Moscow Mitch and Trump Are Subverting Justice and They Don't Care if You Know It!

                                        Good Day World!

Despite the fact that the House vote on impeachment won't be until next week, Trump and Senate Majority Leader Moscow Mitch met yesterday to make sure the Senate trial will be a farce.

The thing that stuns me is this open conspiracy to vindicate Trump's crimes. The Trumplicans aren't even trying to hide the fact they're going to subvert justice.

Moscow Mitch went on Fox News' right-wing nut Hannity's show, and declared he and the White House were coordinating the upcoming sham.

"The case is so darn weak I don't know why the House is sending it over," Mitch gloated. "There's no chance the president is going to be impeached," he told viewers.

How comforting to know the Senate is an extension of Trump. The spineless creatures inhabiting the Senate are selling out our democracy because they're afraid of Trump.

Trump's main weapon has always been fear. He uses it like a club to control his supporters, and lawmakers throughout the government. 

Democrats have pointed out that the Senate rules for impeachment trials call for a fair and honest trial that allows facts to come out. They've reminded Republicans that every single senator will take an oath to render "impartial justice."

The Republican reaction was predictable. They're ignoring those fine points of truth and justice, and are already celebrating getting Trump off the hook for his crimes.

To make sure Trump doesn't get caught again extorting (or making personal financial agreements with countries) the White House has moved to limit the amount of people who can listen in to his phone calls, after his July 25th call got him impeached.

The only question now is this going to be a Senate show trial full of revenge for Trump, or is it going to be short and sweet with a preordained result?

Either way, America loses.

Time for me to walk on down the road....

Fear and Loathing in the House: Impeachment Articles Sent to the Floor

Good Day World!

The final vote is approaching. The debates are over. Trump is going to be impeached next week.

Anyone who watched the final debate yesterday and this morning to send the articles of impeachment to a full vote in the House could see the fear and loathing throughout the proceedings.

Americans didn't have to be a politically savvy to see the naked partisanship among the GOP lawmakers. Their testimonies were fractured fables designed to muddle the facts being presented.

Not one Republican could honestly contest the facts, so they ran inference for Trump. They diverted, twisted, and tortured the truth to please a one-man audience.

What the world witnessed during the impeachment proceedings was a chilling display of power by Trump, who incorporated key government officials - from his chief-of-staff to the Attorney General, in an effort to cripple his primary political opponent in the 2020 election... Joe Biden.

A divided America watched the whole event unroll with fear and loathing as their elected officials fought over the fabric of their Republic.

It was jarring to watch the parallel realities play out in real time as the House debated sending the two articles of impeachment to the floor for a full vote.

It was disturbing to see how Republicans were acting without civility - like a bunch of rowdy third-graders - throughout the impeachment proceedings. They're undisguised loathing of the Democrats fueled their dramatic performances.

Everything about the hearings, including the factual evidence presented may have been a sham in the Republicans fairytale, but the reality was they had no REAL DEFENSE for what their master Trump did (and continues to do).

After playing their parts like perfect puppets (photo above), the Republicans got kudos from Trump today for a job well done. 

Just another day in the swamp.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

IG's Report Dumps Trump's Deep State Conspiracy Into History's Trashheap

Good Day World!

Despite trying to shake IG Michael Horowitz's conclusion there was no political bias in opening the Russian investigation, GOP Senate Intelligence Committee members tried every trick in the book yesterday to get him to change his mind.

The bottom line was the report destroyed Trump's Deep State conspiracy, leaving Trump's minions scrambling around like cockroaches to further Trump's false narrative.

There were problems with the FISA process and Horowitz pointed them out, along with some recommendations. Chairman Lindsey Graham painted the IG's report in apocalyptic terms in his opening statement.

He warned of a massive conspiracy against Trump, but the report denied that. Graham and the gutless GOP members tried to put on a good show for their one-man audience, but it fell flat... muddied beyond recognition.

Trump will rate some individual performances highly, like Graham and Cruz's (with his cute little Beavis and Butthead comparison to FBI agents) spirited acts.

That doesn't mean Trump will stop claiming the Russian investigation was about going after him. Hell no!

He's already got his main puppet AG Barr (and his sleazy lawyer sidekick - Beavis and Butthead?) working on discrediting his own departments official findings... 

… while also trying to flesh out another bullshit conspiracy about the Ukraine interfering with 2016 elections, hiding a damning secret server, and attempting to dig up dirt against his main political opponent Joe Biden.

Trump's all out assault against this Republic should shock all Americans. He's unrestrained by any adults in the West Wing or the senate. He believes in complete power and won't stop until he gets it.

Impeaching him won't be enough to stop him. The senate has already signaled a quick kangaroo trial that will absolve Trump of all high crimes and misdemeanors.

More than likely, Trump will continue to abuse his powers right up until the next election. 

That leaves it up to the voters. 

If there's not a massive blue wave of voters in 2020, Americans will lose their freedoms, and find themselves living in an authoritarian state.

Time for me to walk on down the road....

Trump is a Traitor and He's Gambling the Senate Doesn't Care

Good Day World!

Trump's reality show is deteriorating.

From the first day of his regime he brought in a loyal cast of characters ready to perform as he directed.

After three years, most of that original cast is gone and has been replaced by other sycophants ready to lie for him at a moments notice.

When the Ukraine scandal first broke, Trump wanted the whistleblower brought in and hung for treason. The threat thrilled his followers on Twitter, regardless of the practicality involved.

After all, his whole presidency has been a scripted act of corruption and ongoing destruction of our democracy.

Despite the fact that Trump is going to be impeached next week for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress, he's clinging to conspiracy theories, and the support of his core followers in an effort to ignore the reality of what's happening.

Fact: Trump was caught trying to get a foreign government to dig up dirt on his 2020 political rival Joe Biden. Then he tried to cover it up.

Trump's gambling that the senate is going to exonerate him in a dramatic show trial... but... 
according to senate insiders, McConnell is not going to play along with Trump's script. 

Moscow Mitch wants to at least give an appearance of a bi-partisan trial. To that end, he's meeting with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to lay out a bi-partisan road map for the proceedings.

Truth be told, McConnell is a cagey old bird who rides the political winds like a raptor, striking when he's sure of a kill. If it comes down to protecting Trump, or himself and the senate majority, Trump loses his gamble.

Twenty-three Republicans are up for re-election in the senate. Some are in states that could go either way. 

If the evidence is too damning against Trump, McConnell could release his colleagues and allow them to do what's best for each of them in their own contested districts.

Not that I expect that too happen. It would be the biggest upset in political history if the senate convicted Trump of high crimes and misdemeanors...

It's a nice thought however.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

A Constitutional Crisis Just Got Worse

                                       Good Day World!

This. Is. It.

America is in a Constitutional crisis this winter. Trump's going to be impeached this week. The House announced two articles of Impeachment this morning.

His supporters haven't been able to contest the facts against him, but they've made a show of challenging the entire hearing by trying to discredit it with outright lies, and procedural complaints. 

On top of this historic moment, there was another blow to our system of checks and balances that was announced yesterday.

AG Barr and the US attorney he picked to lead a probe into the origins of the Russian investigation, don't like the results that the Justice Department Inspector General reported yesterday.

Barr was hoping to give his master Trump an early Christmas gift when the report came out verifying his conspiracy theories... but that didn't happen.

Simply put, the IG found that the FBI properly opened its investigation into Russian election interference. 

This was bad news for Barr. He wasn't able to bring the "deliverable" to Donny. He better hope the $30,000 "Appreciation Party" he's throwing for Trump at his foreign fund outlet in Washington DC, pleases him.

There's never been such a stunning display of outright corruption in American history. No president has ever tried to cripple Congress and it's oversight abilities like Trump has, and is currently doing.

Congress can't wait until the next election because Trump will attempt to rig it with the help of Russia (or China, or the Ukraine as he's already publicly stated) again. 

It's scary that Trump's case will be tried before a Senate majority who are afraid of him.

It's scary that he believes the senate will ignore facts and spare him from justice.

It's scary that the senate majority leader Moscow Mitch has already declared the trial will go nowhere before the first piece of evidence has been examined.

With toady Barr's resistance to reality in order to remain in Trump's favor, our system of government is showing cracks in the checks-and-balances that threaten to destroy our Republic.

America has survived other threats to the Constitution in the last 247 years. We must trust that we'll survive these trying times, and freedom will continue to ring in the United States of America.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

4-Ways to Filter 24-Hour Cycle Breaking News and Still Be Informed

Good Day World!

Breaking News stories don't just happen on a daily basis in the 21st century... they burst hourly on social media platforms, and news organizations.

Keeping up with rapid-fire headlines is impossible for the average American.

Heck! It's even difficult for a hardcore blogger/writer, like me, to have a good grasp of what's happening in the hourly news cycle around the nation, and the world.

That doesn't mean it's necessary to spend endless hours researching like news devotees to be well-informed about the world around you.

Filtering Out The Bullshit

Unless you enjoy living in a tribal bubble, the alternative is to open your mind and make decisions based upon facts, not partisan rhetoric.

1. When getting your news from TV, choose media outlets that aren't blatantly partisan. I recommend PBS, but CBS and ABC also do a fair job of presenting news. There are others.

2. Like TV, radio/podcasts can be partisan creatures that call upon people to suspend reality in favor of an ideology. PBS and other relatively neutral platforms are available.

3. When it comes to the print media (a pleasant surprise that people are still subscribing to newspapers and magazines), I recommend looking for a local newspaper, and a national one like US Today, to get a good overview on what's happening in the world.

4. To avoid responding like a puppet to hourly bombshell reports limit your daily news-gathering time to no more than a couple of hours. Less time, is probably better. 

As a journalist, I've always felt it was important to inform the public of news events around them, and the world. We all should have a basic knowledge about our government and the laws of the land.

However, there's nothing better than living in the here-and-now, and interacting with family and friends. 

(Photo: My wife Shirley and I)

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Trump Downplays Saudi Connection To Murderous Attack Against US Military Members

                                        Good Day World!

The realization that a foreign terrorist targeted a US military base and successfully murdered and wounded American service members, opens up a new front in the battle against worldwide terrorism.

As new facts about the Saudi student who committed the atrocity continue to leak out one thing is clear... this was a premediated attack and more than one person is involved.

The Associated Press reported the killer hosted a dinner party before his murderous attack where he, and three other Saudi students, watched videos of mass shootings.

We know that one of those students who were at the party was videotaped outside the building where the shooting was taking place at Naval Air Station Pennsacola.

The other two students watched from a car. Authorities have arrested them, and at last report, they were holding ten Saudi students for questioning. Apparently, several Saudi students are still missing according to officials (at the time of this post).

We also know the shooter posted criticism of US wars and quoted Osama bin Laden on social media before opening fire on his unsuspecting victims.

Too many questions remain

** Was it a conspiracy involving some - if not all of the Saudi students?

** How effective is the vetting process - both from the Saudis side. and the US side? 

** How did the killer get a handgun into a secure base that prohibits anyone, with the exception of the base police force, from having weapons?

** Just how closely are foreign students being monitored while they're here training at our military bases?

** Is it time to re-examine the training programs between other countries military, and ours?

** Should we ban some countries from training programs when we know they're bad actors, or even suspect it?

While the Saudi government (and Trump) were quick to decry the act, it sounds similar to the insincere effort made to help find out who murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

No one, but Trump (who could care less), thinks the Saudi's ever came clean on that brutal assassination. Thus, their offer now sounds just as hollow.

Watching Trump get in front of this mass shooting is reminiscent of the ploy Trump used to discredit the Mueller investigation.

The last thing Trump wants is to lose his personal good standing with The Kingdom, who he plans to do more business with again in the future.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Is a Good Economy Justification For Not Impeaching Trump?

                                        Good Day World!

Trump and minions were touting the robust economy yesterday, while pretending his impeachment wasn't hovering over the White House.

Trump refused to send his legal council to the House impeachment proceedings at the deadline yesterday in an act of childish defiance that can be likened to cutting one's nose off to spite their face.

Should Trump get credit for the healthy economy Obama left him?

Should Trump get credit for lowering the wealthy one-percent of Americans taxes, thanks to his tax law scheme?

Yesterday's positive economic news is going to be short-lived as we move into another year of crippling tariffs for farmers. 

They were forced to live on government subsidies again this year, that were larger than what the failing banks got when bailed out by Obama after he took office in 2008. 

According to this Bloomberg article the job market's decade-end bang risks fizzling in less-roaring '20s.

One basic question.

Is a good economy justification for not impeaching Trump? The Republicans Trumplicans are hoping the current economy will overshadow Trump's attempt to fix the 2020 election.

On the face the two issues have nothing in common. 

One is about our economy, and the other is about a rogue president who worked with the Russians to get elected in 2016, and is still doing Putin's bidding today.

Traditionally, a good economy would carry a lot of weight for an incumbent president. But Trump's presidency is anything but traditional. All norms have been shattered.

GOP lawmakers have been following Trump like helpless zombies, creating the biggest swamp in presidential history. They managed to make the House impeachment hearings a circus at times to cloud Trump's crimes.

Political pundits say that when the Senate gets the articles of impeachment, senate majority leader Mitch McConnell will try to avoid having a circus at all cost. I'll believe that when I see it.

Despite publicly admitting Republican senators are not going to vote against Trump, Moscow Mitch is going to try to put up a façade of fairness, according to some experts on the subject.

To me the answer is clear, a good economy is hardly an excuse to enable the corruption that's thrived under Trump's regime to continue.

What do you think?

Time for me to walk on down the road...

A Christmas Impeachment and a 'Mysterious' Gift To Trump From Kim

Good Day World!

This is not a traditional Christmas this year, in case you hadn't noticed.

Parents are reading the articles of impeachment to their children instead of Christmas stories. 

There's even a good chance that Christmas Day will feature Trump's impeachment by the House of Representatives.

Partisan Christmas tree ornaments are a hot item online. 

Store-side Santa Clauses are wearing blue outfits in Democratic strongholds, and the Republicans are wearing Orange Santa suits in GOP stomping grounds.

There's rumors that Santa's workshop is experiencing trouble with the elves who want to serve Republicans with subpoenas to testify in the Senate trial, and elves who are printing up conspiracy theories to pass out against Democratic lawmakers.

A Foreign Christmas Greeting

Meanwhile, North Korea's bat-shit crazy leader Kim is promising a Christmas gift for America.

His minions sent out a notice to Washington warning the Trump Administration's Christmas gift "depends on the coming days."

That mysterious statement certainly sounds ominous, especially since Kim has set a deadline (the end of the year) before taking some action that America isn't going to like.

Because Trump is a diplomatic moron, he dissed Kim during the NATO summit by calling him Rocket Man (remember that one?) and threatening the US could kick his rotund ass.

That, of course, didn't put Kim in the holiday spirit, and he called Trump a Dotard (another oldie but goodie). 

I have a feeling Kim's Christmas gift is going to be - in Trump's own broken words - "nasty."

Time for me to walk on down the road...

The Open Secret is Out: World Leaders Think Trump is a Joke

Good Day World!

For the last three years world leaders have tried flattering Trump's massive ego to maintain good relations with the United States.

That tolerance seems to have worn thin with them.

In a hot mic moment at the Buckingham Palace reception for world leaders, following the 70th NATO Summit in England, a group of world leaders were caught on camera joking about Trump.

British prime Minister Boris Johnson, French president Emmanuel Macron, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte were yucking it up at Trump's expense, unaware they were being recorded.

The bad news is only snippets of their jocularity were understandable, but the basic message was clear... they thought Trump was a clown.

Trump's clashes with Macron and Trudeau were among the highlights featuring a rampaging Trump attacking NATO and its leaders.

In fact the whole Summit was a joke. World leaders couldn't discuss important agendas with Trump who got butt hurt when they suggested he screwed up by helping Turkey and turning on the Kurds.

No real world issues were addressed in that historic 70th anniversary. 

The specter of Trump rumbling through meetings while ranting about how great the US economy is because of him, was a haunting reminder of how low America has sunk in the eyes of world leaders.

Trump has the dubious distinction of the being the first US president to be laughed at by some of America's closest allies at a NATO summit, a sign if his increasing isolation on the world stage.

When the conference was over Trump skipped his usual diatribe about how well things went, and sulked aboard Air Force One... 

confident that when he got home his minions would applaud him like a conquering hero.

Time for me to walk on down  the road...