September 25, 2019

The Impeachment Clauses Were Written for Donald J Trump

Excerpt from my blog post. Link follows

Below is my list of abuses, illegalities, and violations of the oath of office committed by Trump. Pelosi has allowed these travesties to go unanswered on the mistaken idea that, since the sycophantic Senate wouldn't convict, there would be a backlash that could return the House to the Republicans. That's a disparaging view of the citizenry. Once the multitude of "high crimes and misdemeanors" is enumerated in open hearings the public will be unable to ignore their 2016 electoral college blunder. In addition, seeing the Senate Republicans excuse such criminality might bring out enough voters who care about country over party to hand that body to the Democrats as well. Hope lies eternal....

Many pundits, along with Pelosi, say voting Trump out in 2020 is the best path, amounting to his "indictment." Depending on an election outcome is more dangerous than impeachment. Allowing Trump's presidency to go unchallenged by the House's oversight mandate validates his blatant violation of the oath and lays a path for the next wannabe dictator to continue to abuse power. After all, a known conman who promised to run the country like his business (despite widely publicized multiple bankruptcies) and laid out his racism and bigotry in his campaign announcement speech was placed in the White House by our undemocratic electoral college on 77,000 votes. Impeachment, whether or not successfully removing this stain on our country, is imperative.

More:
http://panich52-civillibertyrocks.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-impeachment-clauses-were-written.html

March 13, 2019

Capitalism is fine, as long as it's held in check

Age of the robber barons was briefly interrupted by Great Depression, but greed of those who managed to hold on to their wealth and avaristic basis of capitalism has led us to deja vu age. Oligarchy is inevitable when capitalism isn't balanced with a bit of more altruistic socialism where sharing the wealth, ensuring those who keep the money flowing up are, at the very least, able to feel appreciated and not have to worry about what happens to them and their families should they no longer be able to work or need to retire.

Repubs and corporatists have worked to shred social safety nets put in place in 30s instead of improving them. The War on Poverty has become War on the Poor. Unions had much to do with building America's great middle class, but instead of accepting the logic that corporations need customers who can afford their products, capitalistic greed sees them as impediments to the unnecessary amassing of wealth for those at the top. They see fair wages and safe working environments unions try to ensure as dreaded socialism, ignoring that democracy requires capitalism be kept in check.

Paying back to ensure the system that enabled the wealthy to gain their financial security is all modern socialism is. Sharing the wealth, a bit of altruism, keeps the system working instead of the feudalism that inevitably leads to rebellion that occurs when capitalism runs free and unrestrained. If the altruism needs to be a bit forced upon those who can afford to share their wealth, so be it. Our claim of democracy as a superior system of government requires a little socialism.

February 13, 2019

2 underreported stories thx to Trump's idiotic wall

2 underreported stories thanks to Trump's idiotic wall delusions:

1:
#SCOTUS disregards Establishment Clause to expedite prisoner death
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/scotus-disregards-establishment-clause-to-expedite-prisoner-death-1439948355738

Hobby Lobby disaster wasn't a one-off. Conservative "originalist" hypocrites apparently have deleted the Establishment Clause from their copy of the Constitution. Even this atheist thinks a condemned person should have religious counseling/comfort of their choosing, not the choice of a theocratic state.


2:
Trump intervenes in support of coal plant owned by major donor
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-intervenes-support-coal-plant-owned-major-donor

The blatant pay-for-play in this is too outrageous for words.

November 11, 2017

What happened to General Flynn?

Once upon a time, Gen Mike Flynn was respected among natonal security circles. President Obama even placed him as his Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Now Flynn is being investigated as essentially a double agent. What caused the fall?

Some might point to his being fired by Obama about a year into his post. He resigned, forced out, due to ineffectual leadership. He was accused of being difficult to deal with and subordinates mocked him for his "Flynn facts" — "alt-facts" before the term was coined.

Flynn's criticizing of Pres Obama begins shortly after. Projection, blaming others for one's own shortcomings, apparently infected him as it has with most Republicans. That made him of like mind with Donald Trump, a long-time Obama critic who focused on irrelevancies or outright lies. (I suspect Obama warning Trump not to hire Flynn was one way to assure he'd get a job with Trump.)

Before Trump discovered him, Flynn began a career lobbying for foreign governments. His previous roles in the military and DIA probably allowed him to collect exorbitant fees. Russia and Turkey were obviously willing to pay for his expertise — but how much more than for his contacts as a lobbyist?

Special Counsel Mueller is investigating Flynn for colluding with Turkey to abduct a US resident and extradite him back to Turkey. It would be bad enough if he were to aid in this while an advisor on Trump's campaign, but his loyalty to Turkey's desires were to continue after the election, after Flynn was part of the administration. It's not a stretch to wonder about whether he shared more than his contacts with his foreign clients. His knowledge of our military and defense capabilities would also be if high value.

Am I to believe that being fired as Director of DIA was enough to turn a career US military general into what could be called a double agent? Just what the fuck happened to Gen Mike Flynn?




(Original posted on CivilLibertyRocks)

August 26, 2017

What Trump has undone

WaPo

What Trump has undone

This article has been updated with additional items.

President Trump has repeatedly argued that he’s done more than any other recent president. That’s not true, as measured by the amount of legislation he’s been able to sign. It is true, though, that Trump has undone a lot of things that were put into place by his predecessors, including President Barack Obama.

Since Jan. 20, Trump’s administration has enthusiastically and systematically undone or uprooted rules, policies and tools that predated his time in office. Below, a list of those changes, roughly organized by subject area.

Did we miss something? Let us know. (philip.bump@washpost.com)


Withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The trade deal would have established a trade partnership between the United States and countries on the Pacific Rim.

Revoked a rule that expanded the number of people who could earn overtime pay.

Reversal of a rule that would mandate that oil and gas companies report payments to foreign governments. The Securities and Exchange Commission will no longer receive this information.

Ended limits on the ability of states to drug test those seeking unemployment benefits.

Revoked an executive order that mandated compliance by contractors with laws protecting women in the workplace.

Much more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/08/24/what-trump-has-undone/?sw_bypass=true

June 8, 2017

Presidents Twitter Account Should Not Block Users, First Amendment Lawyers Argue

NBC News

President’s Twitter Account Should Not Block Users, First Amendment Lawyers Argue
by SAFIA SAMEE ALI


The president’s Twitter habits are getting him into even more legal murkiness.

A group of First Amendment lawyers sent President Donald Trump a letter on Tuesday asking him to unblock Twitter users whom he gave the digital cold shower after they chastised or disagreed with him on social media — citing that Trump’s Twitter space is a "public forum" so the ban is unconstitutional.

The Knight First Amendment Institute, a non-profit under the Knight Foundation and Columbia University, represents several Twitter users who have been blocked from accessing @realDonaldTrump after they wrote unflattering statements about the president.

The letter to Trump says his “Twitter account operates as a ‘designated public forum’ for First Amendment purposes, and accordingly the viewpoint-based blocking of our clients is unconstitutional.”

"We ask that you unblock them and any others who have been blocked for similar reasons.”

The White House did not immediately comment on the letter but the lawyers are prepared to go to court if the president does not heed their advice, said Alex Abdo, one of the lawyers representing the blocked users.

More
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/president-s-twitter-account-should-not-block-users-first-amendment-n769026

July 26, 2016

Stop the Postal Service Reform Act of 2016. #SaveUSPS

From email:


Please sign and share my petition to stop the Postal Service Reform Act of 2016. This is another hostile attack against our nation's postal service and its employees. After years of pre-funding the USPS retiree benefits 75 years in advance, a burden no other business or government agency has to endure, this is a move in the wrong direction. The link follows: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-the-hr5714-postal?mailing_id=35037&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=1939235

I also ask you to continue sharing my revised petition of my first petition a few years ago "Save Our Post Office." We must support the US Postal Service and its employees or the day will come when we do not have it in its current form. The link follows: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/save-our-post-office-91?mailing_id=35037&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=1939235

Thank you for your continued support. It is appreciated. It is truly sad that America has reached the level where action like this is even needed.... But it has.

Jerry Stidman


»»»»»»»»»»»»

Repubs continue to attack one of the foundations of our democratic republic—the Constitutionally mandated US Postal Service. Their goal is privatization. Once they succeed at that, one can be assured the federal privacy, guarantees and secured delivery that we're used to regarding mail will be chipped away (regs bad f/ biz ya know).

Privatization especially bad with movement to vote-by-mail. Repubs already have admitted (proudly) to voter suppression. Imagine what they could do with votes sent by for-profit business....

November 24, 2015

Radical Christian holy warriors really need to stop throwing stones

The following is a long article with over 400 comments. It shows the absurdity of so-called Christian outrage over militants, known as ISIL, Boko Haram, al Qaeda, et al, who are mistaken as representatives of the Muslim faith.


Daily Kos

Radical Christian holy warriors really need to stop throwing stones

-snip-

The base argument has been that Da’esh and other terrorist death cults have all been Islamic and that this kind of barbarism is a unique and inherent portion of Islam, as one recent comment noted to me here:

Violent jihad was baked right into Islam by Muhammad himself, who used militancy to spread Islam.

Some argue this same militant streak is a base feature of Islam because of passages such as this:

Quran, 048:29: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves;

Yet the truth—which is often forgotten—is that the origins of Islam stem directly from both Christianity and Judaism, and that you can find similar passages in both the Old Testament and Talmud. You can also find more than a few Christian death cults not only in history, but in the present.

Buckle in, because listing just the highlights of radical extremist Christianity is gonna take some time.

Let’s proceed onward, Christian soldier, starting with the very first two commandments:

Much more:
http://m.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/22/1451631/-Radical-Christian-holy-warriors-really-need-to-stop-throwing-stones?detail=email

November 12, 2015

The Very Worst Of Fox Business, Host Of Tuesday’s GOP Debate

Article is long, both Vids & recaps. Shows why #FauxNews watchers are so damn ignorant and misinformed as to reality.


National Memo

The Very Worst Of Fox Business, Host Of Tuesday’s GOP Debate

This piece originally appeared on Media Matters.

Fox Business will host the fourth Republican presidential debate tonight. Unlike its sister network Fox News, many are unfamiliar with the low-rated Fox Business. But Media Matters has been watching since the network’s debut in 2007. Here are 35 of the worst things to appear on the “business” network.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/the-very-worst-of-fox-business-host-of-tuesdays-gop-debate/

November 12, 2015

Weird coincidence (and info request)

I found this photo on Twitter:



I immediately thought of a painting I did ages ago while in college. I copied it from a hardback edition of NY Metropolitan Museum catalog. (I painted several from it as practice.) I didn't intend this as an exact copy, but as a present f/ parents. My painting (photo is a bit washed out):




Now the request: I can't find that catalog, and I've forgotten the original artists name. The original is more rectangular than mine. If anyone recognizes it, please let me know.