Trump Is Busy Rigging Primaries and Disenfranchising the Republican Party

                                     Good Day World!

Fear motivates Trump.

He uses it to attract voters, and to energize himself when he thinks there's a credible challenge to his regime.

Despite calling his three primary challengers "The Three Stooges," the reptile part of Trump's brain senses they could wrest away part of his base.

Accordingly, Trump went about knee-capping his challengers as much as possible. To whit, he ordered four states Republican parties not to hold primaries and just name him their boy.

The states were South Carolina, Arizona, Kansas, and Nevada. 

The Republican Party in Michigan wasn't able to cancel their primaries because the rules didn't permit it. 

So they did the next best thing; they rigged the system to favor Trump. 

Particularly galling is Trump's enablers claiming it was just done to save the states money (like they gave a damn about that) and were simply reflecting the voters will.

Think about that. The states are excusing their actions by claiming every Republican (!) in the five states affected wanted Trump. 

If there's one thing in life I've discovered about politics is that no one person ever gets 100 percent of a voter turnout. Period.

Trump is afraid.

He's concerned The Three Stooges are going to make a stooge out of him in the debates. They might even pull off an upset - similar to his own in 2016. 

Trump's reaction to their challenge is par for the course, where rules, ethics, and traditions play no part. It's about winning...at any cost. The 2016 election proved that.

The Republican Party is fighting for it's life. There are still true Republicans (the fiscally conservative type who are appalled at the nation's growing debt under Trump's regime) whose voices yearn to be heard.

Despite handicapping his challengers, they are going to give true Republicans a chance to be heard, and to defend what the party has stood for over the decades.

Those Republicans who are busy enabling Trump's corrupt regime - Trumpies who formed a bastard hybrid of the GOP beholden only to their master - are going to pay a price someday.

Hopefully, at the polls in 2020.

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

Impeachment: 2 of the Most Powerful Men in America Hope To Avoid It

Good Day World!

The "I" word has been careening through the halls of Capitol Hill for two years as Trump's corruption has slimed the office of the President of the United States daily.

It looks like Justice Brett Kavanaugh's past college experiences have returned to haunt him again...

Kavanaugh was hit with another accusation of unwanted contact by a male classmate who said he saw Kavanaugh expose himself and press his genitals against a woman without her consent.

The most troubling thing about this accusation (from Day One of his confirmation hearing) was the coverup by the Republican Party and AG Barr to demonize one of his victims from college.

The classmate said he told the FBI about Kavanaugh's actions before the confirmation hearings, but they ignored him and never investigated.

Related: Democrats Call For Kavanagh Impeachment Over New Sexual Misconduct Claims 

Everyone from our womanizer president to his ethic-free minions knew there was bad shit in Kavanaugh's past, but chose to ignore it in order to get a majority on the Supreme Court.

A bit of history

Is it even possible to impeach a sitting justice on the Supreme Court? Yes. But, I need to qualify my answer:

First off, impeachment is rare. In 1804 the House did vote to impeach Associate Justice Samuel Chase, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who had been appointed by George Washington.

At the time everyone knew the move was politically motivated. The Senate later acquitted him and he stayed on the court until his death in 1811. 

Here are the rules for removing a Supreme Court Justice.

The other conversation on impeachment continues to revolve around Trump.

Related: Democrats To Broaden Impeachment Inquiry Into Trump to Corruption Accusations. 

When I think about how two of the most powerful men in our country are corrupt liars with no ethics troubling them, I don't imagine a swamp...

Oh! Hell no! I imagine a tar pit.

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

Whistleblower Complaint Was Concealed By The DOJ and White House - Why?

Good Day World!

The acting Director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, has until Tuesday to come clean about a whistleblower whose complaint was buried in his department.

In an announcement late Friday from House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Adam Schiff, he accused Maguire of illegally withholding a whistleblower's complaint deemed to be extremely important.

If Maguire ignores the request to release the whistleblower's complaint, he'll be required to testify in an open hearing on Thursday to explain his action.

What triggered the cover up was a letter to Schiff Monday from the Intelligence Community inspector, notifying him that a whistleblower's complaint of a cover up was determined to be credible and of "urgent concern."

The next day Schiff requested the full and unredacted whistleblower complaint, and all records pertaining to his department's involvement in the matter.

The request emphasized releasing all correspondence with other Executive Branch actors including The White House. 

Schiff warned, in a letter to Maguire, that he was concerned about why the complaint wasn't passed on, and who was behind it's concealment from getting it to Congress (the complaint was more than a month old).

In a brief press release Schiff said, "A Director of National Intelligence has never prevented a properly submitted whistleblower complaint that the IC IG determined to be credible and urgent from being provided to congressional intelligence communities."

The question is, how detailed was the whistleblower's account and did it involve Trump as Schiff suspects? The White House, and the Department of Justice, have been partners in crime since Trump slung into office.

This latest assault on justice is just another example of how far this nation has sunk, with a crooked president and a DOJ that mindlessly does his corrupt bidding.

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

Guffaw Saturday: 6 Links to Laughs

Good Day World!

As a lifetime subscriber to the theory that laughter is the best medicine, I thought it would be nice to change the pace of my posts today with an infusion of humor.

** This video (50 seconds) features the first time Robin Williams appeared on the Johnny Carson Show. Williams was a comedic genius who took off like a rocket and stunned the entertainment world with his crazy antics. 

** This video (5 minutes) is a collection of Rodney Dangerfield's best one-liners. He was the master when it came to reeling off jokes in rapid succession.

** This video (13 minutes) is a collection of Don Rickles best jokes. His humor was controversial at the time, and today he would probably be banned from performing. But, damn! The guy was hilarious! 

** This video (1 hour) portrays a comprehensive selection of George Carlin's best jokes. Carlin is probably one of the most controversial comedians in American history. He was also a social critic, satirist, actor, writer, and an author who won five Grammy Awards for his albums. 

** This video (10 minutes 30 seconds) is from Richard Pryor's TV Show. His character the Rev. James L. White is a real crackup. Pryor thrived on controversy. From stand-up comedy, to albums, and even his own show, he was (and is) still popular for his zany wit. 

This video (49 seconds) features funny man Bob Newhart doing stand up comedy. Skit: "Air Traffic Controller" Bob's understated personality led to uncontrollable laughter! 

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

Payoffs, Pardons, Profiteering: How Trump Has Been Getting Away With Open Corruption

Good Day World!

It's about time.

Democratic lawmakers reaction to Trump's open corruption came to a vote yesterday when the House Judiciary Committee voted to launch a formal investigation that could result in the adoption of articles of impeachment by the full House.

One step towards justice. The next will be the Full Monty.

I don't have the space to list all of Trump's emolument violations, but they basically began while he was being sworn in as out next president.

Related: The Investigation into Trump's Inauguration Money Looks Quite Serious

The most recent blatant violation of the Constitution came when Trump pitched have the 2020 G-7 Economic Summit.

Related: Using Trump's Golf Course for G-7 Summit Is a Clear Emoluments Violation, But what can Be Done? 

The answer to the above link was yesterday's vote to move impeachment proceedings along.

One of the many things that will come up for further examination will be Trump's use of pardons. 

Tossing all normal proceedings aside, he's been granting them on whims and for political reasons.

Details of Trump's misuse are documented in the following article from Lawfare:

Trump's Corrupt Use of the Pardon Power

Moving on to payoffs:

Trump's lifetime habit off paying off troublesome lawsuits - like when women accuse him of sexual abuse - came back to haunt him when he paid Stormy Daniels hush money days before the 2016 election, not to mention their sexual affairs.

Related: House Dems to Investigate Trump's Involvement in 'Hush Payments' to Silence Affair Accusations in Impeachment Probe

Because there's so many lawsuits involving Trump I went to see if Wikipedia has a list. They do.

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

Why America is Less Secure Today - Hint Donald Trump

                                       Good Day World!

Seen posted on the door of the White House:

"Taking Applications for National Security Adviser" 
(In small print) Don't apply unless ready to kiss Trump's ass daily.

After kicking John Bolton out, Trump is scrambling to find his fourth national security secretary in less than three years.

The search has been narrowed down to this short list of Trump loyalists: 

Stephen E. Biegun - special representative for North Korea
Brian H. Hook - special representative  for Iran (Kushner's buddy).
Douglas Macgregor - retired Army colonel (who appears frequently on Trump's favorite Fox program "Tucker Carlson.")
Richard Grenell - ambassador to Germany (the wild card - Trump personally likes him).
Ricky Waddell - a former deputy national security adviser who left the White House a year ago).

Other names tossed about:

Keith Kellogg, Jack Keane, Robert Blair, and Robert C. O' Brien. 

When Trump stumbled into office on January 2017, America was immediately put at risk with his first choice for national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Flynn was part of Trump's A-Team. Now that Trump's down to the D-Team it looks even bleaker for the nation's security. 

Think about that for a moment; Trump has been at odds with all of the intelligence agencies (preferring Putin's opinion over theirs) since he was elected, and now he's scrapping the barrel to fill one of the most vital positions on his cabinet.

Trump has made the country less secure by alienating all of our former allies, sucking up to world dictators, and appointing complete assholes to his cabinet.

Related: Trump Is A National Security Risk. Here's the Current #1 Trump Threat Level 

Objectively, it's fair to say, America is less safe today.

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

One Thing That Is Real About Trump: He Lives In His Own World

                                        Good Day World!

It was flashback time yesterday to The Apprentice when Trump told national security advisor John Bolton, "You're fired!"

The former reality star, and now president, has never fully crossed the threshold to the real world, preferring to straddle the line between unreality, and reality. 

Trump truly believes he can control reality by bullying weathermen because they corrected him (factually), or by telling straight-out lies like people were waiting in the rain to see him speak at the NC rally for GOP senate wannabe Dan Bishop Monday night.

Note: Bishop won by a narrow margin yesterday - 2 points (in the pure red state) - showing a growing movement away from Trump.

Recent actions he's taken are pointing towards Trump's mental state's deterioration. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why his approval rating is slipping amid recession and trade war concerns.

Because Trump is a malignant narcissist he lives in his own world and expects those around him to conform to his interruption of reality.

For example; look at the turnover in the White House and cabinet. We're going on the fourth national security adviser after Trump shit-canned John Bolton yesterday.

As a matter of fact, Trump's cabinet turnover set a record going back 100 Years. Note, this NPR article is from 2018. 

Tracking Turnover in The Trump Adminstration - His "A Team" turnover has reached 76 percent (as of Sept.10, 2019) 

The obvious reason for the chaos in government is Trump. Everyone is afraid he's going to fire them if they somehow cross what he's saying.

In other words, Trump does not take advise, and if someone wants to keep their job, they don't give it because he is the chosen one.

So what are Americans saying about Trump's reality game? In a poll yesterday, 6 in 10 Americans said Trump does not deserve a second term.

Coupled with the concerns over the economy, it's apparent Trump is not winning over a lot of voters lately. In fact, he's slipping further into a swamp of own lies.

The only thing that is real about Trump is that he lives in his own world.

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

Hurricane Trump Continues to Defy Democracy With Every Lie

"I call it truthful hyperbole."
-Trump, from the Art of the Deal"

Good Day World!

The Category 5 assault upon the Constitution by Hurricane Trump and cronies has gone off the charts this year.

Last week Trump took his Sharpie to a weather map in a pathetic attempt to prove he wasn't wrong about Alabama being in the course of Hurricane Dorian.

Doubling down, Trump ordered NOAA top brass to lie about his Alabama claim. 

NOAA Employees Told Not To Contradict Trump

Followed up with this story...Commerce Chief Threatened firing of NOAA Officials After Trump's Hurricane Tweets 

Now this: Another attempt to defy the Constitution - Judge blocks Trump's Asylum Ban Along Entire US-Mexico Border for the Second Time 

And this: Trump told officials that if they break the law to finish hundreds of miles of fence along the US-Mexican border, he'd pardon them.

Then he ordered the officials to fast-track contracts on his beloved wall and to seize land and break any environmental laws that stood in the way. 

When questioned about it, WH staff claimed it was a joke. The only joke I see is Trump in the presidency.

Trump's dubious claims (lies) about China are documented.  He and his cronies have been jerking the stock market around with conflicting stories and claims about the ongoing trade war with China since last year.

The effect of Trump's witless tariffs are becoming clearer every day. Experts are saying Trump's trade war is creating a scenario similar to 2016. Trump continues to say that US taxpayers aren't suffering under his regime. Another big lie.

According to Bloomberg Monday, a Recession Already Grips Corners of U.S., menacing Trump's 2020 bid. 

Before signing off today I want to share one more story that made my blood run cold:

US Removed Covert Source in Russia Due To Safety Concerns Under Trump

According to a CNN report, US Officials had been alarmed by Trump's private meeting in 2017 with Putin in Hamburg and his infamous Oval Office meeting in May 2017 when Trump discussed Comey's firing, and highly sensitive intelligence concerning ISIS in Syria with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and then the ambassador to the U.S., Sergery Kislyak. 

The big takeaway from this news is our intelligence community was concerned with Trump and his cronies keeping their flaps shut and possibly jeopardizing the spy's life.

Breaking News Today:

Finally, it was bound to happen: Trump Fires John Bolton

There's no doubt in my mind that Trump is the biggest threat to democracy in modern history.

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

They're Back! A Reinvigorated Congress Takes on Trump's Corruption

                                         Good Day World!

I'm feeling unusually irreverent today. To describe my delight at seeing Congress back in session here's an old song by The Chiffons:

 My Boyfriends Back.

(Lyrics) 
He been away, you hung around
Botherin' me every night
Spreadin' stories that were untrue
So look out now cause he's comin' after you  

My boyfriend's back and you're gonna be in trouble
(Hey la, hey la, my boyfriend's back)
_____________________________________

Congress in Session

Things are finally going to get serious this week as the Democratic Majority Congress rolls out the guide to impeachment. (See my post yesterday)

Related: House Panel Investigating Military Spending at Trump Turnberry 

______________________________________

Trump actually has primary challengers

You'd have to be following the political news of the day pretty closely to even know Trump has some GOP primary challengers.

Related: Mark Sanford Becomes Third Republican To Challenge Trump in Republican Primary 

The deck is rapidly being stacked against Trump's challengers. According to Politico, the GOP in four states - South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, and Kansas - have chosen not to hold Republican presidential primaries or caucuses next year and just name Trump their boy.

________________________________________

Culture

Jimmy Kimmel Mocks Trump's Daily Schedule: 'Eat, Tweet, Sleep, Tweet, Repeat'

________________________________________

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

The Door To Impeachment Will Open After Congressional Resolution Next Week

                                        Good Day World!

After speculating on impeachment all year long Democrats are shaking off their lethargy, and are prepared to vote next week on a resolution laying out the procedures for a House investigation into impeaching Trump.

This is a major step towards formalizing the sweeping probe that will occur when they formally declare they're pursuing impeachment.

The House Judiciary Committee may introduce the resolution as early as tomorrow. Moving forward Chairman Jerry Nadler will have the authority to call hearings at either the full committee or subcommittee level in connection with impeachment deliberations.

This will open the doors Trump closed by defying Congressional subpoenas.   

Using Nixon's impeachment proceedings as a model, Nadler will be able to authorize committee staff counsels to question witnesses, something not normally done at congressional hearings.

Democrats have been gathering evidence to prove obstruction of justice, potential violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, and reports that Trump promised pardons to officials if they broke the law to carry out his immigration policies.

No stone will remain unturned as the committee resolution also spells out how grand jury information can be reviewed in closed-door sessions. 

These new procedures could be in place by mid-September, according to Politico who first reported the upcoming resolution. 

Trump's mental condition is on public display, especially with his recent Alabama fixation. Aides are reporting his daily rants through the White House have increased lately as signs of a recession are popping up everywhere.

It should be interesting to see how Trump handles more personal pressure from this new House resolution.

Who knows? It could end up being the 25th Amendment that puts The Donald away!

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