Trump's Assault Against Media Organizations Was Worse Than You Thought

Trump's four-year run assaulting media organizations that didn't deify him was more insidious than most Americans realized.

Beyond Trump's well-known battles with the press before becoming president, his disastrous reign brought the power of the presidency against mainstream media organizations and journalists in general.

Recent reports have exposed just how far Trump abused the office to go after his so-called enemy... the fake press. 

That meant years of meritless lawsuits and investigating individual journalists he wanted to get dirt on the sly.

The Justice Department recently notified reporters at CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times that personal records had been seized by Trump's DOJ under Bill Barr.

This public confirmation of Trump's corruption adds to the enormity of the damage he did to our democracy. Trying to steal an election on his way out was his swan song.

Leaders of CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post are scheduled to meet on Monday with AG Merrick Garland to clear the air.

Garland already announced he WOULD NOT demand journalist's records in leak investigations. 

That'll in itself will be a first for a DOJ that has historically had a bad habit of letting presidents get away with nearly everything.

It's one small step for democracy and for the freedom of the press. At least it's a start.

Here's Why the Super Rich Get Away With Paying No Taxes

If there was ever any doubt how privileged the super rich in America are it's been erased with a leak from the IRS showing people like Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates, don't pay taxes like you and I do.

While the IRS is busy looking for the perp who blew the whistle on the super-rich's taxes, nothing is going to come from revealing what people already knew.

If you're rich enough to belong to the wealthy stratosphere of Americans that don't get taxed the last thing you want to hear about is tax reform.

But is that even possible? With Republicans siding with the super-rich any reform bills are dead upon arrival.

What we have is a US tax code favoring the wealthiest, and little desire among lawmakers to change things in Congress.

The irony is all those "see-no-evil" lawmakers are NOT representing the average American who put them in office.

With our current tax codes the wealthy are insulated from the reality the rest of us face.

As long as the super-rich are able to keep bribing corrupt lawmakers with massive donations there's no way things are going to change.

The average American lives in one America where everyone isn't treated equally, and the one percenters live in another more exclusive America where money is their god.

Until American voters wise up and get rid of the parasites in Congress, the super-rich are running the country.

Why Is The Biden Administration Protecting Trump?

The Biden Administration's Department of Justice is protecting Trump from a civil suit where he's accused of raping a magazine columnist.

Yesterday the DOJ argued in a brief that it should be permitted to substitute itself for former president Trump as defendant in a defamation lawsuit.

The flawed argument goes that Trump was an employee of the government and that he acted "within the scope of employment" the department, rather than Trump personally, should serve as defendant in the case.

Meanwhile the White House claimed it wasn't consulted by the DOJ on the decision to file the brief. 

Why not? Isn't part of Biden's job to right the wrongs under the Trump administration? Wasn't there supposed to be an accounting for Trump's crimes?

It's looking more and more like the Biden administration is ignoring the damage Trump did in four years.

Despite holding the majority in the House and Senate, democrats are kowtowing to to a couple of members in their own party and not holding Trump accountable for anything.

Today two senate committees released what was touted as the most comprehensive report yet on the Jan. 6 insurrection, and there wasn't one mention of Trump being involved.

Apparently both reports were watered down before they were even examined by the two committees. 

Members of the committees intentionally avoided the most politicized topics to keep the investigation bipartisan.

In essence the report was not comprehensive when it came to looking at ALL of the causes of the riot, despite claims it was.

There's several more congressional committees looking into the assault on the Capitol building.

Don't be surprised if they don't mention Trump or his cronies who fomented the attack on our democracy. 

The Republicans in Congress don't want the whole story of how Trump's followers did his bidding and stormed the Capitol.

Democrats made a feeble attempt at getting the Republicans to allow for an independent commission, but it was shut down with prejudice.

It's puzzling and disappointing to see the Biden administration allowing Trump's crimes to go unpunished.

Happiness Is A Warm Gun In America

I graduated from high school in 1968, the same year The Beatles premiered their new song, "Happiness Is A Warm Gun."

Those in the know at the time deciphered what the phrase really met - it was about sex, specifically a man's penis after intercourse.

Since then the phrase has taken on a more ominous interpretation in our gun-loving society. Americans love their guns so much that they're unwilling to pass any gun-safety laws.

Between the NRA and right-wing extremists the assault on gun safety has worked for decades. 

The 2nd Amendment is re-interpreted by the powerful gun manufacturing companies that lavish millions on corrupt Republican lawmakers in Congress who oppose any legislation to make guns safer.

That's in spite of the fact:

**America is the gun mecca of the world. 

**Mass murders continue to increase every year

**No other nation in the world has an armed citizenry like our militia groups and other bad actors who oppose the government and laws of the land.

Daily news stories of gun-related deaths reveal how bad things are:

A Sampling of TODAY's Headlines

**Two arrested in the suspected road rage shooting death of a 6-year-old

**10-Year-old killed in New York City after suspect repeatedly shoots into a Queens home

**MASS SHOOTINGS leave fatalities in Chicago, Portland, Miami-Dade and other cities

I don't have enough space to list the dozens of gun-related violence stories released just today. You get the point however. These articles sound like they've been snatched from a 3rd world country under siege from within. 

A year doesn't go by without some news item suddenly causing a surge in gun sales. They're always based on fear that the government is going to take their guns away. It's a groundless fear, but works every time.

2020 Facts:

The South accounted for nearly half of all US gun sales in 2020.

**The Midwest and the West were very close at 23 percent and 21 percent respectively.

**Gun sales in the Northwest fell firmly in last place at just 11 percent.

**There were 15 guns sold for every 100 adults living in Wyoming.

The sad thing about living in a heavily armed country like America, is that you're more likely to be killed by a gun than any other nation in the world.

After Saving Human Lives For 5 Years A Heroic Rat Retires

Magawa wearing his gold medal for bravery

This story should be made into a movie.

How often do you hear about rats saving human lives? I've got a good one for you today.

Meet Magawa, an African giant pouched rat who sniffed out landmines in Cambodia for five years. 

His handlers have retired him because the average lifespan for his species is 6-8 years and they want him to enjoy the fruits of his labor. 

The heroic rat helped clear more than 2.4 million square feet of land and saved an unknown number of people from injury or possible death.

Magawa - whose name means courage - is the most successful graduate of a program funded by a Belgian nonprofit group teaching rats to detect land mines for more than 20 years.

The rats, which have a strong sense of smell, can detect the chemical compounds found inside explosives. 

They're trained - by an organization named APOPO - through a process using bananas and other food rewards in exchange for successfully completing a task.

The rat's super power is being faster than a human with a metal detector. They're also too light to set off a landmine (it takes an average of 11 pounds. The rats only weigh 3 pounds). When they stop and scratch the ground, it's time to start digging.

Oh, by the way. They're always right!

During Magawa's service to his country, he found 71 land mines and 38 items of unexploded ordnance. 

Last September Magawa was awarded a gold medal for bravery from the British charity PDSA, an honor that had previously only gone to dogs.

So what do you think?

Would Magawa's story make a good animated movie?

Quick note - I was a combat engineer in Vietnam in 1970. My primary job was minesweeping. I sure could have used Magawa's help!!

Red Badge of Stupidity: Republicans Who Still Believe in Trump's Lies

The majority of Republicans today have chosen stupidity over rational thought by accepting Trump's repeating Big Lie.

We know the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result each time.

Trump's grievances are legion and the last thing he really cares about is moving on and promoting future policies.

Here's the thing; Republicans know he's crazy and has no intention of helping most GOP candidates for the midterms.

The exception is he's promoting Trumpian GOP candidates over the traditional Republicans who dared to defy him.

You have to wonder about the sanity of Trump's extreme followers who believe he's going to be the president again this August. Do they really believe that?

The scary part is I think they do. Trumplicans live in an alternate reality led by a failed reality star who is certifiably crazy.

In the end reality wins out, as each of Trump's claims are disproved and are so far out that no sane person can believe them. Trumpies cannot turn truth away because they're stupid.

Trump-loving extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene compared mask wearing to the holocaust and GOP House members only murmured that it wasn't nice for her to say.

She also compared the Star of David patches Jews had to wear during WWII with masking.

Everyone who buys into that insanity needs to wear a Red Badge of Stupidity so we can avoid them.

All The Truth Won't Come Out: Why Even Bother Questioning Former WH Counsel Don McGahn?

Two years after Congress subpoenaed Trump's Counsel Don McGahn, he's finally going to testify today.

It's a waste of taxpayer money. A farce. Why is today's deposition even happening? Most of what the House Judiciary Committee wanted to know WILL NOT be revealed.

McGahn's obstinance in protecting Trump during the Mueller Russia investigation frustrated lawmakers who knew he had the answers they were seeking.

The hearing will be behind closed doors and only open to House members (no staff). Because of the ground rules McGahn's testimony has been carefully negotiated to prevent full public disclosure.

A transcript will be made available to the public after the DOJ scrubs anything they find objectionable. The content has already scrubbed before the committee even gets to see it today.

Finally, the DOJ can assert executive privilege to block questions, and McGahn himself can clam up if he considers the question beyond the scope of the agreement.

So why even bother?

It's the right of the people to know what happens within and to their government. That right stands superior to institutional interests of the branches of government.

But we already know the outcome of this wasted exercise because lawmakers and lawyers have already determined it.

In the end the Biden-Garland Department of Justice, by continuing to defend its predecessor's legal claims against oversight, also worked against the nation's paramount need to know.

GOP Grift Setting Stage for 2024

Inspired by their supreme leader Trump Republicans have taken on a new grift to steal the next election.

It started with the sham Arizona audit and was quickly followed by another audit stunt in Georgia.

The stunts are not over. Just the opposite; they're spreading to other swing states with even crazier methods to distribute false narratives to muddy up the midterms and the 2024 presidential election.

Wisconsin is the latest victim of the GOP assault on our electoral system. The top Republican in the state Assembly is hiring three retired police officers to investigate the 2020 election.

It sounds crazy, because it is. Chaos is the order of the day and creating it in presidential battle ground states is the current Trumpian marching orders.

The attack against Wisconsin voters will be waged by three unqualified partisan stooges who will be given subpoena power, and the taxpayers are being stuck with the bill!

The three stooges mission is to follow tips about voter fraud, or "election problems(?)."

Claiming that a sizeable chunk of Wisconsin voters believed (no proof) the election was illegitimate, state Assembly Speaker, Robin Vos, used Trump's Big Lie as justification for their scheme.

Hoping to create any kind of controversy, Vos is also playing the Trump Money Game where you fundraise off of lies. The so-called investigation is supposed to be wrapped up in the fall.

With Trump leading the way, the lost souls who still follow him have learned how to be world class grifters from their master.

Trump's 'New Platform' Withers Away After 29 days

 

It was inevitable. Trump actually canceled himself.

Trump's aide, Jason Miller confirmed this morning that the former president's "communication platform" (or blog as the rest of the world called it) has been shuttered after 29 days.

Like most enterprises in Trump's life it failed, adding another notch in his loser's column. No one was reading it. Trump's imprint on cyberspace has shrunk dramatically (91 percent according to the latest poll) since he was banned at Facebook and Twitter. 

Hence the plan to go back to his signature rallies this month. The great carnival barker has been forced to take his act on the rode again.

Meanwhile Twitter is busy mocking Trump today. My favorite twitter teaser was written by Dr. Siva Vaidhyanathan:

"Please help me make a list of things that outlasted Trump's blog.

* My goldfish, Steve, when I was seven

*Whatever show Tony Danza last starred in.

*This feeling of dread.

I'd like to add to this tread by saying good riddance!

How The 'Big Grift' May Lead To A Civil War

It began in 2015.

Trump put together the biggest grift of his career and ran for president. 

His success was partly because of his rallies.

They were political rallies unlike any other in American history. They were filled with lies, racism, and a mishmash of conspiracy theories.

After four years of indoctrinating his followers with an alternative universe most are now so far gone mentally they believe Trump is still the president.

This mass delusion is getting deadlier by the day and is now a direct threat to democracy. Trump's attempts at dismantling our electoral system almost worked.

He's still trying however, and his minions in Republican dominated states are doing their best to suppress voting.

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A Surreal, Submerged, Conspiratorial, Trump-Centered political universe still thrives

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Rallies without Trump, but promoting him are being held throughout the country. The most recent was Sunday at an event organized by QAnon adherents and included QAnon-specific branding as part of its look and feel.

Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn made the most headlines from the rally by endorsing the idea that the country "should" have a coup like the one in Myanmar that deposed that country's leader.

With the coup attempt on the Capitol on Jan.6, the first shot in what may end up being a civil war were fired.

Trump's acolytes are going further down the rabbit hole and getting more militant by the day. 

By furthering "The Big Lie" Trump supporters are divorced from reality and looking to remake our country into a dictatorship.

One of Trump craziest followers, Sidney Powell claimed, during the rally, that Trump will become president again this August.

Right now it's only rumors of war, but if Trump's latest grift works we may be faced with a civil war and the end of democracy as we know it.

Memorial Day: A Day of Remembrance and Renewal

In its purest form Memorial Day is a time to remember our fallen heroes from the nations wars.

However, an offshoot of today's holiday is a call for renewal. Americans must come together, not just to remember our fallen, but to protect democracy.

Those men and women who gave their lives for our freedoms are dishonored by the deep divisions in our society today.

They died to preserve a more perfect union and the current polarization is tearing the nation apart.

Setting politics aside and celebrating Memorial Day brings us together for a positive reason. 

It's a time to pause and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I could live in a free democracy.