Attorney General William Barr is one of the biggest failures of the Trump administration...READ MORE
Trump early response to the whistleblower complaint is incoherent...READ MORE
Trump will be hurt at least three ways by impeachment, even if the senate exonerates him...READ MORE
MSBC's Rachel Maddow on Trump impeachment...
Lowlife Mitch McConnell is with Trump all the way as he continues to undermine national security...READ MORE
Republicans look the other way, as usual, as Brett Kavanaugh lies under oath...READ MORE
John Bolton turning on Trump and apparently has info on whistleblower...READ MORE
In recent demonstrations over Climate Change, which brought out over 400,000 demonstrators, one sign commenting on Donald Trump's Cabinet read: "I've seen smarter cabinets at IKEA."...READ MORE
Climate change demonstrations...
Karen Pence turns to Twitter to lavish praise on Donald Trump; it was a failure like everything this family does. Something like a religious Cheney family...READ MORE
More indecipherable Trump over Ukraine allegations; call in the white coats...READ MORE
Donald Trump resorts to more lies when asked about impeachment; if T-rump didn't lie, he wouldn't say anything at all...READ MORE
Hard data show economic program Donald Trump said would help average Americans has "actually imposed substantial costs on about 70 percent of Americans."...READ MORE
READ THIS Goldman Sachs 34-page analysis of the impact of climate change. The results are reported as "terrifying."...READ MORE
Would Donald Trump throw Mike Pence under the bus to save himself? Hell yes!...READ MORE
The Ukrainegate complaint on Donald Trump's unethical and illegal conversation with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has been released. It is as damning as it is a reflection on perhaps the worst abuse of executive power this country has ever seen. It should be noted here that the document was stored in the Nat'l Security Council (NSC) computer servers, not for reasons of security, but for the purpose of hiding it from the public.
This mongrel in the White House keeps demonstrating that he will do anything to get what he wants, and it is obvious that he wants a second term in office. The complaint letter's first sentence, "I am reporting an 'urgent concern...'" The letter continues recounting that he had...
"received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election."
The complainant admits he was...
"not a direct witness to most of the events described. However, I found my colleagues' accounts of these events to be credible because, in almost all cases, multiple officials recounted fact patterns that were consistent with one another. In addition, a variety of information consistent with these private accounts has been reported publicly."
Trump completely coming off the spool over whistleblower complaint...
The complaint states emphatically...
"I am deeply concerned that the actions described below constitute "a serious or flagrant problem, abuse, or violation of law or Executive Order" that "does not include differences of opinions concerning public policy matters," consistent with the definition of an"urgent concern" in 50 U.S.C. §3033(k)(5)(G). I am therefore fulfilling my duty to report this information, through proper legal channels, to the relevant authorities."
The complainant goes on to provide a timeline of the impending damage this could do the country in relation to the possibility of national security. If T-rump is willing to withhold $400 million in aid from Ukraine for cooperation in his 2020 election win, what might he offer if it was necessary to give up more? We have witnessed this kind of breach in the past. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal atty. and U.S. AG Bill Barr were also implicated.
Giuliani is a loose cannon that seems to have lost at least as many marbles as Donald Trump, but Bill Barr is supposed to be the attorney for the American people. However, the Oval Office lunatic has turned him into the great protector of the Trump brand, another abuse of executive power.
The best break the Democratic Party has had for months, perhaps years, is the recent Ukrainegate telephone conversation Donald Trump had with that country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. T-rump asked the new leader to dig up dirt on his 2020 opponent Joe Biden. Although not adding pressure at the time, the Oval Office lunatic had withheld $400 million in aid just a week before. All hell broke loose and now Dem Speaker Nancy Pelosi is proceeding with impeachment.
If history repeats itself, the Democrats could screw it up somehow. Today, when they are faced with a fascist in the White House, the inability still persists according to Salon...
"the Democratic Party has a historic opportunity — and a historic responsibility. It has repeatedly proven itself to be unequal to the task, to a comic and pathetic degree."
My favorite word to describe Republicans, pathetic, and I can't really disagree with the above assessment. Here's an opinion by AlterNet's Alex Henderson...
"Despite his anemic approval ratings, President Donald Trump could nonetheless win reelection in 2020 if he aggressively turns out his base and Democrats don’t do enough to get out the vote."
With these numbers, hard to see how Dems will lose...
I wish someone could explain to me why it is that Republicans are able to get their voters to the polls in larger numbers than Democrats. The Dems have the edge from the get-go with 42 million voters compared to 30 million Republicans. There are also 24 million Independents. With 12 million more people at the polls, the Democrats should be controlling this county. But apparently they have been sitting at home on their butts when it's time to do their patriotic duty.
But not so when there was a record turnout for 2018 when the Democrats took over the House flipping the most seats since the Watergate election of 1974, and gained measurably in the Senate. According to The Nation, they also took more than 335 state legislative seats in an election that saw the party gain control of at least eight new legislative chambers. Here's the scenario...
"In 2018, according to The Washington Post, “Democrats outvoted Republicans by more than 4 million. And, the data dive explained, Democratic votes were high, even compared with the 2016 presidential election."
An example of the Democrats trouble...
But are 2016 and 2018 foreboding another sweep by the left in 2020? I mean they do seem to be on a roll and Ukrainegate is certainly a nice surprise they can capitalize on. If they are smart. And they haven't been so many times. This is how Republican strategist Stuart Stevens sees it...
"Democratic ideas are much more popular than Trump’s. Taxing multi-millionaires is far more popular than a border wall. Medicare for all is more popular than a border wall. Free trade is more popular than a trade war, (and) somehow, R’s have granted that advantage to D’s. There are no new conservative solutions, only victim shopping.”
Finally, Stevens said...
“Companies that sell old products lose market share” and fail —and the GOP has become an analog party in a digital world.”
It is entirely possible that Donald Trump has lifted the curse from the Democrats and if they steer the right course in the next several months, then years they will bring this country's position of prominence back where it was before Donald Trump.
While we wait for the White House to release the transcript of the whistleblower complaint, there may be a bump in the road reported by Fox News, always a questionable news source. Fox says "the intelligence community inspector general found the whistleblower had 'political bias in favor of 'a rival candidate' of the president." First, the report come from the unreliable Fox News, second, Donald Trump appointed Michael Atkinson ICSG.
The above, which started out as today's post, has been left with strikethrough because it makes two important points. One is the fact that Fox News is mostly unreliable if you're looking for facts, and second, the guy who determined the whistleblower was biased in his statement was a Trump appointee. That said, the L A Times reports it would appear that not only did T-rump ask Ukraine's Zelensky...
"to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, he also urged the foreign leader to look into CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that did work for the Democrats in the 2016 election."
Here's coverage of the transcript...
Trump pushed it even further by adding to congratulations for the new Ukrainian leader that he should "speak with U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr and Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, who was leading Trump’s efforts in urging Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter." Here's the scenario...
"Trump has insisted he has done nothing wrong. But the transcript shows Trump urged a foreign government to intervene in the 2020 election against his rival..."
"Trump had already acknowledged that he asked Zelensky to investigate Biden, whose son Hunter had a contract with a Ukrainian gas company. Trump also acknowledged this week that he held up military aid intended for the Ukrainian government in the same period. He has denied that the delay in releasing the aid money was a form of pressure to prompt the investigation."
The Democrats aren't satisfied and say there are more questions to be answered. To begin with, the document released Wednesday was only a memorandum of the Zelensky conversation, according to The Washington Post, not a verbatim account. BINGO! There was a cautionary note with the memorandum warning...
"that the text reflects the notes and memories of officials in the Situation Room and that a number of factors 'can affect the accuracy of the record.'”
BINGO! again. The WP piece goes on to point out some background on the call and specifics that relate to the conversation. It all boils down to the fact that the American president, who is running for a second term, asks the president of a foreign nation to investigate what he thinks is wrongdoing by his opponent in the election. Although the $400 million in aid promised, but withdrawn just prior to the call to Zelensky, isn't mentioned, at least as far as we know, the implication was always there.
Trump response to transcript: If you want dumb here's dumb...
Is there a transcript of the actual recording? If so, why wasn't that made available instead of the "notes and memories " of those in the Situation Room? This is just a continuation of the ambiguous Donald Trump the American people have had to live with since he entered the White House. So far Speaker Pelosi is moving ahead with impeachment but dealing with such an enigmatic administration will continue to make the effort look like madness at times.
"Trump says he has authorized release of transcript of call with the Ukrainian president" is the headline in The Washington Post where T-rump was also quoted as saying, “I am currently at the United Nations representing our Country." Earlier he had condemned globalism--at the UN no less--and commented further, nationalism is the only answer. Only Donald dunderhead could insult the whole world and come away thinking he had done a good thing.
He immediately backs up with assurances t5hat he did nothing wrong in the conversation where one week prior he had instructed his minion Mulvaney to hold $400 million in aide to Ukraine. His complaint was that "the United States was contributing more to Ukraine than were European countries." This is what Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama said...
Trump’s claim that he withheld the funds from Ukraine because Europe was not paying its fair share is “laughable. The U.S. has provided military aid, but so have many of the Europeans.”
"15 billion euros ($16.5 billion) in grants and loans to Ukraine, according to an E.U. fact sheet on relations with Ukraine.
Just another lie to cover up the Oval Office lunatic's meddling in the 2020 election, after getting caught colluding with the Russians in 2016. Apparently there is no end to what this maniac will do the appease his ego and have his way. Bur maybe there is another reason Donald Trump feels he can release the comment of the whistleblower. He has the AG Bill Barr as his second defense of cover up. This twerp sinks almost as low as T-rump.
Republican Kevin McCarthy's stupid reply to Speaker Pelosi...
"During normal times, Donald Trump’s attempted extortion of the Ukrainian government, aimed at forcing an investigation against one of his chief political opponents would almost immediately become the purview of the attorney general, who would — again, during normal times — appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations.
But these are not normal times and the people we are dealing with are far from normal. How many times have we heard, if the Ukraine incident doesn't justify impeachment, nothing does. Well, apparently Speaker Pelosi agrees, finally, plus 165 Democrats and one Republican, Justin Amash. There are 235 democrats in the House. It takes 218 votes to impeach, then it goes to the Senate. But wait, as they say in the TV commercials...
"Trump has literally confessed to the charges on several occasions, while staring directly into video cameras, daring the rest of us to finally cuff him."
Trump says did nothing wrong, "beautiful" Ukrainian conversation...
RawStory says...
Bill Barr is "Trump’s personal fixer — Trump’s personal Tom Hagen (in the visage of Tom Bosley) whose barely four pages of hastily-authored misinformation last March effectively suffocated the Trump-Russia saga in the press, while cloaking Trump in layers and layers of government-issued bubble wrap.
The fact that a voting public along with the media let all of this occur right in front of them in the most blatant way with only a meager cry for Donald Trump's head is hard to comprehend. Apathetics I call them, the do-nothings who bitch and moan about what's wrong with our country, but never step up to the plate to voice their opinions and/or vote. Keep an eye on Barr. Once he's in the Ukraine situation, the next thing you know is Donald Trump is completely off the hook.
Speaker Pelosi now says it's time to dump Trump...
The time is NOW
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has now decided enough is enough, the Ukraine incident did it, and she is moving ahead with impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump in the House. My take, is T-rump looking for a confrontation, or is this just more of his warped mind in further degeneration?...
"Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is expected to announce a 'formal impeachment inquiry' into President Donald Trump 'this afternoon,' according to NBC and MSNBC news analyst Howard Fineman."
Pelosi demands whistleblower statement by Thursday...
Pelosi will meet with her chairmen, leadership and caucus at 4PM today. A vote on impeachment is expected “in weeks not months.”
'Be a clown...Be a clown...' Donald Trump takes this literally...
Clowns weren't meant to be corrupt
It happens daily, sometimes hourly. Donald Trump makes a fool out of himself and, because of where he sits in the White House, he makes a fool of America. It has been going on starting with his 2016 campaign and has been on a non-stop rampage since then. Senate leader Republicans and Mitch McConnell have chosen to do nothing, in fact have joined with T-rump in his corruption. The Democrats are in such disarray so is there hope there? And, the Oval Office clown continues to do his thing.
In the most recent stupid gesture, Trump finally admitted talking to the Ukraine President by phone to enlist his help in finding dirt on Joe Biden, namely on his son, Hunter. So proud of what he had done, he reinforces the move with another boastful announcement admitting guilt. It should be noted here that T-rump withheld $250 million in military aid to fight Russia from Ukraine. The whole thing screams impeachment. Read more...
Donald Trump admits corruption...
But can you believe, this idiot wonders why he has not received the Nobel Prize? While at the UN, "President Donald Trump asserted on Monday that the Nobel Peace Prize process is unfair because he should get one 'for a lot of things.'” Would that be for Stormy Daniels, or Jeffrey Epstein or his interview with Billy Bush? Now this statement on the Nobel Prize is clear indication that this man has lost complete touch with reality and is mentally unbalanced. Read more...
Still at the UN, Trump veers away from the business at hand and heaps praises on the religious bigot, evangelical, Franklin Graham. Graham has made it clear how he feels about Muslims and the LGBTQ community. Graham regularly defends trump as if they are soul buddies, and maybe they are. His father, Billy Graham, must have kicked the dirt off his grave by now. Read more...
NYT Opinion Columnist David Leonhardt says it is “Donald Trump vs. the United States of America,” documenting the Oval Office lunatic's "lawlessness, self-dealing, un-American behavior." Here are just a few...
“He launched his political career by falsely claiming that the first black president was not really American.”
“He publicly undermined American intelligence agents while standing next to a hostile foreign autocrat.”
“He is the president of the United States, and he is a threat to virtually everything that the United States should stand for.”
And what if this mentally disturbed despot refuses to leave the White house when he loses the 2020 election? Georgetown Law professor Josh Geltzer, who served as senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council and, prior to that, as deputy legal adviser to the NSC and counsel to the assistant attorney general for national security, thinks Donald Trump has thumbed his nose at the U.S. Constitution enough to be worried about him in 2020. Read more...
Congress may talk to Stormy Daniels...
Stormy Daniels offers to speak to Congress and The Daily Beast says, ‘Sh*t is about to hit the fan again.’ The adult film actress apparently needs the go ahead from congressional investigators who say they may not call the actress to speak. It was actually Daniels that said, “Things are in a lull, but shit is about to hit the fan again.” DB says this is fodder for Democrats after the Mueller investigation fizzled, but could be more harassment for Daniels and 8-year-old daughter. Rad more...
Former Sec. of State Rex Tillerson said that "Netanyahu and the Israelis 'played' Trump." Trump and Netanyahu were good buddies, just like Trump and Putin and Kim Jong -un. It is associations like this that the U.S. intelligence community has always been worried about due to T-rump's big mouth and willingness to give away U.S. confidential information. Netanyahu may be gone now and it remains to be seen if his opponent, Benny Gantz, can get along with Trump. Read more...
The Atlantic says the U.S. has now arrived in "the Hot Zone for Impeachment." What did it? "The fresh details about Trump’s apparent effort to strong-arm Ukraine into investigating his political rival Joe Biden may have irreversibly pushed the president into the impeachment hot zone." Speaker Pelosi is finally rethinking her position on the move leaving many wondering what the hell took so long. But Trump can't shock us anymore? Don't count on it. Read more...
And finally to cap off a laughing stock's warped mindset, the ego-laden maniac says he "is immune from all criminal investigations in a new federal lawsuit seeking to block New York prosecutors from obtaining his tax returns." Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Thursday asked for eight years of T-rump’s personal and corporate tax returns. Based on the high level of corruption we have experienced so far, the tax returns should be a circus.
