NRA choking...going down

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 NEWS BYTES

The latest attack on gun violence...   

Assault weapons ban did work

Apparently the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) made a trip to Moscow that is a no-no for their non-profit status. If it did break the law governing nonprofit spending, the gang of gun nuts could lose its tax-exempt status. That could put the NRA out of business. And that could spark parades and flag waving throughout the country. David Love on Aljazeera says, "The tide is turning for gun control in the US."...

"In what would have been inconceivable just a few years ago, the ground is shifting in the United States on the issue of gun control and halting the proliferation of firearms. The once omnipotent gun lobby is now weakened, if not dying, and the public support for gun restrictions is increasing beyond party lines."

That combined with the NRA's internal problems from Oliver North to Maria Butina has prompted the investigation in a report...

"compiled by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee and released on Friday, investigates the relationship between NRA leadership and Russian nationals with Kremlin ties. Those nationals include Maria Butina, a 30-year-old Russian who was convicted last year of conspiring to act as a foreign agent."

We can't let this happen...

In a 2015 trip to Russia by NRA officials, Butina promised an introduction to "powerful officials" and "those executives were told they would be given opportunities to advance personal business interests." The catch here is, "aside from the fact that the NRA is accused of willingly establishing relationships with Russian nationals with close ties with the Kremlin — is that tax-exempt nonprofits aren’t allowed to use their funds for personal gain."

There's more...

"New York Attorney General Letitia James also opened an investigation into the organization’s nonprofit status back in April following reports of financial mismanagement. The District of Columbia’s attorney general said his office launched a similar inquiry in July, sending subpoenas to the NRA and its charitable arms to collect 'financial records, payments to vendors, and payments to officers and directors.'”

House Democrats are cowards on assault weapons ban...

Aljazeera comments on American business CEOs concerned over out-of-control gun violence in the U.S....

"Other businesses have followed suit, as the chief executive officers of 145 companies wrote a letter to the US Senate, proclaiming the country is experiencing a public health crisis, and saying it is "simply unacceptable" to take no action on gun violence and mass shootings. The CEOs added that new laws mandating background checks for gun purchases 'are a common-sense solution with overwhelming public support and are a critical step toward stemming the gun violence epidemic in this country.'"

And to support the general consensus that more gun control is needed, a recent study has determined the former assault weapons ban was, in fact, effective. Here are the findings...

"The research from Stanford Law professor John Donohue and student Theodora Boulouta found that from 1994 to 2004, the Clinton-era federal assault weapons ban was associated with a marked decrease in mass shootings and victims of those shootings."

Here are the facts...

"in the decade preceding the assault weapons ban, there were 33 percent additional mass shootings and 65 percent more associated fatalities. Ten years after the ban expired in 2004, the number of mass shootings more than tripled and the number of fatalities spiked more than fourfold."

BINGO! But, then, facts don't seem to affect the votes of a cowardly Congress that has feared the NRA's wrath since head gun nut Wayne Lapierre took over. But that may all be changing as the new wave to curb gun violence begins to take hold. And when Senate challenger Mark Kelly (Gabby Giffords astronaut husband) running against Republican Martha McSally as a gun control advocate wins that seat, we'll have even more support in the Senate.

The course is clear, more reasonable gun control laws in 2020 as we get the guns off the streets.

White house burns during Donald Trump fury

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019 NEWS BYTES

The White House may burn...again   

White House after Donald Trump implosion

The White House has been set on fire twice before: once when James Madison was president, second during Herbert Hoover's administration. The third burning is due soon but it won't necessarily be intentional like the other two. As Donald Trump begins to implode, which will include an excessive amount of friction with his staff, aides and the Cabinet, a fiery explosion from within is sure to happen. It's only a matter of time and here are the many reasons why...

As Brad Reed in RawStory puts it, "The dam starts to crack," referring to the Republicans who have been loyal to Donald Trump, but are now turning on him. In particular...

"Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has now told CNN’s Jim Sciutto that he believes Congress ought to investigate the White House’s use of a codeword-protected server to store President Donald Trump’s phone records."

The act of using these private servers to hide Trump material, in one instance, a NSC computer, have been deemed more impeachable than the information concealed. And remember what T-rump once said, he believes the Constitution lets him do “whatever I want as President.” Here's what Ralph Nader said in Common Dreams, published in AlterNet...

"In over two and a half years, Trump has been a serial violator of the Constitution, unmatched by any president in American history. Just about every day he is a constitutional outlaw."

There's more...

"Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein has documented twelve categories of major constitutional transgressions. Some are also statutory crimes. Many of these involve Trump overpowering the critical separation of powers that our founders rigorously established to assure that the president does not become a monarch like King George III."

Trump: The Constitution allows me to do anything I want to...

Among his other costitutional foibles, the Oval office lunatic "totally defies Congressional subpoenas for documents and witnesses. That grave overthrow of constitutional government is alone enough for eviction from office." And he lies, lies even more and then he lies again. If you can't believe anything the "supposed" president of the country you live in says, that alone should be grounds for impeachment.

Rory Cooper says in the Daily Beast, "We’ll Deserve What We Get if Republicans Can’t Say Trump’s Wrong." Some have come across now like Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who wants Congress to investigate Trump's use of a secret database to cover up his corruption. More will no doubt come forward when it becomes even more obvious that T-rump is going down. Here's Cooper's take...

"At best, President Trump used his office to seek personal and political gain and engage in 2016 conspiracy peddling with a strategic ally engaged in a war with Russia. At worse, Trump held back military aid to Ukraine in order to extract this personal and political gain. It’s a difference without a distinction when it comes to his fitness to serve."

And now there's a second whistleblower "who claims to have evidence of misconduct regarding the Internal revenue Service’s auditing of President Trump. According to this federal employee there were “inappropriate efforts to influence” the audit process. Trump has resisted releasing any tax returns since being elected and New York state investigators appear closest to breaking that wall of defense. What does he have to hide and just how bad is it?

David Cay Johnston on Trump perpetual tax corruption...

Here's the status...

"On August 8, Neal [House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA)] sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asking for communications between the IRS and Treasury employees who were involved in the agency’s audit of Trump and asked him to reply by August 13. It’s still not known if Mnuchin replied or not."

 And finally, the whistleblower's lawyers are saying that Trump has endangered their client as the president publicly threatens "big consequences." It is a call to action by this moron of his double-digit troops who follow his lead, no matter what he tells them to do. Pure and simple it is more inciting of violence like he has done so many times in the past, like Charlottesville. One death and several injuries.

It may well come down to 'burn, baby, burn.'

LATEST: Trump and Mueller hidden memo

TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Has Trump made the ultimate cover up?


Slate is reporting...The Washington Post calls it a "bombshell" memo that was possibly withheld from the Robert Mueller investigation. It's another of those which was supposed to be housed in unclassified White house computer files, but was rather bumped up to top secret status to keep it hidden from congress and the public. Here's the scenario...

"The Post goes on to note that 'it is not clear whether a memo documenting the May 10, 2017, meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak was placed into that system, but the three former officials said it was restricted to a very small number of people.' Here’s the problem: That May 10 White House meeting was the subject of intense scrutiny by the Mueller probe because it went directly to the question of why Comey was fired. Page 71 of the second volume of the Mueller report notes, “In the morning on May 10, 2017, President Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office.”

But here's the kicker...

"The footnote cites to a White House document entitled “Working Visit with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia” which is dated 5/9/17, the day before the meeting, and to an email (5/9/17 White House Document, 'Working Visit with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia'); SCR08_001274 (5/10/17 Email, Ciaramella to Kelly, et al.). That’s the only document that seems to have been produced in reference to the May 10 meeting. There is confirmation of Trump’s remarks about Comey’s firing being a relief from Sean Spicer and Hope Hicks."

The world laughs...Donald Trump the mosr transparent president ever...

The first question that comes to mind is, if it was a footnote to the Mueller Report, why didn't Robert Mueller pursue the memo? WP agrees...

"It’s awfully hard to believe that Mueller didn’t ask for any readout or memorandum from that meeting; a meeting at which the president explained that he fired Comey in part because he was being pressured by the Russia investigation."

Trump even tried to hide high school transcripts lying about academic background...

Mueller was accused of some ineptness in the production of the Mueller Report, and this would confirm that things were missed, perhaps as important as the above. Could this have resulted from pressure from the White House, considering the Ukrainian telephone call cover up? It is generally agreed that the masking of this phone call is more serious, and impeachable, than the substance of the call. It's hard these days to keep up with the WH cloak and dagger.

On the other hand, the memo's presence could have been there glaring at Robert Mueller, but he decided not to include it in the report. Why? Perhaps Mueller should face another House investigation to answer the question of why he ignored the report. If it is as crucial as it sounds, it would go to the conclusion of the Mueller Report to suggest Trump's definite collusion with Russia to win his 2016 election. Isn't that what we were trying to find out?

Another possibility is the fact that the memo included sensitive information about a confidential Israeli asset with another foreign power, something Trump was giving up in the meeting. But what is really proved, according to the WP, “This emphasizes the point that Mueller’s conclusions were based on imperfect information precisely because of White House and Trump misconduct.” Something we have come to expect, unfortunately.

This Slate article is worth reading.

BREAKING: McConnell has cracked on impeachment

BREAKING NEWS

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the Senate would have no choice but to take up impeachment if the House votes to effectively charge President Donald Trump," according to MSNBC. Is the senate lowlife at a point where he believes Donald Trump must go? Because that's all it will take when the House charges him. 

Had trouble with your credit report? The Bern can fix it

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 NEWS BYTES

A good answer to credit report problems... 

I did a privacy blog some 13 years ago, and one of the biggest complaints was from readers who had trouble with their credit reports. If they had a problem with the report, they could not get through to the three credit reporting agencies to talk to a competent individual. The key word here is competent. If you were lucky enough to get a human being, you were bounced around from inept clerks to supervisors, to supervisors of supervisors. The idea was to wear you out.

There are three major companies in the business of collecting your credit data, and they act as if it belongs to them and they don't have to divulge anything to you, even though it is your personal information. I once advocated the concept of giving ownership of personal data to the individual. The public didn't understand the concept and many of the major privacy blogs were supported to some degree by the credit bureaus.

Consumer Reports tells you how to fix credit score problems...

Let's name them: Trans Union, Experian and Equifax. You might remember the recent breach of 140 personal records from Equifax. This was due to "insufficient data security practices," something the database industry has been riddled with over the years. If you are really interested, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has a file that documents data breaches all the way back to 2005. This organization is one of the best at fighting identity theft and has been around for decades.

Bernie Sanders wants to eliminate the private credit reporting companies and substitute them with a government-managed credit registry. Similar to Medicare for All, it would eliminate the private sector in the administration of personal credit. It reeks of socialism, which it is, but you have to consider whether or not the private sector is acting in behalf of the American public. It is not in the case of either health insurance or personal credit information. I'll let Bernie run with Medicare for All, but I have had years of experience with credit unions.

They are not operated in the best interest of the consumer. They are operated to produce a profit and that amounts to billions of dollars a year. I was a data broker consultant for 35 years and witnessed the manipulation of your personal information in ways that would terrify you. From your name and address to your income and hundreds of other private factors about your life are sold daily to junk mail marketers. Even your Social Security number in financial transactions.

The Credit Pros lists the four ways credit bureaus reap huge profits on your private data...

• Selling Your Information to Lenders
• Selling Your Information to Marketers
• Selling You Your Own Information
• Disputes

My theory for owning your personal information included participation in the proceeds of its sale, but in number three, above, you are actually paying for your own private data, as an example, when you order a non-free credit report or your credit score. And, as indicated earlier, the credit bureaus, Trans-Union, Equifax and Experian, protect this information as if it was theirs. It isn't, it is yours and The Bern's concept would eliminate that exclusivity. A must to be successful.

Your rights under Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

 
In my privacy blog, The Dunning Letter, I did a post in 2006, "Experian Denies My Right to Dispute Credit Report Problem," where I had an actual one-on-one experience with what I consider the worst of the credit bureaus. The problem was I was denied my credit report where I had been a member for over twenty-five years, paying $90 annually for the service. Here's the scenario...

After hours on the Internet and telephone with Credit Manager [an Experian service] personnel who turned out to be completely useless—and being regularly “escalated” to the “right” people—I finally reached a supervisor who was known as…the Escalation Manager. Mark sounded competent, acted like he wanted to help, and spent another hour covering the same material as the “useless” bunch. I was wrong. He couldn’t help me, even if he wanted to. Something was also blocking Mark—the Credit Manager Escalation Manager, no less—from accessing my credit report.

Well, Mark couldn't help, or perhaps, just lost interest after a while, and said I should file a dispute. Dispute, that word that signifies more revenue for Experian. To make a long story short, the dispute didn't even work and subsequent phone calls proved completely fruitless. It is almost as if their work ethic is to deny the consumer anything they need or ask for that you don't have to pay for. Bernie Sanders said...

“We must and we will remove the profit motive from assessing the creditworthiness of American consumers."

Although this is socialistic and anti-capitalism, this kind of move has become necessary because private enterprise does not police itself. This is the kind of thing Progressives have vowed to address and make it right for the consumer. Everyone should welcome it, and it can't come soon enough.

Here are more early posts on Experian. 

Ukrainegate will doom Donald Trump's administration

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Ukrainegate is taking its toll...   

Rudy Giuliani should be concerned

In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Paul Waldman said acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire in his opening statement to the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, "perhaps unintentionally," may have dumped on Donald Trump. Waldman felt Maguire's implication was, " just how thoroughly infected with corruption the entire executive branch has become under President Trump." Intentional or not, it is a true statement.

Waldman feels Magure is not an "amoral conspiracy theorist like Michael Flynn," or "not willing to brazenly deceive the public and twist government to the president’s purposes like Attorney General William P. Barr." It's amazing the acting director is still where he is. But, "Maguire’s first stop, upon receiving a breathtaking set of accusations about Trump and his White House, was … Donald Trump’s White House."

And in a refute to Trump's accusations against the Bidens re. son Hunter's Ukrainian dealings with the gas company there...

"A former Ukrainian prosecutor who investigated a gas company tied to Hunter Biden said Thursday that there was no evidence the former vice president's son engaged in illegal activity."

"From the perspective of Ukrainian legislation, he did not violate anything,” Yuriy Lutsenko said.

Hunter Biden and Ukrainegate...

Lutsenko made this statement way back in May, but T-rump keeps renewing the accusation. And anyway, “Hunter Biden cannot be responsible for violations of the management of Burisma that took place two years before his arrival,” Lutsenko added. If you are really interested, here are four false claims by the Oval Office lunatic that show his concern with winning in 2020...

False: Biden pushed out a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating his son
False: Hunter Biden made a killing on a China deal
False: Biden lied about talking to his son
False: Democratic senators also threatened Ukraine’s aid

Based on Donald Trump's administration, the Republic Party will be known in the future as the party that refined and improved lying in politics. Now, poor baby...Salon portrays T-rump as, "consumed with self-pitying paranoia as the Ukraine scandal spirals out of his control." The scenario...

"The fact that this material was released so quickly indicates that the White House expects to lose the impeachment vote in the House and are counting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the “gravedigger of democracy” himself, either to refuse to hold a trial at all or to ensure that no such trial produces a two-thirds majority for conviction."

Here's lowlife Mitch McConnell on impeachment...disgusting...

Not sure Trump can be so sure about the senate with public opinion fast turning in favor of impeachment, and members of Congress finally realizing that country is more important than their reelection or the Party. I don't believe anything could raise the opinion of the American public about Congress, but as they say, it's time to do the right thing. Heather Digby Parton of Salon comments...

"Rudy Giuliani is on the verge of some kind of breakdown, acting like a wild man on television on a nightly basis?"

Here's a Giuliani quote...

“It is impossible that the whistle-blower is a hero and I’m not. And I will be the hero! These morons — when this is over, I will be the hero. I’m not acting as a lawyer. I’m acting as someone who has devoted most of his life to straightening out government. Anything I did should be praised.”

Well, that pretty much seals the deal. Donald Trump's impeachment is just around the corner.

Bill Barr's Ukraine connection, Whistleblower, Impeachment and Mitch McConnell

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 BEST OF THE NEWS

What's happenin?... 

Never been truer than Trump administration

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

LATEST NEWS: Whistleblower statement will impeach Trump

BREAKING NEWS: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2929

Ukrainegate whistleblower complaint released... 

The damning complaint

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.

READ TE FULL COMPLAINT...

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 whistleblower complaint is a must-read.

Will Democrats recover for 2020?

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 NEWS BYTES

What is wrong with the Democrats?... 

If anyone knows, he does

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.

Here is the Trump/Zelensky Ukraine transcript

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Here come the Ukrainegate transcript...  

Hard to read but it's there

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 Ukraine telephone call

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 NEWS FOR LEFTIES 

Will Donald trump answer up or walk?... 

Donald Trump blathering at the UN

"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...

Bob Cesca says in Salon...

"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 favors impeachment-Moving ahead

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 NEWS ALERT

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.”

Trump thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace prize-Cue the laughter

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 NEWS BYTES

'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.
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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.
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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.”

Read more... 

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

Read more...

Trump's mentor Roy Cohn was 'evil"

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Donald Trump's mentor dark man Roy Cohn  

Donald Trump-Roy Cohn

Donald Trump went so far during the Robert Mueller investigation by demanding that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions act more like [Roy] Cohn in assertively defending him. When you scrape the bottom of the barrel, you come up with loathsome individuals like Cohn. So why the admiration? "For decades he got away with remorselessly breaking the law." A key word here is "remorselessly," something that is emphasized in T-rump's playbook.

Politico senior staff writer Michael Kruse has written up a review of the documentary, “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” Here's the scenario...

“What Cohn could, and did, get away with was the very engine of his existence,” Kruse writes. “Cohn was indicted four times from the mid-’60s to the early ’70s—for stock-swindling and obstructing justice and perjury and bribery and conspiracy and extortion and blackmail and filing false reports. And three times he was acquitted — the fourth ended in a mistrial — giving him a kind of sneering, sinister sheen of invulnerability.”

 It's like the Oval Office lunatic looking in a mirror. You might remember Roy Cohn as Joe McCarthy's go-to man in the 1950s anti-communist conspiracy investigation. Lives were ruined and McCarthy was eventually disgraced and sent home to mow the lawn. Roy Cohn was there for McCarthy, and as Vanity Fair reports Donald Trump...

"With the ruthless attorney as a guide, Trump propelled himself into the city’s power circles and learned many of the tactics that would inexplicably lead him to the White House years later."

Roy Cohn was evil...

There are close similarities between Donald Trump and Joe McCarthy in the strategy tactics of intimidation. Beat down the opponent until they almost think you are right then close the deal. Vanity Fair writer Marie Brenner reports...

"Donald calls me 15 to 20 times a day,” Roy Cohn told me on the day we met. “He is always asking, ‘What is the status of this . . . and that?’”

Brenner had been assigned to write a story on the up-and-comer Donald Trump and decided that Roy Cohn was the man to talk to. At the time Trump was married to Ivana so Brenner also approached her for input to her story. She said...

"The tabloids couldn’t get enough of the Trumps’ theatrics. And as Donald Trump’s Hyatt [Trump's NY Grand Hyatt Hotel] rose, so too did the hidden hand of his attorney Roy Cohn, always there to help with the shady tax abatements, the zoning variances, the sweetheart deals, and the threats to those who might stand in the project’s way."

Donald Trump Roy Cohn association...

Brenner quotes attorney Victor A. Kovner who had known Cohn for years, “You knew when you were in Cohn’s presence you were in the presence of pure evil.” Are we beginning to draw distinct parallels between the mentor and Donald Trump? And if that's not enough, here's another example of Donald Trump's treatment of women...

"In 1991, Donald Trump poured a glass of wine down her [Marie Brenner] back during a dinner gala, after she’d written an unflattering piece about him and his then-wife Ivana."

Not clear if he learned this from Roy Cohn, but wherever T-rump picked it up, he has certainly refined and developed it over the years. It is beyond me how any woman could vote for Donald Trump but there are those out there in double-digit land that are, well, pathetic. Politico's Michael Kruse says, “Cohn did not, in the end, elude the consequences of his actions. He could not, it turned out, get away with everything forever.”

Roy Cohn died of Aids in 1986. Donald Trump's finale has yet to be decided.

Trump giving away or asking for info from foreign diplomat ?

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Another Trump mishandling of classified information...  

A security risk in the Oval Office

Not only is Donald Trump sabotaging the U.S. economy, but now has "made a 'promise' to an unidentified world leader that prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community,” according to CNN's John Avlon. These are the five foreign leaders Trump spoke to recently...

Russia's Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani.

John Avlon "noted that the whistleblower is a Trump appointee which makes formal complaint all that much more alarming," explaining it this way...

“A Trump appointee thinks this is of such concern that Congress needs to know,” Berman began. “The question is: what was the promise, to whom, and what does it say about the president’s notion of intelligence?”

“What it says about the president is that the president of the United States appears to be a security risk and the intelligence community is concerned that the president can’t be trusted with classified information.”

Now that is unbelievably pathetic when you are talking about the supposed leader of the leading country in the world. Although many foreign nations might question that position these days. Remember when the Oval Office lunatic disclosed classified information to the Russian foreign minister sending everyone ballistic over whether this idiot could be trusted with any secrets. What're you going to do when the Dir. of Nat'l Intelligence covers up the whistleblower?

Whistleblower outs big mouth Trump...

California Democrat Rep. Jackie Speier hints that it is a "violation of Law" citing...

"In a five-hour closed-door hearing on Thursday, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community reportedly refused to hand over information about a whistleblower, who allegedly felt a duty to report on President Donald Trump’s connections with a foreign leader."

But it was "The Office of Legal Counsel advised the acting director of national intelligence [Joseph Maguire] not to share a whistleblower complaint with Congress, according to a new report." Have you ever noticed how many Trump appointees are "acting?" That's because Donald dufus fires them so fast, they never have the chance to become permanent. And we don't know yet whether Attorney General William Barr was directly involved in the Maguire decision.

DNI protecting T-rump...

There is no precedent for this, said national security attorney Bradley Moss commenting...

"he was amazed that not only would an intelligence official file a whistleblower complaint against the president but that Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson would deem it credible."

There's more...

“We’re in uncharted territory here,” he [Moss] said. “As far as I’m concerned and aware, there has never been a whistleblower complaint brought to the inspector general of the IC that was verified as credible and urgent concern that the [director of national intelligence] has refused to forward on to the relevant intelligence committees and certainly… this is the first time it’s involved the president.”

Moss finishes with, “This is something related to a serious, flagrant violation of law concerning an operation of an intelligence activity. This whistleblower did everything right. They went through the process properly.” So, what happened? Most everyone will agree it is more White House cover up to protect the blithering idiot that sits in the oval Office.

Do you think Bernie Sanders could win in 2020?

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 NEWS BYTES

YES! Bernie can win...  

Bernie, the man for the White House

The above is a Slate headline and it's not from two months ago, it is from last Thursday, September 12. In the Ben Mathis-Lilley piece, there is a sub-headline, "It’s time to start focusing on serious candidates—like the socialist." We are, of course, talking about "Bernard “Bernie” Sanders, the Brooklyn-Vermont 'democratic socialist,'” who is still one of the leading candidates in the crowded Democratic Primary. Here's Mathis-Lilley's comments on the debates...

"Given that debate performances are scrutinized for how they shape the primary “narrative,” Sanders is at a disadvantage. He’s not the Establishment Favorite—that would be Joe Biden—and he’s not the Surging Insurgent, Elizabeth Warren. He’s not An Inspiring Resistance Leader Who Might Appeal to Centrists (Kamala Harris), and he is certainly not An Uncannily Articulate 14-Year-Old Mayor Who Likes Radiohead (that would be Pete Buttigieg)."

Okay, before going any further with Slate, here's my take on Bernie. There would be no Democratic Primary without Bernie Sanders, no ideas, no substantive issues, no meaningful direction for the left. Sanders is a Progressive and a Democratic Socialist, which makes him the candidate of the people. I am having trouble understanding why a voting public cannot see this clearly. The other Democratic aspirants would have nothing to say if not for the Bern paving the way.

Bernie compares 2020 with 2016'''

Have been wanting to get that off my chest for some time; if anything needed to be said right now, that did. Here's more from Slate...

"He [Bernie Sanders] is, instead, The Exact Same Guy He Was Last Time—a fiery leftist who has a substantial, if not primary-majority-size, base of committed supporters who believe in his ambitious plans to bring justice to a “rigged” society by sticking it to the damn fat cats. A Sanders presidency would, guaranteed, involve an attempt to raise taxes on top earners in order to institute single-payer universal health coverage and make college free."

Although Elizabeth Warren has made strides in the polls, and being in the same ideological ballpark as Sanders, the latter seems to still be hanging around his standing from last May. Granted, Biden leads the race but I am not convinced he really wants to run. Maybe his number one position has made him too secure and he needs some polling competition to wake him up. Bernie has always been a charging contender with a philosophy that dates back to his early days in politics.

Bernie in Denver recently...

But there are additions to his traditional issues, notably "changing his rhetoric and his platform since 2016 to acknowledge and decry the role that race plays in economic disparities, he’s done so in a way that fills out, rather than erases and redraws, his public meaning." Bernie Sanders as a candidate...

"He hasn’t done anything, since the last time he ran for, and did not win, the nomination, to radically change the public’s established impression of who he is, what he believes, and how he would behave as president. If you liked him in 2016, you probably still do; if not, you still don’t."

In other words, the Bern is consistent with substantive issues, has been and most likely always will. It all starts with the first four states to hold primaries or caucuses which are Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. From Nate Silver's 538, Sanders is second to Joe Biden in the area of electability to beat Trump: Biden 68%, Sanders 56%, Warren 51%. Bernie is also well off financially with $27 million in cash on hand and a "deep e-Rolodex of small donors."

I believe many of Bernie Sanders supporters have faltered over time, especially with Joe Biden's lead and Elizabeth Warren's recent surge, myself included, but Slate has some excellent points which could rally the Bern's base. On to the White House.

Read more of my Bernie Sanders posts.

Donald Trump must go...NOW!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Trouble in Trump's primaries...  

Joe Walsh-Donald Trump

Impeachment would be a great stain on Donald Trump's political record, one that would send him into a flurry of tweets like we have never seen before. With his mental instability clock clicking faster than ever, it may well push him over the edge with the guys in the white coats taking him away. But the best chance we are likely to get is the 2020 election where we can officially elect him out of office. Since there's evidence he won't leave, bring in the men in the white coats.

And there may be trouble for the Oval Office lunatic from the get-go with former Illinois representative Joe Walsh declaring his candidacy. Walsh said...

“I’m running because he’s [Donald Trump] unfit; somebody needs to step up and there needs to be an alternative. The country is sick of this guy’s tantrum—he’s a child.”

That kind of rhetoric gives you an idea what kind of campaign Walsh has planned. His opinion on 2020...

He "called the GOP a "cult" and the president a "would-be dictator" as he denounced the decision to scrap primaries in some states."

“I’ve given up on the Republican Party, the Republican Party is a cult, right. They no longer stand for ideals. The Republican Party right now is all about washing their leaders' feet every day, that’s what they do.”

Joe Walsh feels responsible for Donald Trump?...

Hopefully T-rump won't interpret that as if Walsh is comparing him with Christ. We've already been through that one. Here are the candidate's plans...

“We’re going to take our campaign directly to Republican voters — and I’ll add in all 50 states. We’re gonna campaign in all 50 states, we’re gonna campaign in South Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and Kansas, because I believe if we let these Republican voters know that the president of the United States just took away their right to vote they’ll march on the headquarters of their state parties to get that right to vote back.”

The Daily Beat found declining polls for Trump amid all his ranting over how much Republicans love him....

"a growing number of Republicans are finally starting to admit to themselves that Trump shouldn’t be running a Best Buy, let alone the country. A Monmouth poll last week found him at 84 percent among Republicans, and an AP-NORC survey put him at 79 percent."

All contenders in 2020 GOP Primary...

And Walsh says, "the canceled primaries are different this time 'because it's never been done when there's been primary challengers.'" Joe Walsh has company challenging Trump: South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. Together the three published an op-ed in the Washington Post starting with...

“cowards run from fights.” “The saying 'may the best man win' is a quintessential value that the Republican Party must honor if we are to command the respect of the American people.”

My gut tells me that the Republican Party long ago last the respect of the American people.