Mulvaney is quietly “building an empire for the right wing

July 18, 2019: TODAY'S NEWS BYTES  

The racism of Donald Trump

Donald Trump is good at something. He is one of the best at racism I have ever seen and I hail from the South. There are many Republicans "sickened by President Donald Trump’s racist attacks on four Democratic congresswomen — but they still won’t criticize him publicly. The House members are Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria-Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). T-rump actually said they should...

“go back to the crime-infested places from which they came.” All four congresswomen are American citizens.

But this is the most tragic part of his reaction, a source said Trump believes his racist attacks on the women are a winning political strategy that will help him win reelection in 2020. Does that tell you something about his core base estimated to be around 30 million? A majority must be racist, based on his remark. Even with my southern upbringing, it is near impossible to fathom that kind of thought in 2019. How could any person of color ever consider voting for this imbecile?

Read more...

House condemns Trump's racist tweets...

And this story is only an extension of the above. Another writer, Alex Henderson, writing for AlterNet says Trump's statement about...

"four congresswomen of color to go back to the countries they originally came from, it was obviously a rally-the-base strategy designed to appeal to the so-called 'patriotism' of his far-right supporters."

There's that Trump base again with Henderson reconfirming the fact that a large number of these followers are racist. And no one, including the moron in the White House who made the statement, seems to have any qualms about the fact that this is a tragic reflection of what this country is all about. According to presidential historian Jon Meacham...

“What the president has done here is yet again — I think he did it after Charlottesville, and I think he did it, frankly, when he was pushing the birther lie about President Obama — he has joined Andrew Johnson as the most racist president in American history.”

Read more...

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney looks sleazy and he has repeatedly fulfilled this likeness in both Congress and in his job with the number one sleaze, Donald Trump. But Jessica Corbett of Common Dreams muses that...

"Mulvaney is quietly building an empire for the right wing” and pushing Cabinet members to impose a radical and rapid deregulation agenda across the federal government."

A former So. Carolina congressman, deeply steeped in the Tea Party that eschews its racist values, he now works in the White House and is one...

"who has built what one senior administration official called 'his own fiefdom' centered on pushing conservative policies — while mostly steering clear of the Trump-related pitfalls that tripped up his predecessors by employing a 'Let Trump be Trump' ethos."

No control, just what the Oval Office lunatic craves. But Politico says the honeymoon is over, "snapping at his acting chief of staff with some frequency, and expressing greater frustration with him than usual," and as Trump’s third chief of staff in less than two-and-a-half years, the writing is on the wall. It will happen, hopefully, before Mulvaney can spread more Tea Party propaganda.

Read more...

Non-stop rigged GOP elections

July 17, 2019: TODAY'S NEWS BYTES

Republicans rig elections

How to win an election, the Republican way. If you can't win it forthrightly, look overseas for ways to corrupt the system in your favor. You can encourage foreign countries...

"with world-class internet hacking capabilities and less-than-democratic (Russia) or highly corrupted and oligarch-dependent (Netanyahu, Duterte, Modi) leaders become “good friends” of Trump..."

Senate head Mitch McConnell has made sure mostly “red” states keep their voting systems’ defenses down and continue to use 17-year-old technology running on Windows XP operating systems, thus, the implication of a free ride for those hackers who would help the GOP.

Read more...

Republican claimed voter fraud not true...

Tim Alberta of Politico has a new book, "American Carnage," which has been described as demonstrating "just how irredeemable the Republican Party is." There's a lot in the book about...

“'never-Trumpers' who rolled over for the guy once he won: Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. But three stand out: Mike Pence, Mick Mulvaney, and Paul Ryan."

Mike Pence has earned the nickname “'the Bobblehead' from fellow Republicans because he is so obsequious, nodding along to everything Trump says in meetings. But it is Paul Ryan that takes the cake...

"The former House speaker fully admits that he used retirement in 2018 as an 'escape hatch' from Trump because he couldn’t face having to deal with him for another two years."

Read more...

Trump dumped Iran deal to "spite" Barack Obama. Former UK ambassador, Sir Kim Darroch, described the move as an act of "diplomatic vandalism," "after the then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson appealed to the US in 2018 to stick with the deal." Recently Darroch criticized Donald Trump, sending the Oval Office lunatic ballistic, eventually culminat5ing in the ambassador resigning. Background...

"Sir Kim wrote to Mr. Johnson informing him Republican President Trump appeared to be abandoning the nuclear deal for 'personality reasons' - because the pact had been agreed by his Democrat predecessor, Barack Obama."

The 2015 deal was backed by the US and five other nations, with Iran agreeing to limit its sensitive nuclear activities in return for the lifting of crippling.  economic sanctions. Then Trump grumbled over Iran's nuclear ambitions and reinstated US sanctions after withdrawing from the deal in May 2018. So, the brat in the White House took his little red ball and bounded up the stairs to his bedroom where he called Jeffrey Epstein for advice, plus other requests.

Read more...

The undeniable Donald Trump/Jeffrey Epstein link

PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk


It's not just sex trafficking charges that Donald Trump's buddy, Jeffy, has to worry about. Now a 1980s fraud case is resurfacing with a claim by his old boss, Steven Hoffenberg that "Epstein was his accomplice in a Ponzi scheme Hoffenberg ran through his Towersinvestors.com." Jeffrey Epstein was arrested last Saturday on child sex-trafficking charges, and in a recent interview...

"Hoffenberg said Epstein was 'totally in the mix' of the scheme that defrauded 200,000 investors of $460 million. “He was my colleague daily, seven days a week."

Steven Hoffenberg is the chairman of Towersinvestors.com, a financial services company, and in 1995 Hoffenberg pleaded guilty to bilking investors out of $475 million...

"Tower investors also claimed in an August lawsuit that Epstein 'knowingly and intentionally utilized funds he fraudulently diverted and obtained from this massive Ponzi scheme for his own personal use to support a lavish lifestyle.'”

And here's a scenario by Salon... 

"He owned a palatial home in Palm Beach and a luxurious residence in Manhattan. He owned a commercial airliner converted into a luxurious private plane. He gave parties attended by young women seeking careers in the modeling business. He was connected to numerous wealthy, powerful men who shared his taste in women and money. He bragged to others about his sexual conquests with women. He paid women for sex. He was charged in lawsuits with numerous sexual assaults on women."

Think they are talking about Jeffrey Epstein? Wrong. The subject is Donald Trump. The question here is why all the hurrah over Jeffy when the guy who sits in the White House, supposedly running this country, is guilty of the same escapades? We also are reminded of the Access Hollywood Billy Bush tape...

“I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Why Trump's White House Is Linked To Jeffrey Epstein Sex Trafficking Case...

 A stark reminder that Donald Trump is as big a piece of shit as Jeffrey Epstein, and he clearly condoned his friend's lifestyle. In the past, they were close buddies. And if there was any doubt in your mind, a former biographer, renowned for his work, makes it clear how close they were...

"President Donald Trump clearly lied to America in his attempts to distance himself from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. When the president stands on the White House lawn and said he barely knew Jeffrey Epstein, that’s just not supported by the fact pattern. They knew each other well from 1987 until at least 2002. Epstein was either a member of Mar-a-Lago in name or substance, but he was there all the time — and the president wanted him to be there."

Those were the words of Tim O’Brien, the author of the 2005 book "TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald," who was interviewed by Nicolle Wallace on “Deadline: White House.” Wallace made some comments about Trump calling Epstein a "terrific" guy, then deferred to O'Brien...

“When the president stands on the White House lawn and said he barely knew Jeffrey Epstein, that’s just not supported by the fact pattern. They knew each other well from 1987 until at least 2002,” O’Brien replied. “Epstein was either a member of Mar-a-Lago in name or substance, but he was there all the time — and the president wanted him to be there."

There's more you can read on Raw Story.

And finally, in an observation by Bob Hennelly of Salon, he observed Jeffrey Epstein as a man in court who sat with a "condescending disregard," for what was going on around him...

"I was sitting just a few yards away from Jeffrey Epstein as he sat with his defense counsel in Federal Court on July 8. His demeanor was more like an American Express Black Card member frustrated by a flight cancellation than a man facing sex trafficking charges that could put him away for 45 years."

Unfortunately, his buddy, Donald Trump, won't be going away with him. 

Michael Moore warns Democrats: Beware Donald Trump

PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk  

Michael Moore was right in 2016 when he predicted that Donald Trump would win the election and go to the White House. Here is exactly what he said...

Michael Moore & Donald Dufus

“Donald J. Trump is going to win in November. This wretched, ignorant, dangerous part-time clown and full-time sociopath is going to be our next president.” The activist/filmmaker went on to say, “President Trump. Go ahead and say the words, ‘cause you’ll be saying them for the next four years: PRESIDENT TRUMP.”

I have never said the words, either verbally or in print, and I never will. There are millions in this country who don't consider T-rump "our" president, but Moore is only using the term for emphasis. It was the Rust Belt states that ordinarily go Democratic, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, that did it for Trump, but the polls don't favor him for 2020, according to The Hill...

“Wisconsin seems to be a real problem, the 2018 midterms were a disaster for Republicans there, and Biden seems to have unique appeal in Pennsylvania.”

Michael Moore is waving a red flag toward fellow liberals and Progressives to wake up and not let the same thing happen again. Trump's first-quarter fund-raising haul of $30.3 million should get them off their butts but the current in-fighting between Progressives and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems to be usurping the left's energy. The Oval Office lunatic loves every minute of it and that is exactly what the filmmaker is talking about.

In a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll’s first ballot tests of the 2020 general election, Joe Biden leads the president by 9 points among registered voters, 51 percent to 42 percent, Bernie Sanders is ahead of Trump by 7 points, 50 percent to 43 percent, and Elizabeth Warren holds a 5-point advantage, 48 percent to 43 percent. NBC adds...

"With more than 200 days until Iowa caucuses and more than 470 days until Election Day 2020, the poll is a very early snapshot of the general election, and much can change."

Michael Moore's take on how Democrats win in 2020...

 Sonali Kolhatkar in Truthdig makes a disheartening statement for the left...

"Donald Trump appears a better prepared and far more formidable candidate than he did in 2016—or compared to many of his current rivals."

Kolhatkar does wonder how Trump's " degradation of basic standards of human decency" could be ignored by voters, but the answer is simple, anyone who would vote for Donald Trump is in his class, just plain 'ignorant,' as Michael Moore puts it. As an illustration of to what extent T-rump will go to manifest his ego while pumping up followers, Kolhatkar uses his July 4th celebration, all in honor of Donald Trump. The left must not lose in 2020!

Donald Trump headed for ‘disgrace and downfall’ says Dr. Brandy Lee

PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Progressives Walk

Dr. Brandy Lee-Donald Trump

You might remember Yale psychiatrist, Dr. Bandy X. Lee, a forensic psychiatrist and an expert on violence at Yale School of Medicine, who published a report back in May proving that Donald Trump is mentally challenged.  Well, she has just topped that research with recent findings arguing...

"that President Trump suffers from a uniquely dangerous pathology that will end up wrecking the country."

Everything Dr. Lee comes up with is beyond frightening, with the amount of study involved, and especially with her credentials. She is editor of the New York Times bestseller, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President." She and her colleagues...

"prepared a mental health analysis of the Mueller report with recommendations. Next week, they will present their analysis at a town hall-style meeting on Capitol Hill as well as unveil five questions they would like to ask Special Counsel Robert Mueller at his testimony the following day."

Alarming video of Dr. Lee documenting the dangers of Donald Trump in the White House...

 However, Dr. Lee feels the testimony by Robert Mueller could be delayed, "blocked, severely limited, or even sabotaged." Not surprising she commented, "given the magnitude of its importance." She had this to say about Mueller...

"Robert Mueller’s response of requiring a subpoena to appear and posing severe time restrictions is consistent with his constraints on stating facts directly. Why didn’t he say more simply, “There were a dozen counts of criminal wrongdoing, but because of department policy, we cannot convict him”? It is a common psychological phenomenon"

She exclaims people around Donald Trump's type are unable to resist giving in to their whims, thus...

"Entire households and entire nations can be vulnerable. This is why it is extremely important to prevent those who show signs of mental pathology from taking over powerful positions and why this is a public health problem."

Dr. Lee says her group has placed a video with the copy of the Mueller Report, but will go into greater detail at their town hall on Capitol Hill on the day before his testimony, on July 16, with details on their web site, dangerouscase.org. I will be looking and so should you.

WEEKEND NEWS DIGEST: George Houraney v. Donald Trump

July 14, 2019

PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk  

Donald Trump should examine closely the saying by 17th-Century English theologian Thomas Fuller, "it is always darkest before the dawn," which Washington Monthly's Martin Longman says may have been meant to be optimistic, but in Donald Trump's case is more of a warning. He speaks of the "smut business" of Jeffrey Epstein involving human trafficking of underage girls, evolving almost on the front lawn of the White House. So far, T-rump has been unable to shake it.

In a CNN opinion piece by Elie Honig, who used to work for the independent Southern District of New York, Jeffrey Epstein's "just being charged by the SDNY is, in itself, a defendant's nightmare." Honig cites the track record...

"the conviction rate on federal charges is typically over 90%, and the conviction rate in federal human trafficking cases is even a tick higher than that."

Epstein's victims will have a chance to testify against him, many of whom are now adults and have already come forward. Will he go to trial, plead guilty without cooperation, or cooperate? These are his three choices, and it also has to be considered that others will be implicated with him along the way. It is obvious the noose is tightening around Jeffrey Epstein's neck. Anyone aware of any spare rope in the White House?

Jeffrey Epstein charged by Southern District of New York...

And just recently Trump friend, Florida businessman George Houraney, "dropped a dime" on Donald Trump, as expressed by Vanity Fair's Eric Lutz...

"There was a time when Trump could be counted among Epstein’s rich, well-connected friends. And, according to a report in the New York Times on Tuesday, the relationship may have been a good deal closer than the president has let on."

There's more...

"Per the Times, Trump in 1992 directed Florida businessman George Houraney—who would later accuse Trump of sexually harassing his former girlfriend and business partner, Jill Harth—to organize a members’ only 'calendar girl' competition at Mar-a-Lago."

Houraney claims Trump deceived him into thinking this would be a party of VIPs. In warnings about Epstein’s behavior, banning him from Houraney's events, the latter said, “Trump didn’t care about that.”

Ring of Fire site exposes Donald Trump/Jeffrey Epstein with 28 girls...

Jeffrey Epstein wealth just a fantasy? A new report says his reputation of being a billionaire appears to be a myth. "The story also revealed that Epstein has been a client of Deutsche Bank, the embattled institution facing waves of controversy in recent months and years." Along with his exploits with underage girls, Epstein has also become prominent because he has been identified with former president Bill Clinton and the current Oval Office lunatic, Donald Trump.

Could Jeffrey Epstein walk again on double jeopardy? Untangling a lot of legal jargon, it would seem that double jeopardy could impact New York's case against Epstein but prosecutors will argue...

"that the 2007 SD-Florida non-pros does not bar a 2019 SDNY indictment arising out of the same conduct and charging the same offenses."

Andrew McCarthy of the conservative National Review cites the recent Supreme Court ruling on the “'dual sovereignty'” doctrine — hurts, rather than helps, the SDNY’s position." Not good. Apparently the key is that SDNY only has new evidence not a "new offense," which is necessary to overcome the double jeopardy. "There has to be proof of a discrete criminal transaction that amounts to a new offense." I thought Epstein's shenanigans were ongoing. We'll see,

Read more: "The state of New York protected Jeffrey Epstein — not his victims"

Why did Jeffrey Epstein wire $350,000 to two co-conspirators? Federal prosecutors allege "he wired hundreds of thousands of dollars to two potential witnesses, according to court documents." The $350,000 was wired...

"between November and December in 2018, after The Miami Herald published its extensive investigation about his previous plea deal."

"The two individuals who were alleged to have received the money were possible co-conspirators prosecutors said, according to NBC News."

 These are charges of witness tampering with two unnamed individuals that may have been co-conspirators, according to prosecutors, who are requesting no bail for Epstein. Business Insider reports...

"This course of action, and in particular its timing, suggests the defendant was attempting to further influence co-conspirators who might provide information against him in light of the recently re-emerging allegations," prosecutors said in court filings."

WEEKEND NEWS DIGEST: The Republican Party darkened Colin Kapernick's skin in a political ad, then lied about it

July 13, 2013

PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk  

The biggest judicial problem we have in addition to a one-sided Supreme Court are loaded courts across the country with conservatives orchestrated by the bottom feeder, Senate head Mitch McConnell. Politico reports...

"Every senator running for president has voted far less often for Trump’s judges this year compared with the previous Congress."

This has been a Republican focus that supports their legislation at local levels. It has become dangerously lopsided for the GOP.

Mitch McConnell exposed on federal judges...

Independent Rep. Justin Amash has inside info on how congressional Republicans really feel about impeaching Donald Trump. Amash told CNN...

"that high-level party officials have thanked him behind closed doors for his stance on impeachment proceedings against Trump."

There's more...

"I get people sending me text messages, people calling me, saying 'thank you for what you're doing,'" Amash told CNN's Jake Tapper in a wide-ranging interview on "State of the Union" Sunday. "They're not saying it publicly. And I think that's a problem for our country, it's a problem for the Republican Party, it's a problem for the Democratic Party when people aren't allowed to speak out."

Enough said!

Love affair between the alt-right and Donald Trump is on the rocks in areported by Raw Story, because the president’s policies and actions are not playing out in the way that the right wing extremists had hoped. Owens reports

that...report from Vice News’ Tess Owens,

"commenters on forums hosting alt-right rabble-rousing appear to have given up on Trump."

The alt-right feels its heyday of power is weakening, combined with Trump's betrayal of their march for white supremacy, tied in with the feeling that he has failed to deliver on the sweeping immigration enforcement he promised during the campaign.” There are just over 11-million whites that have beliefs consistent with the alt-right’s worldview, according to a U. of Alabama researcher. The question is, do they vote?

Is the alt-right moving up or down?...

Will Obamacare survive the appeals court? If you are one of the 20 million insured by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), your coverage as you know it could end if the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals makes its ruling. In question is the mandatory provision of the act that is accompanied by the preexisting clause. It is the fact that Obamacare is compulsory that is considered unconstitutional, but why throw out the rest of the law, especially the preexisting part?

The Republican Party darkened Colin Kapernick's skin in a political ad, then lied about it. It was Yahoo News’ White House correspondent, Hunter Walker...

"who caught the National Republican Congressional Committee pushing out a disparaging meme of Kaepernick."

Sarah Burris of Raw Story reports...

“House Republicans are running on racism, plain and simple. It’s disgusting, it’s offensive and it should be fireable, but there’s no accountability in the Republican Party,” a Democratic operative said.

It was when given the opportunity to clean up the public relations disaster that the GOP lied about it. The "original photo compared to the meme, clearly shows otherwise." The Republican Party is beyond pathetic!