One, Putin feels Trump will look ridiculous to the rest of the world with his show business background and lack of experience, thus, make the U.S. more vulnerable in foreign affairs. Two, the president-elect would undo all the sanctions placed on Russia by the United States putting Russia in a better financial position.
Any way you cut it, this country loses. Here's a statement by NBC News...
"The CIA has concluded that Russia mounted a covert intelligence operation to influence the U.S. election in an effort to help Donald Trump win, a congressional official knowledgeable on the matter told NBC News."
But the Senate's resident idiot, Mitch McConnell has rejected bipartisan pressure to create a select committee to investigate what has now been confirmed is Russian cyberattacks designed to tamper with the U.S. 2016 election. McConnell thinks his two Senate minions, Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), both on the Senate Intelligence Committee, can handle it. Outgoing Senate minority leader Harry Reid says...
"...that keeping the investigation limited to the committees could be an intentional effort by McConnell to limit the effectiveness of the probe."
Now you can understand why I have designated Mitch McConnell the resident Senate idiot. The GOP won the election, McConnell was reelected recently--six more years of idiocy--and this slime ball is afraid an investigation will uncover the fact that everything above is accurate. And that Trump could have colluded with Putin to win the election. Another known fact is that the president-elect has yearned to do business in Russia for years with no luck. His connections to the country span three decades and Time has shown...
"...since the first hack of a Clinton-affiliated group took place in late May or early June, is that several of Trump’s businesses outside of Russia are entangled with Russian financiers inside Putin’s circle."
The election may be over, and the electors may have confirmed Donald Trump's presidency, but the mystery continues of just how did the 2016 election really conclude.
Elaine Chou had just been approved as Donald Trump's Transportation Secretary and her husband, Mitch McConnell was elated; along with a GOP Congress and a new figurehead in the White House he was sure he could control. Yes, Donald John was elected to the office but McConnell knew he was the real savior of the Republican Party now. He had never had this kind of power, and was just glad that he had found his source of long term stamina in the last few years to keep him going. It was the only way he had had the drive to fight against Barack Obama's second term. Damn those blacks.
McConnell grabbed his bottle of Mexican vitamins and took two; the dosage was six a day. God forbid anything happen to the doctor in Mexico City who supplied him. Heading back to the Senate chamber, his cell phone rang and it was doctor Gonzales who was excited, exclaiming that he wouldn't be able to supply the Senator any longer with his precious supplement.
"What do you mean? I pay you a fortune for the capsules. Do you need more money? I can always call the Koch brothers for a loan."
"No, no, something called Obamacare. Federales just raided my shop and took everything. I am ruined and all because of you."
"What did I do," he was desperate now.
"The Mexican President is a good friend of Barack Obama and when he found out what I was doing, he had me raided."
McConnell knew he would waste away and be unable to fulfill his duties of Majority Leader without his beloved Mexican vitamins. Even his wife didn't know. "Just sit tight. I'll take of this."
As he strode onto the Senate floor, he approached the podium and called for order. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate." Only a handful were there, all Democrats. "After a long discussion with my staff, I have decided that this body will vote to continue Obamacare, and I would heartily recommend to Speaker Ryan that the House do the same." Obamacare was kept by both houses.
That night he heard the sound of a text on his phone and when he checked, former President Obama said, "Now we're even. Any more of your crap and I'll tell Elaine."
Yes, trim the Senate, starting with Mitch McConnell
The main target, Mitch McConnell, is on the RIGHT
NBC News says the landscape of the U.S. Senate may be due for a trimming and then reseeding. Very competitive are No. Carolina, Texas, Iowa and Georgia. The most vulnerable seats include Colorado, Maine and Arizona. Here are some examples...
In Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst is a one-term incumbent running in a state that has been hit hard by the president’s trade disputes with China.
In Texas, Sen. John Cornyn is up for re-election in a state where the registered voter demographics are changing and where GOP Sen. Ted Cruz had to fight hard to eke out a win over then-Rep. Beto O’Rourke.
Seats that could be upsets are Montana, Kansas, Kentucky and So. Carolina. If we can just get rid of Mitch McConnell in Kentucky the whole political spectrum will change. MSNBC comments on Democrats 2020 Senate chances...
You think Fox News is biased and spews lies and misinformation, just wait for Sinclair Broadcasting, who now has control over the local broadcast airwaves reaching 72% of the nation’s households. And they are ultra-conservative. Sinclair has “must-run” commentaries at its 193 broadcasting outlets in 89 markets required by all of its stations to air. Here's an example coming from political commentator Boris Epshteyn, coming straight out of the 1990s...
"Epshteyn argued that children must not be exposed to the “gratuitous violence” of video games and movies, and that the “impact of violent media on the psyche of our youth” has to be a part of preventing mass shootings."
AlterNet says the broadcaster could be "competing with Fox News to be Trump’s favorite propaganda machine." Just what we need.
Turning to another major problem, Suicide rates are on the rise in rural America reported by Danielle Steelesmith, a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. Not unexpected, the presence of more gun shops was also associated with an increase in suicide rates in all counties, except for the most rural ones. Number one, rural areas love their guns and, two, they were also what helped put Donald Trump in the White House.
Okay, farmers were one of the hardest hit with the Trump tariffs, but the study doesn't mention them specifically. However, one must wonder?
How No. Carolina ended gerrymandering...
And finally, Politico says, "Republicans fear drubbing in next round of redistricting." When Democrats fell asleep at the switch in 2010, [it] "cost them control of Congress for nearly a decade." The Democrats still haven't fully waked up but recent laws on the issue are kicking in and could help save their ineffectual butts in 2020...
Senior Republicans concede they’re at risk of losing dozens of state-level elections that will determine who wields power over the post-2020 congressional map — and potentially which party controls the chamber for the following 10 years.
That should get us back to round zero, but then, something must be done to prevent gerrymandering in the future.
As I indicated, the miscreants we are up against are Donald Trump, who is double-jeopardy right now by fighting the stimulus program along with trying to gut the U.S. Postal Service for the sole purpose of preventing a mail-in vote. The other is Senate leader Moscow Mitch McConnell, who is against everything from the left, plus he has recessed the Senate until September 8. Contrary to this stupid move, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has cancelled the House recess.
The question is what do we do about it. Assuming the American public could be codified to the point of shaming the Trump administration to back off (he has done it before if he thought it would benefit him) the new Postmaster General could be forced to stop his bulldozing of the Post Office. Because Moscow Mitch is running a tight Senate race in Kentucky against Amy McGrath, McConnell could be enticed to cooperate.
In case none of this works, the next move is a huge decision. Should we just vote in person? In view of the COVID-19 situation, that is a tough decision for some, especially the older seniors, particularly the elderly. There is one more option, and it is somewhat simple. States must send out the mail-in ballots earlier than normal to compensate for slow mail delivery. I would suggest you contact both your Senator and representative, using the following sites:
In keeping with sending ballots out early, states should extend the date for receiving them, again, to compensate for a slowed down postal system. Put this in your note to your Senator and Congress person. And I realize these ideas won't fly with Republican governors, so the pressure on Congress must be the max to get anything done. Donald Trump and Republicans will do anything within their power to thwart this election in their favor. Those on the left must do more.
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Monday, January 27, 2020
Did Trump have to bribe Senate for their impeachment votes?
Moscow Mitch McConnell
That smirk on Moscow Mitch's face is there for a reason. He has profited financially from this whole Ukraine/impeachment affair. In an article from October of 2019, Salon exposes the fact that...
"Political action committees for Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham reportedly accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2016 election. McConnell and Graham are co-sponsors of a new resolution condemning the House impeachment inquiry."
Aside from the fact that Donald Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts were a dismal failure for the average American, and were confirmed to have only benefited only the wealthy, now there is another hidden factor reported by RawStory...
"A new report reveals that the 2017 GOP tax law was rife with monumental self-dealing by rich GOP lawmakers who have since benefited bigly. According to a Center for Public Integrity analysis, several Republican members of Congress directly cashed in on the multibillion-dollar windfall from the corporate tax cuts the GOP pushed through on a party-line vote."
There's more...
"At least seven Republican senators owned stocks in companies that spent billions on buybacks, resulting in great personal profit, according to the Center for Public Integrity. The report came on the same day that former New York Rep. Chris Collins, who was the first sitting GOP congressman to support Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, was sentenced to 26 months in prison for insider trading."
In hindsight, the Republican Congress obviously knew what they were doing when they fast-tracked Trump's Tax Cuts, knowing full well the rewards they would eventually reap. And these Senators won't forget...
"Republican senators in purple states, like Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and David Perdue of Georgia, have personally reaped hundreds of millions from the tax law and are repaying the president by serving as his impeachment propaganda machine rather than impartial jurors..."
Fortunately, John Bolton release of his book manuscript condemning Donald Trump could very well change the whole outlook of the Senate trial.
He promised it after President Barack Obama was elected, for two terms, and he fulfilled his commitment, almost. We did get Obamacare but little more. This slimeball literally prevented Obama's appointment of federal judges, even blocking "Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland from even getting a hearing." McConnell laughed while talking to Sean Hannity...
"If I’m still the majority leader in the Senate think of me as the Grim Reaper. None of that stuff is going to pass,” McConnell said while speaking to community leaders in Owensboro, Ky." There's more...
“I guarantee you that if I’m the last man standing and I’m still the majority leader, it ain’t happening. I can promise you,” McConnell added."
MITCH MCCONNELL. He is the most underhanded politician that has ever been in Congress using his power as head of the Senate to stymie or completely block anything with a liberal tag, even if it's good for the country. McConnell doesn't give a shit about this country, he cares only about pushing a Republican agenda. His latest ploy is to block release of the Mueller Report to the public, having opposed it two times now. A majority of the public wants it and most of Congress, including several Republicans, want it. Yet this lowlife takes it upon himself to decide to keep it a secret. Hopefully the courts will decide to take it out of the hands of this mentally challenged Congress.
The slime ball of politics, Mitch McConnell, can take down anything Democrats have planned for post-2020, even if they win the White House and hold on to the House. McConnell is hell-bent on blocking whatever comes from left field, and has followed this path since at least Barack Obama's election to the WH. The Senate head is totally reprehensible in his savage moves to maintain Republican power, especially his own. Unless...we're rid of him in 2020.
New York Times exposes decades-old fraud by Donald Trump over his inflated health. Legal intimidation is the key in threats against “journalists and organizations that threaten to expose his purported wealth as a house of cards.” In the 1980s a Forbes editor had written that Trump was failing and worth “below zero.” Theory is Forbes changed it to he had a net worth of $500 million and…
“Trump was threatening to sue, and he was also threatening to expose [Forbes publisher] Malcolm Forbes with some sort of outrageous lie that Trump had concocted.”
Politico says, "House leaders have developed a new plan to get what are called 'star witnesses'” that are out of the reach of Donald Trump's executive privilege. They would be people involved in Trump’s 2016 campaign — but were not government employees. These people could include former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, possibly Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. What you wanna bet he tries to intervene.
Donald Trump has reversed himself on many, if not most, of the major issues of his run for president. The poor uneducated redneck souls that so loyally supported him must be seething over these reversals. Considering the vitriol with which he delivered these promises, the Academy Awards should set aside a special Oscar for him this year. Or is the man neurotic and devious enough to have just convinced himself and a portion of the voting public?
Any way you look at it, it is a classic case of bait and switch. Republicans were sure they had lost the Party to an ego maniac who was interested only in national attention for him and his businesses. Well those three factors haven't changed but Trump, for some reason even many political experts haven't figured out, has changed course aligning himself more along party lines. Like his Cabinet picks that "...hew closely to what Republicans have advocated for decades."
He campaigned on the premise that he would be an "unconventional president capable of taking positions all along the political spectrum." It's not clear whether the GOP establishment scared him, if that's possible in Donald Trump's mentality, but what is clear is the fact that this man is now playing ball with the Republican Party, whether he knows it or not. Not only that but he is playing by many of their rules that he so vehemently disparaged before the election.
"David Brooks of The New York Times said that Trump is a threat to the party loyalty that has dominated American politics. 'He is hostile to the Republican establishment,' Brooks wrote. 'His proposals cut across orthodox partisan lines.'" Most think Donald Trump's intentions are to undo most of what the Obama administration accomplished. He'll certainly have a partner in the Senate's resident idiot, Mitch McConnell. Speaking of McConnell...
"The transportation secretary-to-be, Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, had a solid, anti-union record when she was secretary of labor under President George W. Bush. Chao is well-networked in the most "establishment" Republican circles of Washington."
Time to resurrect this clown's comment. Mitch McConnell said in 2010: "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." Flash-forward to April of 2015, Obama won a second term and the fruitcake Senator is still on attack. You would think McConnell would learn he's been outsmarted but, then, Republicans don't have this capacity. So what can I do now that I am Senate head again,he asks? Oh, there's Loretta Lynch who wants to be the first female black Attorney General. But President Obama also wants her for AG so no freaking way that is going to happen. And so the dysfunction of the Congress of the greatest country on earth continues under the control of conservatives.
There will come a day when Senate head Mitch McConnell will do something that no one, Democrats or Republicans, can stomach. The Senate floor will open in a chasm that will devour this contemptible despot and the country will be rid of the worst politician it has ever experienced. McConnell is at it again, fully blocking everything House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brings to the floor. A health care package, proposals on gun safety, climate change and voting reforms.
“I’m not sure that anything we do is going to reach the floor of the Senate,” said House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.). “That’s the reality.”
McConnell is up for reelection in 2020--he barely made it last time--and I hope the people of Kentucky have the guts to force him out. This man has single-handedly wreaked more havoc in the Senate than any other politician has in years. As a confirmed racist, McConnell hated Barack Obama and blocked all of the programs he proposed. Maybe we won't have to wait for 2020, perhaps that Senate floor chasm is in the making as we speak.
That's right. It was just discovered by an unknown scientist with a secret lab in Keokuk, Iowa, whose father once knew Ernest Hemingway. It was Hemingway's early work, A Movable Feast, about his life in Paris from 1921 to 1926, that got the father interested in oysters. The story goes, once you've lived in Paris, no matter where you go, you take it with you. During his writing on this particular day he decided to close up shop and order a dozen Crassostrea angulata, special offspring oysters from the sinking of a ship from the orient in a Portuguese harbor, along with a carafe of dry white wine.
And then when returning to the writing of his book, he professes his love for oysters in a sentence that his readers will never forget...
"As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and make plans."
What Hemingway did not mention in his book was that those slimy little creatures that slide down your throat like a body does in a water slide, did not have a brain. None of them do, only two ganglia or masses of nerves around their body, but no central brain. However, they are able to survive around higher mammals, even though they have no consciousness. Now there is some difference between lack of consciousness and being unconscious. The term unconscious is sometimes used to refer to people who are, well, just stupid.
The father, let's call him Clyde, was talking to Ernest one day in Key West and brought up the fact that oysters did not have a brain. "Get out of town," Hemi retorted, "sounds like some people I know in Washington." The father always made notes of his conversations with Hemingway, and they were kept in an old trunk in the Keokuk house's attic. He put an asterisk by this particular notation, knowing full well that someday it would become famous. And then along came Clyde, Jr. His father knew he had to get him out of Keokuk for an education because Clyde Jr. was smart.
He decided on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, that claimed 45 Rhodes Scholars, 81 Nobel laureates and 38 MacArthur Fellows. Should be a good enough school for junior, the father thought, and he was right when the son graduated magna cum laude. But Clyde Jr. was tired of the big eastern cities and yearned again for the Midwest. He returned to Keokuk and got a job working for a local doctor who also did research and seemed to be happy for the present. Then, one day after his father had died, he was rummaging through an old trunk in the attic. And there it was.
His father's journal, "My Talks With Ernie," whom Junior knew to be Ernest Hemingway from conversations with Dad. And he sat down right there and started reading. It was fascinating, he thought, Hemingway's love of oysters, and his dad's discovery through his reading that they had no brain. And the writer's comment about them reminding him of people he knew in Washington was just hilarious. He thought about who was in the White House now, Donald Trump. He reflected on a Congress that was, well, a Congress. BINGO! And then he had an epiphany.
Junior had written his master's thesis on the octopus and their high level of intelligence. He had actually seen one unscrew the lid of a glass jar from the inside and perform various other feats of agility. What if I crossed an oyster with an octopus, what would I get? Probably a Donald Trump or a Mitch McConnell. He almost fell off the old rickety chair laughing to himself. And then it occurred to him, what if I crossed Mitch McConnell with Donald Trump, what would I get? I would no doubt get an oyster. He shrieked again with laughter, this time falling to the floor from the chair that collapsed.
Junior went right out and bought a dozen oysters, ate eleven of them and took number twelve to his basement laboratory. There he began an experiment that would eventually change the way people thought of politicians. He began to research connections between the oyster and legislators and uncovered a bombshell. A study had been done a few years ago that wasn't common knowledge for obvious reasons. Office holders, local/federal and oysters shared a common gene, a lack of consciousness. The gene that allows oysters, and politicians to survive in their own shell.
Clyde Jr., had finally answered the age-old question of just how politicians in general, more specifically Donald Trump and the Republican Congress, are able to perform their duties with absolutely no concern for what the American public really wants. Just close the shell and all is fine. Now, all thinking Americans today know why we are ignored, which doesn't help things, but at least we know. The President and Congress are our oyster.
Thanks to Ben Guarino of The Washington Post for the background for my post.
DOES IT LOOK LIKE A SINKING SHIP, ABOVE? First of all, there are already three Republican Senators who have voiced opposition with filling Ginsburg's position prior to the election. They are: Lisa Murkowski (AK), Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Another step would be Democrat Mark Kelly's win in Arizona (currently ahead 6.7 points). Here's the Kelly/McSally outcome...
“Two Republican and two Democratic election attorneys agree that state law and Senate practices would make Kelly eligible to take over the seat once held by Sen. John McCain as soon as Nov. 30, when the state election results are expected to be canvassed.”
“Place yourself in the White House private residence, or down in Louisville, at Chez Mitch, when the news about Ginsburg was conveyed Friday. Do you think either of them took even 30 seconds to reflect on her service to her nation?”
The answer to that, of course, is a resounding no!
Tomasky had 3 ways McConnell could be stopped. One, to threaten expansion of the Court after the election; Two, Moscow Mitch may decide the polls are against it enough that proceeding could damage the GOP even more; and three, McConnell may just feel Democrats have the numbers to win and not want to rock the boat. This would be based on the three Republican Senators, above, and Mark Kelly's win in Arizona.
Returning to the November election and the control of the Senate, there are more vulnerable candidates. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina (he is tied with Jaime Harrison); Cal Cunningham (D) leads incumbent Thom Tillis (R) by 3.6 pts; and in Georgia, David Perdue (R) v. Jon Ossoff (D) (Perdue ahead by 4.3 pts.) plus a runoff election. More you can see here. My point is there are several chances for the left to take the Senate, made more positive by the current state of affairs.
And now a GOP Governor, Charlie Baker (R-MA)...
"issued a statement on Twitter urging Senate Republicans to hold off on filling Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat until after the November election."
So it would appear the damn is breaking with Moscow Mitch's support, accompanied by the realization by many, on both sided of the aisle, that this corrupt, conniving, bogus head of the United States Senate is not to be trusted or listened to. He'll get even less attention after Joe Biden enters the White House. That is, if McConnell beats Amy McGrath.
Barack Obama has been relatively quiet since leaving office after eight years of dealing with Republicans led by Mitch McConnell with only one intent: to sabotage anything that President Obama presented. Not to consider what was best for the country, just to subvert whatever he advanced. We'll never know just how much could have been accomplished for the good of the American people in those eight years, but we could find out soon how effective Barack Obama can be as a former president, who still heads his party, and who wants to fight the GOP plague.
As one Democratic pundit put it...
“He’s been way too quiet. There are a lot of people who think he’s played too little a role or almost no role in endorsing or fundraising and he’s done jack shit in getting people to donate to the party.”
Maybe the man wasn't really sure how much of his participation was wanted since he received so little support when in office, even by his own party. Bernie Sanders, who may run in 2020, cannot carry the banner because he is an Independent. Other possible 2020 candidates are former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), but it is Barack Obama in 2008 who trounced John McCain in the popular vote and the Electoral College. The key will be to resurrect the magic of Obama's 2008 campaign and turn it into a win for Democrats in November.
Another point of view on the former president's hushed approach was...
"Former aides and Democratic strategists said Obama has sought to maintain a lower profile not only for his party to find new life, but also to avoid playing a foil to President Trump and Republicans."
Obama's two top priorities are, “recapturing the House and helping Democrats gain more influence in the redistricting process.”
At the same time, Democrats plan to make Washington corruption the focus of their campaign in 2020. They had earlier announced targeting their economic agenda to combat big money through campaign finance reform. Without a Democratic Congress this will be an uphill battle, but the odds are still out that Dems can take over the House and Senate. Nancy Pelosi, former House leader said, “President Trump has become the swamp and Americans are paying the price. The American people deserve better.”
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer added, “The swamp has never been more foul than under this president.” And targeting corruption did work in the 2006 elections when Democrats took control of the House and Senate from Republicans. They hammered away at the GOP’s “culture of corruption, cronyism and incompetence.” Pelosi is testing the corruption theme on Scott Pruitt who "repeatedly used his position to seek employment and business opportunities for his wife, and had agency staffers doing personal errands on his behalf."
If ever there was an administration where corruption would be the central problem, and one to explore by the opposition, it would be Donald Trump's.
Apparently Chief Justice John Roberts, who is supposed to be the referee in Donald Trump's impeachment trial, has decided to side with his Republican colleagues in overseeing the proceedings. AlterNet reports...
"He is presiding over this trial, which is supposed to mean enforcing the rules, not acting like a potted plant and doing whatever it is he’s been doing—catching up on reading? Crossword puzzles? We don’t know that either, because Mitch McConnell didn’t let any cameras in besides the ones controlled by him."
This all looks good now but how will it play in November when those 50% of the American public who want Trump impeached go to the polls? Democrats overwhelmingly support his ouster, "as of January 20, 84 percent of Democrats want Trump removed from office." The Vox article, above, also provides a look into the total fairness of the trial...
"On the issue of fairness, 53 percent of respondents said Republicans will hold a fair trial, and 50 percent said Democrats are advocating for the inclusion of witnesses and additional evidence only because doing so will make the trial more fair. Similarly, 54 percent said they disapprove of how Republicans are handling the trial, and 50 percent said they disapprove of the Democrats’ approach."
So far, the major unfairness of the Senate impeachment trial appears to be Moscow Mitch McConnell.
Trump has never done anything I know of where he should be congratulated. Therefore, it seems both unbelievable and bizarre he could come up with 600 pats on the back...
Thanks to our neighbor
But he did and it was for another most ludicrous reason, his handling of the coronavirus situation. Here is DAILY BEASTS headline: "Trump Has Congratulated Himself 600 Times During Coronavirus Briefings, Says Report." The New York times analyzed all Trump's press briefings to get this number concluding, “The level of self-congratulations that occurs every day at these press conferences is unprecedented.”
And it would seem that Moscow Mitch McConnell has taken up Donald Trump's mantle exhibiting his brand of ignorance and idiocy. According to the Washington Post has basically told U.S. states to drop dead by refusing them aid and saying you are pretty much on your own. Although he has moderately backed off this position, it is a clear sign of this slimeball's disdain for American citizens, and his aversion to our democracy.
With the current press of the public to reopen the U.S. economy amid over 1 million cases of COVID-19 in this country, growing on a daily basis, 30,000+ since yesterday, and almost 60,000 deaths, there is reason to pause and reflect on this move. Here is a statement from an expert: "Infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm warned that the states starting to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic 'will pay a big price later on.'” There's more...
"Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday that states like Georgia, Colorado and others that are easing social distancing restrictions were 'putting gasoline on fire.'
“I think right now, this is one of the things we’ve learned, if we’re going to learn to live with this, then you just don’t walk in the face of it and spit in its eye, because it will hit you,” said Osterholm.
Taking out the Trash
Here's the Guardian's opinion: "Trump is a danger to the American people. But the Republicans refuse to stop him." Bingo. This hits the jackpot and my blog posts over the years portrays the one man most responsible for this, Moscow Mitch McConnell. The Guardia expands...
"I don’t know how many psychological profiles I have read of him in which he is diagnosed as a malignant narcissist, or it is suggested he has a cognitive impairment, or suffers from delusional thinking or a sociopathic inability to experience basic empathy. Yada yada yada. None of it matters. He promised an end to “American carnage”, but that is exactly what he is presiding over."
By the way, he didn't look like congratulating himself after walking off the podium recently after remarks on his disinfectant decision. He said nothing.
I received one of those forwarded emails recently that I usually delete without reading but when I noticed Warren Buffett’s name in the headline I took notice.I am a big admirer of Mr. Buffett because he is one of us; the simple folk who try to keep this insane country headed in the right direction.When Buffett said he shouldn’t pay less taxes than his secretary, I thought there would be a major rush to sign him up for the nation’s number one job.
The "Big Guys" discuss money
But the cagey investor knew, as most of us progressives do, that we have a great President in Barack Obama and all he needs is some support.Hence, the “Buffett Rule” was born and the man told the President he could run with it and he did.It is well known by most that this tax on millionaires would make only a small dent in the deficit, but it is the nature of the inequity between what the wealthy pay in taxes and what the simple folk like you and I do.
Mitch McConnell
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, poop pooped the idea when it was introduced and even some Democrats were soft in their support.But the American public was solidly behind the concept.A Gallup poll in April found that 60 percent of Americans supported the proposal, including 63 percent of political independents.Chuck Schumer, a Democratic Sen. from New York said it’s “proof positive” the GOP is on the defensive over taxes.
So it’s agreed that Barack Obama is the one for November.So what else could Warren Buffett do to help the President in his re-election?In a recent CNBC interview he claimed, “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes.You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.”
How the Buffett Rule works by Warren Buffett:
In another Gallup poll taken in February, Congress was at a record-low of 10 percent, down from 13 percent in January alongside another previous low of 11 percent.Congressional approval averaged only 17 percent in 2011.With all of these facts in the books, it was only natural that the financier would come up with some proposed legislation of his own.His idea is the “Congressional Reform Act of 2012.”Here are the sections of his bill.
1.No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.
2.Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3.Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4.Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5.Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6.Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7.All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with
Congressmen/women.
Warren Buffett comments that “Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.Right now there is 90 percent of the country that would agree.
It's not enough that Democrats are angry with Donald Trump's election and the direction he has taken the country in. There also has to be an influx of Republicans who have made a left turn and feel the same way. In a former blog I quoted a reliable source that said 20% of Trump's 2016 voters have soured on him. I closed the post saying, 'Hold that thought.' Joe Biden avoids the anger for Trump approach with an appeal for unity in America. Will it win in 2020?
Joe Biden doesn't believe anger will win in 2020, even when T-rump used " it to win over the Republican base in 2016, saying he gladly carries the 'mantle of anger.'" He's been mad ever since and just look at what shape he has put the country in. A good economy does not excuse the Oval Office lunatic's white nationalism, bigotry, blatant racism and women's abuse, to name only a few. I did a post yesterday that explains it: "Less than half of Trump supporters like him."
Rebecca Traister, author of the book "Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger," retorted, "Biden is 'deeply wrong' that 'Anger at injustice has catalyzed transformative change; 'unity' has not.'" Another voice...this a writer from Rolling Stone, Jamil Smith added, "Women, people of color, and other Democratic constituencies aren't angry like Trump and his followers. They've been pissed off in a whole different way. "She doesn't explain how.
Biden also mentions reaching across the aisle as an approach to unifying Congress, something that many Democrats have criticized. With people like Senate head, Mitch McConnell, sitting on the other side of the aisle, I can understand the reluctance of the Dems. And then there's Barack Obama, to back or not to back. To begin with, the former president hasn't offered and second is whether this would help or hurt Biden.
Lee Drutman of Vox speaks of the Joe Biden “epiphany” theory "that Republicans will have an epiphany about the power of bipartisanship once Trump is gone and start working with Democrats again." Drutman says no way, and I wholeheartedly agree, at least as long as the ogre of the Senate is still around. Drutman argues...
"The problem with Biden’s theory is that Republicans’ hostility to Democrats did not begin with Donald Trump (see, the Obama administration).
Today, as in 2012, the partisan hostility is highly transferable. It is based neither in opposition to one president nor loyalty to another. It is based in the underlying zero-sum electoral logic that defines the American two-party system and the winner-take-all elections that make the two-party system possible."
Not said, but certainly not forgotten, is racist Mitch McConnell's hatred of President Barack Obama, with his vow that he would make Obama a one-term president if it was the last thing he ever did. He didn't, which shows what a lowlife this jerk is, and the fact that he may not be as powerful as he thinks he is, perhaps just a fat blowhard. Biden talks about Trump's divisiveness while we regularly see the maniac's favorability improve, still holding on to his loyalists.
In one case in Pennsylvania, Joe Biden jumps back and forth between his unity issue and the put-down of Donald Trump. This state is important to Biden in 2020, where Trump barely won in 2016; part of the "blue wall" of Democratic industrial states. The former V.P. is headquartered in Philadelphia and in rallies continued to call Trump the 'divider in chief.' Biden spent time on the issues, including climate change and health care, making comparisons with Obama.
If there is anything this country needs it is unity, something we haven't seen for years, back through many presidents. We need it on the local level, between states, and most of all in Washington. The U.S. Congress is in a complete state of diversity, inconsistency, division, discord, strife, disarray, hostility, almost all-out warfare. There aren't enough antonyms of unity to show the disunion of that body of outright incompetent morons. Maybe Joe has the right idea.
In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Paul Waldman said acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire in his opening statement to the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, "perhaps unintentionally," may have dumped on Donald Trump. Waldman felt Maguire's implication was, "just how thoroughly infected with corruption the entire executive branch has become under President Trump." Intentional or not, it is a true statement.
Waldman feels Magure is notan "amoral conspiracy theorist like Michael Flynn," or "not willing to brazenly deceive the public and twist government to the president’s purposes like Attorney General William P. Barr." It's amazing the acting director is still where he is. But, "Maguire’s first stop, upon receiving a breathtaking set of accusations about Trump and his White House, was … Donald Trump’s White House."
And in a refute to Trump's accusations against the Bidens re. son Hunter's Ukrainian dealings with the gas company there...
"A former Ukrainian prosecutor who investigated a gas company tied to Hunter Biden said Thursday that there was no evidence the former vice president's son engaged in illegal activity."
"From the perspective of Ukrainian legislation, he did not violate anything,” Yuriy Lutsenko said.
Hunter Biden and Ukrainegate...
Lutsenko made this statement way back in May, but T-rump keeps renewing the accusation. And anyway, “Hunter Biden cannot be responsible for violations of the management of Burisma that took place two years before his arrival,” Lutsenko added. If you are really interested, here are four false claims by the Oval Office lunatic that show his concern with winning in 2020...
False: Biden pushed out a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating his son
False: Hunter Biden made a killing on a China deal
False: Biden lied about talking to his son
False: Democratic senators also threatened Ukraine’s aid
Based on Donald Trump's administration, the Republic Party will be known in the future as the party that refined and improved lying in politics. Now, poor baby...Salon portrays T-rump as, "consumed with self-pitying paranoia as the Ukraine scandal spirals out of his control." The scenario...
"The fact that this material was released so quickly indicates that the White House expects to lose the impeachment vote in the House and are counting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the “gravedigger of democracy” himself, either to refuse to hold a trial at all or to ensure that no such trial produces a two-thirds majority for conviction."
Here's lowlife Mitch McConnell on impeachment...disgusting...
Not sure Trump can be so sure about the senate with public opinion fast turning in favor of impeachment, and members of Congress finally realizing that country is more important than their reelection or the Party. I don't believe anything could raise the opinion of the American public about Congress, but as they say, it's time to do the right thing. Heather Digby Parton of Salon comments...
"Rudy Giuliani is on the verge of some kind of breakdown, acting like a wild man on television on a nightly basis?"
Here's a Giuliani quote...
“It is impossible that the whistle-blower is a hero and I’m not. And I will be the hero! These morons — when this is over, I will be the hero. I’m not acting as a lawyer. I’m acting as someone who has devoted most of his life to straightening out government. Anything I did should be praised.”
Well, that pretty much seals the deal. Donald Trump's impeachment is just around the corner.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Republican Senate are collaborators and complicit
In the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, a sworn Senate of Republicans, who gave an oath to uphold objectivity in their decision making, have become mired in their own complicity and collaborative efforts to ignore the hard facts against the Oval Office lunatic. Charles Pierce nails it in this piece, long but so comprehensive...
"In this, no Republican was different from any other Republican. Lisa Murkowski and Tom Cotton were the same. Thom Tillis and Ted Cruz were the same. Cory Gardner and Jim Inhofe were the same. Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse were the same as Mike Rounds and Mike Enzi. And they were all the same as Mitch McConnell. There were no moderate Republicans in the Senate on Tuesday. There were no Never Trumpers. There were only collaborators. There was no independence in the Senate on Tuesday, only complicity. And it was a deadening, sad thing to watch."
The AlterNet headline of the article this was taken from says it all: "Why we are witnessing the death of reason among Republicans." The fact is that this actually poses a question that must be on the mind of millions of Americans which is simply terrifying since there doesn't seem to be an answer. Why would Donald Trump do what he is doing to this country? Why would Moscow Mitch McConnell do what he is doing to this country. The quick answer is greed and corruption.
The article cites "Fox News and the rest of the right-wing propaganda network" as supplying the filter through which all this right side of the political bullshit is delivered to those double digits that listen to this network. Pierce observes the House Managers on the Democratic side "providing facts and evidence," while on the other side...
"all the latter had to do was show up and count on their propaganda network to gin up fear and loathing for anyone who dares to challenge the president."
And then the piece concludes...
"That is why we are witnessing the death of reason on the Republican side."
