American Idol TV Show More Popular Than the Voting Polls

 

With the 2022 midterm election just a week away, and with the polls indicating, well, your guess on that is as good as mine. It all depends on who is doing the poll and sometimes there is no real conclusion. The one person who is sure about the outcome of the November 8 election is documentary maker, Michael Moore...

"Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore isn't backing off his predictions that Democrats will win big in the 2022 midterm elections, even as polls paint an increasingly dire situation for the party."

I did a blog post in May of 2008, fourteen years ago. At the time it was an attempt to compare the response of the American Idol TV show with the response to voters in American elections. Admittedly, it is a loose correlation, but one that shows the American public is more involved with its entertainment interests than it is with its civic interests. Here's my scenario...

In the 2004 Presidential election, 64 percent of the 197 million citizens age 18 and older (126 million) voted. But of the 72 percent that took the time to register (142 million), 89 percent indicated they voted. Big difference in those percentages, proving that to get out the vote, you have to get people to register first. Duh! Independents totaled 26 percent of the voting population; Democrats and Republicans were 37 percent each. So what’s the problem, you say? Looks like the apathetic way American voters have always approached their elections, and that, I tell you, is the problem.

 And now the comparison...

Here are the statistics to prove it [the apathy]. The 97.5 million Idol votes in 2008 were 23.5 million more (31.8%) than the 74 million in 2007, when another very popular contestant by the name of Jordin Sparks won. Now compare that with Presidential voting in 2000, where the turnout was 60 percent, only increasing to 64 percent in 2004, an increase of only 6.7 percent. Keep in mind that in both 2000 and 2004, there were critical issues at stake to this country, and concerned Americans should have rushed to the polls in droves. But they didn’t. So they ended up getting what they deserved.

I made the comment that Idol does provide release, and Presidential elections only

give us decisions to make that will determine how the country is run. And this, too, is another problem in the U.S. voting process. On what do we make our decisions? I know what I do but it is painfully obvious that much of the American public makes their decision based on what the media tells them to do. Otherwise, why would candidates spend millions of dollars advertising?

I Googled "stupid voters like sheep" and got over 2 billion results, which indicates to me the interest in this issue. One of the articles from Salon, "The sheep-like loyalty of Trump supporters is starting to backfire," states that Donald Trump thinks his voters are morons, which would be right considering who they voted for. Another says, "Sheep are smarter than voters,"  one more asks the key question, "Are American voters stupid?"

If you don't yet get the idea, the conclusion is that the American public harbors a drastically high number of apathetics who either don't give a crap who runs this country or they are too dumb or lazy to do their homework before voting. In case you haven't realized, losing your voice in determining who runs the U.S. government is the same thing as losing democracy. THINK ABOUT IT AND VOTE NOV. 8! 

Time to Load the Supreme Court with Liberals

 

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told Sen. Susan Collins that he would not overturn Roe v. Wade. She voted for his court appointment then in June he and five other justices did in fact vote to overturn Roe. He lied and is he really fit to serve? Was Collins naive or did she just come dumb because there were signs all over the place what the decision would be. I know this is somewhat old news but it does reflect questionable acts of the conservative judiciary across the country.

Like Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed by Donald Trump, who succumbed to his request for a "Special Master" to verify the Mar-a-Lago classified files that the former Oval Office lunatic had absconded with. Apparently the fact that the DOJ had already confirmed the fact they were all the way up to top secret and contained U.S. nuclear information did not register with Judge Cannon who recently was deemed "unfit for the bench," said political observers.

Conventional wisdom has it that the Roe decision will have an effect on the midterms, and that is already apparent considering my recent blog post, "Female Vote Could Decide Midterm Elections," which revealed that Roe's overturn...

"pissed off 67% of the female population that have been showing their opposition with demonstrations all over the country."

But back to Florida Judge Cannon, The Atlantic says...

"By appointing a special master to review the Mar-a-Lago documents, Judge Aileen Cannon gave Trump the special treatment he asked for—and undermined the values of her profession."

In this article, by legal expert Andrew Weissmann, he says, "Her ruling is untethered to the law and presents a skewed recitation of the facts." That says a lot for Cannon's ethics and raises the question of whether this all could be "payback" for her appointment. More from John Stoehr in the AlterNet...

"His [Kavanaugh] confirmation is getting attention for another reason. It came before the 2018 midterms. The conventional wisdom is that the confirmation of a credibly accused sexual predator nominated by another credibly sexual predator [Trump] to a lifetime job on a court that would rule on Roe animated women to produce that year’s blue wave."

3 Years ago: Collins: Kavanaugh won't overturn Roe v. Wade...

And, Common Dreams avows "The Current US Supreme Court Is Not Constitutionally Legitimate." That's a pretty hefty statement but Common Dreams is a hefty organization, a newsworthy non-profit with advocacy in multi-dimensional categories. Here's their take...

"On Friday, June 24, an extremist majority of the U.S. Supreme Court overruled more than 50 years of legal precedent, taking away a previously recognized fundamental right for the first time in the court's history."

The article acknowledges the fact that Roe's overturning...

"unleashed the full force of a regressive, coordinated state-by-state attack on the already perilously eroded right to access an abortion, on women's rights, the human right to bodily autonomy, privacy, and control over our own lives and dignity, and to life-saving healthcare and freedoms."

There are 74 million women and girls throughout the U.S. who have been raising

their voice of concern for months. It is also a fact that poor women, women of color, transgender, and gender non-confirming people will suffer the most. What is most bizarre is Justice Alito's comparison between Plessy v. Ferguson, (an 1896 Supreme Court case), not completely applicable, and Roe v. Wade leading to the conclusion by Common Dreams...

"This decision—in concert with a host of inconsistent, constitutionally indefensible, and regressive jurisprudence from the Court targeting voting rights protections, our safety from gun violence, the rights of immigrants, housing, public health, and protections from police violence and the coercive power of the criminal legal system—further confirms what the Poor People's Campaign has already declared: the current U.S. Supreme Court is not a constitutionally legitimate body."

Is it time for impeachment? 

 

 

The Agony of Stupidity Ensemble...Donald Trump, Teenage Gun Maker in Georgia, Norway Dumb

 

Unfortunately, things are occurring way too fast to report on only one stupid event. The stupids population around the world is escalating and proliferating to the point that a measurement is needed to track the activity. Here's today's menu...

Donald Trump, in his usual act of defiance, failed to reveal he has contracted Covid three days before his 2020 debate with Joe Biden. Here's the take from The Washington Post's Editorial Board...

"President Donald Trump willfully deceived the American people about the pandemic, the gravest public health catastrophe in a century. He knew the coronavirus was highly transmissible early on, but concealed it. He wrongly claimed that rising case numbers resulted from more diagnostic testing. He made a false assertion that doctors were inflating the death toll from covid-19 to “get more money.” There were so many other deceptions."

And then they go on to say...

"Three days before a presidential debate, Mr. Trump knew but did not say he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Instead, he carried on his campaign and presidential schedule, endangering all those with whom he came in contact."

Read the opinion. 

Then, in the somewhat backward state of Georgia--has to be half crazy to elect M.T. Greene to Congress--a 13-year-old brother is attempting to sell a homemade gun, when the gun was snatched by the buyer who ran. The brother shot at the fleeing thief, hitting and killing his 14-year-old sister. Weird, true and tragic.

Read the whole story.

And now around the world to Norway where you have to question the judgment of 120 people to gather at an event in Oslo, knowing full well of the potential consequences. Only vaccinated people were admitted but, unfortunately, one had recently returned from South Africa and later was found to carry the new Omicron variant. Now this is downright dumb. They're not yet sure of the 60 positive Covid cases, how many are Omicron.

Dr. Tine Ravlo, a local chief physician said...

“We are expecting more of them to likely be Omicron infections,” she said.

 Read the article.

Donald Trump brings U.S. to the level of idiocracy

Continued..."Mike Judge’s movie “Idiocracy” came out in 2006: Luke Wilson plays an average Joe who is put into suspended animation and reawakens 500 years later to find himself the smartest person in America because everyone else has gotten so dumb. The No. 1 TV show features contestants being hit in their private parts; crops are watered with a sports energy drink, causing a famine; and the president is a former wrestler and porn star who curses freely and fires automatic weapons on TV.

Donald Trump is not a wrestler and he hasn't fired an automatic weapon on TV...yet. Read more here.

Obama's COVID-19 Playbook denied by Moscow Mitch

Mitch McConnell wasn't smart enough to bring Barack Obama down when he was President, and McConnell was Senate head, and he is still lying about the former Obama administration.

The team that created Obama's coronavirus Playbook...

Moscow Mitch, along with Donald Trump, has regularly criticized the former president for leaving T-rump in a lurch on specific issues, this time for not providing a "game plan" on a potential crisis like COVID-19. To begin with, the White House maniac has created every "lurch" he has found himself in. Second, the accusation is an outright lie, since McConnell knows full well Obama left a 69-page Pandemic Playbook.

Daniel Dale of CNN reports...

"The playbook -- 40 pages plus appendices -- contains step-by-step advice on questions to ask, decisions to make, and which federal agencies are responsible for what. It includes sample documents that officials could use for inter-agency meetings. And it explicitly lists novel coronaviruses as one of the kinds of pathogens that could require a major response." 

Dale adds...

"The color-coded, checklist-style document addresses issues like testing, funding, personal protective equipment, emergency declarations, border control measures, diplomacy, the use of the military, public communication, even mortuary services."

Obama warned Trump of COVID-19 back in 2014...

What Barack Obama failed to realize, or perhaps being the nice guy he is, simply was giving them the benefit of the doubt, that Republicans, particularly Trump and McConnell, need a literal blueprint, a picture drawn to point out what needs to be done. Since no one in Donald Trump's administration was bright enough to follow the playbook, the boss resorted to lying, along with his pathetic ally. Or, was it just to deny Obama's efforts yet again?

Aside from being stupid and unable to read, the lowlife McConnell has absolutely no empathy. He is callous and cold-blooded to the point of nit giving a shit about the American public. CNN reports...

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he would rather bankrupt states rather than send federal aid during the coronavirus pandemic.

If it doesn't advance his power in Congress, or help the Republican Party, Moscow Mitch is not interested. There's more...

"The Kentucky Republican, whose state is among the most heavily dependent on federal aid, told talk radio host Hugh Hewitt that states should be allowed to declare bankruptcy to get out from beneath burdensome public employee pension costs."

Obama defines Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic...

In other words, screw the people, those who have worked hard for their pensions, just hang them out to dry, with little hope, especially in today's situation, which is experiencing unemployment at a rate comparable to the depression. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tore into McConnell for his statement saying...

“this is really one of the dumb ideas of all time,” adding that not funding state and local governments is “incredibly short-sighted’ Cuomo went on to say that McConnell’s plan ignores police and fire departments, teachers and schools.

Cuomo goes on and on over McConnell's ignorance but one of his major questions about withholding funding was, “How do you not fund police and fire and teachers and schools in the midst of this crisis?” Cuomo asked incredulously. But there is one bright spot in all this, Democrats are grabbing on to the opportunity of using this against him in his Kentucky Senate race against Amy McGrath. The race is close with McGrath leading in fundraising. 

Donald Trump does Arizona and Gov. Doug Ducey swoons

Donald Trump was only in Arizona around three hours but was able to turn the state's governor, Doug Ducey, into a replica of himself. Ducey is now a clone of Donald Trump.

The clone is on

Doug Ducey has never been known to be a Rhodes Scholar, but, then, how much mental capacity does it take to sell ice cream in Arizona. However, the Oval Office lunatic just visited Phoenix, touring the Honeywell plant where they manufacture medical face masks for coronavirus. The douchebag did his standard suckup welcoming T-rump, following him around for the exposure, then he promptly did this...

"Arizona ended the work of a team of scientists who predicted that the peak of its outbreak had not yet arrived.

"The experts, from Arizona universities, were making models for the state, and had predicted that the peak could come on May 22 or later.

"But the state's health department stopped their work hours after Republican Gov. Doug Ducey announced some businesses can reopen this week, ABC 15 Arizona and the Arizona Republic reported.

"The state now says it will rely on other sources of information and on federal modelling."

Georgia...on everybody's mind...

Discharged but still vocal...

the modeling team, made up of at least 23 volunteer experts from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, had predicted in late April that peak of the outbreak in the state hasn't arrived yet — and could come on May 22 or later.

Just another stupid Republican governor that espouses we should let the people of the U.S. just hurry up and die? There are more as dumb or dumber. In early April "eight US governors decided against issuing statewide directives urging their residents to stay at home as the outbreak of the coronavirus escalates and spreads across the country, the last holdouts in the nation." Trump continued to refuse a nationwide closure, citing the Constitution as his reason.

Atlanta Mayor in rebuttal to Governor Kemp...

And "Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms pleads for residents to stay home, despite Governor Brian Kemp lifting shelter-in-place orders and reopening some nonessential businesses." Salon reports the Founding Fathers started this country with "no president, no federal judiciary and essentially no federal government." They subsequently decided to set up a stronger central government, but couldn't have visualized the nightmare that exists today.

Congress has relinquished its power over the years to the White House, in part because the president needs the ability to wage war, among other emergencies like an invasion or, say, a pandemic. It is interesting to note here that Donald Trump's free rein to address the COVID-19 crisis resulted in a colossal failure these Founding Fathers could never have imagined. He has not recovered from the initial ineptness, thus, the country's governors either follow suit or do their own thing.

11 times Donald Trump downplayed the coronavirus...

Salon continues...

"Donald Trump has been blustering about his "power" since he was elected, even fatuously declaring, 'I have an Article II, where I have to the right to do whatever I want as president.' More recently, he argued that he had "total authority" to make states withdraw their stay-at-home orders, before backing off."

Since the coronavirus crept up on our beaches and spread throughout our cities, "Trump has actually been impotent in every important way." Still, he has "been on TV almost every day blathering about what a great job he's doing." What he hasn't done, and by far the most important, is that he has not led the country in a time of dire crisis. On a daily basis Donald Trump comes off as a blundering idiot, which he definitely is.

Again, the "massively powerful tool" called the Defense Production Act is put forward, something he has already used "hundreds of thousands of times" as president. But instead, this is what the White House maniac did, he told state governors, "Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves." This resulted in...

"bidding wars and cloak-and-dagger black market purchases. He complained mightily that they weren't doing their jobs. But it was he who wasn't doing his."

"Way ahead on testing - Best in the world on testing...yeah, sure - Bullshit...

It is clear why Donald Trump doesn't want a nationally coordinated approach to the surge of COVID-19, more so a federally backed testing program for the virus. It will produce numbers that embarrass him, like the fact we are already averaging close to 2,000 deaths per day from the disease with no hope of improvement in sight. New cases are currently running around 25,000 daily, but a new model from Trump's White House predicts 200,000 per day by June.

This frightening figure is a result of the opening of the economy by T-rump and select governors around the country, and promises to produce a new daily death toll of at least 3,000. Trump's own model predicts that, based on reopening, plus relaxed restrictions on social distancing, it will put the status of the coronavirus pandemic right back to where it was mid-March. Since Trump has failed so miserably at any progress, he figures the relapse won't be that noticeable.

Here's Senator Chuck Schumer's take on the current situation...

“By muzzling science and the truth, it will only prolong this health and economic crisis. The president’s failure to accept the truth, and then his desire to hide it, is one of the chief reasons we are lagging behind so many other countries in beating this scourge.”

The United States looks disgraceful up against other countries of the world. You can check it in the WORLDOMETER report reflecting results from countries. Scroll down to the breakdown by country. It's more than frightening.

Iowa Governor an idiot-A black eye for this state

Iowa's normal common sense vanishes in the case of Gov. Reynolds...

Gov. Reynolds, the culprit

Iowa's Governor Kim Reynolds isn't alone in resisting Dr. Fauci's recommendation that with the recent activity in COVID-19, the public should consider self-isolating for the sake of protecting themselves and others, Other states deciding against are, in the South and Midwest...

"Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota have all resisted issuing any kind of stay at home orders, while Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma and South Carolina have only issued orders in part of their states."

She is no doubt following the lead of her leader, Donald Trump, as the ring in her nose is tightened regularly. Here's Reynolds reasoning in answer to Fauci...

“I would say to him, does he recognize the fact that we have closed down schools and we’ve actually done that through (April) 30?” Reynolds said. “Is he aware of the various businesses that have been closed, restaurants and bars, through April 30 that we have implemented and no social gatherings of more than 10 people? That we have added additional closures to the orders that I have put in place based on data and metrics that we daily look at and move forward.”

I would say to her, it is downright dumb to think limiting congregating groups to ten will help when it only takes one with the virus to infect others. Reynolds has poor judgment and should not be running a state. Iowa should get rid of her along with Sen. Joni Ernst ASAP!   READ MORE...

You're on Progressive Street...Where liberals Walk

Trump coronavirus racism and lack of virus testing unconscionable

That, and there is something else to consider...testing...

The increase on Donald Trump's approval for coronavirus handling would be good, except it doesn't consider all the facts. The U.S. lags miserably behind other countries in testing, thus, the number of cases is no doubt drastically more than those recorded so far. As an example, Forbes is reporting...

"As of March 11, South Korea had conducted 4,099 tests per million of its inhabitants while the U.S. only managed 26. The most recent government data was compiled by website Our World in Data and it shows that by March 17, South Korea's number of tests per million people climbed to 5,567 while the U.S. figure increased to 125 tests per million of the population. Even though that should climb steadily over the next couple of days, it is still cause for serious concern."

In other words, T-rump is being given credit for doing a job that is much less than even half done. But, it gets worse. The favorability increased, incidentally, right after he adopted the racist approach of calling COVID-19, the "Chinese virus." His double-digit followers loved it, as did those others who make up the 55% approval rating. RawStory's explanation...

"This is the kind of crisis that opportunistic racists barely dared dream of before. Indeed, Fox News host Tucker Carlson has been all but pleading for weeks for Trump and his fellow right-wing talking heads to move away from denialism and towards racist exploitation."

The obtuse oaf explaining his racism...

[Trump] "like all racist trolls, is playing dumb when called out for it. He’s said it’s 'not racist at all, no, not at all' and that he wants 'to be accurate' and that the virus 'comes from China.'” And listen to this...

"Trump’s racist trolling is sending Carlson into bouts of near-orgasmic ecstasy. On Tuesday, he swooned that the president’s 'Chinese virus' rhetoric was an example of 'Trump at his very best.'”

Which points out the fact of just how racist Fox News is, as well as being the country's largest purveyor of misinformation. Carlson plods on with absurd conspiracy theories that aren't worth mentioning, and then Sean Hannity agrees with lowlife Rush Limbaugh "that the coronavirus crisis was a hoax." Between Fox News and Donald Trump, COVID-19 could be the "death" of the United States.

You're on Progressive Street...Where Liberals Walk...

The White House maniac hasn't a clue on coronavirus...

UPDATE

Coronavirus isn't yet out of hand in the U.S.; although it is spreading throughout the country. "As of March 05, 2020 at 18:17 GMT, there have been 164 confirmed cases and 11 deaths due to coronavirus COVID-19 in the United States." Here's the lineup by state:

• 27 in Washington State (including 9 deaths and 1 recovered)
• 24 in California (including 2 recovered)
• 4 in Illinois (including 2 recovered)
• 3 in Florida
• 3 in Oregon
• 2 in Arizona (including 1 recovered)
• 2 in Georgia
• 2 in Massachusetts (including 1 recovered)
• 2 in New York
• 2 in Rhode Island
• 2 in New Hampshire
• 1 in North Carolina
• 1 in Texas
• 1 in Wisconsin (including 1 recovered)

And all this while Donald Trump tries to "minimize" the problem, just to protect the stock market and his chances to win in November. Here's the scenario...

“Trump’s playing down of the California patient at his news conference underscores the administration’s slapdash and often misleading attempts to contain not just the virus, but also potential political damage from the outbreak — which has tanked financial markets, slowed global commerce and killed some 3,000 people worldwide, including the first U.S. death, announced Saturday,” the Washington Post reports.

So much for a president who is looking out for the people...READ MORE...

Mike Pence defends Trump, Jr. comment, "Democrats hope coronavirus 'kills millions of people' in the US because they want to bring his father down." 

And this is what number two dumb had to say, "he was merely 'pushing back' at politicisation of the viral outbreak by Trump opponents." Considering number two Trump can't help it since he undoubtedly inherited the double-digit IQ from his father, what is Pence's excuse? Now consider, it is this moron that T-rump has put in charge of the coronavirus program. If it wasn't for the few level heads sparsely interspersed withing this administration, the U. S. would be doomed.

The look of, 'What the f*#+ do we do?'

This dimwit even added, “It’s time for the other side to turn down the volume.” This is the guy who wants to "pray" away the virus rather than work on how to protect the citizens of this country. The people of Indiana who elected this numbnuts governor are no doubt supporters of the Oval Office lunatic, and look how he screwed up an HIV outbreak there. This is indeed the biggest crisis Donald Trump has faced yet, and so far he is a total failure...READ MORE...

CNN asks how bad will the coronavirus get. This following their headline for the article: "Trump meets a new enemy." The combination of the two is more than frightening, with the implication that Donald Trump is out of his league, again, when it comes to dealing with another crisis, which will impact his favorability rating. The author's meaning, of course, applies to...

"the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus around the world, the resulting stock market plunge and the concern about whether America's political leaders are up to the challenge."

 

Sort of like what I said but with a different twist. There will be an outbreak says Dr. Nancy Messonnier, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. and we have already experienced that, as you can see from the illustration, above. What is worse is Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore's former health commissioner comments...

"the disease will test our government's response and resiliency. How we weather the outbreak also hinges on our trust that the government has our best intentions at heart. We don't yet know if the trajectory of COVID-19 will be mild, moderate, or severe" but it makes sense to prepare for the worst case."

The key here is can we, 'trust that the government has our best intentions at heart?' So far, we haven't been able to count on anything Donald Trump says or does. And he continues to push forward with false facts and completely inaccurate information every time he opens his mouth. The markets reacted with, "the Dow plunging 3,583 points, making it by percentage terms the worst week since October, 2008. Trump's worst nightmare...READ MORE...

Gloomy outlook as public-health experts say Coronavirus may never disappear. Their evaluation is...

"there are only three possible endings to this story: The outbreak could be controlled via public-health interventions and disappear (as SARS did), a vaccine could be developed, or the coronavirus could become a permanent part of the repertoire of human viruses like the seasonal flu."

They contend, "That third option is the most likely, the new virus probably won't ever truly disappear." So what is the Oval Office lunatic's latest move? He blames it on former President Barack Obama, as you can see in the video here. No consideration for the fact that Trump appointed Mike Pence has screwed up testing from the beginning so we don't actually know how many cases are really in the U.S.

The outbreak never ends say expert...

Here's Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who said...

"I think it is a pandemic; the official declaration is not important to me. We're seeing efficient, community-wide spread in multiple countries."

Here is another alarming effect...

"According to researchers at the World Health Organization (WHO), an average person with the new coronavirus passes it to 1.4 to 2.5 other people."

In closing, here is the latest from the CDC on the spread of COVID-19.
READ MORE...

Lisa Murkowski illustrates the stupidity and mediocrity of the Republican Senate

Lisa Murkowski

Now here's a statement so dumb you might think it came from Donald Trump, but in this case it is about him, emanating from one of Alaska's GOP Senators: Lisa Murkowski said she, "cannot vote to convict" President Donald Trump in the Senate impeachment trial but nevertheless called his actions "shameful and wrong." If asked why, I am sure her answer would be equally inane. Here it is again...

"The President's behavior was shameful and wrong. His personal interests do not take precedence over those of this great nation."

Yet this wingnut voted against witnesses and will vote to acquit Trump in the Senate trial. And she wasn't even done yet...

"The President has the responsibility to uphold the integrity and the honor of the office, not just for himself, but for all future presidents. Degrading the office by actions or even name-calling weakens it for future presidents and it weakens our country."

How can you possibly say all of this and vote not to impeach the worst president we have ever experienced in the United States?"  But at least she said it. Most of the other Senate Republicans don't even have the guts to condemn the Oval Office lunatic for the maniac he is. This is my prediction, and call it a threat if you like, the left will defeat the right in November with the force of the most powerful hydrogen bomb imaginable. This could be the end of the GOP! 
READ MORE...

Why don't GOP lawmakers who trash president behind his back come out in the open and do it?

Michael McFaul

Well, it is now established that Republican lawmakers detest Donald Trump as much as the American public. Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul told host Bill Maher on HBO’s “Real Time that the Congress trashes him behind his back. And it sounds like Bill Maher also dislikes T-rump prompting McFaul to say...

“What really bothers me about folks like this,” he began while speaking to the host who has just ripped into the president, “They don’t like Trump. They talk like you. I mean, they all talk like you.”

Maher countered  “The Republicans?” Then McFaul again...

“All those guys,” McFaul shot back. “When they’re talking in the family, that’s what they say among the family. And yet when they come out in the public, then they care about taxes and other issues and maybe power, but they just forget about all this other stuff — and that is what I can’t respect.”

Respect from the American public is exactly what Congress currently does not have today with their job approval rating at 23%. And the whole lot is simply too dumb to realize just how lousy a job they do. McFaul is a Democrat, but he is also an American academic and professor of political science who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. Although outside the circle of the Trump administration, apparently he is still a part of the "family." 
READ MORE...

Here is the Trump/Zelensky Ukraine transcript

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Here come the Ukrainegate transcript...  

Hard to read but it's there

While we wait for the White House to release the transcript of the whistleblower complaint, there may be a bump in the road reported by Fox News, always a questionable news source. Fox says "the intelligence community inspector general found the whistleblower had 'political bias in favor of 'a rival candidate' of the president." First, the report come from the unreliable Fox News, second, Donald Trump appointed Michael Atkinson ICSG.

The above, which started out as today's post, has been left with strikethrough because it makes two important points. One is the fact that Fox News is mostly unreliable if you're looking for facts, and second, the guy who determined the whistleblower was biased in his statement was a Trump appointee. That said, the L A Times reports it would appear that not only did T-rump ask Ukraine's Zelensky...

"to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, he also urged the foreign leader to look into CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that did work for the Democrats in the 2016 election."

Here's coverage of the transcript...

Trump pushed it even further by adding to congratulations for the new Ukrainian leader that he should "speak with U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr and Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, who was leading Trump’s efforts in urging Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter." Here's the scenario...

"Trump has insisted he has done nothing wrong. But the transcript shows Trump urged a foreign government to intervene in the 2020 election against his rival..."

"Trump had already acknowledged that he asked Zelensky to investigate Biden, whose son Hunter had a contract with a Ukrainian gas company. Trump also acknowledged this week that he held up military aid intended for the Ukrainian government in the same period. He has denied that the delay in releasing the aid money was a form of pressure to prompt the investigation."

The Democrats aren't satisfied and say there are more questions to be answered. To begin with, the document released Wednesday was only a memorandum of the Zelensky conversation, according to The Washington Post, not a verbatim account. BINGO! There was a cautionary note with the memorandum warning...

"that the text reflects the notes and memories of officials in the Situation Room and that a number of factors 'can affect the accuracy of the record.'”

BINGO! again. The WP piece goes on to point out some background on the call and specifics that relate to the conversation. It all boils down to the fact that the American president, who is running for a second term, asks the president of a foreign nation to investigate what he thinks is wrongdoing by his opponent in the election. Although the $400 million in aid promised, but withdrawn just prior to the call to Zelensky, isn't mentioned, at least as far as we know, the implication was always there.

Trump response to transcript: If you want dumb here's dumb...

Is there a transcript of the actual recording? If so, why wasn't that made available instead of the "notes and memories " of those in the Situation Room? This is just a continuation of the ambiguous Donald Trump the American people have had to live with since he entered the White House. So far Speaker Pelosi is moving ahead with impeachment but dealing with such an enigmatic administration will continue to make the effort look like madness at times.

Donald Trump: The great betrayal

WEDNESDAY-SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 NEWS BYTES

An anthology of Donald Trump follies...  

The absurd #45

If ever there was a news media's dream, it is Donald Trump's absurdities in the White House. They come so fast that they have to be collected in anthologies. This is one of those and includes some of the most recent stupid moves this maniac has made. The Congress can see this but does nothing because a GOP headed up by lowlife Mitch McConnell can only think of maintaining the power of the right wing radicals. Something that will soon change.

Now Trump's tariff trade war has finally caused a slowdown' among American small businesses. Business optimism hit a five-month low in August, this from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a lobbying group. Here's the situation...

"Pantheon Macroeconomics said in an email that the main optimism figure was "dragged down by declines in expectations for the economy and business sales." Both measures fell significantly, by eight points and five points respectively, Pantheon said."

And...

"the trend remains weak and continues to signal a clear downshift in business investment through the end of this year and into early 2020."

These small business owners "are reluctant to make major spending commitments," in part due to Donald Trump's bizarre war on China with a steady increase in tariffs, which brings a like response from Xi Jinping.

Barack Obama knew the importance of small business to the economy...

The number of uninsured Americans for health insurance has increased under the Donald Trump White House.,,

"data suggest that the economic expansion, now the longest on record at more than 10 years, is still struggling to provide widespread benefits to the U.S. population."

Also, "household income rose last year at its slowest pace in four years and finally matched its previous peak set in 1999. There's more...

"Solid gains in household incomes in the past four years have returned the median only to where it was two decades ago. And despite strong growth last year in the number of Americans working full time and year-round, the number of people with private health insurance remained flat."

"An estimated 27.5 million people, 8.5% of the population, went without health insurance in 2018. That was an increase of 1.9 million uninsured people, or 0.5 percentage point."

T-rump must be stopped before these numbers are completely out of control.

Chris Cillizza on Trump and Obamacare...

Donald Trump fired war monger John Bolton, or Bolton quit, according to him. No matter, we're rid of the guy who could have started World War III. Apparently Johnny 'finger on the button' had a rivalry with Mike Pompeo, Sec. of State, and the Oval Office lunatic didn't like some of his recent moves. This is how the Guardian sees it...

"The US president’s antipathy to globalism and multilateralism will remain but there will be a rebalancing towards Trump’s instinctive anti-interventionism, coupled with his penchant for personal diplomacy. At best, it may also lead to greater policy coordination between Washington’s national security agencies and, as a result, more consistent advice being handed to an often under-briefed president."

I think that might infer that John Bolton stood in the way of some national security briefings that weren't getting to Trump. Not sure what difference that made cause T-rump probably wouldn't read them, and, if he did, wouldn't understand them. If you are interested in Bolton's positions on Afghanistan, Venezuela, Iran, Russia and No. Korea, suggest you read the article.

Read more 'Donald Trump Dumb' here

Is Donald Trump Cabinet planning a coup?

August 21, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET NEWS BYTES...Where Liberals Walk

Donald Trump's lies finally catching up with him  

LYING: The epitome of Donald Trump

Although Anthony Scaramucci doesn't name names in this particular article, he says "that some current administration officials will soon turn on Trump and work against his 2020 re-election." Scary Tony adds...

“It’s a little bit like a cycle,” Scaramucci said. “I mean, if you can get the cycle started, some people that are fear-based due to the president’s bullying or the nonsense on his Twitter feed or how he handles himself personally, they’re intimidated by him.”

It has been obvious how some have been irked at the Oval Office lunatic, like former Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson who once called Trump a "fucking moron." Scaramucci concluded with...

“What we saw over the week is the balloon is coming out of the president’s bombast,” he added. “The balloon is coming out of his rhetoric.”

 And then Scaramucci came out with, "These 6 former Trump officials are the most likely to throw him under the bus in 2020," Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Former Defense Secretary James Mattis, Former chief of staff John Kelly, Former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Additional comments...

"The president has not been shy about expressing his disdain for Tillerson ever since he left his position, and he sent out an angry tweet calling his former top diplomat 'dumb as a rock.'”

"In his resignation letter, Mattis took thinly veiled shots at the president’s notorious disdain for America’s system of international alliances."

"He [John Kelly] was caught on camera twice shoving his face into his hand when the president did something embarrassing, such as when he referred to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as 'Rocket Man' in front of the United Nations."

Fact checking for Donald Trump lies has become a major business...

There's more you can read in the AlterNet article. And in the 'I can't believe Trump told that lie" column, he made the claim that Google threw over 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton. "On Monday’s edition of CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time,” fact-checker Daniel Dale told host Chris Cuomo that not only is President Donald Trump’s claim a lie, the professor he’s citing, Robert Epstein, has repudiated Trump’s interpretation of it."

Now, the clincher is that "Trump is in panic mode because his ability to lie to his fans may soon face its greatest test," and he may fail miserably. Here's how...

"Economic reports increasingly warn of a coming recession, likely to be exacerbated by the pointless trade war with China, which was largely launched as an ego boost for Trump. So Trump and his allies are clinging to their favorite strategy — lying their heads off — in order to convince his followers that the U.S. economy is going great."

A documentary of Donald Trump lies...

Here's more from Maggie Haberman of the New York Times...

"Trump’s main response to reports of a possibly looming recession is to go into full conspiracy-theory mode, accusing his own hand-picked chair of the Federal Reserve and the news media of conspiring against his re-election chances."

But with the American public finally getting smart about the White House maniac, "Trump’s presidency is backfiring as the public grows more and more opposed to his views." While still wildly popular among his hardcore far-right base, it's not representative of the United States on the whole. Although in agreement with T-rump's views in the past, “There’s just one catch: the public is turning against Trump’s views.” This because of at least one major factor...

a Reuters poll found that Americans “were more likely to empathize with African-Americans” — including “whites without a college degree,” who played an important role in Trump’s victory over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Now on to 2020.

READ MORE of my posts on Donald Trump Lies. 

10 reasons Donald Trump won't be reelected in 2020

August 13, 2019: TODAY'S NEWS BYTES on PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk

Donald Trump won't repeat and here's why  

If you are looking for some sound reasons why Donald Trump will likely be back in his Trump Tower after 2020, look no more. Quinnipiac University reminds us that his approval rating is at 40 percent while his disapproval is at 54 percent and here is some of the logic thanks to AlterNet...

Donald Trump - The Washington bigot

1. Most Americans think Trump is racist.
2. Large majorities of both black and Latinos think Trump is racist.
3. Unlike Trump, 78 percent of Americans think it is never “acceptable for a presidential campaign to obtain information on a political opponent from a hostile foreign power.”
4. A huge majority of people (87 percent) believe campaigns should be forced to report receiving information from foreign governments.
5. 54 percent say they will “definitely not vote” for Trump.
6. Only 32 say they will “definitely” vote for Trump.
7. Voters aren’t buying Trump’s spin on the horrific conditions his administration forces upon immigrants.
8. Trump’s hope to make 2020 about the supposed dangers of immigration will probably fail.
9. 88 percent of people say “lack of civility in politics today is a serious problem.”
10. Indeed, more voters blame Trump for lack of civility than Democrats.

A vote whether Donald Trump should be reelected...

The 32%, above, who say they will definitely vote for Trump are the same double-digits you see standing behind him at rallies, and those who gloat over his online tweets. The 54 percent who say they will “definitely not vote” for Trump, and if they, in fact, come out to vote, will hopefully save this country from  another four years of a raving ego-maniac that is driving the U.S. into the ground.

Assuming the democrats are not dumb enough to let the Electoral College beat them again, there is a good chance this country will return to normal after the 2020 elections.

LATE BREAKING NEWS-For liberals only

The only side Mitch McConnell has is a dark side, in contrast with a piece in Politico featuring the inference this slime ball might have some worthwhile virtues. He doesn't. Politico says, "The Senate majority leader is relishing his turn as villain to the left." I posted this by Robert Reich saying, "Mitch McConnell is destroying the Senate – and American government." Reich states...

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

 Politico says...

Call him “Cocaine Mitch,” “Nuclear Mitch” or the steward of the “legislative graveyard.” Mitch McConnell says he’s the “Grim Reaper” anyway, so he’s loving every minute of it.

The “Grim Reaper” comment illustrates a sickness in this pariah who craves his power as head of the Senate, with the sole intention of getting his way and the way of the Republican Party over all that is good for this country. Donald Trump is the bottom of the barrel but Mitch McConnell is the ground under the barrel. The left will no doubt tell us that the country would be much better off with a Democratic Congress, particularly with a Dem in the White House.

Joe Biden wants to be that Dem and he's running ahead in the "brigade-sized Democratic field," described by The Hill. He has a...

"double-digit lead not only nationally, but in the key early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina. He is also currently even leading Sen. Kamala Harris in her home state of California."

But wait, The Hill says that polling is fickle...

"At this point in 2007, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was way ahead in the Republican race, and Hillary Clinton was leading Barack Obama by double digits. In the 2012 GOP race, the assortment of one-time poll front runners included, at various times, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and even Herman Cain."

Will he or won't he, but could Bernie Sanders still be the dark horse? Although Biden was once tentative on Roe v. Wade, just recently he said he would support abortion rights "if necessary." Doesn't sound too convincing, especially when "Two-thirds of Americans want Roe v. Wade left in place." In a CBS News poll, 67% say Keep it as it is; only 28% want to overturn it. But 48% claim they would be angry if it was overturned. That is fairly dramatic.

It isn't likely a Democratic House will allow a bill to repeal Roe v. Wade, but New state abortion laws are threatening the law, like the recent legislation in Alabama. It has been judged by many as going much too far and is already being challenged in court. The real fear by the left is when one of these laws is brought up in the ultra-conservative Supreme Court. Meanwhile, back at the White House with Rex Tillerson, who once called Donald Trump "a fucking moron."

Rex Tillerson Secretly Meets With House Foreign Affairs Committee to Talk Trump, was reported by the Daily Beast...

"In a more than six-hour meeting, he told members and staffers that the Trump administration actively avoided confronting Russia about allegations of interference in the election in an effort to develop a solid relationship with the Kremlin, a committee aide told The Daily Beast."

Tillerson's meeting comes on the heels of the Mueller Report release, and the refusal of Don McGhan to appear before the Democratic House. Trump recently had this to say about Tillerson...

"Rex Tillerson, a man who is 'dumb as a rock' and totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State, made up a story (he got fired) that I was out-prepared by Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Hamburg, Germany. I don't think Putin would agree. Look how the U.S. is doing!"

 This is after Trump chose Rex Tillerson to be his secretary of state ...

in December 2016, he praised the former head of Exxon Mobil for his "tenacity, broad experience and deep understanding of geopolitics." In a tweet touting the pick, Trump called Tillerson "one of the truly great business leaders of the world."

Donald Trump is a certifiable lunatic!

And that's the current wrap up. Please give me your comments.