I received an email from Lamar Alexander . . .

hawking the Trumpster's compromise to reopen the government as reasonable.

Number 1--this is not a compromise since the Democratic leadership was never consulted or advised.

Number 2-- the 3-year protection/extension on DACA and TPS are programs that the Trumpster overturned and is now offering as 'the deal of the century.'

Number 3--Donald Trump is not a good-faith partner; rather he has habitually squelched on deals, turning on a dime and changing his position on a whim or his 'gut' noises.

The media is now repeatedly asking how the Dems can turn down the Trumpster's Most Excellent Compromise without looking like the bad guys extending Trump's Shutdown?

This is akin to taking a hostage taker's side in the argument. Why don't you just give the guy the money and end this thing?, they query. What they don't ask is: what will be the going rate next time Trumpski doesn't get his way? And why would anyone in their right mind trust Donald Trump to stand by his word or to use the $5.7 billion responsibly?

No one wants the damn wall but the Trumpster and his acolytes. Not for border security or the fatuous tales of marauding caravans but as a symbol for WINNING. The $5.7 Billion is a small fraction of the money needed to complete the job the Trumpster has imagined, let alone maintain a wall/fence of that height and length. More than that, a wall/fence will be ineffective. Period.

This is another con job, a broad daylight highjacking where 800,000 Federal employees, millions of ancillary business owners and majority of American citizens have been held as hostages. And for what?

Donald Trump's rancid ego.

Btw, I was obviously added to Senator Alexander's email list after sending an incensed post following Trump's Helsinki meeting last year. I received a reply from the Senator's office saying basically that he too was 'concerned.' Amnesia has apparently afflicted the Republican held Senate. Perhaps they need a refresher course:

Donald Trump is not a good-faith partner. For anything.

The Man Who Stood Behind Trump

Interesting feature article at the Washington Post this morning which offers a glimpse into a particular Trumpster's mindset, a man who cannot see, cannot hear the damage that is being done by this Administration. A good ole boy who excuses himself because he's convinced he's a 'good man.' In some respects, that appears to be true in his relationships within his own personal sphere. But even there, his insight is limited, his ability to reflect in any deep manner has been short-circuited when it comes to racism, sexism and/or base cruelty. Because it hasn't affected him . . . personally.

It's only when he starts to receive critical, unflattering emails that the Man Who Stood Behind Trump begins to blink, just a smidge.

He doesn't recall racial strife in the South though he was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, born 50 miles from where Emmett Till was murdered. He doesn't remember segregated bathrooms or water fountains during the 60's, just doesn't recall. He simply has no living memory of racial violence in the South. For a man of privilege (think trust fund baby) he sees only the world that he's lived in, been part of--a good life, an easy life, a world where The Man Who Stood Behind Trump is respected, well-liked, even loved.

So when the emails start over his Trump rally appearance where POTUS mocks Christine Blasey Ford and he and his friend laugh and clap and cheer, he's mystified that strangers would call him on his behavior. Because he's not a sexist, he would tell them. He's loved his Mama and his sick wife, both strong women. Surely his love of the black woman who tended him as child proves that he has no animosity towards women or black people. He loved Edna Beatty in the way only a child can love so surely that proves he's a 'good man' though he doesn't recall ever asking about her personal life, the one she lived beyond him.

He doesn't remember. He cannot see or hear.

The Man Who Stood Behind Trump is only beginning to think about these things. He's still living in the dimly lit room he's constructed for himself, still defending his positions. But without the carefree innocence of the past which is something he hankers for--the way things used to be where your patriotism, your place in the world was never questioned.

The Good Ole Days.

Mind boggling.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2019/01/19/feature/the-man-who-stood-behind-trump/?utm_term=.a96fd8d935e2

Shiny Objects

Curious is it not that the furor over the Buzzfeed article has overshadowed the equally shocking story of Cohen rigging polls at Trump's direction? No one has negated or disputed the story that Cohen hired IT personnel to rig the online polls to keep the Boss happy or that he paid for those services with a bag of cash and a boxing glove, stiffing the tech company for the full $50,000 fee. A fee that Cohen was reimbursed for, according to WAPO.

Guiliani's statement was an immediate rebuff of the story with the added note that Cohen was into stealing money (don't look there, look over here). Furthermore, Cohen had a twitter account set up to make him appear favorable (sexy) to female voters. And even more curious, that tech firm--RedFinch Solutions owned by John Gauger--is connected to Liberty University.

All this hiding behind the Buzzfeed dustup because this is the beauty of disinformation.

So much winning.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michael-cohen-does-not-dispute-report-that-he-paid-tech-firm-to-rig-polls-for-trump/2019/01/17/1078856a-1a64-11e9-9ebf-c5fed1b7a081_story.html?utm_term=.94e53e437e8e

Land of the Free

Not sure how many people have already seen this. I stumbled across the tweet with embedded vid over at Hoarse Whisperer's feed. Video was directed by Spike Lee, performed by The Killers.

Personally? I was blown away. Fierce, effective, heartbreaking. An anthem of sorts.

Anyway, thought I'd post it here.

https://twitter.com/HoarseWisperer/status/1084918992442138630

First Cabinet Member to Buck Trumpski's Shutdown

courtesy of the Daily Kos

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/14/1826158/-Agriculture-Secretary-first-Cabinet-member-to-break-with-Trump-saying-shutdown-needs-to-end

Thought this was interesting: Sonny Perdue Agriculture Secretary, has told Fox Business that the Shutdown needs to end. A quote taken from Axios puts a point on the matter:

The Farm Service Agency has run out of funding, which has forced Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to work with the Office of Management and Budget to try getting farmers loans. Subsidies set aside for farmers hit by President Trump's tariffs have been suspended during the shutdown.

https://www.axios.com/trumps-agriculture-secretary-shutdown-end-2f9970e6-aed0-4299-8956-9c21cee5774d.html

As an aside, I was reading just this weekend of the disaster for soybean farmers who have in the past enjoyed export markets in China. Now the price to plant is higher than they're were offered for the harvest, most of which is rotting.

So much winning!

One wonders if Perdue is the first domino.

Under oath William Barr said . . .

Mueller should be allowed to finish his investigation and that a final report should be made to Congress and the American public. He will not play partisan politics, the matter needs to be resolved and the public needs to know the facts.

Score another round for the good guys!

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/14/politics/william-barr-mueller/index.html

101 Russian Contacts

From Trumpski's mantra--No Collusion, No Collusion, No Collusion to 101 Russian contacts between Trump's 2016 campaign and administration members is a mind-boggling leap. It's difficult to keep the numerous events, people and timelines involved straight. Fortunately The Moscow Project has been doing just that assembling an overview of the disaster we've been watching/hearing/reading. In order to get a sense of the size and overlapping relationships, the Moscow Project offers an interactive map showing the contacts and the players. Lots of good information at the site and an easy way to familiarize or review the history of a portion of the conspiracy.

Interesting, too, that the major portion of these contacts were made by Don Jr. and Jared Kushner. The 'boys' are in deep, deep trouble.

Link here:

https://themoscowproject.org/dispatch/interactive-100-contacts-between-the-trump-campaign-and-russia/

This is how Russian State TV Views Trumpski's Shutdown

The Level of Cray-Cray That Should Worry Everyone

Today, Trumpski announced that he was willing to continue the government shutdown for months, even years. He's also threatening to up the ante by implementing National Security Emergency Orders to . . . get his way on the wall funds. His reasoning (such as it is) is captured below, a repeating pattern of incoherent blather. This isn't new. It's been going on from the start but I suspect the crazy will ramp up as the pressure increases and legal woes/investigations continue. If anything the following reminds me of an early, rough draft interview with the Wall Street Journal, an interview conducted in the early months of Trumpski's tenure. This presumably is the Leader of the Free World. Not fooling anyone. This is the Squatter-in-Chief in all his ignoble glory.

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1081271693858009089

Btw, I read today that funding for regular court operations will shortly run out. What a coinky-dink! One way to avoid accountability is simply shutting the legal processes down.

Treason weasels, all of them.

Dear Trump Enablers: Cry Me a River

Jennifer Rubin wrote a column the other day: “Dear Trump Enablers: Cry Me A River” from the perspective of Never-Trumpers, those Republicans who immediately saw Trumpski as a narcissistic grifter (as Democrats universally did) and now— according to Ms. Rubin—are owed apologies from their whining GOP colleagues, those who regret enabling an oaf.

Let me start by saying I appreciate that there were 'some' voices out there, conservative intellectuals warning what a disaster Trumpski would be and ultimately is. However, the collective ‘we’ cannot dismiss the false memes and propaganda promoted by Republicans for decades, all of which provided a clear glide path for the abomination known as Donald J. Trump.

Right-wing radio and Fox News has been shoveling pure horseshit for years, certainly since Gingrich's 'Contract with America.' Balanced budgets and austerity programs have been demanded when Democrats hold power, while wild spending sprees and tax give-aways for the rich are deemed perfectly acceptable when Republicans hold the reins.

Bush and Cheney nearly brought the country and the world to its economic knees with hollow ideology, unnecessary wars, deficit spending, corruption. And sheer neglect. Remember deficits-don’t-matter-Cheney? Or “we're an Empire now, we create our own reality?”

Where were Republican voices then?

Even Romney—considered a moderate in Republican circles and in Ms. Rubin’s Universe—felt compelled to reiterate the nonsense that ‘of course, corporations are people, my friend’ giving shelter to the corrosive funding abuses we’ve seen since Citizen’s United was upheld by SCOTUS.

Where were the jeers, the objections?

As we watched, it was left to Obama to pick up the pieces, pull the truck from the ditch and get us back on the road. What did he get for the Herculean effort? Accusals of being foreign born, a Muslim, the Other. Or on the ACA, providing Americans with healthcare insurance, an issue that should never have been partisan. What did we hear? Screams of death panels and communist takeovers for a plan that was hatched at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank.

Where was the condemnation from rational Republicans?

The list goes on through congressional obstructionism; endless, pointless investigations; obscene gerrymandering and voter suppression/voter fraud gimmicks.

Voices. Outrage. Anyone?

Dems are certainly not saints. Far from it. But we as a community believe in the notions of government and governance which is something Republicans surrendered long ago.

Now look at the mess, the sheer lunacy we're witnessing.

I've offered up kudos for Ms. Rubin’s columns in the past. She and others did call Trumpski out, pointed unabashedly to the incompetence, corruption, the withering unfitness. But when it comes to demanding apologies, there are a lot of mea culpas owed. The Never-Trumpers will have to wait their turn.

Right now, the biggest share belongs to the Republic that's being trampled by an unfit lunatic squatting in the White House. Apologies are owed to our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, etc., those who bled for this country and for all the sacrifices made to keep the idea of America alive, each generation pushing for a better future.

We’ve never been perfect. At best, as a society, as a Nation of laws and principles, we’re a work-in-progress. But hey, a work-in-progress is not a bad moniker.

All those lives, all the ideals and dreams as imperfect as they might be are now at the mercy of a conman, a grifter wiping his feet on the dead, the living, the yet to be born. Trumpski is urged on by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson et al, radio and TV jocks whipping their audiences into a frenzy with . . . lies and innuendo.

So many apologies. Too many to count.

Donald Trump will be a thing of the past in due time, sooner rather than later I hope. Once that happens, once the dust settles, we’ll need to repair and heal. Many will swear they never saw the debacle coming. Yet the signs were all around. The cues were most profoundly obvious in the silence of Republicans who knew better, whispered among themselves but set aside principle for winning at all costs and those who acquiesced to the bullies screaming into the ether. All at the expense of the country for which they so loudly, so passionately proclaimed love.

There’s been treachery in our midst for decades.

Many apologies are owed. Take your ticket Ms. Rubin; it’s going to be a long wait.

While you’re waiting, we’ll have a Nation to rebuild, fences to mend, alliances to reestablish. Let’s hope we all remember the past as it was, not the sanitized version many in Republican circles would have us accept.

Because we either learn from the past. Or we don’t. If the latter is our fate, then this may be our last hurrah.

I sincerely hope that is not the case.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/21/cry-me-river-trump-enablers/?utm_term=.d7090e1fc645