What's for Christmas mommy? An assault rifle of course honey

August 19, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET NEWS BYTES...Where Liberals Walk

NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer is crazier than ever  

I thought I had heard the most bizarre comments already from the NRA's Florida lobbyist, Marion Hammer, but she proved she is still as crazy as NRA head, Wayne LaPierre with this question...

Wayne LaPierre

“How do you tell a 10-year-old little girl who got a Ruger 10/22 with a pink stock for her birthday that her rifle is an assault weapon and she has to turn it over to government or be arrested for felony possession?”

This is beyond belief that any responsible parent would give a ten-year-old child any gun, much less an assault rifle. This walking propagandist has spread more gun violence over Florida and the rest of the country than is possible to comprehend. Here are some actual facts from Hammer...

"Florida is the number five state in terms of gun production. And Hammer pressed that gun manufacturers are a $1 billion dollar industry with more than 700 firearms manufacturing license holders. In 2016, those smaller shops and large manufacturers produced more than 750,000 weapons."

NRA turmoil that could put it out of business...

 Don't know what would be best, get rid of Hammer, or just get rid of the state of Florida, which would eliminate the gun manufacturers as well. It's when you witness the idiocy of moron gun nuts like this that you realize the significance of gun control and why these gun rights maniacs fight it so hard. Hammer received a litany of Twitter activity telling her just how stupid she was for the comment, and the fact that she is lamenting the fate of the poor gun manufacturers.

What possible sane individual could give a crap about a company that is in the business of producing weapons of human destruction, particularly on young children? These lost lives also come at a large expense...

"Dr. Charles Tate, a Broward County radiologist, said Florida would save millions that way, citing that the 2016 Pulse shooting in Orlando costs about $390 million from medical costs, police, and expense to employers."

John Legend on Dayton gun violence...

Although this does not eclipse the innocent people that die from the use of these weapons, you have to look at the overall picture from a national basis. There have been at least 17 deadly mass shootings in the U.S. in 2019, 3 more that could have been. And there are numerous shooting deaths across the nation every day. Here's a headline from Quartz...

"It took more than 700 deaths over 20 years for Americans to finally dislike the NRA"

Further...

"It took at least 87 mass shootings and 725 fatalities, but for the first time in 19 years, American opinion has finally turned on the National. Rifle Association (NRA)."

And the polls support this...

"According to a poll by Fox News published Aug. 14, 47% of Americans hold an unfavorable view of the NRA, versus 42% who hold a favorable one."

With Wayne LaPierre and his NRA on the run in recent internal conflicts and fraud investigations, it is time to eliminate the major source of gun violence in this country. And then we can busy ourselves getting the millions of guns off the street.

Early morning gist of the news

August 19, 2019: PROGRESSIVE NEWS BRIEFS...Where Liberals Walk

An abbreviated view of recent political events 
 

Donald Trump polls just keep getting worse

Did you know that One of Trump’s ‘America First’ Speeches Was Edited By Saudi Arabia?

Did you know that "financial institutions have handed a wealth of information on Russians linked to Donald Trump and members of his family to congressional committees."

Did you know that "Mitch McConnell’s efforts to lift sanctions on Russian companies helped pave the way for a major aluminum project in Kentucky?"

McConnell's crooked deal with Russians...

Did you know that evangelicals are just fine with Trump's racism?

Did you know that Donald Trump aides call his daily work ethic the “absolute amateur hour” at the White House?

Did you know that "Economist Robert Reich warns that the ‘sugar high’ of ‘Trumponomics’ won’t last: ‘The economy is very, very fragile’"

Robert Reich: Is Donald Trump worst president ever?...

Did you know that the WSJ "trashed [Trump] adviser Peter Navarro for being the driving force behind policies that appear to be driving the entire world’s economy into recession.

Did you know that the Internet said "Everything you touch goes bankrupt," in reference to Trump claims the media caused his failing economy.

Conservative strategist Rick Wilson: "Everything Trump touches dies"...

Did you know that Washington Post columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner in 2009, Eugene Robinson condemned Donald Trump polling numbers across the board citing more poor performance in Electoral states.

Did you know that conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin tells the story of why Trump is "tanking." 

What Trump supporters really look like

August 18, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET NEWS BYTES...Where Liberals Walk

Trump supporters are less than hopeless  

They try, but this is what they are

Have you ever tried to convince a Donald Trump follower that he is a tyrannical despot scraping the bottom of the political barrel? In my blog posts, I make these and more allegations against the Oval Office lunatic. It zings right past them into eternity because this ego maniac has managed to take over control of their brains, and they can no longer think for themselves. Their abilities are also limited since I can tell most of them don't even read my posts, just headlines. The scenario...

“The sad truth is that with all that Trump has said and done, millions of Americans don’t see where he has ever crossed the line,” Washington Post, columnist Colbert King wrote. “Slurring Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists? Calling for a ban on all Muslims coming into the country? Suggesting that a U.S.-born judge overseeing a Trump University lawsuit should recuse himself because of his Mexican heritage (“He’s a Mexican,” Trump said)? Saying people in the United States from Nigeria will never “go back to their huts”? Referring to Haiti and African countries as “s—hole countries” while wishing the United States would take more people from places like Norway?”

Some of Trump's pathetic supporters...

Colbert adds more...

“Trump’s loyal base of supporters rejects or ignores any charge of bias. They stay locked in, because they see things his way; he is speaking for them,” he explained. “So, don’t waste time trying to convince them that Trump has a dark side. They have heard what you heard; have seen what you’ve seen. The difference: They delight in the Trump thoughts, words and deeds that you denounce.”

King muses that these Trump people just don't care, adding, "after over two years of watching Trump in action, any fans he has left are no different than the president." And left with this, nothing could be worse.

Trump 2020 election doomed by economic downturn

August 17, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET NEWS BYTE...Where Liberals Walk

The economy will be Donald Trump's downfall  

Same way Donald Trump runs the U.S.

Donald Trump's tax cut failed and since then the economy has begun a spiral down that just might carry him into the 2020 elections. The Guardian says that could be disastrous since the US economy is the centerpiece of his re-election campaign. And this is happening just two years into his first four-year term. In this same period during his predecessor's administration, President Barack Obama, he was ending the 2008 recession cause by George W. Bush.

Obama economy much better than Trump's...

T-rump has also given us escalating trade wars that are now threatening everything from big business to the farming community. The maniacy of Donald Trump is a menace that will bring this country to its knees and that is saying something for the most powerful nation in the world. Here's the scenario...

“The economy is absolutely critical to his re-election,” said Michael Steel, a former aide to the retired House speaker John Boehner. “The handling of the economy is, generally speaking, the only issue that he is viewed positively on in polling."

Trump's statement in his 2019 State of the Union address: “An economic miracle is taking place in the United States.” What he should have said was, 'It will take a miracle to get the United States back to where it was before the Donald Trump administration took office.'

Donald Trump is getting more and more irrational every day

August 19, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET NEWS BYTES...Where Liberals Walk

Just how "worst president" is Donald Trump  

Donald Trump even worse than GWB

It's a no-brainer that Donald Trump could not come up with anything substantive on his own to run this country, so he relies on Barack Obama accomplishments to steal acclaim for. Like "claiming credit for the opening of a Shell plant in Pennsylvania this week, despite the fact that construction for the plant was first announced by the Obama administration in 2012." Others include "everything from Ford plants to jobs at Charter Communications and SoftBank.”

CNN’s John Avlon provides a litany of things T-rump had supposedly done, although in reality they were done before he even became president. Here's another...

"Trump blatantly lied when he took credit [80 times] for the VA Choice bill that expanded U.S. veterans’ options for receiving health care. The law, it turns out, was cosponsored by the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and signed into law by Obama in 2014."

 It's a given that Donald Trump will go down in history as the worst president this country has ever had--yes, worse even than George W. Bush--but the question is if and when the United states can recover from his stupidity.

Donald Trump ranks solidly last in U.S. presidents...

Next up, Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post says Donald Trump is getting more and more irrational every day. She mentions his baseless conspiracy theory about the death of Jeffrey Epstein having been caused by Bill and Hillary Clinton. In my opinion that was a move to take the attention away from the Oval Office lunatic, perhaps something we are yet to learn. She adds...

"Yet his party is willing to allow an impulsive and irrational commander in chief remain in office."

But even more worrisome than this is T-rump's loyal supporter base of double-digits who follow him no matter where he goes. The last figure I remember was around 30%, and it is a frightening fact that that many Americans stand for the same deplorable things Donald Trump stands for. Rubin leaves us with her assessment of Trump...

"that the 45th president is a reckless buffoon; a conspiratorial, racist moron, whose weird comments should be disregarded by sensible people.”

And WP's Jennifer Rubin follows her piece above with, "The king of insults can’t handle the truth about himself."  She addresses #45...

"President Trump has made more than 12,000 false or misleading statements during fewer than 1,000 days in office and has insulted hundreds of people, entire countries and our collective intelligence."

Strike-through above my own. Continuing, "When confronted with unpleasant truths about himself, however, he wigs out, according to The Post’s reporting." She is referring to the fact that Trump can't seem to shake the label of racist, a recognition that he has certainly earned honestly. If you Google "Donald Trump racist" you get 167 million hits. Finally, Rubin mentions, "taking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s word over that of the U.S. intelligence community."

That borders on treason.

White Supremacist Evangelical Republican Party loves Donald Trump

August 16, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET...News Bytes where Liberals Walk

Paul Krugman is a Nobel Prize-winning economist who muses over how Donald Trump openly and without restraint, spouts his perpetual bigotry...  

Donald Trump in his environment

"how prominent Republicans had failed to link President Donald Trump’s incitements to violence to a rise in hate crimes following the weekend’s mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, that was carried out by a gunman suspected of holding white supremacist views."

He continues...

“So the party remains in lockstep behind a man who has arguably done more to promote racial violence than any American since Nathan Bedford Forrest, who helped found the Ku Klux Klan, a terrorist organization if there ever was one.”

As have other critics of Donald Trump commented, this pretty much puts T-rump on the same level as Adolph Hitler. Harking back to the atrocities of Nazi Germany, and considering the Oval Office lunatic is in charge of the most powerful country in the world--at least currently--just very simply...how can this be? Krugman told us, because of an inept and cowardly Congress. And it is something the American public will have to deal with in 2020.

Trump insider on his racism...

What is even more terrifying is the White (Supremacist) Evangelical Republican Party is solidly behind Donald Trump and will not be swayed by his white nationalism and blatant racism. I left the organized church years ago and this kind of realization makes me understand why. Here's another extremely alarming statement...

"No matter what Donald Trump does or says, most Republicans and white evangelicals are not going to criticize or break from him in 2020. It is also a fantasy that his racist rhetoric and policies will turn off most Republicans and white evangelicals."

And here's the reason from David Schultz of Counterpunch...

"What Trump has achieved is the merger and consolidation of white supremacy, white evangelicalism and Republicanism into a party that simply is about racial identity. This is the new Republican Party."

That's about as scary as it gets, at the very least when you consider the Ten Commandments. People of God are supposed to be giving and forgiving, not raging racists who hate anyone who doesn't look like them. "Recent Pew Research Centerpolls puts Trump’s approval among evangelicals at 69%, although down from a high of 78%, but still overwhelming." Schultz adds...

"The Republican Party today of Donald Trump is the product of three political movements that have consolidated to a core set of principles that focus mostly on race, but also on guns, abortion, and gay rights."

This is chilling.

Evangelicals still support Donald Trump, regardless...

Here's advice from Trump's evangelical adviser Robert Jeffress : "Make kids scared of Jesus again and stop teaching evolution to end mass shootings." This article goes on to discuss the part religion plays in ending gun violence. Matthew Chapman of Raw Story comments, "Trump is the end result of 40 years of right-wing radio hate-mongering," as Chapman quotes CNN’s Michael Smerconish...

“That’s the day [August 1, 1980] that Rush Limbaugh takes to the radio,” said journalism expert Brian Rosenwald. “And people tune in, what they hear every day is calls for action. It doesn’t make for good radio to say, hey, nuance, compromise, that stuff is boring. But fighting, that’s good radio. And Donald Trump captured that.”

Agreed, white supremacy, racism and particularly hate, could not be discussed without mentioning Russ Limbaugh, perhaps one of Donald Trump's biggest mentors. 

Donald Trump meltdown imminent

August 15, 2019: NEWS BYTES ON PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk

Four stories this morning that indicate that Donald Trump's bubble is about to burst.

The Donald Trump meltdown is here

The first is the "massive, nonsensical tweetstorm" he let out after his prior booster Fox News reported his disapproval numbers tanked and "are almost the worst they’ve ever been." Further...

"his China trade war is destroying markets worldwide. The DOW dropped 800 points Wednesday, and DOW futures are swinging “wildly.” Reports from inside the White House say aides are terrified that the economic numbers will be the end of his presidency."

In the second story, Nancy LeTourneau in the Washington Monthly said, with his presidency at risk, Trump would go to war with the world to keep it...

"We should know by now that there is no bottom to the depths Trump will go in a battle like this. To lose means obliteration, so he’ll pull out every ugly trick he can concoct. Given his positional power, that could be dangerous, so buckle up for a very bumpy ride with an overgrown toddler, who also happens to occupy the Oval Office."

And based on T-rump's approval ratings, Matt Rogers demonstrated what their findings would mean in the electoral college: If the election were held today, Democrats 419, Republicans 119. Abysmal! But, then, the election is more than a year away and a lot can happen before then, like a Democratic Party that can't get its act together and come up with the ultimate strategy to beat the GOP in 2020. Right now with some 20 candidates in play, the optimism is guarded.

MSNBC evaluates past Trump tweets...

And in the third story, AlterNet points out that, "Trump’s promise of an economic boom is proving to be a failure." To back that up...

"The GOP’s 2017 tax cut bill appears to have been a dud. The trade war with China is spooking investors. There’s little sign that the administration’s deregulatory fever is doing anything other than allowing businesses to screw consumers over and pollute more. And on top of all that, economists are increasingly worried that we may be on the brink of recession. And on Wednesday, the stock markets closed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average having dropped 800 points."

So, what does the Oval Office lunatic do, he blames Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who recently raised the interest rate for an unknown reason since there were no signs of inflation. Janet Yellen had everything under control, but Trump had to have his own man. And now the Dow is taking a nosedive and the trade war with China threatens to have more repercussions around the world. It is so tragic this country must suffer from such an incompetent moron.

Donald Trump tax cut fails...

Then finally the opinion of Alex Henderson that Donald Trump's presidency will "end in disgrace. Trump will eventually be abandoned by his biggest fans." Trump's tenure in the White House is already a disgrace and it is just unbelievable that his supporters can't see this. It would indicate to me that my past assessment of their double-digit IQs is right on. Here's the parting shot by The Week, journalist Windsor Mann ...

“It’s too soon to say when Donald Trump’s presidency will end, but it’s not too soon to say how it will end. It will end in disgrace. And when it does, Trump’s defenders will turn on him.”

It can't happen too soon for this country and the world. 

Donald Trump turns conspiracy theories into an "art"

August 15, 2019: DAILY NEWS BYTES

PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk

  

The minute the Oval Office lunatic took on the mantle of white supremacy, thinking it would please many of his followers, he started diving in the polls, and it doesn't look like this trend is abating. As an example, a new poll from Quinnipiac University cites the fact that "Most Americans think Trump is racist." Although that may appeal to some of his supporters, most don't accept it.

And harking back to his 2016 win in the Electoral College--not the popular vote--2020 doesn't look good. In "six NBC News/Wall Street Journal polls spanning January-July 2019. And in all but one of them, Trump’s approval is 'underwater among suburban residents.'” 

Conspiracy theories have been with us in U.S. politics for years; remember JFK's death? But it has taken a moron like Donald Trump to move this "art" into, well, the 22nd century. In 2018, yes, even a year ago, Simon Maloy of Media Matters has compiled some of T-rump's best. Like when Trump pressured DOJ to "start an investigation into their own department’s investigation of Trump’s campaign." MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said...

“The president has now crossed one of the brightest red lines in the American rule of law: demanding the Department of Justice open a politically motivated investigation designed to sabotage the criminal and counterintelligence probe into the president’s own campaign. ”

CNN's Anderson Cooper takes on Trump conspiracy theories...

Here's a headline for ya, "White Nationalist Terrorism Is a Problem. Trump Is a Bigger One." This a statement from the Intelligencer's Eric Levitz. And then...

"Four days after a white nationalist targeted Latinos in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso — and three weeks after the director of the FBI confirmed that white supremacist ideology is the leading driver of domestic terrorism in the U.S. — the Fox News host assured his viewers that white supremacy was a 'hoax.'”

That was one of Fox's mentally challenged reporters, Tucker Carlson. But the network says his job is safe for now. Why not, as long as he comes up with disinformation like this, he is right at home.

 Raw Story says that there are 20 different ways Donald Trump mirrors Hitler. A new book, "When at Times the Mob Is Swayed: A Citizen’s Guide to Defending Our Republic" by Burt Neuborne, he "describes how America’s constitutional checks and balances are being pushed to the brink by a president who is consciously following Adolf Hitler’s extremist propaganda and policy template from the early 1930s—when the Nazis took power in Germany."

Here's its focus...

"how America’s constitutional foundation in 2019—an unrepresentative Congress, the Electoral College and a right-wing Supreme Court majority—is not positioned to withstand Trump’s extreme polarization and GOP power grabs."

There's more...looks like the book is worth reading.

Even back to 2016 election, Trump compared to Hitler...

Is Donald Trump trying to provoke a recession? Salon's Bob Cesca had hoped for an embargo on the Republican Party after the George W. Bush years but instead, laments...we got something much worse...

"Eight years later, 62 million voters recklessly ignored the lessons of 2001 to 2009 by installing an even more incompetent, dangerous and unstable Republican administration in the White House."

Added to that, the lies and misinformation spewing from Fox News convinced Trump's base of double-digits that "the steadily improving economy of the Barack Obama administration was 'American carnage.'” Thus initiating a return to...

"the stewardship of Republicans who had been responsible for a $1.4 trillion deficit, the collapse of the stock market, more than 800,000 jobs lost in a single month and the near disintegration of both the housing market and America’s auto industry."

Donald Trump's contribution...

He "deregulated everything, weakening the post-Great Recession laws meant to curb Wall Street abuses, and punctuated his Bush-era linkage by also authorizing a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans without paying for a goddamn cent of it."

But just how much is Donald trump doing to enrich himself and his family, using the American economy to do it? Read this article to find out.

READ MORE: "Wall Street panicking: There’s a 1-in-3 chance of a recession by 2020 thanks to Trump’s trade meddling."

Repeal of the 2nd Amendment is imminent

August 14, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where liberals Walk

Let's get rid of the 2nd Amendment...NOW  

Time to dump the 2nd Amendment

Joel Mathis of The Week says it has in his commentary that starts simply, "Enough. No more. Stop." He refers, of course, to the Garlic Festival, El Paso and the Dayton gun massacres. And all those collective incidents in the past where innocent people have died because there are too damn many guns on the street in the U.S. 393 million guns for 326 million people. Absolutely preposterous for a nation with the best military and police forces in the world.

And don't give me the bullshit about protecting yourself from a tyrannical government. That doesn't fly anymore. After 87 years on this earth, I have never had the need to use a gun, except on Shore Patrol in the Navy. Mathis relates to the killings at the Garlic Festival and El Paso, each carried out by a white supremacist with rhetoric much too familiar with that we have heard from Donald Trump before and since his election.

El Paso shooter's anti-immigrant manifesto...

Just before T-rump took off for El Paso after the shooting, in the press pool he "did not repudiate the shooter's manifesto of anti-immigration hatred and instead agreed with it." A reporter asked, “You and the shooter in El Paso used that same language. Do you regret that?” Here is the reporter's reaction to Trump...

"Instead of denying there was any connection with the mass murderer's views or repudiate the reporter for asking that question in particular, Trump instead agreed with parts of the killer's crazed manifesto."

Completely amazed, the reporter commented further...

"This is crazy. We have a mass murderer who name dropped Trump in his manifesto and used Donald's vile rhetoric and views as a linchpin for his insane manifesto and what does Trump do? 

Trump cosigns it."

Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan was a favorite of the NRA, an "A" rating, until he realized from the Las Vegas massacre that the group would never change, and would continue putting as many guns on the street as possible. To reiterate, there are 393 million guns in the U.S. for 326 million people. These two figures themselves illustrate a gun culture completely out of control, with a further realization that nothing may ever be done about it.

NBC reports...

"The entire 2020 Democratic presidential field now supports basic gun safety policies such as universal background checks, “red flag” laws that allow law enforcement to temporarily confiscate guns from people deemed a threat, and banning assault weapons. On the stump, they all preach strident and urgent opposition to the NRA."

Wayne LaPierre causes NRA turmoil...

The NRA. It is and always has been the problem. With the turmoil it is currently going through, one can only hope that in a short period of time the head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre, and his minions will be a forgotten part of America's gun culture. Unfortunately, we will never be able to put the gun violence the NRA has given us out of our minds.

Guns don't kill, people do outdated and boring

August 14, 2019: Commentary on gun violence

393 million guns for 326 million people - Why guns kill  

Is this what gun rights people mean?
Makes as much sense, duh!

The time has come to look at America's gun culture and realize that we are a country of gun violence simply because of our gun laws which stem primarily from the Republican Party with the regular incitement of Wayne LaPierre and his National Rifle Assn. (NRA). We are a nation of gun nuts, defined as follows...

You are a gun nut if... 

You think assault weapons should be legal...
You object to universal background checks...
If you favor weapons straw purchases...
You oppose red flag gun laws
You think you should be able to carry your gun anywhere...
You are afraid of a national gun registry

There's more, but this is the essence of the gun rights movement that has been instilled in the minds of gun owners since Wayne LaPierre took over the NRA. The years outdated 2nd Amendment is sacrosanct, and no one must question its meaning or validity, according to these gun nuts. But 70% to 80% of NRA members want universal background checks, plus other changes, meaning the gun nuts are in the minority. They're just the ones with the loudest mouths.

NRA in turmoil...

Elie Mystal from The Nation says, "It’s Time to Repeal—and Replace—the Second Amendment," an article that no doubt makes LaPierre shudder to think anyone would attack his fabricated piece of outdated ideology. She says...

"The meaning of the amendment has been so badly mangled that our only choice is to start over with something that allows for real gun control."

Yes, and the mangled interpretations of the 2nd Amendment clearly come from the propaganda spewing of the National Rifle Assn. and its minions promoting gun violence. But lately NRA board members are dropping like flies with Julie Golob, a professional sport shooter and a strong public advocate for gun rights resigning before her tenure was up. The fourth member in the past two weeks to desert the sinking ship.

Three other board members, Esther Schneider of Texas, Sean Maloney of Ohio and Timothy Knight of Tennessee left when...

"they were stripped of their committee assignments after they asked questions about allegations of lavish spending by NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and other financial excesses."

Former SCOTUS Justice Stevens wanted to repeal 2nd Amendment...



Newsweek reports that the NRA's tax-exempt status is in danger as donors revolt with the most recent development the New York State Department of Financial Services investigation of "the NRA's now-defunct Carry Guard insurance product, which purported to insure gun owners when they kill another individual." The inquiry reportedly involves...

"kickbacks that the NRA is alleged to have received for facilitating the purchase of insurance policies. The NRA is not licensed to provide or market insurance policies and their involvement in the development of insurance services could run afoul of state law."

The NRA is in a shambles and most of it can likely be traced back to head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre. In a former post, I blogged former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens made a push recently to repeal the 2nd Amendment, following the Parkland, Florida shooting massacre. Another recent post, Big time NRA donor, David Dell’Aquila, wants Wayne LaPierre dumped, calling him radioactive. Just now realizing Wayne LaPierre has been threatening for years.

Pathetic!

Ken Cuccinelli's an idiot like all Trump appointees

August 13, 2019: TODAY'S BREAKING NEWS

This Donald Trump rant shows even more volatility  

Get this. Today...

Donald Trump coming off the spool

"US Citizenship and Immigration Services director Ken Cuccinelli revised the iconic poem adorning the Statue of Liberty. The poem, written by Emma Lazarus, welcomes the world’s 'tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.'”

Cuccinelli's version...

“Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.”

T-rump, of course, fully approved spouting off...

“I don’t think it’s fair to have the American tax payer … you know, it’s about America first,” the president said. “I don’t think it’s fair to have the American taxpayer pay for people to come into the United States,” he added. “I am tired of seeing our taxpayer pay for people to come into the country that immediately go onto welfare and various other things.”

Here's an example of the White House mental case going berserk...

There's more, like an Epstein conspiracy tweet, calls Chris Cuomo an animal and wants to know if Bill Clinton went to Jeffrey Epstein’s island. He did this all today at a natural gas plant in Pennsylvania. Is there any correlation between this and the Oval Office lunatic's gasbag rhetoric? Back in April Vox said Trump's tweets are becoming more unhinged. Several psychologists have said that keeping pressure on Donald Trump will make him eventually break.

But when?

Why did Bill Barr visit Jeffrey Epstein

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

And did Bill Barr make a secret visit to the jail just before Jeffrey Epstein's death?  

Why did Trump's AG visit Jeffrey Epstein in jail?

The time has come to nail down some facts on the Jeffrey Epstein suicide, but the folks at the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center don't seem to have any answers. The only thing we are sure about is that the infamous pedophile is dead, and he took a treasure trove of information with him about the underage girls he provided for some very important people. Or maybe now that he is dead, his mansions, penthouses, even planes and boats will provide the final exposé.

Jeffrey Epstein taken off suicide watch...

And why did Donald Trump's AG, Bill Barr, make a suspicious trip to the New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center two weeks before Epstein's death? Here's the scenario...

Lewis Kasman, a former mobster and top associate of John Gotti Sr., told the New York Post that Barr made a secret visit to Metropolitan Correctional Center two weeks ago “about the time Epstein was found in his cell with bruises around his neck.”

 “When does that happen?” Kasman asked. “The attorney general never visits jails. Something’s not right there.”

Bill Barr visits Jeffrey Epstein in jail-WHY

There was also conjecture by Kasman that Jeffrey Epstein had received help from jail employees just like other wealthy inmates had in the past...

“There are cameras going 24/7 and they’re watching 24/7. Someone had to give [Epstein] the equipment to kill himself and he had to pay for it dearly,” Kasman claimed. “That facility for years had issues of corruption, with correction officers bringing in food or cellphones for wealthy people.”

But the glaring question is why Epstein's lawyers requested that their client be taken off suicide watch? If the psychiatric doctors gave the go-ahead, that would have made more sense...

"A new report form the Wall Street Journal claims that attorneys for billionaire accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein asked that their client be taken off suicide watch.

The Journal’s sources did not explain the reason for the attorneys’ request, which was reportedly made less than a week after Epstein was placed on suicide watch after he was found unconscious in his cell with marks around his neck."

Just two weeks after this, Jeffrey Epstein was dead. It isn't yet known how many of his well-known buddies this will affect, and just how high it will go in the pecking order. But the American public should be enraged over any attempt to hide the fact that grown men--no matter how important they are--were having sex with underage girls.

10 reasons Donald Trump won't be reelected in 2020

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

Donald Trump won't repeat and here's why  

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

Donald Trump - The Washington bigot

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

A vote whether Donald Trump should be reelected...

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

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

Jeffrey Epstein's final gesture: Suicide for for his buddies

August 12, 2019: TODAY'S COMMENTARY

Jeffrey Epstein may live on for another day with his "pals"  

Donald Trump-Jeffrey Epstein and "friends"

Think about it. Jeffrey Epstein had been on suicide watch for eleven days then taken off. Here's a man that is literally at the end of his rope. He's sure to spend the rest of his life in prison. Not likely the court would ever trust him on bail. It's a known fact that prison inmates hate child molesters, and if they didn't get him, well, his pals who stand to be exposed, the ones Epstein provided with underage girls, would certainly put out a hit on him. Here's how it was...

"Mr. Epstein’s social circle had included dozens of well-known politicians, business executives, scientists, academics and other notables, including President Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew of Britain and Leslie H. Wexner, the retail billionaire behind Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works."

MSNBC on Jeffrey Epstein investigations...

No one knows how he managed the suicide when a guard is supposed to do a checkup every half hour. They didn't and Jeffrey Epstein hung himself, according to the chief medical examiner, Dr. Barbara Sampson, from New York city's Metropolitan Correctional Center. There was talk that Epstein tried to commit suicide three weeks earlier, but like everything else connected to his death, prison officials are not sure what happened. Conspiracy theories are rampant...

"Mr. Epstein’s death has also unleashed a torrent of unfounded conspiracy theories online, with people suggesting, without evidence, that Mr. Epstein was killed to keep him from incriminating others."

Jeffrey Epstein demands for justice...

Donald Trump has tried to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein, but "Business Insider reports, newly unsealed flight logs reveal that Trump flew on Epstein’s private plane — dubbed 'Lolita Express' — at least once in 1997." T-rump has also tried to connect Bill Clinton with the pedophile's death, a move, it might seem, designed to take the attention away from Trump's close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. My question is did Epstein have help with the suicide?...

“From the moment you walk onto that property, you are under camera surveillance,” Mr. Young said, adding that there should be video evidence of when the last checks were made and of anyone who approached Mr. Epstein’s cell. 

 Eric Young is president of the national council of union locals that represents guards at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. So, might one expect that surveillance tapes will reveal if anyone was complicit in Jeffrey Einstein's suicide? And, since the main figure in this controversy is dead, there is no one to stop authorities from thoroughly probing every nook and cranny of Epstein's mansions and penthouses. Here's Raw Story's version of what they might find and the outcome...

"videotapes of young girls and documents that may mention the names of people who were at his properties on specific dates. Had Epstein lived, and made it to trial, his attorneys could have filed motions to throw out that evidence. Now, however, no one has standing to put the brakes on the investigation."

If a whitewash is in the works with this likely applying to Donald Trump on down, it will no doubt show, or perhaps not show the strength of the state of New York in solving this issue along with the taxes of Donald Trump. Unfortunately, I don't have much hope for success in either incident. I hope I am wrong!

Republicans do like the N-word more and more

August 12, 2019: TODAY'S NEWS BYTES on PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk

Trump and his Republican minions loving N-word more each day  

Trump and cronies espouse the N-word

That headline is racism at its best considering the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, and Dr. Martin Luther King died for the cause in April of 1968. Having come from a South of Ku Klux Klan and other assorted racists, and the years in between where we thought we had at least made a little progress, it is tragic to see racism surging ahead in 2019. The Washington Post‘s Michael Tesler says, "Republicans don’t think Trump’s tweets are racist."

El Paso carnage...

Any balanced and fair-minded person knows he is, and the right takes their position to protect an out-of-control maniac that is destroying our country on many fronts. Racism is just one of them. But right now that is important since it fits in with T-rump's white supremacy beliefs that he has verbalized repeatedly, producing three gun violence carnages in a period of just three weeks. The Garlic Festival in California, then El Paso and Dayton one day apart.

Dayton carnage...

You can draw a straight line from these events to the Trump white nationalist tweet rants that began with the 2016 election, condemning Mexicans as rapists and murders just to please his base. The Oval Office lunatic says he's not a racist but white supremacists prove otherwise as they embrace T-rump's and other Republicans' use of the words "nationalist" and "invasion," each of which carries the implication of hate.

Here's an example...

"The Post reports that just one-third (33%) of Trump voters now consider it racist to use the n-word. By comparison, 86% of Hillary Clinton voters believe it is racist to use the n-word."

Here's another...

"Most recently, Trump tweeted that several black and brown members of Congress are “from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” and that they should “go back” to those countries. The tweets, aimed at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)."

On the campaign trail for Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Trump was quoted as saying, "I'm a nationalist, OK? I'm a nationalist." Keegan Hankes, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project comments...

"When they hear the President say things like, 'I'm not a racist,' they [his supporters] turn around amongst themselves and say, 'He just has to say that for practical reasons,' 'he just has to say that basically to get himself cover, to do the things that we want him to do,'" Hankes says.

The question is, just what is it that these poor lost souls really want him to do?

Donald Trump still inspires hate/white supremacy

August 9, 2019: Today's Commentary

Donald Trump responsible for El Paso/Dayton 


The shooter, Patrick Wood Crusius, age 21, with a legally purchased version of the AK-47, travels from Allen, Texas to El Paso and shoots 46 innocent people, killing 22 of them. He was targeting Mexicans because he felt they were invading America, the same rhetoric Donald Trump has used repeatedly to rouse his lowlife gang of followers. As if taking a page from T-rump's white supremacist book, he published a white nationalist, anti-immigrant manifesto on social media immediately before the attack. That was August 3.

El Paso shooting video...

Then we move on to Dayton, Ohio, just one day later, where another gunman shot 24 innocent people, killing 10, including his sister and a friend. He used a pistol configuration with a shortened barrel, chambered in .223 caliber ammunition and equipped with a 100-round drum magazine, a semi-automatic AM-15, based on the AR-15. The shooter was Connor Stephen Betts, a 24-year-old from Bellbrook, Ohio, wearing body armor. Apparently no political agenda, just hate and he liked killing people.

Dayton shooting video...

The El Paso shooter's mother called police with information that she was worried about her son's obsession with the AK-47 style weapon; they said it was legal and nothing they could do. Neither pursued the situation so it stopped there when the police should have asked more questions and the mother should have pushed on. Likewise, although the Dayton killer wasn't that political, he had retweeted posts that supported the Antifa movement and opposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and police officers. He was obviously violent.

And then after all the violent gun carnage, Senate head, the bottom-feeding Mitch McConnell, refuses to reconvene Congress to consider gun control measures that would have prevented this mayhem. Donald Trump expresses some support for gun control legislation but then gets a call from his buddy, Wayne LaPierre, at the National Rifle Assn. (NRA). Nothing happens, as it has been all the way back to Columbine, then Sandy Hook, to El Paso/Dayton and the numerous gun homicides and mass shootings in between.

McConnell says he will take action in September, but now that the Oval Office lunatic has been warned by the NRA, it is unlikely that we will see any real action. Until the people of this country finally come to their senses and rebel against the gun lobby, specifically the NRA, innocent children and adults will continue to die on a daily basis on the streets and in mass murders like those recently. The blame clearly goes on the Republican Party and its partner, the NRA.

Why Mitch McConnell won't allow voting equipment update

July 27, 2019: BULLETIN...Mitch McConnell political kickback

Mitch McConnell-The puppet of $$$

Mitch McConnell takes payoff to block legislation

That's right! Mitch McConnell actually blocked to legislative bills calling them partisan and "not a serious effort to make a law." As if this lowlife would know what real legislation is. The real reason he did it...

The plans would likely burden the two largest electronic voting machine vendors in the United States, Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting Systems, with new regulations and financial burdens.

Just before blocking the legislation, McConnell received donations from the voting companies' lobbyists. How blatant and unethical can he be? Is there any Senator with the balls and the integrity to call a Mitch McConnell what he is, a slimeball? I think not.

Moscow Mitch McConnell promotes 2020 election Russian meddling

July 26, 2019: BULLETIN...Moscow Mitch McConnell 

Moscow Mitch in full uniform

Mitch McConnell could also get hacking help from Russians

In my earlier post, "Mitch McConnell 'fixes' 2020 election," I failed to get into the aspects of how this selfish, loathsome individual is blocking election security in hopes that the Russians will help him beat Amy McGrath. She has all the credentials to beat McConnell, and wouldn't that be a sweet respite for the people of Kentucky and the country. Republicans likely won't agree, but the Senate minus Moscow Mitch would be the best thing that ever happened to this country.

Moscow Mitch welcomes Putin into 2020 election

July 26: QUICK NEWS BYTES 

Mitch McConnell wish-list for 2020 election

Mitch McConnell welcomes 2020 Russian election meddling

It is pretty much agreed from Congress to the American public, even the people of Kentucky where he is from, that Mitch McConnell is the lowest of lowlifes. With absolutely no qualms about what came out in the Mueller Report, and recent Robert Mueller testimony, this slimeball "blocked the advancement of legislation to secure the nation's election system." In other words, he laid out a welcome mat for Russian interference, and, any other foreign country interested.

This should be so obvious to the people of Kentucky, even Republicans, that they dump him from the Senate in 2020. Here's the scenario...

"McConnell declared the effort partisan and insisted the Trump administration has already done much to secure the nation's elections."

All pure BS, of course, but nothing can be done as long as this political tyrant is in office. He barely won in his last election, but this time think Amy McGrath will pull off a win, not an upset since all polls indicate that Mitch McConnell is despised almost as much as Donald Trump. And that's pretty bad. U.S. elections are far from being secure; experts have been warning of foreign meddling for years. 2020 could be a landmine for this epitome of democracy.

Donald Trump tries to "fix" U.S. Constitution

July 25, 2019: TODAY'S COMMENTARY  

Donald Trump lies to auditorium full of teens

Donald Trump regularly defiles the Constitution

A crowd of teenagers and young adults at the Turning Point USA Teen Student Action Summit in Washington probably looked anxiously at the figure before them purported to be the President of the United States. It isn't known how many of them harbored opinions on the speech maker one way or another, but in most cases they would have been in awe of the top resident of the White House. We are talking about Donald Trump and as usual his cache of lies to be expected.

Trump whines to young people over Mueller investigation

He even whined over Robert Mueller's investigation of Trump's involvement in the Russian tampering with the 2016 election, but then became emphatic when he started on the Constitution...

“Then, I have an Article II, where I have to the right to do whatever I want as president. But, I don’t even talk about that.”

Donald Trump waging war on Constitution

Forefathers would be ashamed 

I would imagine some of these teenagers, especially those steeped in political science, visualizing their ancestors, especially our forefathers, turning over in the graves. He has said this before, most recently to ABC News' host George Stephanopoulos when discussing the Robert Mueller investigation. The tragedy of this, other than poisoning these teens' minds that someone like this could actually be in the White House, is that this maniac believes it. It's very scary.

It was natural that...

"Political pundits flooded social media with [the above] clip, though most of the videos didn’t include the Mueller-probe context. Trump in his Tuesday speech also attacked 'the Squad' and falsely claimed Democrats saw wins in the 2018 elections because undocumented immigrants voted 'many times — not just twice.'”

How many at Summit of color?

I wonder how many of these teens were of color, and just how they reacted to Trump's continued disparaging of the four congresswomen who not only have his attention, but are clearly aggravating and enraging the Oval Office lunatic with their comments on his bizarre behavior. Here's what the upheaval is all about...

"Article II grants the president “executive power.” It does not indicate the president has total power. Article II is the same part of the Constitution that describes some of Congress’s oversight responsibilities, including over the office of the presidency. It also details how the president may be removed from office via impeachment."

Don't you think it is interesting that Trump repeatedly reflects on the portion of the Constitution that could remove him from office with impeachment? Maybe it's time to rethink this whole possibility.

Presidential Seal behind Trump as fake as he is

July 25, 2019:

NEWS BULLETIN on PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk

Someone taunts dumified Donald  

Trump before fake presidential seal

During a speech to thousands of cheering young supporters at the Turning Point USA conference, no one seemed to notice the slightly difference in the presidential seal that was being shown on the screen behind him. That was...

"Instead of the bald eagle that features in the official seal of the president of the United States, the image featured a double headed eagle, which bears a striking resemblance to the one on the official coat of arms of the Russian Federation."

Donald dufus wasn't aware that someone was making him look like the fool he is, again tying him to the Russians and their help in getting him elected in 2016. Turning Point USA said it had no idea where the image came from nor how it got on the screen. The problem here is that someone thinks so little of the president that he or she would do this. Read more...

GOP Rep. Ken Buck buries Trump in Mueller testimony

July 25, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET...Where Liberals Walk  

Did Robert Mueller say the "I" word?

GOP Rep. Ken Buck trashes Trump

A Republican, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), "asked Mueller if he could indict the president on obstruction charges."

"The former special counsel’s answer was simple: 'Yes.'"

This sent Republicans racing for cover since it was completely unexpected. This is why...

"Mueller’s position is that he didn’t consider indicting Trump solely because of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) ruling saying sitting presidents can’t be indicted. But Trump won’t be president forever, and Mueller’s view is that once Trump is out of office, prosecutors could charge him with obstruction if they believe the facts laid out in the report warrant it."

And that should send Trump's lawyer's running for cover, since the whole family is already overrun with litigation like the action of New York's southern district. Mueller's reply was completely unanticipated, that is if these people read the Mueller Report. But the former Special Counsel has been telling everyone so far that in his testimony, he would stick strictly to the report. Well, he didn't, and that will no doubt send shivers through Donald Trump's tweets.

Republicans did so before and continued throughout the morning questions of the hearing to expound "that Mueller’s report exonerated him [Donald Trump] (Mueller said at the outset that it did not) or that there was some kind of anti-Trump conspiracy involved in its production. It all came unraveled after that...

Congressman: "Could you charge the President with a crime after he left office?"
Mueller: "Yes."

 Read more...

GOP Rep. Ken Buck buries Trump...

And that wasn't the only shocker for Republicans

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) provided a similar surprise by asking Mueller...

"to confirm that the only reason Trump was not indicted was because that is prohibited by an opinion issued by the Office of Legal Counsel."
“That is correct,” Mueller agreed.

Raw Story has compiled a list of some reasons why Mueller's testimony was "devastating for Trump." Here are a couple...

"Trump has repeatedly claimed Mueller’s report found no evidence of obstruction of justice and completely exonerated him, but the former special counsel told committee chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) that was inaccurate."

"Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) asked Mueller whether the president tried to protect himself by ordering staff to falsify records, and the former special counsel agreed, and Mueller also agreed those actions were intended to hamper the investigation."

Mueller and his team were accused of political bias and the former Special Prosecutor's credibility was questioned, but the obvious GOP bias was easily explained. All in all, it seemed a good day for Democrats.

Read more...