Wanna know why Donald Trump won't release his taxes?

Show of disgust for Donald Trump

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has told Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, that he won't be getting President Donald Trump's tax returns. CNN says this will result in the form of a subpoena, a contempt vote or a lawsuit. Because of the Oval Office lunatic, the Democrats are spending most of their time lately with threats and subpoenas. The question, of course, is will this all result in exposing the deceit of T-rump's administration?

On the other hand, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department and IRS because the Trump organization hasn't responded to her request for tax information. T-rump loves lawsuits, but he prefers being on the complainant side rather than the receiving side. With recent loses in the Trump businesses of $1 billion over the past 10-years, you'd think he'd be running out of money. Hell, he'll just borrow more.

Mnuchin's actual statement...

"In reliance on the advice of the Department of Justice, I have determined that the Committee's request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose, and ... the Department is therefore not authorized to disclose the requested returns and return information."

Another typical Donald Trump move, but CNN's Chris Cillizza thinks he knows why the Oval Office lunatic won't release his taxes...

1) Trump is not as rich as he says; 2) He has Russia ties; 3) He didn't pay many (or any) taxes; 4) He donates no (or very little) money to charity

Each of these could be embarrassing to all but the loyal Trump supporters who are ill-informed and mentally challenged. Trump actually said during the 2016 campaign that he would release his tax returns, but this, along with most things he says, turned out to be a lie. And the 'I'm under audit' excuse isn't valid since "there is no law that forbids a president -- or any citizen -- from releasing their taxes while under audit."

We just have to assume that Donald Trump has so much to hide as far as his taxes are concerned, that it could ruin his reputation and shame him for life. But not sure he has the mental capacity to actually understand that.

The disgraceful Mitch McConnell lies to Congress

Who the hell does Mitch McConnell think he is by assuming that he has the right to close the Mueller probe with a quick statement and a wave of the hand? This arrogant and obnoxious oaf is described in an Esquire article by Charles P. Pierce as a person who...

So he thinks

"Will Not Act in Good Faith, Even When the Security of the Country Is at Stake."

That's heavy but not unexpected. The Senate dictator has performed feats of unbelievable proportions solely for the sake of his ego and the Republican Party in the past, while completely ignoring the good of the country. But getting back to the headline and the fact that McConnell lied on the Senate floor, ThinkProgress says...

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke from the floor Tuesday and lied about several aspects of special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on Russian interference in the 2016 election."

He stated emphatically that the investigation (Mueller probe) was finally over so the Democrats should accept that fact and move on. He then rambled on...

“What we’ve seen is a meltdown, an absolute meltdown. An absolute inability to accept the bottom-line conclusion from the special counsel’s report, which said the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. That’s the conclusion.”

A bare-faced lie since Robert Mueller's report did not draw any conclusions, and over 450 ex-prosecutors have stated "special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s findings would have produced obstruction charges against President Trump — if not for the office he holds." The maniac continues...

“Two years of exhaustive investigation and nothing to establish the fanciful conspiracy theory that Democratic politicians and TV talking heads had treated like a foregone conclusion. They told everyone there had been a conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign. Yet … the special counsel’s finding is clear. Case closed.”

Well, it isn't, and nothing this moron can say will change the fact that it is pretty much universal that Donald Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice, protected only by the chair he sits in. Now "the Democratic controlled-House Judiciary Committee has requested Mueller testify as early as next week to discuss the report and investigation," according to CNN. Schumer rebuked McConnell...

"Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded to McConnell, saying 'it's not done' and accused the majority leader of 'whitewashing' Trump's conduct and attempting to protect the President from accountability." 

"The leader says, 'Let's move on. It's sort of like Richard Nixon saying let's move on at the height of the investigation of his wrongdoing."

The comparison with Nixon is highly appropriate, but just wish Chuck Schumer had been more critical of his mentally challenged colleague.

Vaccine exemption bills on rise despite measles outbreak

It is hard to believe the number of lawmakers, federal, state and local, that have the mentality of a goose egg. In spite of the fact that we now have 764 cases of measles in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, legislation to exempt is on the rise. However, bills that fine people who fail to vaccinate are gaining attention

It is hard to comprehend this stupid reasoning of exemptions when these people should be working together to pass bills that would require parents to vaccinate their children. This is not a matter of free choice when parents send their unvaccinated kid to school to infect fellow students and teachers, who then go out and infect the rest of the population. The actual "rights" that exist here are those of the individuals who do not want to be exposed to the disease.

The Business Insider reports...

"On Sunday, Germany's health minister proposed fining parents of school-age children who haven't received a measles inoculation up to $2,790."

"On the heels of a historic outbreak of measles in New York City last month, officials ordered people in four affected zip codes to get vaccines, with anyone failing to do so facing fines of up to $1,000."

I would think fines actually imposed and not just promised would be an excellent means of telling these halfwit anti-vaxxers that a sane public means business. 72% of the public says that parents should be required to vaccinate their children. The NBC/WSJ poll also found that, "There is also variation between different age groups, with Americans ages 35-49 least likely to support required vaccinations." This is interesting in that this is the group most likely to have children.

The Washington Post has actually mapped out measles cases showing where the current outbreaks are with comparisons of years in the past. The report also includes documentation of exemptions...

"Parents in 17 states can opt out of vaccinating their children if they cite personal or philosophical objections. All states have medical exemption laws since some people cannot be vaccinated because of health issues, such as weakened immune systems. Almost all states grant religious exemptions for people who have religious beliefs against immunization."

An epidemic is defined as a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time. Not only is the measles outbreak widespread within communities (like New York state) it is widespread across the country, as illustrated on the Washington Post map. I know the Mueller Report is important but at least people aren't dying from it, at least not yet and as far as I know. 

BREAKING: Trump uses executive privilege to block Mueller Report

More Trump obstruction daily

Well, it happened, the Oval Office lunatic has exerted executive privilege to block the Mueller Report from being released to the public. Nancy Pelosi said...

“Every single day the president is making a case — he's becoming self-impeachable, in terms of some of the things he's doing.”

The Hill reported House Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), said...

“This decision represents a clear escalation in the Trump administration’s blanket defiance of Congress’s constitutionally mandated duties. I hope that the department will think better of this last minute outburst and return to negotiations.”

The grueling question is, will all this flak the Democrats are giving Donald Trump come back to haunt them in an increase in his favorability rating, and will it prove helpful to the GOP in 2020? T-rump also continues to refuse to turn over his tax records from past years and there is a fight to obtain these by the Dems. Nadler accused the Trump administration of...

“unprecedented obstruction” in his opening remarks and argued that Trump had already waived executive privilege “long ago” in the course of the Mueller investigation.

There seems no end to what this maniac will do to protect the information that over 450 ex-prosecutors have said clearly stated in writing that he has obstructed justice. There can't really be a winner in all this.

Trump would be in jail if he wasn't president?

This is a huge question that looms in Washington and around the country today, 'Would Trump be in jail if he wasn't president?' If more than 450 former prosecutors are correct, he would be. These legal professionals...

"have signed on to a statement asserting special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s findings would have produced obstruction charges against President Trump — if not for the office he holds."

No doubt a precedent for a sitting president but certainly a disgrace for most of the American people, and certainly around the world. Matt Zapotosky of The Washington Post says that statement...

"offers a rebuttal to Attorney General William P. Barr’s determination that the evidence Mueller uncovered was “not sufficient” to establish that Trump committed a crime."

Although Mueller didn't commit on whether Donald Trump should be charged, "citing a Justice Department legal opinion that sitting presidents cannot be indicted, as well as concerns about the fairness of accusing someone for whom there can be no court proceeding," he pretty much left it up to Congress to decide. But the cowards they are, led by the lowlife Senate head, Mitch McConnell, have done nothing.

Rudy Giulani's ex-assistant was even among the former prosecutors protesting, signing a statement Monday that Trump would have been charged with obstruction saying...

“Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice.”

Jeffrey Harris was deputy associate to the attorney general and an assistant to Giulani as Donald Trump's lawyer. The statement in question "seeks to refute Attorney General William Barr’s decision that special counsel Robert Mueller presented evidence that was insufficient to conclude that Trump committed a crime," according to Jessica Kwong of Newsweek. The group also made the following statement...

“There are potential defenses or arguments that could be raised in response to an indictment of the nature we describe here. But, to look at these facts and say that a prosecutor could not probably sustain a conviction for obstruction of justice—the standard set out in Principles of Federal Prosecution—runs counter to logic and our experience.”

BINGO!

But Trump hasn't given up. On Tuesday, "the White House ordered former counsel Donald McGahn not to hand over documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe that House Democrats are demanding to examine." This all boils down to the fact that the magnitude of what Donald Trump must hide from is so magnanimous that he will go to any length to keep it from becoming public. And that folks, is the 45th president of the United States.

Amid all the gun violence we're shown how to build an AR-15

Most AR-15s come with blood stains

I could not believe it when I read the headline: "EXPLAINED: How to Build an AR-15 Assault Rifle," courtesy of the Gun [nut] News daily from The National Interest. The sub-head is: "Yes, this can be done. We will explain." Keep this thought while we look at some of the deadliest gun violence events in history...

58 killed - October 1, 2017 - In Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort and  Casino by Stephen Paddock from his hotel room lasting 10 to 15 minutes; 49 killed June 12, 2016 by Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, at the Pulse, a gay nightclub, in Orlando; 25 and an unborn child killed November 5, 2017 when a gunman opens fire on a small church in Sutherland Springs, Texas; 17 killed February 14, 2018 when a former student unleashes a hail of gunfire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida

There are many more you can see at the above site, but the most important factor to be considered is the fact that in most all cases an assault rifle was used, some of which were AR-15s, the very one this nut case magazine above is literally showing us how to make. So some off-the-spool gun nut can go out and buy the parts, come home and secretly put the weapon together, then go out and shoot all his friends and relatives or his fellow students.

The article even tells readers that if they are on a limited budget, "I’ve got you covered." And then it exclaims just how simple it is "to build a dependable AR-15 at home for hundreds less than what you would spend on a pre-built model." I cannot believe the specifics this piece goes into in the detailed explanation of constructing one's own AR-15 killing machine. And finally, the writer boasts of being able "to create a ready-to-shoot AR-15 in just under 90 minutes."

But, if you don't want to build your own gun, the same people have a list of five guns they claim are better than the Glock. Since I have no idea how good a Glock is and really don't care, I just focused on the fact that this clearly illustrates the fact that the United States has one of the sickest gun cultures in the world. This country has 120.5 firearms per 100 persons, a monstrous imbalance.

And there are more than 393 million civilian-owned firearms in the United States, or enough for every man, woman and child to own one and still have 67 million guns left over. I don't understand why anyone would want to take the time to make their own gun...just go out on the street and you'll find them everywhere.

Please give me your comments on this issue.

Trump hate spawns Poway synagogue style attacks

Southern California has had its share of hate groups like the one that attacked the Poway synagogue in San Diego, where one died and three were wounded. The Guardian labels it "a sunny, liberal enclave" and "an incubator of far-right politics, and it’s far from the first time its Jewish communities have faced violent threats." This is how Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center describes it...

“Hate groups and hate activity run pretty deep in Southern California, and have for a very long time. This activity is deeply rooted in Orange county and northern San Diego.”

 The KKK committed several acts of violence in the state during the 1920s, and a Klan member was elected to the Los Angeles city council in 1923. The Guardian reports...

"In San Diego, violence, harassment and organized discrimination against Mexican immigrants, alongside Jews and Catholics, was a major focus of the Klan in the 1920s and 1930s."

 That is then; Donald Trump is now. Here's a map that documents where President-elect Trump, his supporters, or his staff harassed or attacked Latinos, immigrants, Muslim-American, African-Americans, and other minority and marginalized groups.

NOTE: You can view individual incidents on the map by clicking directly on the Trump head “markers,” or you can click on the box-shaped symbol at the top left corner of the map to see a pull-down list of the incidents. I have posted on T-rump's hate campaigns before with this post, "Donald Trump has reinvigorated racism and hate." You can see more by going to my blog and searching, "Donald Trump Hate."

Never in the history of this country has there been a president who stoops so low as to do the things that Donald Trump has done. Nor have any placed their ego above the country they serve. Trump will go down in history as...I'll let you fill that in.

Please give me your comments on this issue.

Here's the latest you MUST KNOW about measles outbreak

ANTI-VAXXERS TOP NRA IN THEIR STUPIDITY

Measles fly into LAX and infect...Anti-vaxxers objections so ill-advised compounded by a senseless Congress...Brit did, now German minister proposes steep fines for anti-vaxxers...electronic medical records being used to identify unvaccinated patients and potentially infected individuals...Robert Reich says Getting a measles vaccination isn't a personal choice – it's a social responsibility...Here's an updated report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the measles outbreak

Get your politics now from left field

BRIEF ENCOUNTERS FROM THE LEFT

The NRA's self-dealing and non-profit status are two recent moves that will hopefully bring this organization of thugs down.

Keep the Electoral College? Here's how one person sees a way to compromise.

Donald Trump complains about the finish of the Kentucky Derby, a senseless statement that clearly shows his mind is not on the running of the country. Just another reason pundits are calling for Democrats to impeach or shut up.

12-year-old shoots and kills his 10-year-old brother in Texas; he is charged with murder. Where the hell did a 12-year-old get his hand on a gun? Irresponsible gun nut parents, perhaps?

Speaker Nancy Pelosi worried Donald Trump will not leave office willingly when he loses the election in 2020. Send in Alec Baldwin.

Please give me your comments on these issues.

Trump is now officially CLOWN for 2020 campaign

Just in from the circus

I have been calling Donald Trump a clown (here and here) for some time, as have several in the media. Now Joe Biden, the leading contender in the Democratic presidential primary has given T-rump his official campaign name...CLOWN. Biden, who has said recently he doesn't want to get into a "mud wrestlising (sp) match," then commented...

"There's so many nicknames I'm inclined to give this guy. You can just start with clown."

Should Biden be nominated by the Dems in the Primary, he no doubt wants to keep the campaign on the issues rather than the trashing strategy that Trump regularly uses on his opponents. Here's how Biden expressed his feelings...

"On every single issue and on every demeaning thing he says about other people, I have no problem responding directly. What I'm not going to do is get into what he wants me to do. He wants this to be a mud wrestling match."

Donald Trump graciously welcomed Joe Biden to the 2020 presidential race with this most "eloquent" comment...

"Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe. I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign. It will be nasty — you will be dealing with people who truly have some very sick & demented ideas. But if you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate!"

Biden has recently exclaimed that he thinks Trump is the problem, not Republicans, but many Democrats disagree. So do I! And if Biden continues to sidle up to the right (citing his relationships with “my Republican friends in the House and Senate.”) voters may interpret this as a weakness that could lose to Trump, resulting in Bernie Sanders surging in the polls. Here's how the New York Times views the situation...

"There is no disagreement among Democrats about the urgency of defeating Mr. Trump. But Mr. Biden’s singular focus on the president as the source of the nation’s ills, while extending an olive branch to Republicans, has exposed a significant fault line in the Democratic primary."

That (the Oval Office lunatic) is the reason this is perhaps the most important Democratic Primary in the history of voting. Never before has it been so necessary to remove a despotic dictator from office.

Please let me have your comments.

Brit convinced anti-vaxxers have blood on their hands

Rather harsh but pointed

"The UK's health secretary Matt Hancock said anti-vaccination campaigners were 'morally reprehensible, deeply irresponsible' and had 'blood on their hands,'" according to CNN. His comments are based on a UNICEF study that amplifies the measles outbreak issue...

"It takes two doses of measles vaccine to protect children from the disease. A troubling new report from UNICEF finds that 2.5 million children in the United States and 169 million children worldwide missed out on their first dose between 2010 and 2017. That's roughly 20 million children a year, on average."

And it has become sufficiently confirmed now that the measles epidemic that is sweeping the U.S. is solely the fault of parents so stupid they believe the only way to become immune from the disease is to let your children catch it and build immunity. As an example, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, exposed his children to chickenpox so they would get the disease and become immune. Different disease, same stupidity.

But here's the shocker, UNICEF also found...

"that measles deaths were up globally by 22% in 2017, and complacency and fear of vaccines were among the factors leading to less vaccinations."

Many of the uninformed have been influenced by fraudulent social media that has aggressively promoted the anti-vaxxer movement, much of which has been removed by these sites. And here's another excellent point by Hancock...

"If you don't vaccinate your child, it's not only your child that is at risk. It's also other children, including those children who, for medical reasons, can't be vaccinated."

Some have even suggested that anti-vaxxers should be prosecuted for this very reason. Why not? They have intentionally not taken advantage of something that is guaranteed to protect their child's health, and then have sent them off to school to infect other children. So here's something for you anti-vaxxers to think about and act on today...

"Vaccination is good for you, good for your child, and good for your neighbor and your community, said Matt Hancock."

Please give me your comments on this issue. 

Trump still the ugly white supremacist

"Two men accused of being members of a white supremacist group and arrested after the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, pleaded guilty to federal charges Friday," reported NBC. Joe Biden in his recent announcement for running in 2020, quoted Trump as saying, “very fine people on both sides” about the 2017 white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville. T-rump tried to spin it another way but his support of this hate group is obvious.

Well, the Oval Office lunatic has made his latest move in backing the white supremacists movement by tweeting his defense for far-right figures banned by Facebook, Louis Farrakhan, Paul Nehlen, and Alex Jones. Farrakhan is notorious for using anti-Semitic language, Nehlen is anti-Semite and ran for Congress in 2016 and Alex Jones is a far-right conspiracy theorist. No matter what else you think of Trump, he is clearly a rabid racist.

On the banning of the above, which Trump was reacting to, Facebook said...

"We've always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology."

Facebook claims their move is for purposes of safety, and they have also banned others in the past like fringe right-wing media personalities Paul Joseph Watson, Milo Yiannopoulos and Laura Loomer. What bothers me most is that if the Oval Office lunatic is blatantly supporting a host of white supremacists, doesn't that mean that the loyal gang who aggressively backs him is also white supremacists? Now this is scary since T-rump's base is supposedly in the 30 percent range.

Republican strategist Ryan Williams said...

"The president’s handling of Charlottesville was not one of the finer moments of his time in office. He shouldn’t take Joe Biden’s bait and re-litigate this controversy.”

But we know that Donald Trump can't stand criticism, especially now from his potential competition in the 2020 election. "Trump advisers maintain that the president’s comments about Charlottesville were — in the words of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday — 'darn near perfection.'” With no constraints on this White House, it is obvious this moron will run amok and what is even more frightening is the fact that his followers love it.

Please give me your comments on this issue.

GOP gerrymandering going down the tube

"A federal court has ruled that Ohio's congressional map is an 'unconstitutional partisan gerrymander' and must be redrawn by the 2020 election, reports National Public Radio. The Republican unethical ploy for keeping Democrats out of the voting booth is being axed all around the country. It is a result of the Dems allowing the GOP to establish strongholds on local and state levels while the dimwit Debbie Wasserman Schultz ran the Democratic National Committee.

States continuing the action are Texas as the fifth-most gerrymandered state, behind North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York. As I recall, this all started during George W. Bush's administration with Karl Rove as the head perpetrator. Now Ohio judges...

"agree with voting rights groups in their argument that Ohio's districts were 'intended to burden Plaintiffs' constitutional rights, had that effect, and the effect is not explained by other legitimate justifications.'"

In other words, Republicans were caught with their hands in the voting box. Which means that the Grand Old Party will stoop to just about anything to get its way. And we can thank this gerrymandering for many of the Republicans now in Congress. That is the reason to get all these cases through the courts as soon as possible so Democrats will have a fair shot in 2020. Of course that won't prevent Donald Trump with coming up with more bogus voting fraud.

Every ten years following a census the "boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts are redrawn, in what’s known as the redistricting process," according to Vox. The process explained...

"In most states, the new maps are drawn by the state legislature and then approved by the governor. So partisan control of each of those three political entities is crucial. If a single party controls all three, that party can usually draw whichever maps they want without giving the opposition party any say. If control is split, a compromise will usually result."

Based on the above, you can understand how the Democrats fell behind and are now playing catch up. Can't say the Dems are the brightest bunch yet but trust they won't let this happen again.

More news from left field

LATE BREAKING NEWS ITEMS

Southern Poverty Law Center troubles continue...Excellent example of greed and arrogance of the wealthy on college admissions...How can we stop robocalls?...So many guns in America, now they are going to Mexico...Bernie must come on strong for gun control to coincide with latest interest in this issue...First example conservative SCOTUS will turn against gun control

Have we just witnessed the Trump laugh of the century?

Here's the headline: "Trump urges Republicans, Democrats to ‘come together for the good of the American people.'" And it is the source of 99% of Washington bedlam that is speaking those words. Just look at the recent turnovers in the administration, described by CNN as constant chaos. The conservative Washington Examiner is mentioning none of the above as it quotes the absurd tweets of T-rump in trying to play down the results of the Mueller Report.

The WE did mention that "no Americans participated in collusion with Russia, but did not clear Trump of obstruction of justice." What it didn't say was that Mueller laid the groundwork that basically showed Trump's obstruction of justice, some that could be addressed by the U.S. Congress, and is being pursued by the New York Attorney General. Wm. Barr's blockade on the Mueller Report can be thanked for Trump's recent aggression on the issue.

Politifact published a scorecard on the Oval Office lunatic recently showing that Trump's statements are true only 5% of the time and are false 34% of the time, mostly false 21% of the time. That's a total of 55% and a disgrace when it is the person who runs our country. In all fairness, the Washington Post published an article recently of the 10 best things Trump did in 2018, some of which are questionable. But none of this would constitute a peace offering.

I'll believe this man really wants accord between parties when he hands in his resignation. Until then...just more chaos.

News to use

LATE BREAKING NEWS ITEMS

Why does Amazon pay no taxes?...More states are passing "Red Flag Laws"...Trump's "Anti-Woman" attacks blocked again...Health insurance deductibles soar-are employers to blame?...Democrats are obsessed with electability...Franklin Graham is a schmuck-certainly not like his dad

Even GOP says Trump not exonerated by Mueller Report

What can I say...and I didn't

It was Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse who best explained why the Mueller Report does not exonerate Donald Trump's antics. During the Barr hearing in the Senate, and following a long haul of frustration with Trump's bizarre behavior, Sasse made his point using Paul Manafort...

"Paul Manafort is hired by Deripaska for things related to the Ukraine. … He is on the payroll of a Russian oligarch that has interests completely disaligned with the American people. He is on his payroll. Is it permissible for [an American campaign official] to be paid by someone who is basically an enemy of the United States?"

Manafort was Donald Trump's campaign manager after Trump fired Corey Lewandowski in the 2016 election. The former will serve 47 months in prison "for financial fraud convictions obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller as he investigated Manafort's alleged collusion with the Russian government in 2016." Manafort is reported to have given up plenty in Robert Mueller's investigation that clearly points to obstruction of justice by Donald Trump.

Then Delaware's Democratic Sen. Chris Coons chimed in...

"he targeted Barr with a question based on the June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting attended by three top Trump advisers and several Russians. The Russians had high-level government and intelligence connections and had conveyed through an intermediary that they were interested in providing the Trump campaign incriminating material about Clinton in the context of 'Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.'”

Mueller didn't pursue this due to the fact it would be difficult to prove, which Barr has picked up on in his all-out defense of Donald Trump. This has apparently given T-rump the will to defy Democrats at every turn in their investigation of the Oval Office lunatic, primarily in the release of his personal taxes. Apparently, Barr has found more confidence through his boss and has completely refused to appear before Democrats in the House.

Trump ran as the CEO president. But any corporate board would have fired him without ceremony or hesitation, reported The Hill. It also said...

"A corporate board would never tolerate even a fraction of Trump’s 1,400 conflicts of interests; A corporate CEO wouldn’t survive even one serious investigation of wrongdoing; A board would not keep a CEO who publicly lied as much as Trump; Any corporate board would be alarmed by the turnover in Trump’s administration, the number of unfilled leadership positions and temporary/acting replacements."

And if it weren't for the lowlife Senate head, Mitch McConnell, a "federal board of directors" could have done away with Donald Trump a long time ago. 

World asking why so many U.S. mass shootings?

The U.S. has 4.4 percent of the global population but owns 42 percent of the world’s guns. According to a 2015 study by Adam Lankford, professor at the University of Alabama...

Dianne Feinstein-Here's the culprit

"Worldwide, a country’s rate of gun ownership correlated with the odds it would experience a mass shooting. This relationship held even when he excluded the United States, indicating that it could not be explained by some other factor particular to his home country."

In another Lankford study of the same year, "only 4 percent of American gun deaths could be attributed to mental health issues." And re. suicides...

"countries with high suicide rates tended to have low rates of mass shootings — the opposite of what you would expect if mental health problems correlated with mass shootings."

That pretty much puts a damper on the NRA's perpetual and tiring comment that mass shootings are a mental health issue. The Washington Post Editorial Board said "there have been more than 100 mass shootings, more than 4,500 gun deaths (not counting suicides) and more than 8,400 gun injuries. Here's a comparison with down under...

"Australian physician. Nikki Stamp, a heart and lung surgeon in Perth, Australia, said in a Wednesday Post op-ed that in more than 16 years of practice, she has had to deal with only two instances of gunshot wounds. One was a man who had accidentally shot himself and the other an attempted suicide."

And if you look at the Aussie's gun laws you can understand Stamp's comment. This is "because of the gun-control measures the country put in place after a mass shooting in 1996, in which 35 people were killed." Sheer common sense which neither the U.S. Congress nor the American public has. Australia wonders why we haven't tried the same thing here. So do American gun advocates. And speaking of the U.S. Congress...

"Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California is introducing legislation to increase the minimum age to buy assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in the wake of a shooting in that state."

This is sheer nonsense considering the magnitude of the gun violence issue, especially since it was Feinstein who proposed banning assault weapons entirely just a few years ago. It is dumb moves like this the rest of the world will look at and marvel that the U.S. population hasn't self-destructed using its 393-million guns. Come to think of it, it is a wonder we haven't.

Wm. Barr on a par with Mitch McConnell as lowlife

Barr and Trump

CNN's analysis by Stephen Collinson is frightening, to say the least, and predicts months of "unchained presidency" by Donald Trump. Collinson says Trump was right when he remarked that he could get away with anything. He continues...

"The drama also showed that in the short span of a White House term, given certain partisan conditions, the modern political system will find it almost impossible to constrain a President -- especially one who poses such an overwhelming challenge to congressional custom as Trump."

He has accomplished all this with the help of Attorney General Wm. Barr, "a human block of granite, who sees few limits on presidential power and is willing to obfuscate and execute blocking movements on his behalf." But Collinson's most alarming statement is...

"There's probably never going to be a price to pay."

Which means Stephen Collinson believes that the Oval Office lunatic will never be held accountable for the bizarre antics of his administration. He doesn't believe House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will act on impeachment and the House investigations will continue until they have run their course. In other words, we must live with T-rump until he is voted out of office, because with his enormous ego exceeding all limits, he won't resign. A dismal outlook for sane voters.

Barr has completely obfuscated the Mueller Report getting harsh criticism that comes from both sides of Congress and the general public. Benjamin Wittes of The Atlantic says, "The attorney general misled the public in seven key ways." And although in the beginning he said he was willing to give Barr a chance, finally concluded that "he [Barr] is likely as good as we’re going to get," [from Donald Trump] 20 more months to put up with this monumental nuisance.

Wittes on Barr's failures...

"Where Barr has utterly failed, by contrast, is in providing 'honest leadership that insulates [the department] from the predations of the president.' I confess I am surprised by this. I have never known Barr well, but I thought better of him than that.'

Benjamin Wittes is Editor in chief of Lawfare and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Please give me your comments on this issue.

Latest on the Democratic Primary for 2020

2020 Democratic candidates

To begin, it should be noted that after Joe Biden announced his candidacy recently, he shot up to a 26-point lead over other candidates, Elizabeth Warren second, Bernie Sanders third. Don't know about Warren's campaign, but I'll bet that Bernie's camp expected the surge; the question is what will he do about it? One thing he is doing is out-raising his competitors in contributions bringing in $18.2million in first-quarter fundraising.

On the other hand, Biden raised $6.3 million on his first day out of the gate. Kamala Harris is second to Bernie and Elizabeth Warren is a distant fifth at $6 million in total returns. The BBC says...

"Her [Warren] campaign is far from scraping the bottom, however, as she transferred $10.4m from her Senate campaign coffers to her presidential account, giving her some financial breathing room in the months ahead."

But here's the game changer...

"64 percent of Democrats and likely Democrats who had selected a favorite presidential candidate said it is possible they might change their mind. Thirty-six percent said they 'definitely support' their top choice."

Which means Joe Biden's 26% lead could go up in smoke and any of the other challengers could become the favorite. Money is the thing and Bernie Sanders is one of the best at fundraising, depending on small donations in the range of around $27.00 each that are loyal donors who give over and over.  But "Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) topped the list, with 23 percent of respondents putting her in the top three candidates they were most curious about."

Elizabeth warren was second, Joe Biden third. It might be safe to assume, because of Bernie Sanders run in the 2016 election, the public is so familiar with him they don't need to know more. There are 21 Democratic presidential candidates in the race so far with Joe Biden regularly taking the lead and the Bern a close second. However, Elizabeth Warren has seen increased interest in the last few days. In other words, it's still a wide-open Primary.

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Reasons to trash NRA and pass gun control

DUMP THE NRA

Iowa woman shot and killed while driving home from work...2 dead, 4 wounded in U.N.C. Charlotte shooting...2 judges shot in disturbance outside White Castle in Indianapolis...National Review asks will culture war kill NRA?...NY Gov. Cuomo believes the NRA is counterproductive

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Latest on the NRA downfall

DOWN WITH THE NRA

Even gun nut Ted Nugent says NRA Has been "less than accountable...Head gun nut Wayne LaPierre re-elected at NRA...Re-elected NRA head Wayne LaPierre goes forward with internal turmoil and an outside probe...NRA has huge mess on it hands with New York Attorney General investigation of group...NRA's leadership battle is worst in very long time

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Fact Checker: Trump continues lies at "unbelievable pace"

What past president do you know of that made over 10,000 false or misleading comments in the first 2-years of their presidency...and they can be documented? I don't know of any since it is entirely possible that no other president has been flagrant enough in his lying to prompt the media to literally record this action. And that is purely pathetic! For the Oval Office lunatic, that's 12.2 claims per day, or 10,111 total claims in the 828 days of the Trump presidency.

The leading Washington Post Fact Checker, Glenn Kessler, said...

"The President continues to say false or misleading statements at an unbelievable pace."

This said of the moron who leads the most powerful country in the world. Here's more...

"According to The Post, the largest issue area of false or misleading claims has been immigration. The most-repeated claim is that the border wall is currently being built, something that Congress has not allocated funding for or authorized construction of. The Post points out that there are portions of the border wall being repaired."

If this lying dolt spent as much time in the improvement of this country as he does on immigration and other lies, the U.S. would be in much better shape. According to Fact Checker, most of Trump's false or misleading claims--22%--occur at his campaign rallies. There were 61 alone at the rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin. As an example...

"Trump said he had cut the estate tax to "zero," or that he was one vote away from repealing the Affordable Care Act — both claims are untrue."

Yet, the man's pitiful followers still stand by him with accolades over his stupidity that is apparently inherent in the whole gang of Trumpsters. George Conway, the husband of White House adviser Kellyanne Conway had this to say on Twitter...

"Congrats, #DerangedDonald!! An amazing accomplishment!! No one but you could have achieved this."

it was retweeted 12,000 times by the time it was published.

Yes, make anti-vaxxers face isolation, fines, arrests.

I couldn't say it better so I will just quote the Washington Post headline...

Anti-vaxxers are dangerous. Make them face isolation, fines, arrests.

 The author of the opinion piece says she loves her children and believes these anti-vaxxers love theirs too. If the latter is the case, then they must be complete idiots with their actions going blatantly in the face of evidence that vaccinations save lives. Juliette Kayyem continues...

"But, I am quite confident in this fact: I love their children much more than they love mine. These anti-vaxxer parents — call them free-riders or even pro-plague — are putting my children and our communities at risk to cater to their erroneous belief that vaccinations would harm their children rather than contribute to the elimination of childhood diseases."

Kayyem wants to switch the focus on the measles epidemic from a public health problem to a public safety crisis, accompanied by arrests, fines and isolation. BINGO! My thoughts exactly, as you can read in past posts. With Trump admitting we have a big problem, it is now up to the U.S. Congress to put these uniformed parents in the position of vaccinate...or else. The patience period has ended and if we don't want a pandemic in this country, we must act now!

As of April 26, there have been 704 measles cases in the U.S. The last closest outbreak was 667 cases in 2014, which originated at the Disney theme park in Los Angeles. As Kayyem indicates, we are in an avoidable crisis that was caused by irresponsible parents, many of which were misguided by social media. She comments further...

"Imagine, instead, that this outbreak is what happens when negligent people do negligent things, such as sending a kid to school with a loaded gun and hoping for the best."

Now there is the best comparison I have seen of this senseless epidemic. Sending your unvaccinated kid to school is like putting a gun in their hand just before getting on the school bus. They both can kill!

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Joe Biden holds 26 point lead over all Democrats

What is most astonishing after learning Joe Biden leads the Democratic Primary pack by 26 points is that Elizabeth Warren comes in second with 12 percent, and even more unbelievable to me is that Bernie Sanders is third at 11 percent. This is the highly respected Quinnipiac University Poll whose assistant Director Tim Malloy said...

“The Democratic primary race suddenly gets real with a fast start by former Vice President Joe Biden and a very clear indication from voters that he is the only candidate who can send President Trump packing 18 months from now.”

So how are Progressives supposed to feel about Biden, who appears to be a moderate with further left tendencies. The Hill-HarrisX daily poll, taken last December said voters who have...

"a 'strong liberal' ideology prefer former Vice President Joe Biden to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in a hypothetical 2020 matchup against President Trump, according to a new poll."

I would prefer to hear it from the candidate's mouth and will wait until Joe Biden addresses issues like gun control, free healthcare and education and immigration reform to name a few. I would also feel more comfortable if Obama spoke more positively about his former vice president. The results of the Quinnipiac University Poll are similar to survey results that report on Biden's surge in the polls after announcing he was in the race. Almost like they were just waiting.

In Pittsburgh, Biden spoke to a firefighters union the International Association of Fire Fighters, which endorsed him earlier in the day. He called himself a "union man," sounding like the days when unions helped candidates win elections. He talked about gun violence, plant closings and moving out of the country. He also called for a national minimum wage of $15 per hour, mostly sounding like Bernie Sanders. Then he exclaimed he could beat Donald Trump in 2020.

I like the last part best and obviously a lot of people out there agree.