Traitor Trump Asks Putin for Dirt on Hunter Biden

Trump is a filthy traitor seeking to undermine democracy daily.

The latest evidence that Trump still idolizes Russian dictator Putin came on Monday during an interview with a right-wing TV show - "Just the News" - on Real America's Voice network.

In an interview with discredited far-right journalist John Solomon, Trump called on the Russian leader to produce dirt on Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden.

Trumps obsession with Hunter Biden has increased over the years as he's tried every trick in the book to get him in trouble. 

Trump's first impeachment came about after he tried to bribe Ukranian President Zelenskyy to find dirt on Hunter Biden. Now he's turned to Putin.

Despite the highly politicized investigation by Senate Republicans into the Bidens, which was published just weeks before the 2020 election, there was little new evidence of wrongdoing.

Trump's love affair with Putin goes back for years when his family was doing a lot of business there, including plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

During the 2016 election Trump called on Putin to release Hillary Clinton's emails. In 2018 Trump sided with Putin against his own intelligence community at Helsinki.

It's outrageous that Trump the traitor continues to conduct another coup attempt out in the open to pave his way to another term in 2024.

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Russian state TV host calls for Trump to be reinstated - and said it's time for a regime change - "to help our partner Trump."

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That Trump is openly supporting Putin's invasion of Ukraine when the world's democracies are united in opposition, further adds to Trump's infamy. There's nothing the bastard won't do to regain power.

As the Jan. 6 Committee plods on gathering evidence of the insurrection there's a creeping feeling that the Department of Justice isn't going to go after Trump for masterminding a coup attempt.

All I can say is if Trump gets away with subverting elections and colluding with Putin, our democracy will be in danger.

Ongoing Coup Attempt Update: GOP Candidate Vetting Outside Groups to 'Monitor Elections'

To assure himself of victory in the midterms Neveda Republician candidate for the Senate, Adam Laxalt, is already stacking the deck at election sites.

His team is busy "vetting" outside groups to challenge supposed "Voter fraud" in November. 

Known as one of Trump's favorite lapdogs (the local media calls him the Neveda version of Rudy Giuliani), Laxalt has been carrying water for the former president by promoting the Big Lie.

Laxalt's strategy involves launching legal challenges months before anyone votes. 

There's one big problem with his corrupt attempts to rig the election result; Federal Law prohibits candidates from coordinating directly with independent expenditure groups.

The question is what groups and why does Laxalt think he can get away with skirting the law?

Laxalt told Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka that he's doing his best to secure the election during an interview on Gorka's show in January.

What Laxalt is trying to do is part and parcel of the ongoing open coup attempt by Trump and the Republican party. It also highlights how important the fantastical narrative about "voter fraud" is to Republicans.

No top Neveda Republican has raised more doubts about the state's election system than Laxalt according to an NBC news report recently.

Will the combined attempts by the GOP to rig the election results hand them the House, and or the Senate?

If so, it'll be step one in a two-part conspiracy to steal the presidency for Trump in 2024.

Where Has the Middle Ground Gone? Long Time Passing

Moderates in our society have gone the way of the fabled Dodo bird. They've become so rare that they stand out like scarecrows in a corn field.

Congress is increasingly becoming a battlefield for the extreme Right and the extreme Left. Moderates have become causalities strewn about in the halls of power.

College students no longer seem interested in hearing both sides of an issue when a speaker comes to a campus.

Students shouted down speakers at Yale and UC Hastings earlier this month, prompting questions about free speech, and academic freedom.

Both law schools had controversial speakers but there was a difference - the Yale event went ahead, despite repeated disruptions. 

The University of California Hastings College of the Law event, descended into chaos: the speaker was unable to eke out more than a few words before students shut him down, chanting, clapping, and banging on desks in protest. 

The point is people are becoming so entrenched in ideologies they no longer care about reason, fair play, or compromising.

Conservatives and liberals are engaged in a death match that's crippling America's reputation as the greatest democracy on the planet. 

As I write this the nation is facing an ongoing coup attempt fomented by a former president who has lost all touch with reality.

Moderate Republicans are scathingly referred to as RINOs (Republican in name only) in the party of Trump. Moderate Democrats are losing ground to the extreme Left.

I can remember when moderates nationwide were able to heavily influence national elections.

It appears those days are gone. Radical minorities are increasingly gaming the electoral system and exerting outsized influence on election results.

Where has the middle ground gone? Long time passing...

A Guide to Radical Activists: Chapter 1 - Shame Doesn't Exist

 "A man with no shame stops at no vice."

-Procopius

You can't shame someone who doesn't have a moral compass and who lives in an alternate universe.

Try it sometime. It's impossible.

Shame is defined as both a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt and a condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute.

Radicals on the Right and the Left with views untethered by reality or truth have become the norm in America. They're no longer hiding under rocks and in caves. They're everywhere. 

Once upon a time when an obviously mentally incapacitated person appeared in public shouting the world was going to end it was considered a shameful show. Who would let someone like that wander around in society without help?

Today we have millionaires like Mike Lindell, aka "Pillow Boy" ranting on social media daily. His latest tirade involves taking all the machines in the nation to court. He wants to sue them for reasons that aren't entirely clear.

In another time the guys in white jackets would give him a free ride to an insane asylum.

Do you think he's ashamed of acting like a loon? Hardly. The guy actually has followers and is a favorite of Trump and his minions.

We live in an era where there's no longer any shame when caught lying. 

All you have to do is listen to right-wing politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene (of Jewish Space Laser fame) or Lindsey Graham, or as he's affectionally known in Washington DC - Flipper - for his ability to constantly change his stance on issues to suit the moment.

Shame has become old fashioned. No one cares if you walk around in public talking in tongues or have a stand selling Ivermectin or bleach to cure COVID.

As Jonathan Swift once said, "I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed."

An Unlikely Hero for Democracy: Biden Thrust into Greatness

President Joe Biden delivers a speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland on March 26. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Straight up. I never considered Joe Biden a "great leader" based upon his decades in Congress and as President Obama's vice president.

As a matter of fact, I remember being pissed off at him for his part in the Clarence Thomas fiasco where Anita Hill was disrespected by Biden. 

The thing about Biden is he doesn't have the kind of charisma that often marks a politician that attracts and inspires millions.

He's soft-spoken and has a stuttering challenge that sometimes makes people think he's not too sharp. But they'd be wrong. Biden is a deep thinker and cannier than his detractors give him credit for.

Biden's empathy and compassion has always been his strongest points. Joe is real. He cares about people and has defended democracy throughout his career.

Still, I never suspected that he would not only assume the mantle as the leader of the free world but would be the uniter in bringing NATO and the European Union together against an old foe... Russia.

His speech in Poland today will go down as an historic address to the free world. It was the best speech I ever heard him give.

It appears Biden has grown as a president and is now at the apex of his career, accepting challenges that few other presidents in our history have faced.

To once again see the world rally against an authoritarian regime intent on conquering other countries is heartening. Even more heartening is seeing Joe Biden thrust into greatness.

Justice is a Dirty Joke: Take Ginni and Clarence Thomas for Example

Our judicial system is so polluted by politics that most Americans simply don't trust it anymore. 

Look no further than our former president who has avoided accountability for nearly every crime he's ever committed by tying courts up like pretzels. 

There's been a couple of instances - Trump's University and a charity ripping off veterans - where Trump has been forced to pay fines. But as far as personal accountability... Teflon Don has managed to avoid getting his due thus far.

As we wait to see what the Jan. 6 Committee reveals there's still no sense that Trump is going to be held accountable for trying to overthrow the 2020 election.

Even more troubling is the growing evidence that partisan jurists have become commonplace in ALL the court systems.

The latest, and most worrisome, example of crooked judges has surfaced this week after a report released by the Jan. 6 Committee about Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and Trump's chief of Staff Mark Meadows, conspiring to overthrow the 2020 election results.

Despite the Thomas's claim they don't talk about their work at home, the opposite has been discovered by the committee.

Proof that Ginni Thomas was colluding with Mark Meadows in a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election is in the 29 text messages the committee discovered between the two plotters.

As for Clarence Thomas, he was the lone dissenter against turning over White House records to the committee. The same records that exposed his wife and Meadows seditious planning.

A person would have to be naive and stupid not to see the connection. He was covering for his wife's traitorous efforts to steal the election from Biden.

Who really believes the Thomas's aren't on the same conspiratorial page? Look at all the conservative functions they attend together.

It's obvious Clarence isn't worried about being held accountable for his partisan involvement against the Democratic party.

Like Trump, Clarence thinks he's above the law because he's in a position of power.

No matter what chief justice Roberts likes to claim about the court being neutral, it's obviously not. Justice has become a dirty joke. 

Republicans Running for Midterms Employing Hate Campaigns Against LGBTQ+ Community

Republicans running for office in November have decided one of the ways they'll get elected is by attacking the LGBTQ+ community.

Two states in the vanguard of the homophobic attempts to marginalize the LGBTQ+ are Florida and Texas. No surprise. They're red states.

The latest example of this unwarranted war on people's choice of gender, comes from Texas where the Attorney General Ken Paxton declared a school district's celebration of LGBTQ+ students "sex education" and in violation of Texas law.

The question is why is Paxton is suddenly going after a school district that's held a Pride Week for eight years right now?

The answer is simple. He thinks his base hates gays as much as he does. Maybe they do. The attacks are part of a GOP trend this election season.

Paxton was politically motivated because he's in a tough primary in May with another Republican who he hopes isn't as Trumpy as he is.  

Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis has led the way in attacking the LGBTQ+ community.

With the help of the Republican majority in the state House and Senate, DeSantis pushed a bill - Parental Rights in Education - or what's more commonly known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

The bill effectively bans classroom instruction of sexual orientation or gender identity for school children.

Sadly, there are nine more states considering similar measures, including Arizona and Tennessee.

In Arizona, lawmakers are proposing legislation that would prohibit transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming health care and limit to express their gender identity in school bathrooms, school classrooms and other sports.

In Tennessee, legislators are pushing different bills seeking to ban materials that "promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender issues of lifestyle."

The bottom line is Republicans are using fear tactics about gays to get elected. Fear tactics are big in the GOP where scaring people gets votes. Regardless of the subject.

This time it happens to be fear about the LGBTQ+ community that is trending thanks to a massive disinformation campaign from dark money donations.

Why Senate Confirmation Hearings for Supreme Court Candidates is a Farce

(Photo of GOP senators who are putting on a performance for their base)

Don't think for a moment that the confirmation hearings going on for our next Supreme Court judge is a serious affair where the most qualified person is elevated to the highest court in the land.

It's a farce. And has been for years.

First, we already know Ketanji Brown Jackson (right) is going to get the appointment because the Democrats have the majority (barely) in the Senate.

It's just like when Trump's three appointments to the Supreme Court where "fast tracked" because the Republicans were a majority in the Senate, and they voted as a block.

No matter how you slice it, the Senate has taken over the once neutral court (some might argue it was never neutral) and molded it into a partisan battle ground where ideology is increasingly poisoning the once august body.

For example, every judge seated on the Supreme Court that was put there by the Republicans was groomed by the Federalist Society. For the record it's a conservative clearinghouse for GOP judges and politicians.

The result.

American's opinions of the Supreme Court have worsened in the last year. The high court's current approval rate of 40% is the lowest it's ever been. That's down from 49% last July.

It's apparent the American public no longer trusts the system. The blatant partisanship of the current conservative court majority has been on display for years.

Despite the fact that Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court will be looking at the landmark decision this year, even though it's settled case law.

Republican dominated states have filed challenges to the law that have crawled through the lower courts and finally goaded the Supreme Court into taking some action on an established law. The outlook doesn't look good for a women's right to her own body.

Back to today.

The hearings are like watching an act from the theatre of the absurd. Especially the Republicans grandstanding where they try to push Jackson into an ideological corner.

To what end? That's simple. They're playing to the base and using the airtime to trot out all of their grievances from past hearings.

Again, it's all a farce.

Trumpies at Your Doorstep: New Voter Suppression Tactic is Illegal but They Keep Coming Anyway

The Roots of Voter Suppression in America

Imagine someone knocks on your front door as your eating dinner with your family. 

You get up and walk to the door open it... and there's a group of white men wearing sidearms and the leader asks you if you voted in the last election?

You wonder who these men are and what right do they have to ask about your personal business? One of them flashes a badge and claims he's asking you questions on behalf of your county election board.

Again, you wonder why this is happening now after several decades of voting? What do these men really want? A chill runs down your back. As a black man you know this group of armed white men could spell trouble for you and your family.

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The above scenario is playing out in Colorado right now.

A pro-Trump group has been going door-to-door in search of evidence to support voter fraud allegations that have already been debunked and rejected by courts.

The leader of the group - U.S. Election Integrity Plan (USEIP) - is Shawn Smith an ally of Steve Bannon and MyPillow boy Mike Lindell.

The group's real mission is voter intimidation because they send armed members into areas with large numbers of voters of color, questioning them about how they voted and taking photographs of their homes.

What these Trump minions are doing is illegal. They're violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a post-Civil War law aimed at preventing white vigilantes from terrorizing Black people to stop them from voting.

Officials in Colorado warned the general public about the unofficial canvassing efforts and urged residents to report the members to local law enforcement and the Justice Department.

The state chapter of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and Mi Familia Vota filed a lawsuit against the group.

As the case drags through the courts the pro-Trump group's website says they are planning to expand to other states, including Arizona, Georgia and New Hampshire.

The group's training materials are already being used by conspiracy theorists in Utah who call themselves the Utah Voter Verification Project.

Members of the group, who refused to identify themselves, showed up at houses in Hurricane last December with personal voter information, according to Washington County officials who had been alerted by local residents.

Even though these Trump voter suppression groups are knowingly breaking the law they just keep popping up like toxic mushrooms.

The interesting thing is other Trump-supporters have tried similar door-to-door audits like the one by Cyber Ninjas, and they were forced to stop after the Justice Department warned them that they were violating federal laws against voter suppression.

Still another group - the New Mexico Audit Force - sent their members door-to-door recently. Much to my surprise, the House Oversight Committee announced a probe into the group's activities last week.

One last thing I just can't pass up. It appears USEIP has a volunteer vetting problem. 

A message on the group's website said leaders had learned (roundaboutly) that there were a "couple of people" in the group who had a criminal history of sexual misconduct.

The message apologized and said, "...it's unfortunate that we must check volunteers for pedophilic leanings."

I have one question. Has anyone notified QAnon yet?

What Keeps You Going Every Day?

"Your every day is an act in an eternal play.

You're every move choreographed.

Every word recorded.

Unseen Cameras follow you relentlessly. Silently. 

How you react to daily challenges determines what direction your day will take."

-From the Creative Chronicles of Dave Stancliff

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What keeps you going every day?

What gets you out of bed when you know it's a shitty world because bad things happen daily?

Some people's faith in God helps them bound out of bed with a smile and ready to face whatever challenges that lay ahead.

They are truly blessed.

In this era of a global pandemic, war between Russia and Ukraine, political polarization in America, severe global climate change realities, and democracies under assault here and abroad, human stress levels are off the hook.

Not everyone believes in God, however.

For those of us who don't believe in Allah, the Christian God, or Buddha, other options exist. Lone wolf types like myself, tend to believe in self-determination and the power to lead, rather than follow.

In moments of humor, I like to think there is a Superior Being (who looks like a Gary Larson cartoon version of an alien from another universe) playing puppet-master in a celestial soap opera.

My reality at 71 years-old, is pain the moment I awaken. Arthritis in both hands, knees, and other assorted bones greet me like old enemies ready to rumble at a moment's notice. 

The good news is the pain is a sign that I'm still alive. Lying in bed only makes it worse. So, I'm usually up long before the sun rises.

After drinking prodigious amounts of coffee and popping some Ibuprofen and Tylenol, I'm able to lumber about during the day.

It takes more than that, however. I plan little missions - from emptying the cat box to weeding the yard - to divert my attention from the harsh realities of the world around me.

Diversion is the key. As long as I'm occupied watching a Laker game (even though the team stinks this season) or writing for my two blogs, the day flows on without too many incidents.

Variety is the spice of life, so I try to think outside the box when it comes to my daily activities.

In the end there's no guarantee we'll be around for another day, so my best advice to you is enjoy each day like it's your last one. It could very well be.

The Conservative Push to Strip a Woman's Right to Her Own Body is Picking Up Steam

When is it okay to say, "It's my body so back off!"

According to the Republician party the rights to a woman's body are limited. Conservatives tell them when and what part of their body is independent, and what part is subject to their radicalized ideology.

When it comes to wearing safety face masks and taking the vaccine to fight the spread of COVID, conservatives scream "My body - my choice!"  

That same sentiment doesn't hold for abortions, however.

Suddenly a woman's body becomes a political football. Women are threatened with fines and jail time for doing what they think is best for their own body and mind.

Red states across the country have been passing more draconian anti-abortion laws meant to criminalize women, and anyone who helps them get an abortion.

Republician dominated states are getting bolder every day now that the Supreme Court has been taken over by right-wing jurists.

Just when you thought it was bad enough that these red states are penalizing anyone that helps a woman get an abortion, it gets worse.

States like Texas are offering a $10,000 bounty to anyone who turns a woman in for seeking an abortion. The bounty includes anyone who assisted the woman in any way.

That would include an Uber driver taking the woman to a location where she could get an abortion. Family and friends that aided a woman could be fined too.

For the record: the abortion bounty hunters will have fun collecting their money as there is no state department or fund for them to collect the loot from. Apparently, the lawmakers didn't think about that.

Still, it isn't enough for those rabid conservatives in Missouri who are now attempting to sue anyone who helps a Missouri resident have an abortion in another state!

That's right. Missouri lawmakers have taken the next step in suppression of a woman's rights by restricting them from getting an abortion in another state.

There's more. Anyone living in Missouri can sue anyone who helps a Missouri resident in another state to get an abortion. From the physician to whoever transfers her there can be fined.

This blunt attempt to regulate out-of-state conduct by one of their citizens has no clear precedent according to law scholars.

It's the first time an anti-abortion proposal of this kind has gone this far and if it succeeds there'll be a major escalation in the national conservative push to restrict the procedure.

This latest hypocritical attempt to strip a woman's rights to her body is the vanguard of a new round of action in state capitals where conservatives are rushing to enact legislation ahead of an anticipated Supreme Court ruling that sharply limits or overthrows Roe v. Wade.

The Missouri proposal could be voted on any time before the session ends in May.