Tag Archives: Russian investigation

I Smell A Rat …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Law and justice, Political commentary

What in the Sam Heck is going on here?  Three stories from yesterday should make your blood boil, for all three show just how big a bully Trump has become and how the safeguards to keep a president from acquiring too much power are crumbling under his bluster.

For those who may be unfamiliar or have forgotten about the Bridgegate scandal in 2013, a very brief synopsis:

Two of Governor Chris Christie’s associates, Bill Baroni and David Wildstein, ordered the closure of two of three lanes on the very busy George Washington Bridge at the point of access/egress to Fort Lee, New Jersey.  The closures were proven beyond a doubt to have been politically motivated as retaliation against Fort Lee’s Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat who had not supported Christie as a candidate in the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election.  They caused massive rush-hour traffic tie-ups for a full week for no reason at all.  Also involved, or at least in the loop, was Bridget Kelly, deputy chief of staff in Christie’s office.  All three were tried and found guilty on all counts in November 2016.

Yesterday, however, nearly four years after their conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously to overturn the convictions.  The Court held that Baroni and Kelly for no reason other than political payback reshuffled the lanes on the George Washington Bridge.  Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the move jeopardized the residents of Fort Lee but concluded that “not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime.”

ratI smell a rat.  The Court admits that it was a politically motivated move and that it had negative consequences for the residents of a town, yet … no harm done, nothing to see here, folks?  Christie has become quite a bootlicker to Donald Trump, and just yesterday he came onto my radar for claiming that there was really no point to saving lives, that it was more important to get the economy up and running.  Perhaps this is his reward?

Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017 about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.  He confessed, pled guilty … and yet yesterday, the Department of Justice under the ignoble William Barr dropped all charges against him.  Yep, you heard me right … dropped all charges … free to go, nothing to see here, folks, and have a nice day Mr. Flynn.

Right before the charges were dropped, however, an interesting thing happened.  The lead prosecutor, Brandon Van Grack, withdrew from the case without giving a reason, only a terse single sentence to Judge Emmet Sullivan that he would be quitting the case.  Almost immediately thereafter, the Justice Department announced the charges were being dropped.

Again, I smell a rat … a big, fat rat named Donald Trump.rat-trump

And last, but certainly not least, there’s this …

In March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in March cleared the way for Congress to access secret evidence from Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in one of a set of separation-of-powers lawsuits between House Democrats and Trump.  If there is nothing to hide, after all, then why shouldn’t Congress and ultimately, We the People have access to everything?

But noooooo … Trump has asked the Supreme Court to block the ruling!  Again … what are you hiding, Mr. Trump???  And once again, I smell a rat.ratWill the Supreme Court capitulate?  Well, they seem to be on a roll of supporting Trump and whatever he asks for these days, don’t they?  The only time they decided against him of late was on April 27th when they ruled that the federal government owes health insurers massive payments from prior ACA (Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare) funding commitments that Trump & Co attempted to renege on.  While I applaud that decision, it is literally the only one in which Trump has not had his way.  Checks and balances???  Hah!

There are six months left until the election, my friends.  Every week, the abominations multiply almost exponentially.  How much more damage can he do before then?  Perhaps by November he and his family will have claimed ownership of the United States, renamed it “The Divided States of Trump”.  How much longer will Congress … and We the People … put up with this b.s.?  Or, will we sit back like good little citizens and trust the wheels of justice to work for us until one morning we wake and realize we are subjects, not citizens?Time-to-go

Grumbles …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Remember back a short 4 years ago?  Life seemed relatively stable, sane … normal.  Not so today …

Conspiracies abound …

Creating conspiracy theories seem to be the favourite hobby of those who haven’t the wits to do anything more constructive with their lives.  Trouble is, a lot of people will fall for them without either checking facts or thinking for themselves, and they sometimes become dangerous, such as the Pizzagate hoax back in 2016.

Ever since last year when tech companies began rolling out the latest generation of wireless communication, called 5G, conspiracy theories have run rampant.  Most of us roll our eyes and brush them off, for they are so far-fetched that even a child wouldn’t fall for them.  But, in this, the year of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve all had our worlds turned upside down and perhaps aren’t thinking quite clearly.

This time, an internet conspiracy theory links the spread of the coronavirus to 5G technology.  Under the false idea, which has gained momentum in Facebook groups, WhatsApp messages and YouTube videos, radio waves sent by 5G technology are causing small changes to people’s bodies that make them succumb to the virus.  In other times, even as recently as four months ago, only a handful of people would likely have taken this seriously and even that handful would have been content to spout their nonsense on the ‘Net.  But, as I said, these are scary times with a pandemic inexplicably raging out of control and some are taking it all quite seriously.

5g-bags

Credit…Stefan Wermuth/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Across Britain, more than 30 acts of arson and vandalism have taken place against wireless towers and other telecom gear this month, according to police reports and a telecom trade group. In roughly 80 other incidents in the country, telecom technicians have been harassed on the job.  When people start harming property and people because they fall for a hoax like this, it’s time to shut it down.  I am all for freedom of speech, but this is inciting violence and that’s when it’s no longer free speech but hate speech.

It doesn’t help that two prominent actors, Woody Harrelson and John Cusack, are promoting the falsehood … some will believe it if only because somebody famous said it.  Unfortunately, with most people in the western world being under forced isolation they have plenty of extra time to surf the internet and far too many will believe this sort of garbage.  Each of us who use WiFi or cell phones will pay the price for those damaged cell towers, as the companies who owned them will pass the costs for repairs and replacement, not to mention additional security, on to we the consumer.  Worse yet, eventually somebody will be hurt or killed … and all because this was someone’s idea of fun.  Doesn’t say much for the human condition, does it?

Speaking of conspiracy theories …

There are so many villains in the current administration that it’s hard to decide who’s the crookedest of them all.  I could name at least 30 off the top of my head, but for the moment I think Attorney General William Barr is at or near the top of the list.

William-Barr

You’ll remember, of course, the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into the Trump campaign’s illicit dealings with Russia during the 2016 election campaign.  Mueller’s investigation proved that certain people connected with Trump and/or his campaign did, in fact, engage in a conspiracy with Russia to give Trump assistance in winning the election.  The facts prove that, as does the fact that some of those people are now in prison.

But Bill Barr has decided the whole thing was a conspiracy theory designed to “sabotage the presidency”.  Now, first of all, he has no evidence whatsoever for his claim, but … hey, when did a lack of facts ever stop anybody in this administration from spouting off at the mouth?  Barr was being interviewed by the ignoble Laura Ingraham on Fox News when he claimed …

“I think the president has every right to be frustrated, because I think what happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history.  Even more concerning, actually, is what happened after the campaign, a whole pattern of events while he was president to sabotage the presidency, and I think that – or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency.”

Mr. Barr … just how stupid do you think the public are?  Perhaps you are judging us all by the company you keep, but that would be a mistake.  The justice department’s inspector general found in a December report that the FBI was fully justified in opening the investigation to protect against a potential national security threat. It did not find any evidence that the decision to start the investigation was motivated by political bias.

And … “one of the greatest travesties in American history”???  Seriously???  There are so many ‘travesties’ in the history of this country that it would take a thousand pages or more to tell about them all.  No, Bill, this is not even a minor travesty … this was due process of law in action.

This is not an administration, not a government, it is a three-ring circus populated by some of the world’s most ridiculous clowns!  I am insulted that these people expect us to believe the line of bullshit they constantly spout.

And then there’s this:

Remember that $2.3 trillion stimulus bill recently passed by Congress?  Well, part of it was for we the people, part to help small businesses, and part to bail out big corporations so that the CEOs won’t have to reach into their own deep pockets.  Among those corporations are the airline industry, and one corporation within the airline industry is, of course, Boeing.

On Friday, Trump was asked by a reporter if Boeing should be penalized for mass layoffs (approximately 10% of their staff) despite receiving federal aid. Trump claimed that Boeing, which he described as “probably the greatest company in the world”, was yet to ask for aid, though he anticipated that the company would.

First of all, Trump lied (what a surprise, eh?) On March 17th,  ten days before the stimulus bill was even passed, Boeing requested $60bn in government aid.  But the bigger shock was that he had the gall to call Boeing the “greatest company in the world”!  Greatest company in the world???  The company who cut corners and cheated on safety to save money, causing the deaths of 346 people?  Boeing planes have been involved in countless incidents and near misses, twenty-five just since 2006.  Their 737 MAX, the plane involved in the two latest crashes, is grounded because of the software glitch that caused the crashes … a problem that proper testing would have detected before the plane was approved for flight if the FAA and Boeing had not let that ball drop.  No, Donnie boy, Boeing is not even in the top 500 companies in the world!  And yet we the taxpayers are bailing them out of trouble. Max-8-crash

And last but not least …

Trump reportedly asks for prayers for healthcare workers … Say WHAT???  How about sending them the equipment they’re practically begging for?  How about giving them the resources they need to do their jobs?  How about shutting up and letting them do their jobs?  Excuse me, Donnie, but your prayers, especially yours, are about as worthless as your ‘word’ on anything.  Do something right, just for once in your life!angry emoji

First thoughts on Mueller’s testimony

Posted on by under Political commentary, Re-blogs

Yesterday, at long last, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified in a televised session before Congress … for nearly seven hours! I did not watch it, for a) I don’t have 7 hours to spare in any given day, b) I cannot sit and do nothing for more than about 5 minutes, which is why it takes me nearly a week to get through a movie, and c) I knew I could catch the action during and after the fact from a wide variety of sources.

One of those sources is our friend Jeff over at On the Fence Voters, and he did not disappoint. His take on it is honest, unbiased, clear, and cuts through all the b.s. to wrap it all up into a neat, easily readable, OpEd. My comment on Jeff’s post will give you my opinion of it all. Thank you, Jeff, for writing this with such clarity and saving me 4-5 hours of work! I owe you one!

On The Fence Voters

The marine who received a purple heart for his exemplary service in Vietnam and spent most of his life working for the American people, spoke today. My question is, did the American people listen?

The vast majority of the people in this country has not read the Mueller Report. Anyone expecting to learn a great deal more about the report from Robert Mueller’s testimony today was going to be sorely disappointed. My expectations were low, to begin with, and after watching the nearly seven-hour spectacle, that opinion has not changed.

Based on his nine-minute press conference a few months ago, which culminated in his resignation from the Special Counsel’s office, it wasn’t hard to figure out that if called to testify, he would do so reluctantly, and would not veer from the report in any substantial way. And that’s precisely how it went today.

It was also easy to predict…

View original post 1,195 more words

Just Two Thoughts …

Posted on by under Holidays, Political commentary

It occurs to me that those of us writing political blogs covering U.S. politics and the regime of Donald Trump spend more time correcting misconceptions that he creates than we spend being proactive and creative.  But so be it … we cannot let the fool on the hill get by with lies that go unchecked and with tarnishing the reputations of good people.

Image result for don mcgahnThe latest, of course, is Don McGahn, former White House counsel.  According to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, McGahn testified under oath that Trump had given him a directive to order Rod Rosenstein, then-Deputy Attorney General, to fire Robert Mueller based on a ‘conflict of interest’ that did not, in fact, exist.  McGahn refused, and ultimately left Trump’s employ rather than break the law.

Naturally, Trump denied that he had told McGahn to fire Mueller …

“As has been incorrectly reported by the Fake News Media, I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller, even though I had the legal right to do so. If I wanted to fire Mueller, I didn’t need McGahn to do it, I could have done it myself.”

Ah yes, he could have, but that would have opened a can of worms and made him look even guiltier than he already did at that point.  Now really, folks, who are you going to believe … Trump who has told more than 10,000 documented lies since his inauguration, or McGahn who had the integrity to refuse an order and resign rather than break the law?

Then last month, the day after the redacted copy of the Mueller report was released to Congress and the public, Trump contacted McGahn and asked him to publicly declare that he doesn’t believe Trump obstructed justice.  McGahn refused Trump’s request.  Now if that doesn’t speak loud and clear that Trump is, to this day, obstructing justice, then I don’t know what it takes.  Are you listening, Mitchell McConnell??? 

Trump, needless to say, is in a state of rage …

“I was NOT going to fire Bob Mueller, and did not fire Bob Mueller. In fact, he was allowed to finish his Report with unprecedented help from the Trump Administration. Actually, lawyer Don McGahn had a much better chance of being fired than Mueller. Never a big fan!”

Image result for quotes about lies thomas jeffersonUnprecedented help from the administration?  I think not.  And if he wasn’t a fan of McGahn, why did he hire him in the first place?  More lies.  With apparently nothing better to do, Trump tweeted some 70 times on Saturday. Since he is so fond of giving everyone nicknames, I think his new moniker ought to be Tweety Twump.

McGahn is still, as of this writing, scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on May 21st, though Trump has ordered him not to.  I think that since McGahn is a private citizen, and since he has already testified before the Mueller team, that even Trump’s “executive privilege” cannot stop McGahn if he chooses to testify.  I hope that he will, I like and respect McGahn, however if he doesn’t, I hope that the committee will issue a warrant for his arrest for contempt of Congress.  Somewhere, somehow, Congress must find the chink in the armour and be allowed to do its job.

july-2The United States celebrates Independence Day on the 4th of July each year.  The celebration commemorates the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject and subordinate to the monarch of Britain and were now united, free, and independent states.  Of course, it would take a war to make the declaration reality, but this is the date that is remembered for its significance.  In recent decades, the holiday is, for many, not much more than an excuse to picnic or grill out, drink lots of beer, and watch fireworks after dark.  Nonetheless, there is symbolic meaning to the day.

One of the most prominent events takes place in Washington, D.C., which includes fireworks on the mall.  Correction … it did.  Until King Donald Trump decided to take over the celebration and make it all about himself, rather than the people who fought for this nation’s independence back while his own ancestors were still living in Germany.

Trump has decided to move the fireworks display from its usual spot on the Mall to be closer to the Potomac River (who said it was up to him???), but that isn’t even the worst of it.  He has decided to hold a bloomin’ campaign rally from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial!  What an irony!  The man who was known as ‘Honest Abe’ … being defaced and devalued by the most dishonest president in the history of the United States.  The man who fought to free the slaves and end bigotry being smeared by the one who is “Making America Racist Again”!

This is supposed to be the people’s celebration, not Donald Trump’s.  That’s okay, though, for just as I said last year, in my heart, there is nothing to celebrate this July 4th.  Frankly, in this, the year 2019, I wish we were still a subject of the Crown.  Queen Elizabeth is a much kinder, more intelligent leader than the one we have.

Time For ‘Toons!

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

‘Tis time for a few ‘toons to lighten things up, don’t you think?  I sometimes wonder, once Trump is gone and hopefully out of our lives forever, will half of the political cartoonists be in line at the unemployment office?  For today, though, they have plenty of fodder for the grist mill.

Starting, of course, with Attorney General William Barr …

Bruce Plante Cartoon: Mueller's letter to BarrBarr-2barr-3

This week, Trump hit the 10,000 mark on the lies he has told since taking office.  Now, we all know he’s told more lies than that, but those are just the ones that are confirmed by The Washington Post’s Fact Checker.

trump-liestrump-lies-2trump-lies-3

Also this week, Trump announced that he plans to change the rules for asylum seekers.  He plans to charge them money that they don’t have, and limit their rights to work to earn money — in other words, he is essentially halting any migrants from seeking asylum in this country.  It is, in my book, an illegal move, but when has legality ever been a problem for him?

migrant-1migrant-2

Robert Mueller’s investigation confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt, that which we already knew — that Russia did interfere with our 2016 election for the purpose of getting Trump elected, knowing he could be played like a puppet.

trump-russiatrump-russia-2

I’m retired now, but back when I worked, this was always how I felt among my coworkers …

me-at-work

I’ve made the point numerous times in the past few weeks that Trump is trashing the rule of law in this country.  He and William Barr, among others, seem to feel that the laws of the land do not apply to them.

rule-of-lawrule-of-law-2Question of impeachmentrule-of-law-4

And finally … just a few bits ‘n pieces I found …

trump-assholetrump-kimtrump-nraunfit-to-vote

The Mueller Report-Final thoughts and takeaways

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs

Last week, I re-blogged a piece by Jeff of On The Fence Voters fame, of his initial thoughts as he began reading the Mueller report. Today, he has finished reading the 448-page report and has written an excellent summation which I am sharing with you. I think his thoughts are on the money, and I share his hopes that the ongoing investigations will bring further results. Thank you, Jeff, for your excellent work and for permission to share it.

On The Fence Voters

So I’ve finally been able to read the entire Mueller Report. I actually read Volume II, which dealt with allegations surrounding Trump and obstruction of justice, first—then read the rest of Volume I, which dealt with Russian hacking and the Trump Campaign’s involvement. You can read my first assessment from a post I wrote last week. Here are some final thoughts and major takeaways, now that I’ve read the entire report.

Paul Manafort

I’ve always felt that Manafort was the critical piece in Mueller’s attempt to see what links the Trump Campaign had, if any, to the Russians. He served as campaign chairman for Trump for only about four months, but during his tenure, many of the significant instances of Russian interference was taking place.

For one, he was at the infamous Trump Tower meeting on June 9, 2016, along with Don Jr. and Jared Kushner. They thought they were…

View original post 1,731 more words

The Mueller Report–First impressions

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs

Jeff, over at On The Fence Voters, has been wading through the 448-page report issued by Robert Mueller regarding the Russian interference into our 2016 elections, as well as the involvement of Trump, his family, and his campaign. I, too, have been wading through the report, but I took yesterday off from it, for it was taking a toll on me both emotionally and physically. Not to mention that I had cleaning, shopping, cooking, baking, and Easter-egg dyeing that had to be done yesterday. Anyway … Jeff has shared a few of his thoughts and observations about the report, and they are well worth sharing with you. I will have my own thoughts at some point in the future, but truly, what Jeff has said here mirrors my own thoughts. Thank you, Jeff, for this excellent summation and for your generous permission to share!

On The Fence Voters

I’ve tried my best in the last 24 hours or so to read as much of the Mueller Report as I possibly could. While I haven’t completed this endeavor, I nonetheless have consumed quite a bit. Here are just a few of my thought thus far.

Robert Mueller has produced a report one might expect from a man who has spent a good portion of his life in law enforcement. It’s a thorough, fact-based account on what transpired between the Trump campaign and their alleged involvement with the Russians in the 2016 election, and an equally comprehensive look at the actions of President Trump after the appointment of Mueller as Special Counsel in May of 2017.

In no uncertain terms, Mueller lays out the facts of what the Russians did to try to sow discord in our democracy and help elect Donald Trump to the presidency. Their actions were systematic…

View original post 1,315 more words

Game Over? I Think NOT, Donnie Boy!

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary

The republicans are, once again, dancing in the streets and pouring champagne over each other’s heads.  Party hearty, republican friends, but guess what?  The game isn’t over, but has just begun.  The redacted report that we were given is only part of the story, but even that part is proof that Trump & Co are guilty of having conspired with Russian agents to rig the election in 2016 and put Trump in office.  What more there is, will eventually be discovered.  But … republicans?  Let me ask you a question.  Why, if Trump had nothing to hide and was guilty of naught, did he make this statement when apprised of the hiring of Special Counsel Robert Mueller …

“Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m fucked.”

And then he proceeded to berate the bearer of the news, then-Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. Why, guys?  Doesn’t that sound like the voice of a guilty man?  Sure does to me.

Now on to the present.  Yesterday morning, as I noted in my snarky snippets yesterday, Attorney General William Barr felt it prudent to give us his version of the Mueller report.  Unnecessary and unwanted, but here are a few of the proven lies he told in that event:

  • … We now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign – or the knowing assistance of any other Americans for that matter.
  • … The Special Counsel’s report did not find that any person associated with the Trump campaign illegally participated in the dissemination of the materials.
  • … The White House fully cooperated with the Special Counsel’s investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims. (This one damn near caused me to choke to death!)

Even Fox News’ own Chris Wallace criticized Barr, saying …

“The attorney general seemed almost to be acting as the counselor for the defense, the counselor for the president, rather than the attorney general, talking about his motives, his emotions.”

Let us consider, for a moment, that even if Mueller’s investigation did not turn up indictable criminal activity on the part of Trump, it damn sure did turn up improper behaviour, especially toward the investigation itself.  According to the Associated Press …

Donald Trump tried to seize control of the Russia probe and force Mueller’s removal to stop him from investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president. Trump was largely thwarted by those around him.

Mueller laid out multiple episodes in which Trump directed others to influence or curtail the Russia investigation after the special counsel’s appointment in May 2017. Those efforts “were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests,” Mueller wrote.

I ask you … is this the ‘man’ you want to lead this nation?  Seriously?

Jerry Nadler, Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, has appropriately determined that the committee needs to hear directly from Mr. Mueller, and as such sent him this letter …Nadler-letter-Mueller

This should make for some real interesting conversations in the White House.

Of course, the republicans are reading into the report what they wish to see … or more likely, are simply accepting Barr’s version, for that is what they want to believe.  Take the blinders off now, people … time to wake up from that little nappie.

“The report is one-sided, it has an incredible standard of proof. It’s that ‘we couldn’t be convinced that he didn’t obstruct justice,’. Can you prove that he did? That answer is, no they can’t. That is like a cheap shot, but if they can’t prove it, why don’t they just regurgitate all the garbage that they have? It’s all one-sided, a lot of it not true, a lot of it exaggerated. Even if it’s all true, which it isn’t, he didn’t commit a crime. He didn’t do anything wrong.” – Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is preparing a rebuttal to the Mueller report

I liked what Jim Wright had to say, and I fully concur at this point …

Impeach Trump.

There is more than enough reason to begin impeachment proceedings. We impeached both Nixon and Clinton for far less than is in the Mueller Report.

So, impeach Trump.

Impeach him in the House. Take up the investigation, one he CANNOT stop or obstruct or redact, one his pet Attorney General and his cronies cannot impede, one that Trump himself has NO control over whatsoever, and impeach him if that’s where the evidence leads.

THEN if the Senate refuses to convict, if Mitch McConnell refuses to take up the impeachment, refuses his duty and the Senate stands by him, hang it around their dirty cowardly necks like a fucking albatross.

Make them own it in 2020. Make them own it forever.

Surely, if they can read, even the republicans in Congress must now agree that Donald Trump has committed, if not indictable crimes, certainly impeachable offenses.  He does not operate in the best interest of this nation.  He is a president in name only.  Game over, Mr. Trump?  Far from it.

It’s Time For … Snarky Snippets!

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary

You could probably have predicted my angst would be running high today and I would pop up with a new batch of Snarky Snippets, yes?  You guys know me so well!  I have been pounding my keyboard so hard that I no longer have an ‘I’, ‘O’, ‘L’, or ‘N’ … the keys work, but the lettering has been worn off.  Good thing, I guess, that I took that typing class back in high school so I know where the letters are even without lettering to guide me!

Aw shucks, Mr. Barr … we can read as good as you … maybe even better!

I don’t know about you folks, but I learned basic reading skills at an early age.  Since then, those skills have been enhanced and honed, and I am now quite capable of reading many things.  There are things I choose not to read, for they either bore me or are offensive, but my literacy skills are at least on a par with most people’s.  Why, I have even read the U.S. Constitution, something that has not, as I understand it, been done by the ‘man’ who swore under oath to uphold said document.

Along comes Mr. William Barr, the alleged Attorney General of the United States, who determines that We the People are not capable of reading a 400-page document, the Robert Mueller report, and that we haven’t the intelligence to understand it, even if we could make out the words.  So … Mr. Barr decided that he would just save us the trouble of having to struggle with all that reading, and he would call a press conference and ‘splain it all to us!  Why, isn’t that nice of him?

Barr-puppetAnd, guess what else!  Mr. Barr delayed the release of the document in order to have numerous meetings with Trump’s lawyers.  Why, you ask?  Well, remember back when Robert Mueller first presented the report to Mr. Barr, and Barr wrote his own 4-page little summary, whereby he informed us that Trump, Ivanka, Kushner and all the rest were innocent of any and all wrongdoing, and that Mueller’s report cleared their names?  Turns out that Barr felt Trump’s lawyers ought to write their own little report to ‘splain just how, even though Trump & his cronies were in frequent communication with Putin and other Russians, there was no wrongdoing, for we might mistakenly decide on our own that there is some guilt there.  William Barr — Trump’s puppet on a string.

I will not be watching Mr. Barr tell fairy tales at 9:30 a.m., nor do I have any immediate interest in the rebuttal document by Giuliani and Co., though I will no doubt read that later just to see how the spin doctors played their hand.  I will, however, be reading the document prepared by Mr. Robert Mueller, whom I trust emphatically.  And I will draw my own conclusions based on the modicum of intelligence that I possess.  The next act in this play needs to be for Robert Mueller to testify before Congress, specifically the House of Representatives, where not everybody is drinking Kool-Aid.

Two thumbs up 👍 👍 for New York City!

Some good news from New York City.  While Donald Trump and his cronies trash regulations to protect our environment and do everything they can think of to hasten the demise of the human race, New York is taking a big, positive step.  The New York city council is expected to pass legislation today that will set emission caps for buildings and impose strict fines for those buildings that are found not in compliance.  Their stated goal is to achieve a 40% overall reduction in emissions by the year 2030.  It’s not enough, but it’s a start, and a damn sight better than our federal government is doing!NYC skylineAccording to the New York Times …

Buildings are among the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions because they use lots of energy for heating, cooling and lighting, and they tend to be inefficient, leaking heat in the winter and cool air in the summer through old windows or inadequate insulation. An inventory of greenhouse gas emissions published in 2017 found that buildings accounted for 67 percent of the city’s emissions.

I admit a bit of demonic glee picturing Trump trying to figure a way around the law.  That is, until I remember that he is ‘above the law’ and will likely be the largest violator.  I hope the city goes after him with the big guns!

It makes sense … it makes perfect sense!Bernie-Sanders-FoxWhen I first heard that Bernie Sanders, not only a democrat, but a democratic socialist candidate, was appearing on Fox ‘News’, it was one of those wtf moments.  But then I pondered on it, did a bit of reading, and suddenly the 💡 came on over my head.  It’s positively brilliant, for a few reasons:

  • Most Trump-supporters are Fox viewers, and vice versa. Therefore, they really have no idea what the democrats stand for, because all they have to judge by is what they are told by the likes of Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Tucker Carlson, and of course Trump himself.  This gives them an opportunity to see that democrats are not, in fact, the big bad wolf, but people whose goals are humanitarian.  Now, I don’t look for them all to jump up and go change their party affiliation after seeing Bernie or another democratic candidate on their favourite news network, but it might open their minds a bit, might actually cause them to start thinking about some of the issues, realizing that there is more to it than they have been told.
  • It gives the democrats an edge they would not otherwise have … it shows they are not pandering only to their own supporters, but are reaching out to everyone. That’s important, folks, if you remember my post from last night where I posited that Trump is not our president because he speaks to and for only those who praise him.  The democrats, by appearing on Fox, are showing that they are for the entire nation, not just their own corner.
  • It is irritating the heck out of Trump! Could this be the end of the romance between Trump & Fox?

Other democratic candidates are slated to appear on Fox as well, including Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Julián Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Cory Booker.  Sanders’ appearance at a Fox Town Hall garnered the biggest television audience of any 2020 Democratic candidate — more than 2.5 million people.  This is a great way for the candidates to begin ‘reaching across the aisle’, and who knows … maybe a few Trump supporters may decide to sit on the other side of the aisle.

Well, I’m about out of snark for tonight, so I’ll return you to whatever you were doing.  great-day

Be Prepared …

Posted on by under Free Press Issues, Political commentary

I have long thought, and likely said it here once or twice, that Trump is a loose cannon, his behaviours seeming to become increasingly strange and uncontrolled when he senses he is threatened.  His tweets, never exactly intellectual, become erratic when a new indictment is handed down by Robert Mueller’s team, or when he is called out on one of his many daily lies, or when his boot-lickers don’t behave quite as he wants them to.  This is one of the reasons that, while I would love to see him thrown off his royal perch, evicted from the Oval Office, I cannot support a move toward impeachment at this time, for I suspect he would become even more deranged and call for his base to take to the streets with their AR-15s in hand.  Now, I am a nobody and have no basis for my opinion other than observation, but I’ve run across somebody who shares my opinion, somebody who is certainly qualified to make this statement.  That somebody is Robert Reich, whose words I have shared here before, and today I do so again.

From The Guardian, 16 March 2019 …

Trump is cornered, with violence on his mind. We must be on red alert

Robert Reich

What does a megalomaniacal president of the United States do when he’s cornered? We’ll soon find out.

House Democrats are beginning a series of investigations and hearings about Donald Trump. Senate Republicans have begun to desert him. Twelve defected on the wall. Seven refused to back Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.

Almost all have gone on record that they want Robert Mueller’s report made public. That report, not incidentally, appears imminent.

Trump cannot abide losing. His ego can’t contain humiliation. He is incapable of shame.

So what does a cornered Trump do? For starters, he raises the specter of violence against his political opponents.

In an interview with Breitbart News published on Wednesday, Trump noted: “I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough – until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad.”

In case you missed it, “they” are Trump’s political opponents, including House Democrats and the mainstream media. And the “certain point” could be impeachment but is more likely to be reached if the House investigations reveal crimes Trump committed both before and after he became president.

“I actually think that the people on the right are tougher,” Trump warned in the same interview. “But the left plays it cuter and tougher. Like with all the nonsense that they do in Congress … with all this investigations – that’s all they want to do is – you know, they do things that are nasty.”

Here we have it, in a nutshell. In Trump’s mind, congressional investigations that could cause him shame and humiliation, and quite possibly result in a prison sentence, will be countered by forces loyal to him: the police, the military, and vigilante groups like Bikers for Trump.

To put it another way, the work of a democratically elected Congress will be met by Trump loyalists who, he asserts, are “tougher” because they have brute force on their side.

It is impossible to know what bizarre scenario is playing out in Trump’s head. But another hint came on Friday, when, in the wake of the horrific shootings at two mosques in New Zealand, Trump told reporters he didn’t believe white nationalism was on the rise.

“I don’t really,” he said. “I think it’s a small group of people.”

As usual, the facts are otherwise. The number of hate groups in the US increased 7% last year, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Hate crime reports increased 17%, according to the FBI.

Recall that 11 people were murdered at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue on 27 October, at the hands of a white supremacist. A few days earlier, a white supremacist murdered two black people at a grocery store in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.

It is hardly the first time Trump has played down white nationalism, or signaled his support for those who might use violence on his behalf.

At a Las Vegas rally during the 2016 campaign he said he’d like to punch a protester in the face; at another event encouraged his supporters to “knock the crap” out of any protester making trouble.

“I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees,” he said.

But as Trump becomes ever more entrapped in the web of his own misdeeds, his threats are becoming more ominous.

At a rally for Missouri Senate candidate Josh Hawley in September, Trump said his opponents “were lucky that we’re peaceful”. He continued: “Law enforcement, military, construction workers, Bikers for Trump … They travel all over the country … They’ve been great.” But, he warned, “these are tough people … they’re peaceful people, and antifa and all, they’d better hope they stay that way.”

In February, the White House Correspondents’ Association called on Trump to make it “absolutely clear to his supporters that violence against reporters is unacceptable”. To date, he has not.

Meanwhile, Steve Bannon, another of Trump’s bottom feeders, predicted that “2019 is going to be the most vitriolic year in American politics since the civil war”.

Throughout his campaign and presidency, Trump has given cover to some of the most vile bigots in America. As he grows more desperate, he is giving them encouragement.

It is our job – and the job of all senators and representatives in Congress, regardless of party, and of military leaders – to condemn hatred and violence in all its forms, even when the president of the United States makes excuses for it.

And it is up to all of us to reaffirm our commitment to democracy, even when the president of the United States threatens to unleash the military and vigilantes against it.

Robert B. Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century.