startling and disturbing...

"A newly unredacted court filing made public late today says Flynn told Mueller’s team that people connected to Congress as well as individuals tied to the Trump Administration tried to influence his cooperation with the Russia investigation."

Both Congressional staff and people from the Trump administration tried to influence Michael Flynn. At this point, how could there be any doubt over Donald Trump's obstruction of justice?

More reading on Donald Trump's obstruction:

"Trump would be in jail if he wasn't president?"

"Trump even worse than Nixon says John Dean"
Please give me your comments on this issue 

A plethora of must see news from the left

MAKE A LEFT TURN FOR THE NEWS

Locking up guns can save kids' lives...Duh!...No one wants to rent in Trump's Tower...People think identity theft can't happen to them...NRA is imploding after head gun nut Wayne LaPierre shops in Beverly Hills...Why Donald Trump worried about Michael Flynn...In 2011 Trump warned "a president" would attack Iran to get re-elected...

Joe Biden's left turn could pick up Bernie followers

Time to fish or cut bait

The headline says that Joe Biden is breaking with some of Obama's policies, even when he craves the former president's endorsement. Biden thinks it's “'an obligation' to provide health insurance for undocumented immigrants," according to The Hill. Joe wants a$15.00 minimum wage; Obama wanted $10.10. Biden has endorsed a public option on health care, creating a government insurer to compete with private firms . Obama said no to this.

What we have to consider is that Obama may have changed his mind on several of his policies when in office and updated his thinking to 2019. Biden is running on his own but still wants to be remembered as Barack Obama's Vice President. Amie Parnes of the Hill says...

"Biden also needs to move to the left, though not too far, and in all three cases the breaks with Obama-era policies allowed Biden to shift to a more liberal position."

"This is important for a candidate who is battling a number of rivals who have embraced more progressive policies."

Okay, I am a Progressive that strongly backed Bernie Sanders in 2016. I have not yet made a decision for 2020, but with Joe Biden holding such a huge lead, with the likelihood today that he will be the nominee, I still want to see more lean to the left, like a stronger stance on Gun Control. We could also use more emphasis on the racial problems that continue to plague this country. Biden thinks so, and there seems to be a consensus of opinion, he is best Democrat to beat Trump.

If Joe Biden does support a “middle of the road” strategy on climate control as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez expounded at a Howard University event with Bernie Sanders, he'll not only lose my vote but also a number of votes from other Progressives that value the ecology of this country and the world. Democratic strategist Basil Smikle comments...

"Biden has the potential to win over younger voters, who according to polls have not particularly gravitated to his campaign, and older Democrats — who the polls show are embracing him."

A recent poll shows that younger voters are deserting Bernie Sanders, and his average donation has dropped under $27.00. I truly hate to see this but it could be caused by the fact that Bernie has not expanded his platform enough, particularly regarding gun control and the racial situation. But Biden is weak in both areas as far as I am concerned. It's only May of 2019 and anything could happen between now and the Democratic Primaries.

Please let me have your comments.

The ceaselessness of Donald Trump obstruction

The FBI recently "opened a public corruption investigation into whether Florida massage parlor owner and Republican donor Li “Cindy” Yang illegally funneled money from China to President Donald Trump’s re-election effort," according to Salon. Seems Yang funneled $5,400 through one of her employees and the FBI wants to know more. Here is the scenario...

"Yang, a naturalized U.S. citizen and a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, is accused of selling access to Trump and his family to Chinese businessmen. The FBI is investigating whether foreign money was then used to buy tickets to political events, which would constitute illegal foreign donations. It is also illegal to reimburse someone for a political contribution without disclosing the original source of the money."

It seems "that nine of Yang’s family members, including Peranio, all made maximum $5,400 donations to Trump’s re-election committee prior to her photo with the president." You might remember Yang's massage parlor as the one where New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft was arrested for soliciting prostitution. The question...is there some kind of influence from China in the recent trade negotiations the Trump administration has been conducting?

Philip Hackney, tax professor and former attorney at the Internal Revenue Service, says, "the IRS must turn over Trump’s returns to the House Ways and Means Committee. "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin retorts...

"a resounding no – at least when it comes to the request submitted by Democratic Congressman Richard Neal on April 3. Mnuchin said it 'lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.'”

We've listened to Donald Trump and his minions long enough to know you cannot believe anything they say. The use of the words "not anything," meaning how much you can believe in describing one's truthfulness, is pretty pathetic when you are talking about the President of the United states and his Cabinet and staff. But then Hackney alludes to the fact that on the one side you have the law, and then there is political reality. They'll never get the records, he quips.

The Congress is not a law enforcement body and "does not have a legitimate purpose to investigate the questions it is pursuing." This is the statement of White House counsel Pat Cipollone to Chairman, House Judiciary Committee, Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). The Trump administration doesn't want anymore poking around the Mueller Report, which...

"constitutes a sweeping rejection — not just of Nadler’s request for White House records but of Congress’s standing to investigate Trump for possible obstruction of justice."

And the beat goes on. There's more from Cipollone...

“Congressional investigations are intended to obtain information to aid in evaluating potential legislation, not to harass political opponents or to pursue an unauthorized ‘do-over’ of exhaustive law enforcement investigations conducted by the Department of Justice,”

Nadler called this preposterous, actually just another ludicrous Donald Trump tactic to con the American public.

Please give me your comments.

Conservatives are a fraud? We knew that

Max Boot, formerly of the Republican Party, comes down hard on the conservative movement. Here's the gist of what he had to say...

"The whole ideology has become a 'racket,' he argues in a new op-ed for the Washington Post, a development he dates to 1996 when Fox News was launched. The latest revelations about the NRA, from the vice president Wayne LaPierre’s profligate spending to the various self-dealing projects spearheaded by the organization’s top executives, only hammer the point home."

I like the part where he brings in the NRA and its head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre. It would have been even more interesting if Boot had expounded on the cowards in Congress who suck up to the NRA for regular handouts. The ex-conservative continues...

"Of course, the most obvious sign of the hollowness of conservatism is its figurehead, President Donald Trump. His supposed business success has been exposed as a sham, a sham on which he built a presidential campaign that had no other justification. His supposed religiosity is an obvious hoax. And his policies, supposedly designed to help the 'forgotten man,' have only helped the rich get richer. He has no problem letting countless supporters “fall victim to his trade wars,” as Boot puts it, for the sake of nationalist crusade."

There is no doubt in my mind that Mitch McConnell runs a close second as the lowlife of conservatives. And Boot feels...

"Trump couldn’t survive as the con artist that he is without the unshaken devotion of Fox News, which feeds his supporters a steady diet of propaganda necessary to keep presidential approval above a 36 percent floor." 

He adds that Fox is, of course, the "quintessential con." You have to love this kind of insight into the Oval Office lunatic, especially coming from an ex-conservative. Boot counts multiple irregularities at Fox with sexual harassment, right from the top, Sean Hannity's elitism compared to his $36 million annual salary, and Tucker Carlson's self-described "man of the people," in itself a con. All in all, the conservative movement and its cronies is a "total scam."

Finally, Boot concludes...

"How did this all happen? It’s a complicated story, but the simple version is this: American conservative leaders knew their policy preferences would never be popular on the merits, so they figured out that they needed to trick voters into supporting them. And they’ve been wildly successful."

Isn't it pathetic that the Grand Old Party, the GOP, has to rely on trickery in order to further its agenda?