Chris Cox, Wayne LaPierre, Oliver North--I've been following Oliver for a long time. Great guy. Three extraordinary champions for the Second Amendment. And I'm a champion for the Second Amendment and so are you. It's not going anywhere. It's under assault. It's under assault, but not when we're here. not even close.
Donald J. Trump speaking to the NRA convention Friday, April 26, 2019.
Lately it hasn't been the Second Amendment under assault, it has been the NRA itself. Mr. Trump is currently attempting to blame the turmoil on the Governor and Attorney General of New York, but in truth the Empire State isn't doing nearly as much to wreck the organization as the NRA's own leadership is.
Obviously Trump hadn't received the memo when he took the stage last Friday. If he had he probably wouldn't have mentioned Ollie North--the Great guy--who would, within a scant couple of hours after the address, be forced to resign as president of the organization.
The problem was, North didn't realize as president of the NRA his job was to be nothing much more than its public face. You know, some famous guy who people could recognize immediately in ads and such. He simply didn't understand he was supposed to leave the day to day ops and money matters to Chief Executive Officer, Wayne LaPierre the way other presidents of the group, such as Charlton Heston, did.
Last week North told the NRA board he was forming a committee to investigate some possible financial hanky panky perpetrated by higher ups in the organization. Privately he told the always bellicose LaPierre he'd discovered some damaging information on him. The dirt included the Chief Executive Officer receiving $275,000 in wardrobe gifts from an NRA vendor over the last 13 years. North reportedly told LaPierre if he'd resign, not only would he avoid the scandal, but North would make sure he got a nice fat pension package.
Silly him.
If we know anything about Wayne LaPierre it is he is more than willing to defend the indefensible no matter how crazy and deadly it is. LaPierre immediately claimed North was running an "extortion," scam on him. The ensuing power struggle was bitter, but short and LaPierre was the survivor.
Meanwhile in Washington D.C. Maria Butina, a native of Siberia, was being sentenced to 18 months in the joint. According to her admission of guilt Ms. Butina and her American boy pal, Paul Erickson, a GOP operative, were working, "...to establish unofficial lines of communications with Americans having power and influence over U.S. politics for the benefit of the Russian Federation." One of the groups having power and influence she focused on was the NRA.
Ms. Butina's handler was a Russian national and former government official, Alexander Torshin. Mr. Torshin is--you guessed it--a life time member of the NRA. Erickson, who managed Pat Buchanan's 1992 presidential campaign, has been indicted by the Feds on unrelated charges.
While The Big Orange Guy hasn't publicly commented on the Butina case his old pal and possible blackmailer, Vladimir Putin has. When it came to her conviction and sentencing he told the international media, "It's an outrage. It's not clear what she was convicted of, or what crime she committed."
It is unknown at this time if El Donald will receive a phone call from Vlad regarding Ms. Butina's fate. Let's face it for a 30 year old 18 months, less time already served, is no big deal, besides it isn't like she is a female version of Rudolph Abel. Although, to be honest, there is a certain part of me which wishes Trump would pardon her, further proving his fealty to Putin.
So, ultimately what have we learned? Well, in the end, it might not take hordes of screaming liberals to take down the NRA, or even the ever growing number of parents who have had their kids murdered while solving arithmetic problems in a public school classroom.
Their own internal corruption and coziness with people of a--questionable--nature might eventually do them in. At least that is the hope here, even though it is at best a faint phantasm.
On the upside, sometimes candles don't blow out in the wind. Let's be optimistic for at least a moment, or two--because what finally happened this past weekend is the NRA head honchos exposed themselves to the nation as the amoral, venal, bastards some of us have always believed them to be.
Hey, you take a win whenever you can and these last few days, thanks to the NRA leadership, it felt like we got one.
sic vita est
4-29-19
Monday, April 29, 2019
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
To Impeach, or not to Impeach: That is the Question
You don't have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic. Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.
Then Representative, Lindsey Graham speaking in 1998 about the impending impeachment of President, Bill Clinton.
Obviously, Senator Graham's view on the issue has, let us say, evolved. As has Mitch McConnell's. In 1999 he had this to say about Bill Clinton's upcoming trial in the Senate, "So what will we do this day? Will we rise above, or sink below? Will we condone this President's conduct, or will we condemn it? Will we change our standards, or will we change our President?"
On December 19th, 1998 the house voted to impeach Wild Bill on one count of perjury 228-206. It also voted 221-212 to charge him with one count of obstruction of justice. Two other counts, a second perjury charge and one accusing him of abuse of power were defeated.
The whole affair had been delayed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich until after that year's mid term elections. Polls conducted privately at his behest convinced him that by dragging out the scandal, which was playing daily in the national news, the GOP majority in the house would increase dramatically. In fact, prior to November he was telling fellow republicans the party could gain up to 30 new seats. He was misinformed. Although republicans retained control of the house, their numerical advantage over the democrats actually shrank by five members.
The miscalculation was so staggering, Gingrich, who had pushed hard for impeachment, became the first casualty of it. He resigned from congress in abject shame on January 3, 1999, over a month before the Senate would decide the fate of William Jefferson Clinton.
The trial itself was presided over by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Rehnquist. No matter what Donald Trump tweets these days, that is the only involvement the Supreme Court has during the entire impeachment process. If the Big Orange Guy would actually read the constitution he swore to defend he'd realize the highest court in the land has absolutely no power to stop the House from impeaching a President, or even delay them from doing so.
Then as now, it takes 67 votes in the Senate to convict and remove a sitting President. In February, 1999 it wasn't even close. On the perjury charge the Senate voted 55 against--45 for. On obstruction the upper chamber split evenly, 50-50.
During the impeachment and trial, presumably to the horror of Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, Clinton's job approval rating soared to nearly 70%. By the time he left office in January 2001 it was still at 60%.
All of which leads us to the question of what do we do with Donald John Trump?
Robert Mueller, for whatever his reasons, punted the issue of obstruction of justice to the House of Representatives. While doing so he enumerated a number of instances where obstruction, or at the very least, attempts to obstruct were perpetrated by El Donald.
The democratic firebrands in the house and a growing number of party presidential candidates are howling for his impeachment. The most notable exception to their number is the current Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
There are a couple of explanations for this reluctance on the Speaker's part. Number one, the 2020 election is not that far off. Number two, she was around when the GOP went off their nut, impeached Bill Clinton, and failed miserably to remove him from office. She also saw what happened in the aftermath of their failure. The President's job approval rating went through the roof--the last thing any of us need a year and a half before this current resident of the White House runs for re-election.
And that danger is real, because just like in Clinton's case there is absolutely no way the Senate will convict Donald Trump. Getting 67 votes to remove a sitting President is for all practical purposes impossible. Let's face it, if republicans couldn't get rid of Andrew Johnson in 1868 when they had overwhelming majorities in both houses, democrats won't be able run Trump out of office in 2019 when they control only one.
No, it is time for candidates to campaign against the fucker's terrible legacy of lies, outright incompetence and, yes obstruction. The last thing we need to do is allow him to add impeachment to the list of wrongs he will claim he has so grievously suffered at the hands of radical left democrats and socialists. Not to mention giving him a chance to serve up another heavy dose of, not only did they fail, but the Senate completely exonerated Me, proving Me innocent of Everything which we all know he will.
Donald Trump is a crook. Everyone with a working brain knows that. Hell, even his kids know it. However the terrible truth is, for now anyway, House democrats should let him get away with his crimes. For the nation's sake, they need to swallow their righteous and understandable indignation then trust, We The People to convict him at the ballot box next year.
At that time, if voters don't--after witnessing this vile insanity first hand--America deserves the son of a bitch.
sic vita est
4-24-19
Then Representative, Lindsey Graham speaking in 1998 about the impending impeachment of President, Bill Clinton.
Obviously, Senator Graham's view on the issue has, let us say, evolved. As has Mitch McConnell's. In 1999 he had this to say about Bill Clinton's upcoming trial in the Senate, "So what will we do this day? Will we rise above, or sink below? Will we condone this President's conduct, or will we condemn it? Will we change our standards, or will we change our President?"
On December 19th, 1998 the house voted to impeach Wild Bill on one count of perjury 228-206. It also voted 221-212 to charge him with one count of obstruction of justice. Two other counts, a second perjury charge and one accusing him of abuse of power were defeated.
The whole affair had been delayed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich until after that year's mid term elections. Polls conducted privately at his behest convinced him that by dragging out the scandal, which was playing daily in the national news, the GOP majority in the house would increase dramatically. In fact, prior to November he was telling fellow republicans the party could gain up to 30 new seats. He was misinformed. Although republicans retained control of the house, their numerical advantage over the democrats actually shrank by five members.
The miscalculation was so staggering, Gingrich, who had pushed hard for impeachment, became the first casualty of it. He resigned from congress in abject shame on January 3, 1999, over a month before the Senate would decide the fate of William Jefferson Clinton.
The trial itself was presided over by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Rehnquist. No matter what Donald Trump tweets these days, that is the only involvement the Supreme Court has during the entire impeachment process. If the Big Orange Guy would actually read the constitution he swore to defend he'd realize the highest court in the land has absolutely no power to stop the House from impeaching a President, or even delay them from doing so.
Then as now, it takes 67 votes in the Senate to convict and remove a sitting President. In February, 1999 it wasn't even close. On the perjury charge the Senate voted 55 against--45 for. On obstruction the upper chamber split evenly, 50-50.
During the impeachment and trial, presumably to the horror of Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, Clinton's job approval rating soared to nearly 70%. By the time he left office in January 2001 it was still at 60%.
All of which leads us to the question of what do we do with Donald John Trump?
Robert Mueller, for whatever his reasons, punted the issue of obstruction of justice to the House of Representatives. While doing so he enumerated a number of instances where obstruction, or at the very least, attempts to obstruct were perpetrated by El Donald.
The democratic firebrands in the house and a growing number of party presidential candidates are howling for his impeachment. The most notable exception to their number is the current Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
There are a couple of explanations for this reluctance on the Speaker's part. Number one, the 2020 election is not that far off. Number two, she was around when the GOP went off their nut, impeached Bill Clinton, and failed miserably to remove him from office. She also saw what happened in the aftermath of their failure. The President's job approval rating went through the roof--the last thing any of us need a year and a half before this current resident of the White House runs for re-election.
And that danger is real, because just like in Clinton's case there is absolutely no way the Senate will convict Donald Trump. Getting 67 votes to remove a sitting President is for all practical purposes impossible. Let's face it, if republicans couldn't get rid of Andrew Johnson in 1868 when they had overwhelming majorities in both houses, democrats won't be able run Trump out of office in 2019 when they control only one.
No, it is time for candidates to campaign against the fucker's terrible legacy of lies, outright incompetence and, yes obstruction. The last thing we need to do is allow him to add impeachment to the list of wrongs he will claim he has so grievously suffered at the hands of radical left democrats and socialists. Not to mention giving him a chance to serve up another heavy dose of, not only did they fail, but the Senate completely exonerated Me, proving Me innocent of Everything which we all know he will.
Donald Trump is a crook. Everyone with a working brain knows that. Hell, even his kids know it. However the terrible truth is, for now anyway, House democrats should let him get away with his crimes. For the nation's sake, they need to swallow their righteous and understandable indignation then trust, We The People to convict him at the ballot box next year.
At that time, if voters don't--after witnessing this vile insanity first hand--America deserves the son of a bitch.
sic vita est
4-24-19
Saturday, April 20, 2019
The Lying Bastard Who Saved Trump's Ass
How could you let this happen, Jeff? You were supposed to protect me.
Donald J. Trump, President of the United States speaking to then Attorney General, Jeff Sessions after Sessions recused himself and Robert Mueller was named Independent Special Counsel.
Such is the attitude of Donald Trump when it comes to the head of the Department of Justice and others in his administration. They aren't there to serve the nation, they're supposed to be all about protecting him and him alone.
Of course, the flood of quotes which came out of the Mueller report could fill so many posts on this blog it would be easy to simply sit down and do nothing but copy them for weeks on end. You know, ones like the insult leveled at former White House Special Counsel, Donald McGahn. "Why do you take notes?" the President demanded. "I never had a lawyer who took notes. Roy Cohn never took notes."
For those of you not up on your history Roy Cohn initially became famous because he was Senator Joseph McCarthy's right hand man. In the early 1950's McCarthy ran amok accusing all sorts of Washington bureaucrats of not only being communists, but homosexuals as well. In the 1970's, Cohn's list of clients, along with Donald Trump, included mob bosses, Tony Salerno, Carmine Galante, and John Gotti.
In 1986, Cohn was disbarred for misappropriation of a client's funds, lying on a bar application, and pressuring a dying client to amend his will in order to include--you guessed it--Roy Cohn as a beneficiary. Obviously there were reasons Roy Cohn didn't take notes.
Mueller's report indicates Don McGahn's response to the presidential outburst was, "Because I'm a real lawyer." That sounds pretty gutsy and honorable, right?. Perhaps, but you have to remember this is the same guy who also insisted Trump nominate Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and El Don was happy to go along with his avid advice.
But, we digress. What is important in the Mueller report isn't what Mr. McGahn did, it is what he didn't do.
According to those notes and his testimony to Mueller, Donald McGahn refused to carry out a directive by The Big Orange Guy in June, 2017. It was at that moment in time, Trump told McGahn to approach the DOJ, then tell them they must fire Robert Mueller.
McGahn immediately recognized the order as utter insanity and one which could give democrats a genuine reason to impeach the President. Instead of doing it he wrote out a letter of resignation and threatened to quit. Reince Priebus, among others, convinced him to stay on, ultimately leaving us stuck with Gorsuch and the notorious, sex maniac, Kavanaugh.
Less than a year later Trump directed Mr. McGahn to order officials at the DOJ to prosecute Hillary Clinton and James Comey because--well--he wanted them to. The White House Special Counsel had to inform the Commander in Chief, whose knowledge of government is a tad limited, he couldn't order the DOJ to do anything. He also had his people tell Trump's people if the AG's office even began investigations into Clinton and Comey, given everything else that was swirling around, there would be an almost certain surge, once again, toward impeachment.
It was during this madness, McGahn wrote an email to then White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, saying, Trump wanted him to, "...do some crazy shit."
On Thursday, after this all came to light thanks to Mueller, Donald John Trump told aides, his former Special Counsel was a, "lying bastard."
We've learned many things in the few hours since the redacted version of Mueller's report has become available. First, William Barr is a liar and a shameless shill for his boss. He is also such an idiot he apparently thought no one in the media, or public would actually read the report after he gave his sanitized, pro Trump, version of it.
Second, Jared, Ivanka, and Don Jr are too stupid to be indicted. They meandered in and out of the meetings with Russians and phone calls to other nefarious persons without a clue anything they might be doing was at best illegal, at worst treasonous.
Third, if it wasn't for the real lawyer, Donald McGahn--that lying bastard--as Trump now describes him, the President of the United States would have been, in his own word, "fucked."
That's right, if McGahn had obeyed Trump and Mueller had been removed, drawing up articles of impeachment would have been the House of Representatives very next move.
By now we all know an honest man in this administration is hard to find and those who aren't willing to lie, or commit criminal acts don't last long. Unfortunately for the republic, Don McGahn is not only honest, he lasted just long enough to pack the Supreme Court with right wing whirling dervishes and save Donald Trump's ass.
Predictably, Trump, unlike the rest of us, is just too much of a narcissistic son of a bitch to realize it.
4-20-19
Donald J. Trump, President of the United States speaking to then Attorney General, Jeff Sessions after Sessions recused himself and Robert Mueller was named Independent Special Counsel.
Such is the attitude of Donald Trump when it comes to the head of the Department of Justice and others in his administration. They aren't there to serve the nation, they're supposed to be all about protecting him and him alone.
Of course, the flood of quotes which came out of the Mueller report could fill so many posts on this blog it would be easy to simply sit down and do nothing but copy them for weeks on end. You know, ones like the insult leveled at former White House Special Counsel, Donald McGahn. "Why do you take notes?" the President demanded. "I never had a lawyer who took notes. Roy Cohn never took notes."
For those of you not up on your history Roy Cohn initially became famous because he was Senator Joseph McCarthy's right hand man. In the early 1950's McCarthy ran amok accusing all sorts of Washington bureaucrats of not only being communists, but homosexuals as well. In the 1970's, Cohn's list of clients, along with Donald Trump, included mob bosses, Tony Salerno, Carmine Galante, and John Gotti.
In 1986, Cohn was disbarred for misappropriation of a client's funds, lying on a bar application, and pressuring a dying client to amend his will in order to include--you guessed it--Roy Cohn as a beneficiary. Obviously there were reasons Roy Cohn didn't take notes.
Mueller's report indicates Don McGahn's response to the presidential outburst was, "Because I'm a real lawyer." That sounds pretty gutsy and honorable, right?. Perhaps, but you have to remember this is the same guy who also insisted Trump nominate Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and El Don was happy to go along with his avid advice.
But, we digress. What is important in the Mueller report isn't what Mr. McGahn did, it is what he didn't do.
According to those notes and his testimony to Mueller, Donald McGahn refused to carry out a directive by The Big Orange Guy in June, 2017. It was at that moment in time, Trump told McGahn to approach the DOJ, then tell them they must fire Robert Mueller.
McGahn immediately recognized the order as utter insanity and one which could give democrats a genuine reason to impeach the President. Instead of doing it he wrote out a letter of resignation and threatened to quit. Reince Priebus, among others, convinced him to stay on, ultimately leaving us stuck with Gorsuch and the notorious, sex maniac, Kavanaugh.
Less than a year later Trump directed Mr. McGahn to order officials at the DOJ to prosecute Hillary Clinton and James Comey because--well--he wanted them to. The White House Special Counsel had to inform the Commander in Chief, whose knowledge of government is a tad limited, he couldn't order the DOJ to do anything. He also had his people tell Trump's people if the AG's office even began investigations into Clinton and Comey, given everything else that was swirling around, there would be an almost certain surge, once again, toward impeachment.
It was during this madness, McGahn wrote an email to then White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, saying, Trump wanted him to, "...do some crazy shit."
On Thursday, after this all came to light thanks to Mueller, Donald John Trump told aides, his former Special Counsel was a, "lying bastard."
We've learned many things in the few hours since the redacted version of Mueller's report has become available. First, William Barr is a liar and a shameless shill for his boss. He is also such an idiot he apparently thought no one in the media, or public would actually read the report after he gave his sanitized, pro Trump, version of it.
Second, Jared, Ivanka, and Don Jr are too stupid to be indicted. They meandered in and out of the meetings with Russians and phone calls to other nefarious persons without a clue anything they might be doing was at best illegal, at worst treasonous.
Third, if it wasn't for the real lawyer, Donald McGahn--that lying bastard--as Trump now describes him, the President of the United States would have been, in his own word, "fucked."
That's right, if McGahn had obeyed Trump and Mueller had been removed, drawing up articles of impeachment would have been the House of Representatives very next move.
By now we all know an honest man in this administration is hard to find and those who aren't willing to lie, or commit criminal acts don't last long. Unfortunately for the republic, Don McGahn is not only honest, he lasted just long enough to pack the Supreme Court with right wing whirling dervishes and save Donald Trump's ass.
Predictably, Trump, unlike the rest of us, is just too much of a narcissistic son of a bitch to realize it.
4-20-19
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Donald Trump: It Isn't the Art of the Lie, It's the Sheer Volume
Coup D'etat:
A sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially, the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group.
Definition by Merriam-Webster
Coup is the term Donald Trump used to describe the Robert Mueller investigation into his campaign the other day. "It was a failed deep state coup," he said. Yeah, not really. Like much of what he says, Don was stretching the truth a tad there.
Coups are planned in secret, only the plotters know of them until they are put in motion. God knows there was nothing secret about Mueller conducting an investigation. It wasn't sudden either since we all sat around for like two years waiting for him to reach a conclusion of sorts. In addition the report was anything but decisive and there weren't any of the usual trappings of a failed coup, like mass arrests of military officers and political enemies. Although knowing El Don we can assume he has probably thought about imprisoning people who screw with his agenda. He just hasn't found the right people to pull it off yet.
Since it's release, The Big Orange Guy has claimed Mueller's probe completely exonerated him of everything, presumably up to and including grabbing women's pussies. At least that is what Trump--not Mueller--would have us believe. Mueller seems to think there is evidence out there Trump and his team did obstruct justice during the whole affair, which is, you know, exactly what people who are completely innocent don't do.
The other day, Bill Barr sat in front of congressional panel, playing front man for DJT. Prompted by a republican congressman he told the representatives, among other things, that even though he had no evidence of spying on the Trump campaign he felt sure there was some.
The president's official campaign site immediately claimed Barr confirmed what their man has been saying all along, that there had been, "illegal spying," on Trump in 2016. Actually Barr never uttered the word, "illegal," but as everyone knows, besides telling out right lies, Trump and his people love to creatively edit what others say now and then to fit their narrative.
In truth, the Mueller investigation began because all kinds of intelligence agencies, both domestic and foreign were spying on the Russians. As they were, much to their surprise, they found that, more than a few times, the Russkies were talking to, or meeting with members of Trump's campaign. If no one in Trump Tower had picked up the phone to chat with the bad guys, or met with them there, or at a NYC cigar store, none of this shit would have happened.
In short, if you don't want to be spied on, don't talk to the fucking Russians.
Apparently Mr. Trump believes these details, like those in his unreleased tax returns, are far too complicated for the hoi polloi to comprehend. Hey, let's not muddy up the waters with some logic and write offs no one can properly interpret. After all no one likes to read the fine print.
Besides, these days there are more pressing matters at hand. Like the arrest in London of Julian Assange, the founder and chief cook at Wikileaks. The United States has started extradition proceedings to get him over here in order to answer some serious questions.
On Thursday Trump was asked by a media representative if he still, "loves," Wikileaks. The response was perfect Trumpian newspeak. "I know nothing about Wikileaks," he said, "It's not my thing."
The AP reports in October 2016, Trump told a crowd in Pennsylvania, "Wikileaks, I love Wikileaks." In Michigan he said, "This Wikileaks is like a treasure trove." In Ohio he is on video at a rally telling the faithful, "Boy I love reading Wikileaks." The AP story actually added up his references to the organization. They found in the latter days of the 2016 campaign he praised Wikileaks more than 100 times.
Yes, you can say many things about Don Trump, but you'll never be able to accuse him of giving a shit if people know he's lying, or not. He just says it then blows right to the next horrific prevarication before you can catch your breath. The obvious philosophy is, Lie so fast and often it leaves them with no time to concentrate on any one thing said. Besides the rubes in the red hats are going to believe me no matter what I say.
Tragically they do and will continue to while the rest of us are left agog at his shameless audacity.
Indeed, when it comes to Donald John Trump it isn't the art of the lie. It is the sheer volume of them which counts.
4-13-19
A sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially, the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group.
Definition by Merriam-Webster
Coup is the term Donald Trump used to describe the Robert Mueller investigation into his campaign the other day. "It was a failed deep state coup," he said. Yeah, not really. Like much of what he says, Don was stretching the truth a tad there.
Coups are planned in secret, only the plotters know of them until they are put in motion. God knows there was nothing secret about Mueller conducting an investigation. It wasn't sudden either since we all sat around for like two years waiting for him to reach a conclusion of sorts. In addition the report was anything but decisive and there weren't any of the usual trappings of a failed coup, like mass arrests of military officers and political enemies. Although knowing El Don we can assume he has probably thought about imprisoning people who screw with his agenda. He just hasn't found the right people to pull it off yet.
Since it's release, The Big Orange Guy has claimed Mueller's probe completely exonerated him of everything, presumably up to and including grabbing women's pussies. At least that is what Trump--not Mueller--would have us believe. Mueller seems to think there is evidence out there Trump and his team did obstruct justice during the whole affair, which is, you know, exactly what people who are completely innocent don't do.
The other day, Bill Barr sat in front of congressional panel, playing front man for DJT. Prompted by a republican congressman he told the representatives, among other things, that even though he had no evidence of spying on the Trump campaign he felt sure there was some.
The president's official campaign site immediately claimed Barr confirmed what their man has been saying all along, that there had been, "illegal spying," on Trump in 2016. Actually Barr never uttered the word, "illegal," but as everyone knows, besides telling out right lies, Trump and his people love to creatively edit what others say now and then to fit their narrative.
In truth, the Mueller investigation began because all kinds of intelligence agencies, both domestic and foreign were spying on the Russians. As they were, much to their surprise, they found that, more than a few times, the Russkies were talking to, or meeting with members of Trump's campaign. If no one in Trump Tower had picked up the phone to chat with the bad guys, or met with them there, or at a NYC cigar store, none of this shit would have happened.
In short, if you don't want to be spied on, don't talk to the fucking Russians.
Apparently Mr. Trump believes these details, like those in his unreleased tax returns, are far too complicated for the hoi polloi to comprehend. Hey, let's not muddy up the waters with some logic and write offs no one can properly interpret. After all no one likes to read the fine print.
Besides, these days there are more pressing matters at hand. Like the arrest in London of Julian Assange, the founder and chief cook at Wikileaks. The United States has started extradition proceedings to get him over here in order to answer some serious questions.
On Thursday Trump was asked by a media representative if he still, "loves," Wikileaks. The response was perfect Trumpian newspeak. "I know nothing about Wikileaks," he said, "It's not my thing."
The AP reports in October 2016, Trump told a crowd in Pennsylvania, "Wikileaks, I love Wikileaks." In Michigan he said, "This Wikileaks is like a treasure trove." In Ohio he is on video at a rally telling the faithful, "Boy I love reading Wikileaks." The AP story actually added up his references to the organization. They found in the latter days of the 2016 campaign he praised Wikileaks more than 100 times.
Yes, you can say many things about Don Trump, but you'll never be able to accuse him of giving a shit if people know he's lying, or not. He just says it then blows right to the next horrific prevarication before you can catch your breath. The obvious philosophy is, Lie so fast and often it leaves them with no time to concentrate on any one thing said. Besides the rubes in the red hats are going to believe me no matter what I say.
Tragically they do and will continue to while the rest of us are left agog at his shameless audacity.
Indeed, when it comes to Donald John Trump it isn't the art of the lie. It is the sheer volume of them which counts.
4-13-19
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Another Poll and More Pessimism
When it comes to the democrats many have chosen to run for the party's presidential nomination, but precious few are making any headway. In fact the party of Jefferson seems far more splintered now than the republicans ever were in 2016 before Donald Trump solidified The Great and Almighty Base and emerged the winner.
A recent poll, taken by an outfit called, Morning Consult, illustrates the situation perfectly. According to, "The Hill," the survey took place from April 1st to 7th and encompassed 13,644 voters. It's margin of error, according to the firm, is 1%. The Hill article didn't mention any break down of demographics such as women/men, or age groups.
With nearly a year to go before we get into the meat of the primary season the leader is currently that touchy feely guy, Joe Biden at 32%. The revelations of Biden's unwanted and sometimes inappropriate activities, which have been on public display for years, didn't seem to hurt him much. Although the number of people rating him as, "very favorable," dropped from 41% to 35%, his overall, "favorability," dropped only one point.
Coming in second was Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders at 23%. Senator Sanders was rated, "very favorably," by 32% of those asked.
After Sanders the numbers drop off dramatically. Kamala Harris was in third place with 9%. She was followed by Beto O'Rourke at 8%. Then came Elizabeth Warren with 7% and South Bend, IN mayor, Pete Buttigieg at 5%. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker polled 4%. Everyone else--and there are a lot of them--weren't even mentioned in the piece, an indication things aren't going well for people like Jay Inslee, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, and others.
Of course the main question for democrats at this point is painfully obvious. Can any one of those seven on the leader board beat Donald John Trump a year from this coming November?
Unfortunately, it is going to be hard for any of the top candidates to bring together a coalition strong enough to oust the grotesque beast currently disgracing the nation and its institutions.
Democrats have a terrible habit of eating their own. No one these days, it seems, is pure enough. Biden is too mainstream for the far left, even without the growing controversy swirling around his attitude toward women. Besides, he lost a debate to, Sarah, fucking, Palin for God's sake.
Sanders is too far left for many in the middle. He promises much, but is a tad delusional when it comes to how he's going to realistically pay for it all. In addition, by now everyone knows something is amiss with his tax returns. He certainly keeps putting off their release as if he has issues to hide. In some quarters there is a growing suspicion the democratic socialist might have taken some dubious deductions which lowered his tax burden to that of someone who, say, is flipping burgers at a McDonald's. Let's face it, the word hypocritical comes to mind if you condemn the ultra rich for gaming a flawed tax code when you're doing exactly the same thing.
Harris has a problem because as a prosecutor she, at times, went for the death penalty. Warren can't shake the DNA fiasco and O'Rourke sounds great, but is a proven loser who refuses to offer any specific policy proposals.
Anyone who thinks Buttigieg's sexual orientation won't be an issue for some is living in a dream world and Booker just flat out seems bland.
Indeed, not one of them can avoid alienating at least a slice of the party just because they're too conservative, too left, too pro death penalty, too gay, too vague, or simply meh.
And, as we know, in the next election, democrats need all hands on deck and in the voting booths casting ballots for the nominee.
Luckily we're still a long way out, ages in political terms, so the situation might change. However, as of right now, as much as I hate to admit it, the field looks so weak not one of them can beat The Big Orange Guy.
It is a tragedy not even Greek playwrights would, or could come up with.
sic vita est
4-9-19
A recent poll, taken by an outfit called, Morning Consult, illustrates the situation perfectly. According to, "The Hill," the survey took place from April 1st to 7th and encompassed 13,644 voters. It's margin of error, according to the firm, is 1%. The Hill article didn't mention any break down of demographics such as women/men, or age groups.
With nearly a year to go before we get into the meat of the primary season the leader is currently that touchy feely guy, Joe Biden at 32%. The revelations of Biden's unwanted and sometimes inappropriate activities, which have been on public display for years, didn't seem to hurt him much. Although the number of people rating him as, "very favorable," dropped from 41% to 35%, his overall, "favorability," dropped only one point.
Coming in second was Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders at 23%. Senator Sanders was rated, "very favorably," by 32% of those asked.
After Sanders the numbers drop off dramatically. Kamala Harris was in third place with 9%. She was followed by Beto O'Rourke at 8%. Then came Elizabeth Warren with 7% and South Bend, IN mayor, Pete Buttigieg at 5%. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker polled 4%. Everyone else--and there are a lot of them--weren't even mentioned in the piece, an indication things aren't going well for people like Jay Inslee, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, and others.
Of course the main question for democrats at this point is painfully obvious. Can any one of those seven on the leader board beat Donald John Trump a year from this coming November?
Unfortunately, it is going to be hard for any of the top candidates to bring together a coalition strong enough to oust the grotesque beast currently disgracing the nation and its institutions.
Democrats have a terrible habit of eating their own. No one these days, it seems, is pure enough. Biden is too mainstream for the far left, even without the growing controversy swirling around his attitude toward women. Besides, he lost a debate to, Sarah, fucking, Palin for God's sake.
Sanders is too far left for many in the middle. He promises much, but is a tad delusional when it comes to how he's going to realistically pay for it all. In addition, by now everyone knows something is amiss with his tax returns. He certainly keeps putting off their release as if he has issues to hide. In some quarters there is a growing suspicion the democratic socialist might have taken some dubious deductions which lowered his tax burden to that of someone who, say, is flipping burgers at a McDonald's. Let's face it, the word hypocritical comes to mind if you condemn the ultra rich for gaming a flawed tax code when you're doing exactly the same thing.
Harris has a problem because as a prosecutor she, at times, went for the death penalty. Warren can't shake the DNA fiasco and O'Rourke sounds great, but is a proven loser who refuses to offer any specific policy proposals.
Anyone who thinks Buttigieg's sexual orientation won't be an issue for some is living in a dream world and Booker just flat out seems bland.
Indeed, not one of them can avoid alienating at least a slice of the party just because they're too conservative, too left, too pro death penalty, too gay, too vague, or simply meh.
And, as we know, in the next election, democrats need all hands on deck and in the voting booths casting ballots for the nominee.
Luckily we're still a long way out, ages in political terms, so the situation might change. However, as of right now, as much as I hate to admit it, the field looks so weak not one of them can beat The Big Orange Guy.
It is a tragedy not even Greek playwrights would, or could come up with.
sic vita est
4-9-19
Saturday, April 6, 2019
QAnon is Loud and Proud in Grand Rapids
It just keeps getting stranger and crazier and that is exactly how Donald Trump likes it.
Immediately after the president's boy, Attorney General, William Barr released a less than CliffsNotes version of Robert Mueller's findings, El Don proclaimed himself innocent of everything even remotely conceivable and took to the road.
Specifically, on March 27th, he went to Grand Rapids, MI and threw a rally for himself and members of The Almighty Base. During the raucous get together he told the exuberant mob, "The Deep State," plot against him had been foiled, at least for now.
For those still in the dark, The Deep State, is a cabal of democrats, Obama appointees, and career bureaucrats who are out to overturn the 2016 election and depose the current resident of the Oval Office.
Trump's choice of words in Grand Rapids weren't an accident--although genuine paranoia might have also played a part. No, he was directly addressing hundreds, if not more in the audience, who are supporters the mysterious and darkly apocalyptic, Q--aka, QAnon.
Q first appeared on ultra right wing 4Chan and 8Chan internet message boards in 2017. He, or she, claims to be an anonymous senior U.S. intelligence official allied with the president. Q also has some seriously deranged shit to say about democrats and Hollywood personalities.
That's really the only way you can describe accusations which say, not only does Hillary Clinton and some of Hollywood's biggest stars run a world wide child sex trafficking ring. but after molesting those kids, they murder, and eat them. Not to mention the United States government engineered the AIDS virus, plus other global pandemics, and has been behind any number of natural disasters.
Journalist, Ben Collins took a quick video of the QAnon adherents lined up outside the Grand Rapids venue for Trump's rally then posted it on Twitter. They were, as they say, loud and proud. Some yelled at the camera things like, "Go Q," and "Q baby." All of them wore Trump's red MAGA hats and most sported QAnon tee shirts. Accompanying the video Collins wrote, "I've been covering QAnon for a year and the amount of pro Q people from yesterday's Trump rally line in Grand Rapids is absolutely shocking."
Trump critic, George Conway was quoted as saying the number of QAnon supporters present at the rally was, "Jaw dropping."
It gets weirder. Amazon features a book for sale titled, "An Invitation to the Great Awakening." The author, or authors use the pseudonym, WWG1WGA. It is an acronym for the QAnon catch phrase, "Where We Go One We Go All."
This is how deep the authors go down the rabbit hole: Democrats eat those babies and besides the AIDs virus, the government invented Polio and Lyme disease. In addition, along with Spielberg and Pixar, The Deep State was behind two Indiana Jones movies and "Monsters Inc."
Why "Monsters Inc?" Well, according to the book, the film is coded to show a government plot to collect children's blood in order to provide figures in power with a buzz, and or eternal youth.
According to Amazon's figures, which are amassed by some Hoodoo algorithms, "An Invitation to the Great Awaking" is now number one in sales in the category of, "censorship and politics." It is also ranked 12th in, "hot new releases," and 44th in over all sales.
In the first category the book ranks immediately ahead of those dreary works, "Fahrenheit 451," "Lord of the Flies," and "A Handmaid's Tale." It's average on line rating is five stars, although it is believed most of those reviews are by QAnon people gaming Amazon's system.
In the end, the core beliefs among the followers of QAnon is Donald John Trump is here to save the world from all the baby eating democrats. He and Mueller were secretly working together to expose the child trafficking ring, and now they are ready to make public 25,000 indictments of government officials who make up the leadership of, The Deep State.
When that happens law enforcement and the military will step in for a bit to make sure there isn't an armed uprising of cannibalistic progressives and we'll all be happy and white again. Indeed, it will be a fairly painless interlude of martial law, unless, of course, you're a liberal in which case you will be, quite deservedly, fucked.
My God, it must be a comfort to the rest of the world knowing we have a president who panders to bat shit crazy people like these.
It obviously is here, at least in some twisted corners.
sic vita est
4-6-19
Immediately after the president's boy, Attorney General, William Barr released a less than CliffsNotes version of Robert Mueller's findings, El Don proclaimed himself innocent of everything even remotely conceivable and took to the road.
Specifically, on March 27th, he went to Grand Rapids, MI and threw a rally for himself and members of The Almighty Base. During the raucous get together he told the exuberant mob, "The Deep State," plot against him had been foiled, at least for now.
For those still in the dark, The Deep State, is a cabal of democrats, Obama appointees, and career bureaucrats who are out to overturn the 2016 election and depose the current resident of the Oval Office.
Trump's choice of words in Grand Rapids weren't an accident--although genuine paranoia might have also played a part. No, he was directly addressing hundreds, if not more in the audience, who are supporters the mysterious and darkly apocalyptic, Q--aka, QAnon.
Q first appeared on ultra right wing 4Chan and 8Chan internet message boards in 2017. He, or she, claims to be an anonymous senior U.S. intelligence official allied with the president. Q also has some seriously deranged shit to say about democrats and Hollywood personalities.
That's really the only way you can describe accusations which say, not only does Hillary Clinton and some of Hollywood's biggest stars run a world wide child sex trafficking ring. but after molesting those kids, they murder, and eat them. Not to mention the United States government engineered the AIDS virus, plus other global pandemics, and has been behind any number of natural disasters.
Journalist, Ben Collins took a quick video of the QAnon adherents lined up outside the Grand Rapids venue for Trump's rally then posted it on Twitter. They were, as they say, loud and proud. Some yelled at the camera things like, "Go Q," and "Q baby." All of them wore Trump's red MAGA hats and most sported QAnon tee shirts. Accompanying the video Collins wrote, "I've been covering QAnon for a year and the amount of pro Q people from yesterday's Trump rally line in Grand Rapids is absolutely shocking."
Trump critic, George Conway was quoted as saying the number of QAnon supporters present at the rally was, "Jaw dropping."
It gets weirder. Amazon features a book for sale titled, "An Invitation to the Great Awakening." The author, or authors use the pseudonym, WWG1WGA. It is an acronym for the QAnon catch phrase, "Where We Go One We Go All."
This is how deep the authors go down the rabbit hole: Democrats eat those babies and besides the AIDs virus, the government invented Polio and Lyme disease. In addition, along with Spielberg and Pixar, The Deep State was behind two Indiana Jones movies and "Monsters Inc."
Why "Monsters Inc?" Well, according to the book, the film is coded to show a government plot to collect children's blood in order to provide figures in power with a buzz, and or eternal youth.
According to Amazon's figures, which are amassed by some Hoodoo algorithms, "An Invitation to the Great Awaking" is now number one in sales in the category of, "censorship and politics." It is also ranked 12th in, "hot new releases," and 44th in over all sales.
In the first category the book ranks immediately ahead of those dreary works, "Fahrenheit 451," "Lord of the Flies," and "A Handmaid's Tale." It's average on line rating is five stars, although it is believed most of those reviews are by QAnon people gaming Amazon's system.
In the end, the core beliefs among the followers of QAnon is Donald John Trump is here to save the world from all the baby eating democrats. He and Mueller were secretly working together to expose the child trafficking ring, and now they are ready to make public 25,000 indictments of government officials who make up the leadership of, The Deep State.
When that happens law enforcement and the military will step in for a bit to make sure there isn't an armed uprising of cannibalistic progressives and we'll all be happy and white again. Indeed, it will be a fairly painless interlude of martial law, unless, of course, you're a liberal in which case you will be, quite deservedly, fucked.
My God, it must be a comfort to the rest of the world knowing we have a president who panders to bat shit crazy people like these.
It obviously is here, at least in some twisted corners.
sic vita est
4-6-19
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Joe Exotic Rides Off Into the Sunset
Well, his name isn't really Joe Exotic. It isn't Joe Maldonado either. Nor is it Joe Maldonado-Passage, or, even, The Tiger King, although at various times he has gone by all of these. He claims he was born, Joseph Schreibvogel, but given his history of lying--one so extensive he makes used car salesmen, and TV evangelists seem like paragons of truth--no one can actually say for sure.
According to The Oklahoman's, Nolan Clay he's also done a lot of things in his half century plus on this blue ball. Clay writes Exotic says he has been a nursing home aide and a police chief, although he has never been specific about when and where. We do know he ran as an independent write in candidate for President in 2016. That gig earned him a spot on John Oliver's HBO satirical series, "Last Week Tonight."
His less than 15 minutes of fame is probably what prompted him to run for Governor of Oklahoma last year as a Libertarian. In the June party primary Mr. Exotic came in third, tallying 664 votes. It might not sound like many, but because Libertarians here in the Sooner state have the political viability of pond toads the total garnered him nearly 19% of the votes cast in a three man race.
But, let us not digress. Joe Exotic's day job from 1999 to 2017 was running a private zoo he founded in Wynnewood, OK. He bred lions, tigers, and hybrids of the two. For an extra charge he'd allow visitors to pet their cubs. He also trafficked the cubs and grown animals in ways which are completely illegal and falsified the documents relating to those sales.
During that time frame he lost a civil suit to a non-profit animal sanctuary in Florida headed up by a woman named Carole Baskin. As a result of the court action he ended up owing her around a million bucks, which, of course, he really didn't want to pay.
He sold the zoo to Jeff Lowe in 2016, but Lowe left him in charge of the day to day operations. Lowe now claims, that among other things, like killing five tigers with a shotgun for no particular reason, Exotic embezzled almost $90,000 from the zoo to pay for--you guessed it--campaign expenses, plus some personal stuff.
Then, as if they weren't already that way, things turned darkly stupid. As he was savagely lashing out on social media at Ms. Baskin he made a deal with park worker, Allen Glover. He paid Glover $3,000 in cash to whack her. He sent Glover to Dallas in order to get a fake ID and gave him a cell phone with Baskin's photo on it.
Exotic trusted Glover with the job because his supposed hit man was a convicted felon. That was his first mistake. Among the people in this world you shouldn't trust, ex-cons are pretty darn high on the list. According to Glover, he took the money then blew it all partying on some Florida beach without ever looking for Baskin.
Our man Joe proved himself to be persistent though. He approached another would be killer and offered him five grand up front and another five after he read, or heard about Baskin's death through the news. That was his second mistake.
The guy he made the offer to was a FBI undercover agent and he was taping everything, including the moment Joe told him, "Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off."
Oops.
Yes, many things can be said about Joe Exotic, but no one will ever accuse him of being the brightest bulb in the chandelier.
At a federal trial over the last few days Exotic contended that, while even though he did make all sorts of vile and threatening statements over social media aimed at Ms. Baskin, he actually didn't want her dead. He also claimed he had been, "set up," by a vindictive Lowe. And finally, he said, it was all just a joke.
Yesterday the jury didn't buy any of that bull shit. It took them less than four hours to convict him of 19 different charges. Clay reports the two murder for hire counts alone could get him 20 years and a $500,000 fine.
Hey, these things are liable to occur when you mix business with politics while at the same time attempting to dodge an unfavorable court decision.
It's just too bad they don't happen often enough.
4-3-19
According to The Oklahoman's, Nolan Clay he's also done a lot of things in his half century plus on this blue ball. Clay writes Exotic says he has been a nursing home aide and a police chief, although he has never been specific about when and where. We do know he ran as an independent write in candidate for President in 2016. That gig earned him a spot on John Oliver's HBO satirical series, "Last Week Tonight."
His less than 15 minutes of fame is probably what prompted him to run for Governor of Oklahoma last year as a Libertarian. In the June party primary Mr. Exotic came in third, tallying 664 votes. It might not sound like many, but because Libertarians here in the Sooner state have the political viability of pond toads the total garnered him nearly 19% of the votes cast in a three man race.
But, let us not digress. Joe Exotic's day job from 1999 to 2017 was running a private zoo he founded in Wynnewood, OK. He bred lions, tigers, and hybrids of the two. For an extra charge he'd allow visitors to pet their cubs. He also trafficked the cubs and grown animals in ways which are completely illegal and falsified the documents relating to those sales.
During that time frame he lost a civil suit to a non-profit animal sanctuary in Florida headed up by a woman named Carole Baskin. As a result of the court action he ended up owing her around a million bucks, which, of course, he really didn't want to pay.
He sold the zoo to Jeff Lowe in 2016, but Lowe left him in charge of the day to day operations. Lowe now claims, that among other things, like killing five tigers with a shotgun for no particular reason, Exotic embezzled almost $90,000 from the zoo to pay for--you guessed it--campaign expenses, plus some personal stuff.
Then, as if they weren't already that way, things turned darkly stupid. As he was savagely lashing out on social media at Ms. Baskin he made a deal with park worker, Allen Glover. He paid Glover $3,000 in cash to whack her. He sent Glover to Dallas in order to get a fake ID and gave him a cell phone with Baskin's photo on it.
Exotic trusted Glover with the job because his supposed hit man was a convicted felon. That was his first mistake. Among the people in this world you shouldn't trust, ex-cons are pretty darn high on the list. According to Glover, he took the money then blew it all partying on some Florida beach without ever looking for Baskin.
Our man Joe proved himself to be persistent though. He approached another would be killer and offered him five grand up front and another five after he read, or heard about Baskin's death through the news. That was his second mistake.
The guy he made the offer to was a FBI undercover agent and he was taping everything, including the moment Joe told him, "Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off."
Oops.
Yes, many things can be said about Joe Exotic, but no one will ever accuse him of being the brightest bulb in the chandelier.
At a federal trial over the last few days Exotic contended that, while even though he did make all sorts of vile and threatening statements over social media aimed at Ms. Baskin, he actually didn't want her dead. He also claimed he had been, "set up," by a vindictive Lowe. And finally, he said, it was all just a joke.
Yesterday the jury didn't buy any of that bull shit. It took them less than four hours to convict him of 19 different charges. Clay reports the two murder for hire counts alone could get him 20 years and a $500,000 fine.
Hey, these things are liable to occur when you mix business with politics while at the same time attempting to dodge an unfavorable court decision.
It's just too bad they don't happen often enough.
4-3-19
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