News Media

19 Months In The Presidency: Don McGahn And John Dean; Roy Cohn, Joseph McCarthy And Trump Charges Of “McCarthyism”–History Revived!

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Today marks 19 months in the Presidency of Donald Trump.

We are hearing about comparisons between Don McGahn and John Dean of Watergate fame.

We are also hearing Donald Trump compare the Robert Mueller investigation to Joseph McCarthy, forgetting that his own Mentor in behavior was the despicable, corrupt attorney Roy Cohn, who collaborated with McCarthy in the true “witch hunt” of the 1950s, which only ended after five years, and the destruction of the reputation of many decent people who worked for the government and in Hollywood and the news media.

Trump demonstrates his total ignorance of history, and the irony of comparing McCarthyism with Mueller, when Mueller has been totally silent, and has avoided any demagoguery utilized by both McCarthy more than sixty years ago, and by Donald Trump now.

The revelation of the Don McGahn interviews with Robert Mueller brings us closer to the time when Donald Trump will finally be held accountable for his crimes and illegalities.

The clock is ticking, and Karma is on its way!

100 Days To What? Another “Fixed” Election, Solidifying Trump Authoritarianism As Future Of Our Democracy, Now Under Attack?

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We are down to 100 days tomorrow to the Midterm Elections of 2018, which will have a dramatic effect on America and its future, more than any previous midterm election.

Usually, much more attention is paid to the years of presidential elections, but with Donald Trump in the Presidency, and threatening the economic and foreign policy stability of the nation, and posing an authoritarian threat unseen in American history, these upcoming elections are crucial.

42 House seats that were Republican are now vacant or the sitting member will be leaving office, and will have a new Congressperson, and that seems to insure a gain of seats by the Democrats, who only need 23 seats minimum to have a majority of the House of Representatives.

But with Russian interference and hacking again taking place, who can say whether we will get fair, honest election results?

The news media must continue to focus on the facts, and not be diverted by fake accusations of Donald Trump, and his attack on them as “enemies of the people”, a typical totalitarian statement made by Fascist and Communist dictators past and present.

Even as Secretary of Defense James Mattis, FBI head Christopher Wray, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, CIA head Gina Haspel, and many others in the intelligence and national security community continually warn of Russian interference, Donald Trump continues to attack intelligence information and the news media for reporting it.

if that is not treason, then what is it?

Trump’s “Bromance” with Vladimir Putin, including his now delayed invitation for Putin to come to the White House, and Putin inviting him to Moscow, with the likelihood of more private meetings without the participation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, or National Security Adviser John Bolton, or other key individuals, is an alarm bell in the night, that must concern and alarm all patriotic Americans.

George Orwell’s “1984” And The “Big Lie” Technique Of Totalitarian Governments (Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, et al), And Donald Trump 2018

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We are now witnessing a President who evokes the novel “1984” by George Orwell, about the totalitarian mind and society.

He also has become a well known master of the “Big Lie” technique utilized by Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, the People’s Republic of China, Fidel Castro’s Cuba, and other totalitarian nations such as North Korea, and Vietnam, but also used now by Putin’s Russia, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines and other autocracies.

The battle to preserve the American democratic republic we have is becoming more intense, as on the horizon, we could see Donald Trump taking brash actions, without adequate response by Congress and the courts.

His attack on journalism and the news media are a threat to all of us, as without a free press (both print and electronic), we are on the road to a dictatorship, which would be intolerable, and likely would lead to the outbreak of civil war, a horrifying thought, as it would cause total collapse of the American economy. It would lead to large numbers of dead and wounded (probably far greater in a nation now eleven times the population in 1860), and would make us a nation under constant threat and possible takeover by enemy nations, including Russia and China.

That is why the battle to change Congress in November is more urgent than at any time in modern history.

This is a question of life and death long term for this nation, which has been a beacon for many around the world.

June 19, 1953–The Beginning Of Awareness Of Public Affairs For This Author

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On this day in 1953, this author gained his first awareness of public affairs at the age of 8 and a half, an age that most people will remember as their first major memory of life outside their own family life, and learning about the outside world.

On that day, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, accused atomic spies, were executed, an event still debated 65 years later as to its justice.

This author was watching television, and recall the shock he experienced over the execution that took place that evening.

So that was the beginning of awareness of public affairs, and it has continued through good and evil events for the past 65 years.

And to wake up this morning and witness the US government arresting mothers and fathers for trying to escape violence and threats of death in their homelands, and wishing to seek asylum, and being treated as criminals, and their children being taken away from them, even infants who are nursing, ails his heart and soul.

It makes him wonder what has happened to this nation, the country of the Statue of Liberty and place of refuge for immigrants, that we have now demonized these desperate people who just want a better life, and are being horribly mistreated by the likes of Jeff Sessions, Stephen Miller, Kirstjen Nielsen, John Kelly and other racists and nativists who pursue the evil policies of a President who hopes all of us will give in, and allow him to become the first authoritarian leader in American history.

The answer is that knowledge is power, and that the American people will continue to resist, and the news media, bless them, are part of our constant effort to expose the truth and to pursue justice, and take down and prosecute the evil leaders who are destroying all semblance of unity in this nation!

Decent people in organized religion, and lawyers, doctors, social workers, educators at all levels, and just Americans who care about more than their economic wealth, will unite to overcome this cancer in our midst.

We cannot give up the battle, as otherwise it will consume us!

The Constitutional Crisis Has Arrived: Trump’s Direct Interference With Mueller Investigation, Justice Department, And FBI

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Here we are on May 21, 2018, Day 486 of the Trump Presidency, and Donald Trump has gone off the deep end, with his challenge to interfere directly with the Robert Mueller investigation, and the role of the Justice Department and the FBI in that controversy.

Robert Mueller, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and FBI Head Christopher Wray are now presented with a crisis that requires total courage, principle, and dedication to the rule of law.

And Republicans in Congress, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and the members of the Senate who are involved in the Intelligence Committee and Judiciary Committee, as well as those in the House of Representatives committees, have a reckoning with history.

if they choose to bend to Donald Trump’s will, they will be condemned forever in history, and there is no more room for concessions.

It is time for Congress to join the responsible news media and demand the resignation of Donald Trump, or a rapid move toward impeachment.

No person matters more than the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and Donald Trump must be brought down to avoid a potential move toward an authoritarian government that could lead to the end of the American nation as we know it.

There is no room now for weak, unprincipled people in our government, but rather a time for all principled people to come forward and say to Donald Trump: YOU ARE FIRED!

229th Anniversary Of First Presidential Inauguration Of George Washington In 1789: A Moment To Reflect On The Dangers To The Presidency As An Institution

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On this day, April 30, in 1789, George Washington was inaugurated, 57 days late, in lower Manhattan in New York City, as the first President of the United States, setting important standards for Presidential actions and behavior over the next two and more centuries.

Washington arrived late due to the need to plant the crops on his Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon, and traveled by horse from Virginia to NYC, being wined and dined along the way.

So Washington was the only President to serve two terms, but less than eight years, due to the loss of those 57 days in his first term, but his second term ending on March 4, 1797.

Two hundred years later, President George H. W. Bush commemorated the bicentennial of that event in New York City.

Now we have a President who challenges the institution of the Presidency in dangerous ways, and wishes he could be President for life, rather than the constitutional limit of two terms or ten years if succeeding during the last half of the term, as set up in the 22nd Amendment, passed through Congress in 1947, and ratified and going into effect in 1951, affecting all future Presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower onward.

Any person with rationality and knowledge of the history of America well knows that the threat of Donald Trump is real, and that the news media, the Congress, and the Judiciary must coordinate their efforts to remove him from office, as he has already done great damage to the institution of the Presidency.

We have not survived the Civil War, the Great Depression, the Cold War, and the danger of Richard Nixon, to allow ourselves to be undermined by the clear and present danger of Donald Trump!

Donald Trump Has Attacked 430 Targets On Twitter Since He Announced For President, But NOT Vladimir Putin, Stormy Daniels, Nor Rachel Maddow!

Ronald 17 Comments

By several estimates, subject to some re-evaluation by major news sources, President Donald Trump has attacked about 430 targets on Twitter since he announced for President in June 2015.

News media sources;
the judiciary;
Republican leaders and members of the party in Congress;
Democratic leaders and members of the party in Congress;
state governors;
corporations;
every one of his Republican opponents in 2016;
every Democratic opponent in 2016;
sports figures;
Hollywood film and music personalities;
intellectuals and professors;
conservative critics;
women who accuse Trump of sexual harassment;
African Americans;
Muslims;
Hispanics;
leaders of foreign nations;
intelligence agencies;
national security agencies;
international organizations;
cabinet and other Trump Administration participants past and present;
and on and on and on!

Who has he NOT attacked? The list is quite brief: Vladimir Putin of Russia and some other authoritarian leaders around the world, Stormy Daniels, and get this, Rachel Maddow of MNSBC!

It is clear Stormy Daniels has some evidence on Trump, that makes him afraid to attack her, although her lawyer has been under attack by people around Trump.

Rachel Maddow? Weird, but true, and totally unexplained at this point!

A Year Of Donald Trump: A Horror And A Nightmare!

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I published on Sunday a summary article on the first year of Donald Trump at History News Network–historynewsnetwork.org. I have published regularly on Donald Trump on History News Network, and some of those articles have been picked up also by Time Magazine and Newsweek Magazine, and all of those articles are on the right side of my blog.

A day before the anniversary of the inauguration, I will summarize here the points that I made in that article:

Donald Trump has been a nightmare, and his unpredictability, and the refusal of the Republican Party to come to grips with it, has created a constitutional crisis greater than the Watergate Scandal under Richard Nixon 45 years ago.

Donald Trump has demonstrated clear authoritarian leanings that endanger all Americans and their basic freedoms and national security.

Donald Trump has undermined the judicial branch of government. with his attacks on an independent judiciary, and his appointments of unqualified people to lifetime positions on the federal district courts and federal circuit courts.

Donald Trump has assaulted the Bill of Rights, and is a threat to the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, women, gay and transgender Americans, and members of the news media who dare to investigate and question his white supremacist, nativist, racist, and misogynistic utterances and policies.

He has connected himself to dictators and authoritarians in nations like Russia, China, Turkey, Egypt, and the Philippines, and in the tradition of such past regimes as Nazi Germany , Fascist Italy, and the Soviet Union.

Donald Trump has pursued policies that threaten and undermine the domestic reforms of Presidents from both political parties from the time of Theodore Roosevelt onward, endangering the Social Safety Network of Social Security. Medicare, and Medicaid, and government regulation of industry and big business, and oversight of key problems involving the environment, consumer safety, labor protections, health care, and science and education.

Donald Trump has given us the most corrupt and incompetent cabinet and advisers , making the shortcomings of Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, and Richard Nixon pale in comparison. There is no sense of ethics, commitment, scruples, or compassion on the part of Trump and his team, but only with the advancement of the top one percent, over the needs of millions of ordinary people.

Trump’s family has become in one year more controversial, and lacking in ethics and morals, than any Presidential family in history, with the aim seeming to be a family dynasty with no limit on their lust for money and power.

Donald Trump has undermined foreign policy and international relations, alienating our allies, and consorting with dictators all over the world. He has declared war on the diplomatic community, the national security apparatus, and the intelligence agencies that are out to protect American national security. He has been reckless in his dealings with North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, and with the Middle East cauldron. He has alienated our allies, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Japan, and South Korea with his weird, unpredictable behavior.

Donald Trump’s narcissism, ignorance of history and science, obnoxious behavior and incessant lying make him a terrible model for the future generation of Americans, who used to be able to look up the President of the United States as someone they could respect.

These reasons are justification for action to remove Donald Trump from the Presidency, whether by impeachment, use of the 25th Amendment, or forced resignation after indictments of family members and top advisers by Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Donald Trump And Libel Laws: Massive Number Of Lawsuits Could Be Lodged Against Him For His Constant Libeling Of Critics And Opponents

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Yesterday, Donald Trump called for a massive overhaul of America’s libel laws, so that anyone who lies about someone else, says or publishes untruths, can be sued for libel and be forced to pay large financial damages.

This would be done to silence critics in their public statements, and news media, journalists, and authors from freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Any person or entity, including this author and blogger, could be hauled into federal court, costing vast amounts of attorney expenses, to defend the truth and veracity of his or her statements or publications.

Is there anything more unconstitutional or more a violation of basic civil liberties and the Bill of Rights, than this utterance by an authoritarian, fascist oriented disgrace of a human being?

It would effectively silence any exposure, revelation, or accountability for an abusive government leader, the kind of treatment one finds in authoritarian nations, such as Russia, China, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines, Iran, and other nations around the world, and historically in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy.

It would destroy our democracy and rule of law, and promote intolerance and suppression of differing views of government as it affects the American population.

Ironically, though, Donald Trump could face thousands of law suits for all of his unsubstantiated attacks on his critics in the Republican Party during the 2016 election campaign, as well as while he has been in the White House, as well as Democrats, and all the news media and other critics who have correctly called him out for his abuse of power and his divisive, hateful rants in public rallies, in the White House and on Twitter.

Donald Trump has lied incessantly, an average of five times a day, over 2,000 lies since he announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015.

He should be sued under his own definition of libel for every one of these two thousand plus lies, and his defamation of individuals and institutions, and it would leave him impoverished after financial payments were imposed on him.

He is the last person who should bring up the issue of libel, and he could be, as a result, “hoist with his own petard”!

Fox News Channel Promoting False Concept Of “Coup” Against Donald Trump By Robert Mueller, When The Threat Is Of Trump Grabbing Absolute Power!

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Fox News Channel is engaged in a full scale promotion of the concept of a “coup” being waged against President Donald Trump by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

That right wing propaganda channel, which ignorant, uninformed people think is a news channel, is stirring up hatemongers and congressional Republicans to wage war on Mueller and his investigation of the numerous Trump scandals.

Particularly disgraceful and despicable are Sean Hannity and Judge Jeanine Pirro, both highly trained in sensationalism, hyperbole, and conspiracy theories.

They are enriching themselves in the process of their sycophantic worship of the most dangerous President in American history.

One or both could be swept up in the scandals, as both have links to the White House, and are willing to spread lies on a daily basis.

Only Shepard Smith is gutsy and courageous enough to contradict these sycophants and others at Fox News Channel.

Additionally, there are a large group of principled conservatives who have been critical of and have denounced Donald Trump since before he won the Presidency in a false manner. The list of such conservatives and Republicans is long and distinguished, although it does not include many elected Republicans.

The reality is Hannity and Pirro are promoting the concept of a coup to seize absolute power, and suspend the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, and promote the closing down of a free media, and a judiciary that defends the rule of law. They are supportive of a maniacal, unstable President who admires the authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin, who clearly has a hold over him, and helped him to win the Presidential Election of 2016 in an unethical and illegal manner.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned us of the threat of the firing of Robert Mueller, and if that occurs, the people must go out into the streets of every American city in large numbers to protest and resist such unconstitutional grabbing of power by the 45th President.