GOP now has total control...or does it?

The Rat Pack...Ryan-Trump_McConnell

Donald Trump's future couldn't be shakier after the defeat of Speaker Paul Ryan's American Health Care Act, but even more insecure is Ryan's speakership. He hasn't led this Congress anywhere but in the direction of those issues he favors. But then, this Congress seems only to have the capacity for the perpetuation of hate and opposition to anything Democrat. Trump has made that ideology a priority from the beginning of his campaigning for 2016, right through the inauguration and into the Oval Office. Senate leader Mitch McConnell is absolutely overjoyed.

But what brings McConnell back to earth is Congress' inability to repeal Obamacare. Here's a look at Donald John blowing off about what he would do, which he didn't do...

“We’re going to have insurance for everybody,” Trump told the Washington Post after the election. Under Trumpcare, according to Trump, people “can expect to have great health care. It will be in much simplified form. Much less expensive and much better.”

And then trump tweeted after defeat: “ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!” Always the psychopathic windbag, that would never admit he was wrong or that he has been soundly defeated...by his own Party. This is basically how it has come down over the years, according to Vox...

"This was bolder and brasher than what more establishment-minded Republicans had said over the years. But it was, fundamentally, similar to promises and insinuations made by Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and dozens of other Republicans. It’s not just that the Affordable Care Act was killing jobs and sentencing people to death panels. It’s that Republicans had some much better plan in their back pocket that would give Americans what they want — cheap, comprehensive health insurance that offers them oodles of choice."

Vox is saying that Trump and Republicans are now paying for this great line of bullshit served up by both, even though it helped Republicans win Congress and eventually the White House at the time. But what happens now, when Trump is behind the eight ball and needs to get tax legislation passed? After the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and then enactment of AHCA failed miserably, he will still be dealing with the same Republicans, needing their support even more so since the savings from Obamacare replacement will not be realized. Where will the money come from for reduced taxes?

And there's much more to be done that Donald John promised the poor souls that supported him. As recent as March 15, in Nashville, he was still talking the repeal of Obamacare and chastising judges for blocking his travel bans. And in Louisville, he delivered his populist and nationalist appeal, no doubt crafted by Steve Bannon, to clamp down on illegal immigration and bar terrorists from America. These rallies are designed to garner public support for Trump's programs, but where he should be focusing his efforts is on Congress.

Leading up to the House vote on Obamacare, both Donald Trump and Paul Ryan had promised their own healthcare bill which the Speaker delivered to a very reluctant and disillusioned Congress. The GOP has been pretty well in sync on getting rid of Barack Obama's health care program with Mitch McConnell leading the venomous attack. Here's what conservatives in general thought of the ACA...

"...it taxes rich people too much, and coddles Americans with excessively generous, excessively subsidized health insurance plans. They want a world of lower taxes on millionaires while millions of Americans put “skin in the game” in the form of higher deductibles and copayments. Exactly the opposite, in other words, of what Republican politicians have been promising."

That last sentence says it all. So much promised but nothing delivered. And with 2018 mid-terms coming, Trump's inability to deliver may well weigh heavily on those Republican districts up for grabs. All of the analysis to date is now outmoded since the healthcare fiasco has shown the weakness in the GOP armor, something that will need vast improvement before any new programs are introduced by the Trump administration. And here are more items on the White House agenda...

"...a $1 trillion investment in roads and other infrastructure and proposed crackdowns on both legal and illegal immigration, will require the support of Democrats, many of whom have been alienated by the highly partisan start to Trump’s tenure."

The one high point Trump had was the nomination of Neil Gorsuch for Scalia's Supreme Court seat which looked to be pretty safe until last Friday...

"Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, may fall short of the votes needed for smooth passage in the Senate next week, potentially dashing Republican hopes for an easy victory after the stinging defeat of the American Health Care Act last week."

The above comment from the Washington Post reflects the turmoil created by Paul Ryan's damaging loss with his healthcare program. But even if Gorsuch misses the 60 votes needed, there's still the "nuclear" option available to Republicans; although a right which would get Gorsuch approved, it hasn't even been tried since 1917. That year, instead, it resulted in reform of the Senate's filibuster rules. Bernie Sanders warned against its use, advice that the GOP should consider since a day will come when Democrats will again control Congress and the White House.

Trump's "The Art of the Deal" shattered by Paul Ryan

In November of 1987, Donald Trump's book, The Art of the Deal, was published and received well by the public. Today on Amazon it is 2,662 overall in books, #2 in biographies and memoirs, #13 in business and money and #22 in biographies and memoirs. That is good, considering the number of books published these days and the reviews are mostly positive. But in the book, he warns his readers "Never seen desperate." Well, he blew that theory during the recent blowout of Ryan’s American Health Care Act proposal. It went down in flames in spite of Donald John's disparaging begging.

The Progressive reports that although Trump pledged not to cut Medicare, Ryan's bill cut it $880 billion from the program, and the Freedom Caucus members wanted to cut much more. Ryan's bill which favors the wealthy and large corporations would...

 "...devastate care for the most vulnerable ACA beneficiaries like the poor, disabled, and elderly. The Ryan plan would produce more deaths by swelling the ranks of the uninsured whose untreated conditions prove fatal."

From as far back as his tax-cutting proposals, to his American Health Care Act, Paul Ryan has been one of the most callous politicians toward the poor and needy of anyone I can remember. I can see why the man gets reelected by looking at the demographics of his 1st District in Wisconsin. Median income over $50,000; 91.1% white; 4.7% black; 5% Hispanic; and 57.7% white collar. Although his last election was close, and the next, well, we'll just see. Here's a stark statistic from the health care industry itself, published in the American Journal of Public Health...

"The Republican plan to replace the ACA would leave 52 million people uninsured in 2026. We know that will lead to many deaths—at least 41,969 and perhaps many times that number."

That isn't just callous. That is cold-blooded greed by Republicans to line the pockets of their constituents. And although the Freedom Caucus had a big hand in defeating the AHCA, Bernie Sanders says "Democrats should take credit for killing a really, really bad piece of legislation." Commenting further "Poll after poll showed that's exactly what the American people did not want." On the other hand, Donald Trump said...

"The best thing we can do, politically speaking, is let Obamacare explode. It is exploding right now," Trump said, adding that the 'losers' in the health care battle were Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer."

And Trump continues to blame the Democrats for the GOP bill's failure, which, of course, is fully agreeable to the Bern. Trump, who refused to blame Ryan for the failure of the American Health Care Act The Guardian said this...

"Speaking afterward in the Oval Office, Trump blamed Democrats for the failure of a bill to repeal the signature achievement of Barack Obama. 'If [Democrats] got together with us, and got us a real healthcare bill, I’d be totally OK with that. The losers are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, because they own Obamacare. They 100% own it,” he said.'"

And then, after the melee was over, Paul Ryan proceeded to blame everything on the fact that the Republicans are now the governing Party, and that "...comes with growing pains and, well, we’re feeling those growing pains today. I will not sugarcoat this: this is a disappointing day for us.” What Ryan isn't saying is what is wrong with the entire U.S. government right at this moment, is the fact that Republicans are the governing Party. It was also what was wrong with the U.S. government in Geo. W. Bush's tenure from 2001 to 2009. A disaster that almost brought the country down.

So apparently Obamacare is okay for the time being but isn't it interesting just how volatile this piece of legislation is and the effect it has on a certain percentage of the public. Just a week after the 2016 election, the Kaiser family Poll came up with these findings...

"One-fourth, or 26 percent, of Americans favor a full repeal of the health care law, while 17 percent say scale it back, according to the Kaiser poll. On the other hand, 30 percent favor expanding the law and another 19 percent want lawmakers to move forward with the law as it is."

The Kaiser report also found that there was a decline in the percentage of Republicans who want the Act repealed, something that must have had an effect on Paul Ryan's withdrawal of his bill. And here's another insight from Vox into how some Republicans really view the Affordable Care Act...

"Republican leaders and conservative intellectuals, for the most part, didn’t really believe nonsense about death panels or that Obama was personally responsible for high-deductible insurance plans. What they fundamentally did not like is that the basic framework of the law is to redistribute money by taxing high-income families and giving insurance subsidies to needy ones. The details matter enormously to everyday people, but the broad principle is enough to make conservatives reject it."

Wasn't aware there were that many intellectuals in the GOP ranks, but this is a real crowd stopper. Anything republican always comes down to just two factors: 1) How it affects the wealthy; 2) How it affects large corporate business. There is no in between for the average American and until average Americans understand this, voting accordingly, this country will continue to be mired in mediocrity. 

Is Bernie Sanders running for Trump resignation/impeachment?

Bernie Sanders-Chris Hayes MSNBC

Bernie Sanders has been everywhere recently talking about everything from how the Republicans are screwing up to how the Democrats are twiddling their thumbs. As recently as Thursday, he said Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, "...brought the Supreme Court confirmation process to a new low during this week's confirmation hearings." And it was only mid-March that headlines were screaming, "Everyone loves Bernie Sanders. Except, it seems, the Democratic party," headline from The Guardian. It is certain that The Bern is well versed on both sides.

Here's the latest figures on Sanders who is being given the national spotlight regularly these days. 61% favorable, 32% unfavorable. When you look at Donald Trump, who sits in the Oval Office today, DT is only 44% favorable, with an unfavorable rating of 53%. When you take the comparisons even further, Barack Obama had a job approval rating of 69% during his first days in office in 2009. Considering the chaos of the Trump administration, the screw ups they have pulled to date, and the fact that Donald John is incapable of getting any of his programs approved, it can only get worse.

These are Fox News polls and although I do have reservations about anything Fox says or does, I take some comfort in the fact that these numbers are being reported by The Hill, a highly reputable publication. They even mention that Trump's unfavorable ratings have been even worse, rising above 55% at times. Here's The Hill's take...

"The huge popularity of Sanders in the Fox poll tracks virtually all other polling that shows Sanders to be, by a large margin, the most popular political leader in America, and far ahead of Trump, the most unpopular new president in the history of presidential polling."

Bernie Sanders has been rallying against the GOP healthcare bill and the repeal of Obamacare since it was introduced by Paul Ryan and endorsed by Donald Trump. The Bern has his own healthcare plan that is even more universal than The Affordable Care Act, but agrees with The Hill that, "...TrumpCare's unpopularity creates a grave danger of disaster for Republicans in 2018 and 2020." And here are some results of Bernie's efforts...

"...a shocking new poll from Quinnipiac University found American voters opposing the pending Republican healthcare bill by a three to one margin. Fifty-six percent of voters disapprove of TrumpCare (or "RyanCare," or whatever name is attached to the disastrous GOP bill), while only 17 percent support it."

With Sanders popularity today, there is no doubt that he would beat Trump in an election, a point I have made several times recently in an effort to keep Progressives active, with an eye toward the day that Donald Trump implodes and brings the Republican Party down around him. The Hill agrees...

"The consistently high ratings for Sanders, and the consistently low ratings for Trump, show that the real majority in America is the genuinely progressive and genuinely populist view of Sanders, not the phony populism or warped conservatism represented by Trump."

 "If Sanders were running against Trump for president today, he would win by a gigantic popular vote margin and a strong electoral vote margin."

Even across the pond, Bernie Sanders' popularity shines above all other American politicians. Here's the tragic analysis of The Guardian from Great Britain...

"If you look at the numbers, Bernie Sanders is the most popular politician in America – and it’s not even close. Yet bizarrely, the Democratic party – out of power across the country and increasingly irrelevant – still refuses to embrace him and his message. It’s increasingly clear they do so at their own peril."

Here's a Party, the Dems I'm talking about, who should have learned their lesson in the DNC fiasco with Debbie Wasserman Schultz; the fact that she unethically ramrodded Cliinton to the Democratic nomination, when Bernie Sanders was clearly the choice of the public. But that wasn't even enough. Again, there was Keith Ellison who was a natural to lead charged up Progressives on the left, but the old guard of the Party felt more complacent with a hard-liner, Tom Perez. Here's another startling fact from The Guardian; with U.S. Independents, Sanders has an astonishing +41 net favorability.

Progressives are asking for more--they want the adoption of Sanders' populist policies in retaking governor's offices with good support in the defined areas--but Democrats have their own ideas. The proof in the pudding came in a recent town hall meeting hosted by MSNC's Chris Hayes, and it applied directly to Trump voters. In "Trump country" West Virginia...

...the crowd ended up giving him [Bernie Sanders] a rousing ovation after he talked about healthcare being a right of all people and that we are the only industrialized nation in the world who doesn’t provide healthcare as a right to all its people.

The Guardian chastises the Democratic Party for its past lack of attention to houses of Congress, governorships and state houses across the country [thanks to Debbie Wasserman Schultz], instead concentrating on just a White House loss by Hillary Clinton, blamed on James Comey and the Russian intervention in the election. The ostrich effect, they [the Dems] either have their head in the sand or...up their ass. I go for the latter. Politico reports eventual attention to a positive economic message by the Democrats but...

“For now, aides say, the focus is on slaying the giant and proving to the voters who sent Trump into the White House why his policies will fail.”

Same old, same old, which Clinton tried at the end of her campaign and failed miserably. Bernie's comment...

“There are some people in the Democratic Party who want to maintain the status quo. They would rather go down with the Titanic so long as they have first-class seats.”

Looks like the Dems plan to stay on the bottom of the first-class heap. 

Can Donald Trump outspeak Kim Jong Un?

Who's craziest, him or me?

When you put two lunatics together, the best one can expect is more lunacy. And that is exactly what we have gotten from Donald Trump since he started on his nefarious trek to the White House. Can't remember a day during and after the 2016 election that something stupid hasn't come from the mouths of Donald John, his handlers or his supporters. It was a perpetual cacophony of mindless jabbering that, in most cases, had no substance whatever. But those poor souls out there ate it up and pushed the man with a dunce cap on right into the Oval Office. It has been hell ever since.

Kim Jong Un, on the other hand, is a lunatic that is much more dangerous than a Donald Trump. At least Donald John has some relatively sane people around him, and then, of course, there are the Democrats, that can rein him in if he really gets dangerous. All of North Korea is scared shitless of Kim, and by the time anyone stepped in to stop the maniac, he could have sent deadly missiles all around the world. This is all prompted by a headline today in the Washington Post: "North Korea says it tested rocket engine ‘of historic significance.’"

That's it, those two words, "historic significance" that made me wonder which of our two village idiots could win the battle of superlatives. So I researched the transcendent comments of each man and this is what I came up with...

• DT: “I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”
• KJU: "Want to know what’s more destructive than a nuclear bomb? Words."
• DT: “I’m really rich! I’ll show you that in a second. And by the way: I’m not even saying that in a brag.”
• KJU: "The days are gone forever when our enemies could blackmail us with nuclear bombs."
• DT: “I’m the most militaristic person ever.”
• KJU: "Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest."
• DT: “I will build a great wall . . . and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me.”
• KJU: "Past records of inter-Korean relations show that confrontation between fellow countrymen leads to nothing but war."
• DT: “I would use the greatest minds. I know the best negotiators. I’m in New York – I know the good ones, the bad ones. I always say: ‘I know the ones people think are good.’ I know people you’ve never heard of that are better than all of them.”
• KJU: The revolution is carried out by means of one's thought.

And I couldn't resist one more Donald Trump classic...

“If you really love this country you have a very, very hard time convincing people that what you’re doing is right and that you’re really smart. And, like, a lot of us are really smart. I’m really smart – I went to the Wharton School of Finance.”

Let's analyze what you've see above. First, the Donald Trump comments are ludicrous and asinine, something you might expect from some unhinged college senior running for class president. Second, Kim Jong Un, on the contrary, should scare the hell out of any American, especially with Donald John in the White House. If anyone could start World War III, it would be these two nutcases.  

Peace!

Thanks to the National Review and AZ Quotes for the quotations.

Is Obamacare invincible?

It looks like it so far. House Speaker and number one cheesehead, Paul Ryan got shot down again, with him and his group looking at the piece of shit they call a healthcare plan. They pulled it from consideration, rocky Ryan stated, or as the greatest of leaders said, “We just pulled it,” with emphasis on the "We." What this means is that The Affordable Care Act continues to reign supreme for now. It was Donald John's ultimatum on Thursday, either pass our bill on Friday or Obamacare stays. This is just another in a long line of failures for both Donald Trump and Paul Ryan. Time to dump em both!

With this defeat, it is uncertain now if T-rump will be able to push through his aggressive agenda of changing how the government works now to his way. This statement from a Republican who planned to vote for the new GOP healthcare plan is a real downer for the Party...

"Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.), who planned to vote for the legislation, said that Friday would have been the 'first big vote in the presidency of Donald Trump. I think it’s a statement, not just about him and the administration, but about the Republican Party and where we’re headed.'”

Is Byrne admitting the Party has no idea where it's headed, or is he just another befuddled Republican? I vote for both, but as this all becomes more challenging for the GOP, yet more enticing for Democrats, the country goes to hell. The future will be interesting in illustrating the ability of the United States to withstand the likes of a Donald Trump, measuring its capacity to survive in this environment, and see just how long it will take to awaken a dull and apathetic public. America is a strong country but unconscious, uninformed voters have never put us in this position before.

Paul Ryan ontacted every skeptical voter and "Trump had personally lobbied 120 lawmakers, either in person or on the phone," but all for naught. It went down like the Hindenburg, and not because of Democratic opposition, but due to Republicans that think their Party's attempt at replacing The Affordable Care Act is inadequate. Even Vice President Pence, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price jumped into the foray, but the hard-line House Freedom Caucus thought changes made would “raise serious coverage and cost issues.”

If you look closely at the Washington Post article, and it is a good read, you'll see very little participation by Democrats. As a matter of fact, here's one of the few, “You never intended for there to be a health plan of consequence for this nation,” said Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.)." He added, “What we will have done is helped rich people. And we will not have helped poor people.” Bingo, and I don't think that is really surprising, just the anemic left trying their best to get on record with the facts. It was really Bloomberg that put it all into perspective after Trumpcare was dumped Friday...

"We should pause and realize what a big deal this is. The number one agenda item for years, the one that most House Republicans campaigned on when first elected, and they couldn't manage to even get an initial bill out of the House. Not only that, but it was clear this week that even though most of them were willing to vote for it, practically no one was enthusiastic about what they had produced. It also polled terribly, and conservative health care wonks hated the bill."

Trumpcare RIP.

Weekend wrap-up of T-rump STUPIDS

It doesn't take much to collect a full body of stupid acts on the part of the Trump administration, but in many cases they are too little for a full-coverage post so I decided to wrap a bunch into a neat bundle and present it to you today. Here they are.

7 of 10 Americans disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling the healthcare situation. The Quinnipiac poll also found that DT, the man, is viewed poorly. He even fares worse on a Fox poll than he does on CNN re. healthcare. Donald John, in taking over the GOP's new healthcare bill, has managed to alienate the Freedom Caucus and other conservatives as well, to the extent that a vote on Thursday, March 23, had to be reschedule for today. There simply weren't enough votes on Thursday. IS OBAMACARE INVINCIBLE?

Sean Spicer doesn't like the press and so far they are returning the favor. That is the worst possible position a President's White House Press Secretary could be in, but, then, it reflects the exact position of the President he works for. In this kind of situation the President loses, but more important, the American people lose. Trump ran his 2016 campaign like a war room, and he and his administration are doing the same with the U.S. government. Following a conglomeration of muddled references to Trump's sources on the wiretaps, Spicer ends by saying Obama was helped in the wiretapping by the GCHQ, initials for the British intelligence finding agency. WHEN CONTACTED, THE BRITS SAID NO FREAKING WAY.

Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos allow student loan companies to gouge students again due to a high rise of defaults. Rather than find the cause of the unpaid loans, Trump/DeVos decided to do away with Obama's Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, forbidding agencies from charging fees for up to 16 percent of the principal and accrued interest owed on the loans, if the borrower entered the government’s loan rehabilitation program within 60 days of default. But in one case in particular, a loan company had assessed an exorbitant amount for defaulting, after agreeing to work with the student on a reduced payment schedule. PROVING...YOU CAN'T TRUST BUSINESS.

Nepotism is alive and thriving in Donald Trump's White House. Okay, the latest is that Kellyanne Conway's husband will be given a job in the Justice Department. "If confirmed by the Senate, George Conway would lead an office that would handle legal challenges to major Trump administration initiatives, such as the controversial travel ban." It started out with Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump's husband who was made a senior adviser to the President. His first diplomatic venture ended in failure as Great Britain rebuffed his efforts to push back votes on Israeli settlements until after the inauguration, supposedly as a favor to Netanyahu. Then, big daddy's daughter, Ivanka, is set to join daddy's administration as an unspecified, but reportedly influential policy role, and with that comes an office in the West Wing and top secret security clearance. Just what we need, a gang of Trumps out there running around with secrets about this country with no idea whatsoever the importance of what they hold. IN THIS CASE, NEPOTISM SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.

Even the Germans laugh at America's White House buffoon. The Daily Beast reports, "Trump Meets the German Press, and They Laugh At Him," their headline, followed by, "The American President, meeting his German counterpart, keeps taking victory laps, ripping reporters and ignoring the substance of tough questions." You would think the world's top narcissist would back off when going to visit one of the best allies the U.S. has had for years. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel was reserved and it would appear that she might just have been willing to let Donald John hang himself. He did, even appearing "impatient and restless as he stood at the podium." He continued by mocking a German reporter and later put down the U.S. in a statement about this county's trade failures, particularly NAFTA. BETTER KEEP DT HOME CUTTING THE WHITE HOUSE LAWN.

And finally, this huge Trump billboard that was recently erected in Phoenix of a "...menacing Donald Trump... flanked by mushroom clouds and swastikas configured like dollar signs." It is the blog picture today and, surprisingly, the Trump good-ole-boys haven't gone after it. Yet. It's owner, Karen Fiorito, a California resident, says, "I think a lot of people are feeling this way and I'm just trying to express what I think is on a lot of people's minds these days," followed by, "Something that really concerned us was this idea of a dictatorship where things were going in a certain direction." And if you look very closely at Donald John, you'll see a Russian flag on his lapel. She did the same thing for George W. Bush in 2004. By the way, she says the Donald Trump billboard will stay there as long as he is in the White House. UMMM...MAYBE ENOUGH OF THESE AROUND THE COUNTRY?

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Did Nunes quash all of Comey's work?

Devin Nunes---Whatta I do now?

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?