James Comey exclaims you can't trust Donald Trump to tell the truth. I watched his testimony and thought Comey looked, well...Presidential. The man was ultimately prepared--don't think he ever had to look at notes--and he handled himself extremely well as the professional he is. He seemed to have the respect of most of this bi-partisan Senate panel, except for Arizona's John McCain who veered off on inane questions re. Hillary Clinton's emails. The outset of the hearing is the fact that it will take the special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, to get to the bottom of all this.
Although Comey would not say if he felt Trump had obstructed justice, he did have the following to say...
“I know I was fired because something about the way I was conducting the Russia investigation was putting pressure on [Trump],’’ Comey said.
James Comey is a former federal prosecutor and knows the way witnesses react to save their butts in statements and testimony and said...
"...that he took detailed notes of his private talks with the president — a departure from his practice with Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama. Comey said he did so because he was 'honestly concerned’ that the president might lie about what had been said in their meeting. He said the two spoke in private a total of nine times before Comey was fired, he said."
Folks, this is the President of the United States that Comey is talking about lying. What does this tell the other countries of the world? If a top U.S. government official thinks Donald Trump is a liar, what might Angela Merkel of Germany think of her dealings with Trump? Or the other nations out there. To me, it sounded like Comey made it clear that, although Trump prefaced his comments to the FBI Director with "I hope," Comey took it as pressure to do what was asked of him. This from the President's comments, "I expect loyalty, I need loyalty."
For once, or, at least, not yet. Donald Trump has not used Twitter to vent his unbalanced reactions. He let his attorney do it and the following is interesting...
"The President likewise never pressured Mr. Comey. The President also never told Mr. Comey, 'I need loyalty, I expect loyalty' in form or substance."
Here's the "incoherent" questioning of Comey by Arizona's Republican Senator, John McCain:
The interesting part comes from the fact that James Comey has said he fully welcomes any tapes that might have been recorded of the conversations between the two men, and this isn't likely unless he expects them to prove him right. Trump also says he welcomes the tapes, but then this con man is known for his bluffs to get what he wants. Comey, on the other hand, has proven himself a reputable member of government service who tells it like it is. So, what's missing in all this? As James Comey said in his testimony several times, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller must now put all the pieces together. And James Comey has no doubt that he can get the job done.
I had a hard time getting through the first part of James Comey's book, A Higher Loyalty-Truth, Lies, and Leadership. I thought he was wasting too much time on his past life and background until I realized the core of this man's meaning and purpose for wring his tome, to present the two sides of what a government can be. Sleazy, corrupt and unacceptable like the Donald Trump administration, or honest, loyal to the people and worthy of its leader like, say, Barack Obama. The latter may not have been effective enough for many, mostly because of a repressive Republican Congress, but he had principles James Comey admired and possessed himself. Primarily honesty and loyalty.
Comey's background is diversified legally, a U.S. Attorney in New York, U.S. Deputy Attorney General under GWB, and when Barack Obama appointed him Director of the FBI. Through these four positions, he says in his book that he has become extremely familiar with the workings of the U.S. government. He doesn't say this but under both Obama and Trump, a dysfunctional government, for the former, Republicans denying everything he tried and the latter, the man himself, Trump. James Comey doesn't really badmouth anyone but he does speak the truth.
Especially in the book's epilogue where he comments...
"this president [Donald Trump] is unethical and untethered to truth and institutional values. His leadership is transactional, ego driven, and about personal loyalty."
He goes on to commend those who have stayed with the administration, even with the adversity of this lunatic's constant tirades. Perhaps they have kept us out of a nuclear war, or at least calmed the nations of the world that believe the United States has lost its mind by electing a maniac for president. Donald Trump has said for years...
"I just feel that loyalty is a very, very important part of life, not only of business but of life."
To this Paul Waldman of The American Prospect commented on Afternet...
"The truth is that Trump demands loyalty from everyone but gives it to no one. As he prowls the darkened hallways of the White House at night, alone with his thoughts, his wife and young son 200 miles away, the staff having retired for the night, it wouldn't be surprising if Trump is becoming increasingly convinced that no one is loyal to him and there's no one he can trust."
Trump tried the loyalty ploy with James Comey and was rebuked just before he was fired as FBI Director. Most have seen Comey's move as laudable and in fact there is probably no person in the American government today that is more loyal to this country than James Comey. He is a Republican but even as a liberal Progressive, I would vote for the man. However, it is just possible that James Comey has had quite enough of the stinkin' dirty politics working for Donald Trump that he wants nothing to do with a Presidential election. Only time will tell.
There are many who believe this, especially retiring Senator Harry Reid who has led Democrats in the Senate for several years. There are two parts to his charge that "Democrats 'would have won the majority in the Senate and would have won the presidency but for Comey.'" First the letter James Comey sent to Congress just over a week before the November, 2016 election that there were additional emails that appeared relevant to the Hillary Clinton email case. Two, the FBI failed to investigate election hacking believed to be Russians in an attempt to get Donald Trump elected.
"It's obvious he was a partisan in all this. There's information out there. He had it, I'm confident. And he ignored it."
In referring to James Comey's letter to Congress, another attack on Hillary Clinton's emails less than two weeks from the election, Reid commented...
"In fact, to show how awful this situation is, this man ignored precedent that had been going on for decade after decade after decade. The FBI does not get involved in politics -- except Comey did."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has now said he supports a Senate investigation into Russian hacking, which right away makes me think he has an ulterior motive. That's how much I trust him. Donald Trump has downplayed the accusations of Russian hacking and the fact that, if so, had nothing to do with his winning the election. The President-elect has said all along that Hillary Clinton has received favoritism during her campaign for president and commented just after the election, she is, "... being shielded by the 'totally rigged system.'”
We probably haven't heard the last of this and may never with Donald Trump in the White House. But this along with Clinton's success with the popular vote, leading Trump by over 2 million, which he claims is because of illegal votes will put this in the record books as "unfinished business." Trump is a psychopath to the end.
Now these are opinions based on the statements of political experts that were involved in past and current elections. They take into consideration the election of Barack Obama in 2012, and the fact that in 2016, "Voters were looking for something more "strident" than Obama’s "incrementalist agenda." In other words, they wanted a faster track than Clinton was exhibiting. Something like Bernie Sanders. Not sure, though, they wanted the ignorant bluster of a Donald Trump, but he was elected; they wanted action not promises. Trump was a mover and shaker and he excited people.
That's all proven to be big mouthed bullshit, but those who still support the Oval Office lunatic are solid in their backing. The last I heard they were around 30%, an easily beatable figure. The Democratic candidate was all wrong in 2016; it should have been Bernie Sanders but the fraud of DNC head, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, nominated Hillary Clinton. Maybe Sanders will run again, or perhaps the left could convince someone like James Comey, former FBI Director, to run as a Democrat. Think about that...James Comey running against Donald Trump. More on this later.
One of the main items on the Progressives/Democrats agenda is getting out the vote. According to Nate Silver's 538, the Republicans were able to get their voters to the polls much more aggressively than Democrats. Progressives naturally rejected Hillary Clinton because of the DNC fiasco, and the fact that it was this that beat their candidate, Bernie Sanders. If Sanders plans to run in 2020, and his age will be a factor, he must throw his hat in now. We also cannot rule out Joe Biden, or Elizabeth Warren or New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. Whoever it is, the youth vote must be considered.
The Progressive/Democratic candidate must enthusiastically go after social media to spread its message to all ages and over all political persuasions. The Russia probe of Donald Trump should be a great handle for the left. If a Progressive candidate is nominated, the Democrats must get behind him or her. Many political pundits talk of the potential success of a Sanders/Warren ticket in 2020 winning big on the Progressive side, combining experience with youth, two people who seem to excite their followers to action, meaning voting.
If Trump does last, the candidates on the left will have the most corrupt administration that this country has ever experienced to run against. There are the Donald Trump daily lies, his Stormy Daniels and similar escapades, firing of FBI Director Jim Comey in obvious obstruction of justice in the Russian investigation, the scandal over Michael Cohen's consulting, more obstruction of justice, again, involving Comey, in defending Michael Flynn, and the list goes on and on. Never in the history of American elections has there been this kind of ammunition for a political party.
But...will the Progressives/Democrats be able to pull it off???
In yesterday's post, I posed the idea that the Republican Congress could become so worried over Donald Trump's recent antics between the Russian relationship, Michael Flynn's problems, and what James Comey might say to Congress, they would vote for impeachment. But wait, that's not all. The dumbest of all dufuses has done it again. T-rump asked Daniel Coats, director of national intelligence, and Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, two of the top intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence. Unbelievable.
The Washington Post commented...
"Trump’s effort to use the director of national intelligence and the NSA director to dispute Comey’s statement and to say there was no evidence of collusion echoes President Richard Nixon’s 'unsuccessful efforts to use the CIA to shut down the FBI’s investigation of the Watergate break-in on national security grounds,' said Jeffrey H. Smith, a former general counsel at the CIA. Smith called Trump’s actions 'an appalling abuse of power.'"
So now we have added another blunder by the master blunderer, and more fire in the furnace of growing disillusionment with Donald Trump with increasing worry for those GOP seats across the country that could go left in 2018. Marc Rotterman, a longtime Republican consultant in North Carolina, feels Trump is not fulfilling his 2016 campaign promises, and finds it hard to justify this to Trump supporters in his state. Rotterman said...
“...there still could be a course correction but that if Trump and Republicans don’t make good on their promises, they risk losing support — particularly from the blue-collar voters who helped propel Trump to victory last fall. They’re counting on him,”
As a life-long liberal, I remember when the blue-collar worker was solidly in the Democrats' camp. I do not know what happened to change their minds so radically that they would vote for someone like Donald Trump; perhaps their lack of education, which is borne out by some of the comments made by the man's supporters. And here is the best example of Trump supporter stupidity I have ever seen. WATCH THE VIDEO. It is so obvious in this video that the people interviewed, T-rump's loyal supporters, belong to the same moron club as does the blockhead they elected.
So, how is this affecting the trenches, those Republican strongholds in local, state, and national offices nationwide that were carefully expanded over the years while DNC head, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, had her head up her...well, you know. Here's an assessment of the current situation from Jennifer Horn, a former chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican Party...
“We cannot sustain this level of chaos from the White House and expect it will be anything less than a tragic outcome on Election Day.”
While Rotterman concentrates on the Trump blue collar vote, the candidate took 29% of the Hispanic vote, better than Romney in 2012; total Latino turnout in 2016 was 11%, which mirrored 2012. Unfortunately, Bernie Sanders didn't convince Hispanics in 2016, but he made a solid pitch to the working class, the blue-collar worker, and had he run against Trump, he might very well have taken this group, thus, eliminating one of T-rump's bases. As a point of reference, Donald Trump won blue collar workers by 40% over Clinton; men by 49%.
While it's all about Russia, James Comey and Michael Flynn right now, Barry Bennett, a Trump political adviser during last year’s election campaign, says 2018 will be all about jobs and his present feeling is that the jobs picture is good, therefore, many Republicans will be safe in the midterms. But, while Bennett's point does have some validity, I cannot believe that a rational American public will continue to settle for a bonehead like Donald Trump as the President of the greatest country in the world. You won't change the dimwits in the video above, but who really needs that mentality.
Could the White House be on the verge of an investigation that could lead to a Donald Trump resignation or impeachment? Either is OK, of course. FBI director James B. Comey both confirms an open-ended investigation for Trump's ties to Russia, plus refuting the president’s claim of illegal surveillance by his predecessor. Got him with both barrels...right between the eyes, and Donald John knows it. Here's the Guardian's assessment...
"The first open hearing into Donald Trump’s alleged Russia connections on Monday ensured that the US president will operate under a cloud of suspicion until either the various inquiries deliver credible public conclusions or Trump leaves office, whichever comes first."
Comey states there is no way this will be a quickie, rather, an on-going examination of all the facts that surround Trump's long-term association with Russia, and what, if any, effect it had on the 2016 election. It would appear the collection of evidence justifies the inquiry, and the serious attention it has been given by the intelligence community. The next date for a public hearing is March 28, with the ex-director of national intelligence James Clapper and the ex-CIA director John Brennan. Both these men had a part in the January analysis of Russian interference in 2016 to benefit Trump.
This is for sure the most defined advance on Donald John in the "Russians for Trump" PAC in the 2016 elections. But with the staying-power this current effort has, plus the number of Republicans that also believe there is substance to the investigation, in all likelihood we are moving toward an outcome that is not going to be acceptable to the reigning sovereign. Comey has affirmed that he is looking at any ""collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign," according to CNN, including...
"...any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."
Republicans have repeatedly tried to push the investigation off track by laying the blame on Michael Flynn but here's a real crowd stopper...
"Comey testified that US intelligence agencies were agreed that Russia's aim evolved into an effort during the election to aid Trump over Clinton."
We should remember at this point that the FBI Director is the one who threw Hillary Clinton under the bus in the 2016 election with his letters to Congress re. her email investigation in the last eleven days before voters went to the polls. Further, "They wanted to hurt our democracy, hurt her, help him. I think all three we were confident in at least as early as December," Comey said.
And he tried to put to rest once again Trump's ludicrous charges of Barack Obama's wiretapping Trump Tower during the election stating, "...the Justice Department, along with the FBI, had no information to support the allegations." Adding the fact that "...no president could order a wiretapping operation against a specific American citizen."
So, enter Devin Nunes, House Intelligence Committee Chairman, who is accused today of turning the Trump's Russian connection into another Benghazi...the equivalent of Trey Gowdy. God help us! "Most of the lawmakers on the Intelligence Committee, previously known for its leave-your-party-at-the-door work, had held out hope there could be an independent, bipartisan probe into Russian interference in the U.S. elections," the Daily Beast reports. And here's their assessment of the latest...
"That hope died when their chairman went to the White House, and then the press, to discuss intelligence intercepts involving the 'incidental' collection of communications related to Donald Trump and members of his transition team before telling his own committee about the matter."
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the panel said...
“What was today? It was the chairman of the committee helping the president create the next distraction,” added Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley, a member of the committee. “It was an attempt to be a distraction, sow confusion, create false narratives despite the evidence.”
Apparently, Schiff feels now that he can't even receive assurance from Nunes that this can continue as a credible investigation. But Nunes, as a House member investigating Trump and his White House staff must have just come stupid running to the Oval Office, then the media, instead of incorporating the newly found information into the investigation. As DB put it...
"He doesn’t use it as part of the committee’s investigation, but runs to the White House, which is a subject of the investigations.”
Or was Nunes' committee just a smokescreen from the beginning, set up to serve as a future link to the President, giving him fodder for dispute. It should be obvious by now there is not one Republican on the planet that I would trust. With that in mind, where do we go from here?
I am back after ten days of great vacation in the Prescott, Arizona mountains. We stayed at a small resort hotel there by the name of Forrest Villas. The service was exceptional and we plan a return trip in the future. I capped it off with a speeding ticket in Prescott Valley, receiving my ticket from one of the nicest cops I think I have ever met. However, I do need regular reminders that I drive too fast and this was my latest $100 one. The interesting thing is that when we both stopped and he got out of the car, my wife was more worried about the cop getting hit by traffic than the ticket I was getting.
Spent the time barely looking at news but couldn't avoid hearing regularly about what the current person in the Oval Office--the idiot doesn't act like a President so no sense calling him one--was doing. Now Prescott is heavily conservative and many of the residents are still supporting Donald Trump, but we have a friend there who shares our liberal views who welcomed talking to a couple of Progressives. It gave me some time to think about what has been happening and just where the whole political movement may be going. I have come to a conclusion.
But first it is necessary to review just what has gotten this now identified moron into the mess he has created. It started with the suspected Russian intervention in the 2016 election that helped Trump beat Hillary Clinton. Then he fired Michael Flynn and now it has been learned that the administration knew all along of Flynn's ties with Turkey. Then he, for some stupid, reason gives up sensitive U.S. Data in a meeting with Russian officials. Finally, perhaps the stupidest of all, he fires FBI Director James Comey, supposedly re. Clinton emails but most likely to disrupt the Director's investigation.
Until the latest rash of idiotic moves, the Republican Congress had pretty much stuck with him, as the Washington Post explained it, "compartmentalizing" to help them ignore the facts. But recent events have seemed to overshadow the issues before Congress, like Obamacare and the tax bill. And then the shit hit the fan with Comey's firing combined with the WP's release that the dumb Donald had "shared highly classified intelligence with Russian officials." And if that wasn't enough...
"...on Tuesday, the New York Times published another stunner, reporting that in February the president sought to persuade Comey to back off the FBI investigation into fired national security adviser Michael Flynn."
It would appear now that WP feels that Congress is looking "beyond" the President, a statement I interpret as implying impeachment. As they put it...
"Increasingly, it will be difficult for Republicans to avoid recognizing the responsibility that comes with being the majority party in separate branch of government, rather than seeing events primarily through the prism of a political alliance, no matter how awkward at times, between members of Congress and a president who won the November election as their nominee."
There have been a number of reasons for GOP pessimism over the Oval Office with the zany things T-rump has done since being elected. There have been notable disagreements on the issues; even though he claims to be the big deal maker, he failed miserably with healthcare. And the insane tweets keep coming. Republicans don't want a special prosecutor but with pressure to do the right thing, they could cave on this. In the end, Congress must forego their support of Trump and do their job in providing a check against the Presidency.
Tomorrow, my reason for the GOP to impeach Donald Trump.
Public support for impeaching Donald Trump has risen 5 percentage points, just since mid-April, to 45%. Although 57% say all these probes are interfering with government business, it wasn't clear from the poll if Americans wanted the Democrats to back off Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said...
“This is very methodical, it’s very Constitution-based. We won’t go any faster than the facts take us, or any slower than the facts take us.”
Reuters says that Trump is "stonewalling" several inquiries relating to the Mueller Report...
"refusing to disclose his tax returns, invoking executive privilege to keep the unredacted Mueller report under wraps and filing unprecedented lawsuits to block House investigators."
Does all this sound like a man who is not guilty? James Comey said, "it sure looks like" Trump had criminal intent to commit obstruction of justice during special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, on a CNN Town Hall with Anderson Cooper. One incidence in particular was the firing of former White House counsel, Don McGahn. Comey exclaimed further...
"The President is not above the law, and I don't accept the notion that because the President is the head of the executive branch he can't ever obstruct justice in connection with executive branch activities."
Another ex-insider [Comey] who clearly believes that the Oval Office lunatic obstructed justice. It was just last Wednesday that "Trump invoked blanket executive privilege over Mueller's full report, escalating a looming constitutional confrontation over the report between his administration and congressional Democrats." The big question still looms, could this backfire on Democrats for 2020? Or, is it finally time to just do the right thing?
The Atlantic says that Democrats could arrest William Barr to force his hand resulting in the following...
"Courts have recognized that the House and Senate each have the authority to enforce their orders by imprisoning those who violate them—literally. They can direct their respective sergeant at arms to arrest officials they’ve found to be in contempt and bring them to the Capitol for trial and, potentially, jail."
The contempt resolution now goes to the full House, where it will likely be approved, with the following possibilities...
"They could refer the matter to the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., who would decide whether to launch a criminal prosecution of his own boss, the attorney general. Democrats could turn to the courts to enforce the subpoena. Or they could take matters into their own hands and call their sergeant at arms."
To impeach or not impeach. Perhaps the American public will finally answer this question.
THE DONALD TRUMP ADMINISTRATION has based its entire tenure in the White House on lying. Lying to the public, lying to the media and the Oval Office lunatic even lies to his own aides. The Mueller Report exposed a bunch of these intentional deceptions, the latest of which is T-rump's spokesperson, Sarah Sanders. She is trying to lie herself out of a lie over James Comey...
"Addressing reporters from the White House lectern, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made a startling claim shortly after President Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey two years ago. 'I’ve heard from countless members of the FBI that are grateful and thankful for the president’s decision,' she said, refusing to back down when pressed on the issue. 'Between emails, text messages, absolutely,' she insisted."
You don't lie to Congress, nor the feds, as the prosecuted perjurers Michael Flynn and Michael Cohen found out. But Sarah Sanders is the face of Donald Trump, and a very ugly one it is. Not because of her looks but because of how low she is willing to lower herself for the lowlife she works for. The deceit extends into the Trump family when Donald Trump Jr. was told the [Trump Tower] lawyer was working on behalf of the Russian government and would bring damaging information on Hillary Clinton...
Trump Jr. replied, “If it's what you say I love it.”
And this is Los Angeles Times Chris Megerian's take on the whole scenario...
"Pervasive lying is an unsurprising result of having a president whose dishonesty has been a hallmark for years, whether it’s exaggerating the height of his buildings or claiming that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States.
While every White House is accused of dissembling or worse at times, the report makes clear that Trump leads a White House where falsehoods and misrepresentations are common practice."
What is clear is that this country somehow elected an accomplished scam artist. What we must be careful of now is not to do it again in 2020.
Donald Trump is in deep doo doo the Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether or not his election campaign staff was involved, while at the same time he must defend the lowlife Jeff Sessions he nominated for Attorney and a gutless Republican approved. So, does he do what any self-respecting individual would do--especially the President of the United States--build a palatable defense for each with facts? And since the world knows there is no defense for what has been done, what's left. Simple, we go on the offense with more lies and misinformation. Trump's tweet 3/4...
“How low has President Obama gone to tapp [sic] my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”
First of all, the man is illiterate when it comes to spelling, and second, as has been the case with past accusations, he gives absolutely no proof. Here's what the master of handed-over misinformation, Sean Spicer, had to say 3/5...
“Reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations ahead of the 2016 election are very troubling.”
What the hell are these people talking about? Fact checker asked for evidence of this "dramatic claim" but received nothing. The Washington Post reports that possibly Spicer's "reports" refer to news stories and not concrete information. But, "The Washington Post for months has sought to confirm this report of a FISA warrant related to the Trump campaign but has been unable to do so." More so, WP assumes other major news media have done the same and also come up empty. The gist of the matter is that month of FISA for information on Russian hacking have been denied.
"The FBI and five other law enforcement and intelligence agencies have collaborated for months in an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the November election, including whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided President-elect Donald Trump, two people familiar with the matter said."
"The agencies involved in the inquiry are the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Justice Department, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and representatives of the director of national intelligence."
FISA court (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), has been approached from about every direction including the former White House, for the purpose of uncovering Donald John's connection to the Russians in the 2016 campaign, not for the purpose of wiretapping Trump Tower. There is more investigation into how money transferred from the Kremlin "may have been used to pay some email hackers in the United States or to supply money to intermediaries who would then pay the hackers. More from McClatchy...
"On Jan. 6, the director of national intelligence released a declassified report that concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an influence campaign to “undermine faith in the U.S. democratic process,” damage Hillary Clinton’s election prospects and bolster Trump’s. The campaign included the hacking of top Democrats’ emails and fake news distributed by Russian sources."
“A Trump presidency scares me more than anything else. I’m terrified that he’ll become president.”
This, of course, was pre-election, and sounds like he may be comparing the then coming election of Donald Trump with books of his like Carrie, It, and Misery. If you lump all of King's chillers together, they wouldn't equal the repugnance of the Trump administration. Stephen King likens the Trump presidency with his 37-year-old book, Dead Zone, about a salesman who fights the establishment to run for president. He doesn't make it but King has some interesting tweets mocking Donald John's charges over Obama's wiretapping of Trump Tower...
"Not only did Obama tap Trump's phones, he stole the strawberry ice cream out of the mess locker."
"Populist demagogues like He Who Must Not Be Named aren't a new thing; see THE DEAD ZONE, published 37 years ago."
"Obama tapped Trump's phones IN PERSON! Went in wearing a Con Ed coverall. Michelle stood guard while O spliced the lines. SAD!"
It is pretty pathetic when one of the greatest writers of all time spends part of his valuable time to poke fun at the new president of the United states, not in a playful way, but to point out the absurdities and lunacies of this new administration. Avi Selk, in the Washington Post story once again reiterates...
An Obama spokesman and a former intelligence director said there was no wiretap. Some speculated that Trump was referring to claims on talk radio and the conservative website Breitbart that Obama used “police state” tactics against him. Others accused Trump of trying to distract from reports that his staff covered up conversations with Russian officials during the campaign.
On the legal side, FBI Director James Comey feels there is no credibility in Trump's claims that Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower phones and told the Justice Department to refute the charges. Donald John fired back refusing to "acknowledge" Comey's judgment, probably leading to some kind of confrontation with the head of the nation's leading law enforcement agency. The New York Times is leery of the fact that Trump would fire Comey because that could very well backfire into a cover-up over his campaign connections with the Russians.
Although Sean Spicer has made several comments stating Donald Trump's conclusion that former President Barack Obama did in fact wiretap trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign. He offered no evidence at the time, nor has Donald John since his accusations. Yet the two of them are adamant it happened. But not so sure are others in the White House, including Sarah Huckabee Sanders who pretty much hedges on most of Spicer's and Trump's allegations. This is why Spicer didn't really want to talk about this...
"During an at-times-painful interview with ABC's Martha Raddatz, Huckabee Sanders repeatedly suggested that Trump's allegation was worth looking into but declined to vouch for it. Raddatz pointed this out repeatedly, and Huckabee Sanders responded by saying 'if this happened,' 'if this took place,' 'if it did' and 'let's find out.'”
Martha Raddatz is one of those reporters that gives no quarter when it comes to getting the truth and
Martha Raddatz-Sarah Huckabee Sanders
didn't relent with Huckabee Sanders continued use of the preposition "if" when Raddatz finally exclaimed, “If,” “if,” “if,” “if.” Huckabee Sanders reply, ""I agree." Raddatz added...
"Let me just say one more time. The president said, “I bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October.” So the president believes it is true?"
HUCKABEE SANDERS: I would say that his tweet speaks for itself there.
In a nutshell, Donald Trump "trumped" up this conspiracy theory of Barack Obama wiretapping Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign, solely for the purpose of diverting attention away from the issues that he and his staff were in cahoots with Putin and the Russians in 2016 to aide his election chances and damage Hillary Clinton's, And the other issue, the skaggy lowlife he nominated for AG, Jeff Sessions lying about his contact with the Russians during the election. With a lack of support from his FBI Director, now some of his staff, where does the American public draw the line?
I can see us now-Maybe even a new star on the "Walk"
Jim Carey, of Bruce Almighty, and the Dumb and Dumber series, just released his latest work of art depicting Donald Trump crucifying Jesus Christ, whom Trump would have us believe was a loser simply because he failed as a carpenter. This is a hobby of Carey that I would like to think he picked up because he loathes Donald Trump as does most of rest of the sane individuals in this country. Re-casting Dumb and Dumber 3 is my idea, but one that has merit because my suggestion for new characters has enormous promotional possibilities.
Donald Trump and Rudy Giulianiin are the most gullible publicity mongrels on the planet today, and both of them probably just dumb enough to accept the parts. Trump expresses his stupidity on a daily basis but Giulianiin's latest resulted in CNN's assessment of him demonstrating that maybe “lawyer to the president” isn’t the best job for him. After denying making a comment on the Michael Flynn/James Comey "take it easy" request, James Tapper played the tape of Giulianiin clearly saying it. He then turned to obstruction of justice to try and change the subject, most points also wrong.
How this moron ever ran the city of New York completely amazes me, and he must have had one hell of a support team that did most of the work on the 9/11 disaster.
But Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to block the release of "certain secret grand jury material from Robert S. Mueller III’s special counsel investigation."
Mueller Report locked up by Republicans
Donald Trump, the 45th person to sit in the White House as head of this country, was impeached by the U.S. House on December 18, 2019. On February 5, 2020, he was acquitted by a bunch of cowards in the Senate, led by lowlife Moscow Mitch McConnell, the one responsible for ages to come as the demon who put the freakshow back in the Oval Office, most recently leading us into a COVID-19 pandemic of colossal proportions. With little recovery in sight.
He was guilty in his first impeachment, and in my opinion is guilty today of ignoring the coronavirus threat in the beginning, calling it a hoax, then blaming it on Democrats. However, The Democratic House is focusing on the more likely material of "possible misconduct by the president." They're looking for obstruction of justice, which T-rump seems to have committed all the way back to James Comey's firing.
“This remains true today. The current pandemic notwithstanding, the Committee’s investigation is not ‘dormant.’ The Committee continues to exercise its investigative and oversight responsibilities; its staff are ready and able to review the requested grand jury materials as soon as they are provided by DOJ; and the Committee remains able to convene formal hearings to further its investigation.”
D.C. Circuit orders release of Mueller Report...
In its 2-1 opinion, the D.C. Circuit Court...
"said grand jury records are court records — not Justice Department records — and have historically been released to Congress in the course of impeachment investigations involving three federal judges and two presidents."
Here's more...
"The Committee has repeatedly stated that if the grand jury materials reveal new evidence of impeachable offenses, the Committee may recommend new articles of impeachment,” wrote Judge Judith Rogers, who was joined by Judge Thomas B. Griffith.
There is question over the authority of the House Judiciary Committee seeking the Mueller Report, but the House persists that its investigation is not yet over and needs this material to complete it. And finally, I'll leave you with this comment from the article...
"The United States is now officially a Russian Republic because of the treason of Trump, Flynn, Barr and McConnell. Treason most foul and injurious to this country is now the order of the day every day. The American dream is now a nightmare. The war against evil has been lost."
The Koch Bros. were the kingpins behind the Tea Party. Mike Pence is and always has been one of its staunchest supporters. Do we want Charles Koch controlling the Oval Office? Backing up, Donald Trump is either at the point of implosion, or, any day now he will make the most awesome and dangerous mistake of his presidency and the numb nuts in Congress will finally do their job and impeach him. In either case, we end up with Mike Pence and, as you can see from the above, that could be even worse. But maybe not as bad as Paul Ryan?
So, what do we do once we are saddled with another lunatic in the Oval Office, one, by the way who is afraid to be in a room alone with a woman other than his wife.? To start with, it seems to me that the latter is an indication of some form of instability, one that does not complement the job of President. But there is much more starting with Pence's claim that...
"...he did not know of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s work on behalf of foreign governments until he learned of them in media reports."
Rep. Elijah Cummings reaction, “Either he's not telling the truth, or he was running a sloppy shop.” Now this sounds like he is mirroring Donald Trump. Like President, like Vice President? Geeez, you would think that these dufuses would at least try to come up with something original. Cummings even sent a letter to Pence as the President of Trump's transition team last November regarding Flynn’s ties to the Turkish government. The Representative's office received a receipt for the latter. Thus, the statement that Pence is either not telling the truth, or running a sloppy shop.
Cummings marveled over the fact that when you pass along information like this about someone Trump has nominated, and eventually took the office of National Security Adviser, the number one guy with America's secrets, and who was also connected to a foreign government, hundreds of red flags should go up. Thy did and Flynn was fired. Through all this Pence stood by his earlier statement-sound like someone else in the White House? It was, perhaps, Karl Rove that perfected the use of dirty politics, including lying, under George W. Bush and the GOP has just improved it.
The Washington Post expands on the Flynn allegations of lying or just dumbing down, with Pence's explanation of the James Comey firing. His version is that his boss did it on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general adding...
“There is no evidence of collusion between our campaign and any Russian officials. That's not what — let me be clear with you — that was not what this is about. That's not what this is about.”
Just one day later, Trump told "NBC News's Lester Holt that he had already decided to fire Comey and would have done it regardless of the DOJ's recommendation." WP asserts...
"Pence could argue that Trump technically did accept the recommendations of the Justice Department. But, again, that would be highly misleading, based on Trump's own comments that he had already made up his mind."
The long and the short of Mike Pence's statements to defend the Trump administration indicate a combination of the fact that he will say anything to protect the administration, and/or, he is just so far out of touch with Trump and his advisers, he really doesn't know what's going on. In either case, if Pence had to assume the presidency in an emergency, it could be even worse than it is now. So back to my headline, "How do we dispense with Pence?"
Coming up in future posts...Your comments are welcome!
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???
To begin with, here's what a senior administration official who also worked on Trump’s campaign said...
"Every day he looks more and more like a complete moron.”
Another person in the administration commented...
“If Donald Trump gets impeached, he will have one person to blame: Donald Trump.”
It would seem that even Donald Trump's top advisers believe that their idiotic leader's actions portend impeachment. The Daily Beast reports that T-rump had "trash talked" James Comey to Russian government officials. In this meeting "Trump reportedly promised the Kremlin more flexibility in their relationship, with 'crazy' Comey out of the picture." To Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador to the United States, the Oval Office imbecile remarked, "I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job.” Putin must be going into spasms about now.
Everything that comes down seems to be leaked, some saying it comes from within the administration with the hope that it could stop Trump's zany acts. Since we know that will never happen, one just might assume that many of these leaks are meant to point out the sheer desperation of a team whose morale is in the toilet. It's a cry for help with a clueless Congress completely ignoring the fact that Donald Trump is literally destroying our country. And the two most responsible are Senate leader, Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.
But perhaps one of the biggest blows to the Trump administration is the revelation of Ann Coulter that "...she’s ready to bail on President Donald Trump over his lack of delivery on promises." But that's not all, she does address his outright lunacy with the comment that he is “comically improbable" in the Oval Office. Her downfall is when she blames Congress for "...Trump’s perceived lack of success so far in his presidency." At first I thought she was talking about Barack Obama but obviously Coulter is hallucinating again.
I have a great deal of respect for Ann Coulter because of how she has risen as a top conservative pundit in a man's world. I don't agree with anything she says and believe much, if not all, of her ideology is dangerous. But I will defend her to the end of the earth to be able to say it. Here's one of her quotes: "I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am." Maybe that is the key to her success. Another example is the fact that she claims Donald Trump's quote, “immigrants are rapists,” was stolen from her.
Here is another example of Coulter quotes...
“We need to execute people like John Walker [Lindh] in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors,”
Coulter later clarified what she meant;
“When I said we should ‘execute’ John Walker Lindh, I mis-spoke. What I meant to say was ‘We should burn John Walker Lindh alive and televise it on prime-time network TV’. My apologies for any misunderstanding that might have occurred.”
Now, Coulter washing her hands of Donald Trump is a hard hit, but perhaps what Twitter's President, Evan Williams said would dig even deeper into T-rump's psyche. Williams remarked that one of the goals of Twitter is for people to speak freely and exchange information and ideas. He added though, “If it’s true that he [Donald Trump] wouldn’t be president if it weren’t for Twitter, then yeah, I’m sorry,” Whoa, now, you are talking about the great communicator's favorite mode of staying in touch with all the blithering idiots who voted for him.
Apparently his tweeting has toppled since he learned that "...a special prosecutor would investigate his campaign for possible ties to Russia..." And it was back in March that he commented to Tucker Carlson of Fox News...
“I have my own form of media. There's been nobody in history that got more dishonest media than I've gotten. … Twitter is a wonderful thing for me because I can get the word out.”
A Twitter spokeswoman felt the need to qualify Evan Williams' comment...
“Twitter provides a platform for people to engage with and discuss issues of importance, and facilitates a more open exchange of information. We continue to see more leaders, around the world, take to Twitter to communicate with their constituents and engage in a conversation.”
He said, they said. The "he" is Wm. Barr, Atty. Gen. who said about the Mueller Report, "evidence was not sufficient to prove that the president obstructed justice." The 'they' are members of Mueller's investigative team saying, "their findings on obstruction were alarming and significant." Don't know about you but I'm inclined to believe "they said." They're also concerned that, "the summaries they had prepared for different sections of the report for quick discharge, "were not released by Barr.
The Mueller team is pissed, and rightfully so. Barr makes a piddly number of pages available from a 400-page report that is purported to prove Donald Trump's part in some collusion with Russia in his win of the 2016 presidential election, and his part in the obstruction of justice, like firing James Comey. Barr said...
"Mueller did not reach a conclusion “one way or the other” as to whether Trump’s conduct in office constituted obstruction of justice."
But the Mueller team countered...
“It was much more acute than Barr suggested."
If when this is all over and the shit hits the fan as Donald Trump is tried for treason and obstruction of justice, will his double-digit followers then admit just how stupid they have been? Probably not. Pathetic!
This is what Donald Trump said when then Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions told him in 2017 that a special counsel had been appointed to conduct the Russia investigation: “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.” With his usual "class," T-rump clearly believes Robert Mueller's investigation will bring down his presidency, indicating to me that the Oval Office lunatic feels that he is guilty. Mueller was appointed in May 2017, days after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. The appointment was made by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein,
As to why Mueller decided that the the presidential transition team’s friendly outreach to Russia about sanctions—an issue that campaign figures had previously learned was an issue of concern to the Russian government—didn’t constitute participation in Russia’s election-interference scheme … I haven’t really figured that out!
That was 12:00 Noon eastern time but at 11:55 A.M., Slate's earlier observation...
"The report indeed documents previously known instances in which Trump figures expressed interest in Russian assistance (e.g., the June 9 Trump Tower meeting), and it documents instances in which the campaign (via Paul Manafort) and presidential transition team (via Michael Flynn) discussed Russia-friendly policies with Russian-government-linked individuals."
But Mueller "concludes that such activities were not illegal 'coordination'or 'conspiracy.'” But here's a brief summary of findings...
“In sum, the investigation established multiple links between Trump Campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government. Those links included Russian offers of assistance to the Campaign. In some instances , the Campaign was receptive to the offer, while in other instances the Campaign officials shied away. Ultimately , the investigation did not establish that the Campaign coordinated or conspired with the Russian government in its election-interference activities.”
Republicans, particularly Trump supporters, will spin this to exonerate the most fraudulent president in recent history. The left will see it for what it is, a clear indictment of the corruption of the Donald Trump administration.
Atlantic magazine has documented possibly the best list of scandals that Donald Trump is guilty of, while coming to the conclusion there is only one. There are, in fact, multiple cases which I will show later but these all add up to one entity...
"the corruption of the American government by the president and his associates, who are using their official power for personal and financial gain rather than for the welfare of the American people, and their attempts to shield that corruption from political consequences, public scrutiny, or legal accountability."
Yes, corruption is Donald Trump's real scandal, but the numerous public embarrassments this lunatic has put our country through are both heinous and completely unacceptable for the President of the most powerful nation in the world. Here are some of them...
"Russian campaign to aid Trump’s candidacy, president obstructed justice when he fired former FBI Director James Comey, president’s hush-money payments to women with whom he allegedly had extramarital affairs, corporate cash paid to influence White House, ongoing effort to interfere with the Russia inquiry and politicize federal law enforcement, foreign governments that seem to be utilizing the president’s properties as vehicles for influencing administration policy..."
...and there are a few others you can see in the Atlantic article. There's the recent stuff...
Aid to Chinese company ZTE following the Chinese government approved funding for a project in the vicinity of a Trump property in Indonesia, millions of dollars corporations paid to Cohen after the election for presidential favors, and then there was Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s own mini-universe of scandals...
The list goes on and on but does add up to one word, corruption. The United States is governed by a man so unscrupulous that there is nothing he won't do to promote the Donald Trump brand. His ego is postal as he is mired in a narcissism that ignores everyone else, the whole world. There was an American public that put him where he is, and a U.S. Congress (Job approval 16%) full of blithering idiots that have allowed this to go on longer than a year now. We have a nation in crisis and there is no one to bail it out, except, perhaps the youth. We can only hope they go to the polls in November.
Yesterday I made the statement in my headline "Why GOP may be planning Trump impeachment," and in the post I recovered the issues that have led the sane members of the public to wonder at this point just what is going on in Donald Trump's administration. His administrative staff and his closest advisers apparently don't, so the bungling idiot, who listens to no one, just goes stupidly on his way. Aren't we lucky that there has been no major crisis to contend with because it is certain that, whatever the dilemma, T-rump would screw it up, possibly even getting us into a war.
Here's what Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) had to say...
“Obviously, they are in a downward spiral right now and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening,”
Congress has not established a relationship with Trump allowing it to pass legislation that has been on the agenda since it scored both houses of Congress and the Oval Office. Unfortunately, the latter has not cooperated and their master plan to conservatize the country is in a constant case of chaos. And as long as there are die-hard T-rump supporters like Joseph Amodeo, age 19, of Staten Island, NY, the White House lunatic isn't likely to back down. Amodeo "...incorrectly praised the president for raising New York's minimum wage, something enacted by Democrats in the Legislature."
The Staten Island resident added...
"If you're wishing for him to fail, you're basically wishing for the pilot of the plane to crash. You just gotta stick by him and hopefully he does things that benefit everyone."
Joseph Amodeo, in a nutshell, showcases the sheer stupidity of those who support Trump. The dismal, out-of-touch world they live in allows this gang of poor souls to survive, much as the ostrich does when it puts its head in the sand. Pathetic but so true. Here's the Washington Post's assessment of Donald Trump's leadership to date...
"He has provided limited leadership on health care and limited leadership on taxes. He has offered direction that does not always conform to the preferences of conservatives in Congress. He has offered guidelines but no detailed blueprints. His priorities are not always those of congressional Republicans. He retains the power to sign legislation but in all other ways seems to frustrate or complicate efforts by congressional Republicans to bring those measures to his desk."
And they cap it off with the fact that T-rump is nowhere near the deal maker he professes to be. In other words, he falls short on just about every level of what it takes to be President.
So, what about a special prosecutor to investigate both Donald Trump and Michael Flynn, in relation to Russians interfering with the 2016 election, Flynn's relationship with Turkey and what Trump knew in advance of his appointment along with what James Comey is about to say before Congress? Republicans will stand by him until their constituents demand otherwise. That's when the shit will hit the fan and that's when Republicans will be forced to do something they abhor doing, the right thing. Backed into a corner, they will do the unthinkable to a Republican President. Impeach him.
Here's my reasoning. The 2018 midterms are fast approaching and the GOP has already lost ground in several races nationwide. A Republican Congress could easily lose the Senate with Democrats needing only 3 seats to take a majority. There's even talk of taking enough seats in the House to at least make it harder for the GOP to pass its legislation. I don't think Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell want that. Their only option is to throw Donald Trump under the train which means this option will mean impeachment of the President of the United States.
Ruled by most in the administration and Congress as the worst adviser ever to hit the White House, Jared Kushner may be at the end of his rope. Trump blames him for the James Comey firing. He also thinks he is responsible for Mueller's expanding probe, with the special prosecutor indicating he is ready to move into White House interviews. Sam Nunberg says Trump is f**ked, near paralyzed with fear of impeachment only exhibited to insiders, and his popularity rating is an abysmal 33 percent. Should he decide to fire Mueller, will the house of cards fall? With this Republican Congress, it's questionable.
