How Can Democracy Thrive When We Have a Minority Blocking the Majority?

The power of one is a shocking reality in the 118th Congress. 

One individual can dismantle the majorities decision.

Call me silly, but that doesn't sound how democracy should work. We're finding out how one senator or House member controls what's happening when it comes to legislation. 

Despite only having the reins of power in one House the MAGA traitors are trashing the system with abuse and lies. Their colleagues in the Senate support them by obstructing legislation and using their positions to defend the worst president the United States has ever experienced.

Here's a couple of recent examples on what I'm talking about:

1) Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is blocking nominations (all by his lonesome) for roughly 250 senior officer promotions to clear the Senate.

How big a deal is this?

His hold threatens to ensnare President Joe Biden's pick for Joint Chiefs Chair, Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown, along with others preparing to rotate in as many senior military leaders prepare to retire.

It goes to show what one lone asshole can do to cause chaos in our government. This next MAGA moron is really pushing the traitor button.

Sen. J.D. Vance is seeking revenge for Trump's most recent felony indictment for (among other things) stealing top secret nuclear codes by blocking all nominations for the Department of Justice.

It was his cute idea to show allegiance to the corrupt former president by harassing Jack Smith, Merrick Garland, and President Biden. It was a clear signal that he still has his head up Trump's ass.

These blockades are only temporary tantrums that aren't going to aide Trump from being thrown behind bars in the future. 

It's apparent even to a layman like me that Congress is going to have to update the loopholes that Republicans are seizing on in both Houses. 

When the Democrats win the 2024 election, re-electing Biden and taking control of both Houses, they need to prioritize house rules flaws that give absolute power to one jerk with a bad attitude.

As it stands, because the MAGA-infused Republican Party ignores rules and breaks them with impunity it's imperative that we guard our democracy.

Welcome to the American University of Reality

It was a long time coming.

Millions of Americans were so confused they couldn't tell what was real anymore. The sky was green, yes meant no, and millions were following a corrupt cult leader into rabbit holes so deep they lost their humanity.

After Joe Biden got re-elected in 2024 and the Democrats took control of the House and Senate, the wheels of justice rolled over Trump and his loyal minions. Mainstream media outlets pledged not to spread their misinformation and outright lies.

Propaganda outlets like Fox and Newsmax will continue to be punished (financially) EVERYTIME they broadcast outright lies. The trend for accountability began in 2023 when Fox lost a major billion-dollar lawsuit with Dominion and Smartmatic filed a similar lawsuit that's expected to go to trial soon.

A united Congress went even further creating and funding the first University of Reality in the United States.

Welcome to the University of Reality

This new institute was created by lawmakers at the request of their constituents who wanted to get rid of the madness that was MAGA and their cult leader, Trump.

Lawmakers recognized that not all MAGA followers were unredeemable, just naive and a step above sheep. Reintroducing them back to the real world as sane people is the university's goal.

Different courses are designed for people from all over the racial and ethnic spectrum representing this diverse country. 

One of the most popular courses is "The Day Democracy Almost Died."

Some other classes offered are:

-The Origin of the MAGA cult in Politics

-The Similarities between the NAZI party and the MAGA party.

-How the Big Lie Began

-How Trump Brought White Supremacy groups into Mainstream America 

-How to Tell the Truth

-Learning to Fact Check

-The Art of Believing Your Own Eyes Despite What Other's Tell You

-How to Fight from Being Brain-Washed by Bad People

Extra Credit Reading

Profiles of Shame, an in-depth look at MAGA lawmakers and activists and how they tried to sell the country out.

"How to Grift Your Way to the Oval Office" personal memories of Trump shared in a case study of a malicious narcissist, psychopath, and sociopath. 

The former sexual abuser, twice impeached president who was charged with 68 felony counts before being indicted in two other investigations in Georgia and Washington DC. reflects upon the highlights of his biggest scam ever.

As it stands, all kidding aside, I do worry about the next generation who were raised during this chaotic part of American history.

Where Have All the Real Whistleblowers Gone? Long Time Waiting

Whistleblowers traditionally serve as a valuable witness into corrupt activities and are encouraged to report what they saw, or experienced.

Thanks to the House Crazy Caucus whistleblowers don't show up for committee meetings (for a myriad of bullshit reasons), or if they do, they're MAGA paid shills.

Here's a good example of the Crazy Caucus's handiwork:

In May the House Republicans hosted a hearing on the FBI's alleged retaliation against whistleblowers.

They launched their charade despite the FBI's letter to the panel explaining two of the so-called witnesses had their security clearances revoked. They got in trouble and were hoping to somehow discredit the FBI and miraculously get exonerated.

At the start of the hearing Democrats brought that up and said they weren't whistleblowers that in fact they were two ex-employees that threatened national security trying to get revenge for being fired or suspended.

It didn't matter. As far as the MAGA members were concerned Marcus Allen and Steve Friend were reporting on a deep state plot to hurt Trump and his supporters.

It's noteworthy that the Inspector General is investigating their shady claims. One of the reasons is that Kash Patel, a former Trump official paid them both to show up and lie, according to a report released earlier this year.

To put the cherry on the cake Jim Jordan, upon hearing they were paid, glibly said, "Of course they are going to do what they can to feed their families." I suspect he already knew all about it because he was involved staging the little drama.

In an ongoing attempt to discredit President Biden the House Chair James Comer of the Oversight Committee has been bragging about the dirt he and his cronies have dug up, claiming Biden got a $5 million bribe from a foreign power.

The problem is their highly touted whistleblower never showed up. After a week of salacious stories and numerous appearances on right-wing media Comer came out and said he was MIA. Later on, rumors in MAGA media said he was dead.

Here's the real story from The New Republic

That doesn't bother the MAGA morons however who are still trying to share their lame lie to gin up rabid cult followers of Trump.

As it stands, when is a whistleblower not a whistleblower? When their paid or do it to further GOP lies.

Another Guiness Book First: Trump's Charged with 68 Felony Counts with More to Come

Trump has just set another Guiness Book world record after adding 37 more felony counts (including the Espionage Act violation) in Federal Court in Miami to his running total.

After being charged with 31 felony counts in Manhattan Trump broke into the Guiness Book of Records after being the first US president to be indicted and charged with felonies.

While this latest group of felonies continues to shatter political norms, the tabulation isn't over yet. How many charges will he add after being indicted in Georgia for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election?

Let's not forget the other federal investigation into Trump's coup attempt on Jan.6th. That'll certainly add more charges.

Will Trump top 100 felonies? It wouldn't hurt to check the betting parlors and see what the odds are of that happening. It's possible.

In a post -Trump America anything can happen. He may hit the century mark for corruption and still not go to jail. 

You heard that right. Our government is under siege from MAGA lawmakers in Congress and cowardly Republicans ready to burn the Constitution while silently letting Trump trample on our judicial system.

Without a doubt Trump's legacy of deconstructing the administrative state and stacking of federal judiciary with conservative and often unqualified ideologues will be registered in the Political Hall of Infamy and Shame forever.

It's a mystery why the Republican Party is still hitched to the Trump train even as it careens off the rails. I think it's more than trying to keep his base under the GOP tent, however. I think that those spineless Republicans in Congress are AFRAID of what Trump will do to them personally.

Trump is a vindictive bully. That's why I found it interesting that during the document case arraignment Trump did his absolute best not to meet eyes with Jack Smith's steady stare throughout the proceedings.

He slumped his shoulders and held his head down, or turned the other way, rather than look at the eyes of a man he's personally threatened (and his wife). The "bully" slunk out of the courthouse after the proceedings.

More felony charges are inevitable. We'll have to see what the final total is as he continues to collect them like trophies.

As it stands, people are talking about this "historic moment" of indicting a former president for multiple crimes and some are going to the betting parlors to see if they can cash in on Trump.

Is That All There Was? Trump Arraignment Was a 'Nothingburger'

For weeks leading up to the biggest indictment the Department of Justice

----------------------------------------- 

(Photo - this dude was carrying around a dead pig's head on a spike and wrapped in the American flag in front of the courthouse."

--------------------------------------------

has ever conducted the drama has grown over Trump's arraignment in Miami for stealing nuclear secrets and more.

Online media and television have been busy buzzing about sensational headlines ranging from pure hyperbole to actual facts.

-The biggest trial in American history.

-No former president has ever been charged with federal felonies (37 to be precise).

-House GOP are DeFacto lawyers for Trump and are abusing their powers to defend him.

-Trump backers are going bonkers with dangerous threats

-Authorities in Miami are prepared for anywhere from 5,000 to 50,000 supporters.

-Trump's not a spy. Why is he being charged under the Espionage Act?

And so, it goes.

Trump was in the courthouse for about 25 minutes and that was it. No cameras. No audio. No transparency. Nothing. Just hundreds of reporters trying to make soup from water.

The tense leadup before the arraignment was showed by cameras covering the freeway and side streets on Donny's bigly ride to the courthouse.

For the record there wasn't 50,000 supporters there to see their cult leader. Nor was there 5,000 clamoring for a glimpse of their supreme leader. 

From what I saw there wasn't 500 supporters milling around in the yellow tape cordoned off section. I'm not entirely sure if there were 400 MAGA morons out there under the hot Miami sun. There were easily more reporters than Trump supporters.

The most interesting thing to watch was a guy (Duane Schwingel) dressed up as Uncle Sam on a hoverboard singing an ode to Trump and his minions, although I was pretty impressed by the guy carrying a pig's head on a spike soaked in blood and other liquids dripping from the dead animal's head.

As it stands, it didn't feel like a seismic shock to many Americans that follow the former president of the United States, despite being charged with stealing classified documents. That's because it doesn't matter to his cult if he's a convicted sex abuser and twice impeached president who stole nuclear documents.

A Political Poker Game Observed: When to Hold, When to Fold

Welcome to today's edition of Political Poker. 

I'll go over a few rules that players are required to heed (although they seldom do).

Time for Texas Hold'em!

Because Texas Hold'em is by far the most popular poker game out there it's important to know the rules.

There are ten players. Five Democrats, and five Republicans. Note: they're all MAGA Republicans.

The goal is to use your hole cards in combination with your community cards to make the best possible five-card poker hand.

It's that simple in real life. However Political Poker, a twisted mirror image of that reality is much more toxic...and outright entertaining!

Let's take a peek at how the contestants are doing.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is bluffing by not taking any cards and sticking with her community cards. Every Democrat at the table can read her lying eyes. Laughing, Jamie Raskin called her bluff. Braying like a jackass she screams in rage and threatens to impeach all the Democrats.

Another view...

We see Jayapal Pramila smiling after drawing three cards. Ted Cruz, Paul Gosar, Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy, and MTG exchange looks and appear to be baffled and angry. 

When Jordan finally calls Pramila's hand he lays down three Jacks and grins like a rabid coyote. She smiles again and lays out a flush. Jordan immediately calls for a full investigation.

Another view...

As we observe Hakeem Jeffries passing out cards for a new hand, Gaetz and Gosar are sending messages back and forth on their cell phones. 

A closer look shows what's on their cell phones; naked pictures of Hunter Biden twenty years ago. 

Another view...

Shows Adam Kinzinger and Ted Lieu asking McCarthy to pull out the card they saw him conceal up his sleeve. McCarthy flashes his famous stupid smile and points at something..."Squirrel!" he shouts while bolting out of his chair and running away. 

As it stands, I plan on sharing more types of political poker games in upcoming posts. Find out how a game of Guts (a poker variant) turned out badly for Ted Cruz. And as a bonus I'll cover a game of Jokers Wild where the Republicans actually win some games.

The Aliens Are Here! A Green Creature Stalks Las Vegas!

As if the world isn't crazy enough, we have a new completely bonkers story about 10-foot-tall greenish aliens hiding behind a forklift in a Las Vegas family's backyard.

Here's the story:

Apparently, there was a glowing, green light that streaked across the sky that night and disappeared in the distance. The American Meteor Society reported that at least 21 people across California, Arizona, Neveda and Utah saw a glowing green light in the sky.

Okay. That's not really so strange. Meteors are always falling out of the sky and crashing on earth. It's a routine thing.

But the story attached to the mysterious green light is pushing the limits of believability for most Americans and scientists.

An anonymous witnesses told his story in a YouTube video under the name Alien Society51.

Warning lights should be going off about this witness who shared bodycam footage claiming a picture of a "perfect" circle in his backyard purportedly left behind the aircraft. What's really amusing is authorities never found that perfect circle burned into his backyard.

That didn't stop the witness from calling 911 and saying, "There's like an 8-foot person beside it and another one inside (presumably the spacecraft), and it has big eyes and it's looking at us, and it's still there."

The frantic caller told the dispatcher the creatures were "like 8 foot, 9 feet, 10 feet. I dunno what they are but 100% they're not human."

It was time for Fox News to get involved with something so sensational, so they called in George Knapp a renowned journalist (and conspiracy theorist). He supposedly talked with the people involved and declared "I didn't detect a hint of a hoax."

What better way to break the news than go to the station that specializes in hoax's...Faux News?

As far as the authorities go, they were unable to find any clues to support the green big men story. The local police department released a statement stating they don't know what exactly crashed in Las Vegas that night, but there's evidence something happened. 

Okay. Where? And what?

You can bet this story will get the UFO nuts to jump into their clown cars and start touring the country with "witnesses" to the alien invasion. Rumors are that House GOP members might "investigate" the whole sham with James Comer chairing the subcommittee.

As it stands, nothing is too far out for the House crazy caucus members whose main mission is sowing chaos in our government.

It Could Be a Problem: Florida is a Red State with Red Jurors Who Can't See Past Red

Despite recent setbacks, Trump is smiling about where his trial will be held in the classified documents case where he's been charged with espionage and obstruction of justice.

Ruby red Miami Florida.

Recently a Central Florida criminal defense attorney, Rob Mandell admitted that the state has a long history of acquitting elected officials accused of wrongdoing by the feds.

They just don't like feds in the Republic of Florida, especially since elected officials like Gov. Ron DeSantis is at war with the entire federal government.

It's a perfect venue for the most corrupt former president in US history to be tried. Politics trump (pun intended) the constitution and rule of law in the Sunshine State. 

Trump is counting on that because he has no real defense against the charges filed against him. There's just too much evidence. 

In a fair hearing it would be a slam dunk, but the chance of a MAGA mole (or two) getting on the jury - despite lawyer's assertions everyone is carefully vetted - is higher in Florida than any other state.

And look who the judge is. 

MAGA judge Aileen Connor who was chastened by her peers for slowing down the FBI's investigation and making weird rulings in Trump favor. It's not entirely clear she will be responsible for the case throughout its duration. If she is, then Trump already has someone in his pocket.

It's apparent the feds are going to have their work cut out for them. 

Mandell summed up the situation when he told the press, "Good luck finding a Trump supporter finding Trump guilty, despite whatever the evidence is."

As it stands, we better hope Mr. Mandell is not right about the juror selection, and this still turns out to be a fair trial.

Special Counsel Unseals 37 Criminal Counts Against Trump: It's Worse Than You Thought

No more idle speculation.

(Photo shows fallen boxes of classified documents in Trump's storage room.)

Trump is in bigly trouble after Special Counsel Jack Smith unveiled the charges against him today.

Here's the full text of the charges.

The DOJ laid Trump's crimes out in such granular detail it was almost shocking. The amount of evidence makes this a very strong case, which even Trump cronies have to admit.

Two more Trump attorneys (who just the night before went on TV and said Trump wouldn't be charged) ditched him when the charges were read. It was serious stuff, and they knew it.

A Trump aide, Walt Nauta, was also indicted for obstructing justice for helping Trump hide the classified documents.

Boxes of stolen documents were stored in a ballroom (open to guests), a shower(!), in a bedroom, and some were sent to his other residence in New Jersey.

One of the worst breeches was the Top-Secret information he had on an intel program with five countries called "Five Eyes." It was an intelligence gathering agreement between the US, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

It gets worse.

Trump had stashed classified defense documents and weapon capabilities of both the US and foreign countries, including US nuclear programs, according to the indictment.

And worse.

The documents discovered in his residence contained potential vulnerabilities of the US and its allies to a military attack - as well as plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.

One of the charges involved showing classified documents on two occasions to others with no security clearances. 

In 73 years, I've seen a lot of historic moments and was even involved in some in Vietnam and Cambodia. 

I remember the Watts riots in Los Angeles. Watching the first man land on the moon. The 9/11 attack. Two wars with Iraq. War with Afghanistan. Nixon and the Watergate scandal. Russia invading Ukraine. A president getting impeached twice, but not getting kicked out of office.

But this classified document case has to be the biggest event in my lifetime. The thought is almost inconceivable that a former president has committed treason and put America's security at risk.

As it stands, Special Counsel Jack Smith said he wants a speedy trial (every American's right) and I hope that's what happens.

Trump Gets MAGA-Friendly Judge in Classified Documents Trial

After word got out (by Trump himself) that he was being indicted on seven criminal counts his loyal minions in Congress and around the country have declared war on our justice system.

There's more than one troubling aspect involved in the process going forward. Here's something to keep on eye on.

 

A Trump judge, Aileen Cannon, has been selected to initially oversee the criminal case against Trump. 

She's the MAGA-friendly judge that tried to shield him during the Mar-a-Lago investigation when she purposely tried to slow the whole process down. Her attempts were overthrown but not before proving she's loyal to Trump.

We still don't know what the exact charges are and won't until Tuesday when Trump is arraigned in a Miami Court. In the last 24 hours it's gone from 7 counts to 37 counts!

Information has been leaking throughout the day. Reports that Trump put our national security at risk by disclosing classified documents ranging from US weapon systems to nuclear capabilities and classified information on other countries are circulating through various medias. 

These are indeed dark times.

But they're also a time when democracy has stood up to the most corrupt president in our history. With accountability coming, Trump is not going to go quietly into the night. That ship has sailed in the last two state indictments.

The charges coming out of this classified document case will be devasting for Trump's political career regardless of what his cult members assert.

There's so much more to come. Make no mistake, this is history. 

It's something that's going to shake our republic to its foundations, but in the end, it'll stop the biggest threat to our country and show there are consequences for being a traitor.

As it stands, the world is watching to see if we preserve our democracy or sink into an autocracy.

'Milksop Man' Makes His Mark By Running for President

It's a plane!

It's a train!

It's Superman!

No.

It's Milksop Man!

The most vanilla candidate among the GOP hopefuls for president, Mike Pence, has thrown his dunce hat in the ring. He appeared on CNN Town Hall to make his big announcement the other night despite being warned by "Mother" (his wife) not to stand too close to any liberals.

Listening to Pence talk about Trump - his opponent in the race - it was immediately obvious that he didn't want to say a bad word about the former president.

Forget about the Jan. 6 rioters Trump encouraged to hang him. He said he'll still vote for him if he's the Republican nominee and then turned around (you actually saw his head swivel) and said, "No one is above the Law!" as forcibly as his weak tenor voice could muster.

Hypocrisy dripped off of his white skull cap of hair and soaked into every word he spoke. I could almost hear the song from the Disney ride "It's a Small World" as Pence pontificated on a whimsical boat of lies past a jubilant chorus of MAGA children.

Pence has no punch. His words are hollow vessels blessed by religious extremists. Mainstream America and most Republicans will flick the fly off of his head and pay him no attention.

None of that is stopping the "Milksop Man" a minnow in a sea of sharks, from trying his luck in the political arena. I almost feel sorry for the cowardly lion who would be president. Almost.

As it stands, I can't think of one good reason why Pence is running unless... Mother told him too because she didn't want him hanging around at the house!