Russian Collusion

Donald Trump Undermining Department Of Justice, Federal Bureau Of Investigation, Intelligence Agencies, And American National Security

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Donald Trump has totally failed as a moral leader, in his constant attacks on the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the intelligence agencies, and American national security.

He has disgraced the office daily with his constant Twitter rants against every agency and every person imaginable, and now he has reached a new low, attacking the FBI for their inadequate response to the threat of the young man who committed the horrific massacre of students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in Broward County.

His attack on the FBI as having spent too much time on the investigation of Russian collusion as the cause of their failure to stop the massacre is outrageous and totally preposterous, as the FBI is always involved in multiple investigations and issues at the same time.

Trump’s refusal to accept the indictments of 13 Russian nationals as proof that they influenced the Presidential election results of 2016 is just a coverup and a lie to deny the truth, and his condemnation on Twitter of his National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster for his comments accepting the truth, bode us toward a constitutional crisis coming soon, as Robert Mueller gets ever closer to an indictment of many people around Trump for illegal collusion and obstruction of justice, and reaching into the Oval Office.

No decent scholar or intelligent person can now deny that Donald Trump has acted in an unpresidential manner, and it is tragic that this conclusion can be reached on Presidents Day, as Trump besmirches the office that he holds.

Speaker Of The House Paul Ryan A Total Disaster, Caving In To Donald Trump, And Undermining Congressional Authority Against Presidents

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Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has become a total disaster, caving in to Donald Trump, and undermining Congressional authority against Presidential abuses.

Ryan has helped to undermine the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian collusion, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, money laundering, violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, and sexual harassment and abuse by President Trump.

There are rumors that he plans to retire from Congress this year, and not too soon, as he has failed to play the role of a Speaker who puts the good of the nation ahead of politics.

He also is despicable in his craving for cutting the Social Safety Net of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as cutting back on essential regulations of labor conditions, the environment, health care, and education.

He is presiding over a House of Representatives which is way out of the norm of American politics, caving in to religious extremists and the Freedom Caucus, which is anarchistic in its hatred of the federal government.

This author and blogger condemned Ryan back in 2012 when he was Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, and his position on Ryan has not changed.

By comparison, John Boehner, with all his shortcomings, was nowhere as horrible as Ryan has been.

Randy Bryce is running as the Democrat trying to unseat Ryan from his Wisconsin Congressional seat, if he chooses to run, and whether Ryan runs or not, hopefully, Randy Bryce can be part of the expected Democratic “Blue” wave coming in November 2018. Bryce is an Army veteran, a cancer survivor, and iron worker running to give American workers in the First Congressional District of Wisconsin an opportunity to have one of their own background representing them in Washington, DC.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein And Special Counsel Robert Mueller In Danger Of Being Fired, Undermining Russian Investigation

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is in danger of being fired by President Donald Trump, in order to stop the investigation of the Russian collusion scandal by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, appointed by Rosenstein after the firing of FBI Director James Comey last May.

If that were to happen, it seems likely that Trump would try to find someone else, maybe Rachel Brand, the next ranking person in the Justice Department, to fire Mueller.

Both Rosenstein and Brand are Republican appointments, and Mueller was the former head of the FBI, appointed by George W. Bush, so this is not an issue of Democrats being in danger, but rather Republicans, as Trump works to cover up his involvement in Russian collusion in the 2016 Presidential campaign, as well as money laundering, obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

This would provoke a situation similar to the “Saturday Night Massacre” under Richard Nixon in October 1973, when Nixon fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, in the midst of the Watergate Scandal, the first step in the move toward impeachment of Nixon, and his eventual forced resignation in August 1974.

This would create a constitutional crisis greater than Watergate, and the American people must rise up to prevent what Trump is trying to do, create a dictatorship, in which a President is unaccountable for his illegal behavior, and a situation where his party in Congress is unwilling to take a stand against executive abuse of power.

Donald Trump has done so much damage already in so many ways, and he must be stopped now, before we lose our democracy and our image of ourselves as a nation based upon the rule of law and the Constitution.

Trump Tax Cuts Already Undermining Budget, And Threatening Social Safety Net Of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid

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The Trump tax cuts are already, just as they are going into effect, causing a massive shortage of government funds, and threatening the stability of the Social Safety Net of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and as well as educational, environmental, consumer, and labor laws.

This is precisely what the Republican Party of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the Trump White House wants, to destroy the entire social and economic reforms and regulatory laws of the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Great Society of the Lyndon B. Johnson, and the reforms of Barack Obama, along with lesser reforms of Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The Republican Party is now an extremist right wing party controlled by the Freedom Caucus and evangelical Christians, who will not be satisfied until they take America back to the 1920s and the Gilded Age.

And this past week, the beginning of the end of what is now 88 months of economic expansion and job growth is evident, as today, the stock market collapsed with a 670 point drop, and a 1,000 point drop over this entire week. This is the biggest drop in two years, about 2.5 percent in the past week. It is also the biggest drop since the financial crisis of late 2008, which led to the Great Recession.

This was predictable, as no market or economic growth can continue to expand forever and already, the seven years and four months of expansion, since the last months of 2010, is an all time record.

We will go through very rough times from now on, and yet the wealthy top one or two percent will continue to gain massive tax cuts, while the rest of America suffers.

We are on the road to potential social uprising, as the American people realize that a President who lost the popular vote, and has engaged in illegal acts, works to undermine the investigation of Russian collusion, money laundering, abuse of power, violating the emoluments clause, and obstruction of justice, at the expense of the American people, but makes sure his class of wealthy people continues to benefit.

The Trump public opinion rating in the mid 30s is likely to collapse into the 20s at this rate, but will the Republican Party try to rectify itself in Congress, or will they continue to collaborate in treason and corruption, and destroy their historical legacy long term?

We shall see in the months leading up to a likely massacre in the midterm elections this November.

Former Living Vice Presidents To Be Proud Of: Walter Mondale, Al Gore, Joe Biden

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Today, January 5, marks the 90th Birthday of former Vice President Walter Mondale.

Two days ago, when Vice President Mike Pence swore in Doug Jones and Tina Smith as new Senators from Alabama and Minnesota, we had Mondale join Joe Biden, and we had a rare scene of three Vice Presidents together.

Biden came to DC to be there for his good friend, Doug Jones, and Mondale was in DC to support a new Minnesota Senator, Tina Smith.

It brought back memories of when Mondale was Vice President under Jimmy Carter from 1977-1981, and when Joe Biden was Vice President under Barack Obama from 2009-2017.

Both Vice Presidents were extremely close to their Presidents, and both played a major role in adding to the stature and influence of the Vice Presidency.

Also, with Mondale reaching the age of 90, it marks the second President and Vice President who reached the age of 90, after Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

It will be 37 years out of office for Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale on January 20, an all time record out of office for any President and Vice President.

Also, Mondale became today the sixth Vice President to reach the age of 90, along with three Presidents who served as Vice President–John Adams, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush–and two Vice Presidents who lived longer than any of the others—John Nance Garner under Franklin D. Roosevelt, living to age 98, and Levi Morton under Benjamin Harrison, living to age 96.

The scene of three Vice Presidents together also brought back the tragic result of the Presidential Election of 2000, when Vice President Al Gore under Bill Clinton from 1993-2001, won the national popular vote by 540,000, and yet lost the Electoral College 271-266, when the Republican majority Supreme Court ruled in favor of George W. Bush, awarding Florida to Bush by 537 votes out of a total of 6 million.

One has to wonder how Al Gore would have been as President, with the assurance that he would have done better than Bush.

The scene of Mike Pence posing with Mondale and Biden also sobers us that he is likely to become the 46th President this year, unless he is shown to have collaborated on the Russian collusion, and if so, could be the second Vice President to resign due to scandal, after Spiro Agnew in 1973.

Two Women Politicians Who Have Lost Esteem Recently: Kirsten Gillibrand And Nikki Haley, Both Potential Presidential Candidates In Future

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Two women politicians—Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Republican Governor of South Carolina—have both been in the news this year, but both, in different ways, have done harm to their reputations by recent actions.

Gillibrand, hailed for working on the subject of sexual harassment in the military and on college campuses, recently became the leader of a group of women Senators of her party going after fellow Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota for incidents of sexual harassment. Originally this blogger, being shocked by instances of Franken acting inappropriately, saw Gillibrand become engaged in what seems as bullyism, pressuring Franken to resign rather than face a Senate Ethics Committee hearing, getting his “day in court”, and seeing if the charges are legitimate, and serious enough to force him out of the Senate. Franken caved in, and will leave, and just gave his farewell address in the Senate. It seems very unfair and a mistake in political judgment by Gillibrand and others against a fellow Senator with an excellent record of public service, including forcing Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself in the Russian collusion scandal, a major factor in the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Franken deserved a chance to defend himself, but now that is gone.

Nikki Haley has had an admirable record as South Carolina Governor and now, UN Ambassador, and this blogger thought she was the best person in the Trump Administration by far. But now, suddenly, she has become a bully at the United Nations, demanding loyalty on the US recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, which did not convince any major country to support the United States on this non binding resolution. She embarrassed herself and the American people, by claiming she was going to “take names”, and that foreign assistance to various nations might be affected, forgetting that our foreign aid to other nations benefits us, as well as those nations. And now she is holding a party for the small number of insignificant nations who supported us, a laughable and ridiculous action.

So this blogger would say that while Kirsten Gillibrand and Nikki Haley once had stars that shone brightly, now both women have lost a great amount of credibility, and future Presidential yearnings have been heavily damaged by their recent actions.

Counter Movement For Al Franken To Stay Through Time Of Ethics Committee Hearing, Not Forced Out By Women Senators, Led By Kirsten Gillibrand!

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Suddenly, there is a counter reaction to the quick resignation of Senator Al Franken of Minnesota on charges of sexual harassment and inappropriate sexual behavior.

After most women Senators in the Democratic Party, led by New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, railroaded Franken into a quick decision to leave the Senate before a Senate Ethics Committee hearing, now a group of Senators, led by the most conservative Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has called upon Franken, an ideological rival, to stay on through further investigation.

There is evidence that the woman who brought the first charges was a Republican who took part in a photo that was designed as a joke, but was used to get back at Franken for his actions that have undermined Donald Trump.

As Manchin says, if the Ethics Committee hearing proves Franken should resign, he can then resign, but not so quickly.

This makes perfect sense, and has been this blogger’s view of this matter from the beginning.

Franken has been a good, courageous Senator, and has contributed to the ultimate Robert Mueller investigation of Donald Trump, by calling out Jeff Sessions, his former colleague and Attorney General, for his conflict of interest, which forced Sessions to step aside in the investigation, which led to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint Mueller in the Russian Collusion investigation.

We all owe a debt of thanks to Franken for that, and while no one is saying we should give Franken a pass in the matter of sexual harassment and inappropriate sexual behavior, as the saying goes, give him his day in court.

This blogger thinks Kirsten Gillibrand, who has been in the news a great deal recently, mostly in a positive manner, may very well suffer for her behavior toward Franken, which borders on bullyism, and could backfire on her ambitions to run for President.

It could be that Franken will resign, but it should not be essential BEFORE an investigation.

Hopefully, Franken will reconsider, as the way he has been treated is reprehensible.

The White, Educated, Republican Suburbs Moving Toward Democratic Party In Age Of Donald Trump

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Early signs are that the white, educated Republican suburbs are moving toward the Democratic Party in the age of Donald Trump.

If one goes by the elections in New Jersey, Virginia, and now Alabama, that seems the beginning of a trend.

The Democrats need to pursue this, rather than just attack Donald Trump.

They need to emphasize job growth, education, health care, and the dangers to our national security represented by the “bromance” between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, what seems like Russian Collusion.

They need to show that they have a positive program of change, and rally people around the harm to our environment and consumer protection by the Trump Presidency, as well as the harm done with unqualified judicial appointments, and in our diplomacy with other nations.

If the Democrats work to offer alternatives and point out common goals for people of all races, and both genders, they can win the majority in both houses of the Congress, in many state legislatures, and in the gubernatorial races coming up in November 2018.

Magnificent Victory For Doug Jones In Alabama: Its Meaning

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Last night’s magnificent victory in Alabama for Doug Jones in the special election to replace Jeff Sessions in the US Senate has so many meanings.

It is a total repudiation of the despicable former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore.

It is a total repudiation of Donald Trump, who now has lost twice in Alabama, after doing so well in that state in 2016. He lost with Luther Strange and now with Roy Moore.

It is a total repudiation of Steve Bannon, and his continued assault on the “Establishment” in the Republican Party, and is likely to lead to a Democratic House and Senate in the 2018 Midterm Congressional elections.

It is a total repudiation of disgraceful talk show host Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel, who could end up possibly implicated in the Trump Scandals being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

On a positive vein, it demonstrates that the forces of good are there, even in Alabama, as African Americans, Latinos, women, and young people came out and voted in an off year special election at much higher rates than projected.

It is also a tribute to conservative mainstream Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, who refused to endorse and support Roy Moore, and told his supporters that he had voted a write in candidate, and that they could do so as well. As it turns out, if all of the write in votes had gone to Moore, it would have been a victory for the combative former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

It was also a sign of just how good and decent Doug Jones was and is, as a prosecutor who, almost 40 years later, was able to gain convictions of Ku Klux Klansmen who killed those four young African American girls in that despicable church bombing in Birmingham in 1963. It was wonderful seeing African Americans on the stage with Jones at his victory celebration, showing the race issue does not have to divide Alabama or America.

It is also a sign of the significance of campaign adviser Joe Trippi, who earlier had worked for Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, Jerry Brown, Dick Gephardt, Ted Kennedy, and John Edwards in their various campaigns. What a great adviser Joe Trippi is!

This blogger was emotional about this great victory last night, and more so than even the great victories in New Jersey and particularly Virginia in the November off year elections.

Now it is time to move forward and force Donald Trump, who has divided America in so many hateful ways, to face the punishment he deserves, which is potential impeachment, with moral turpitude to be added to Russian Collusion, Obstruction of Justice, Abuse of Power, and Violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

It is also time for the top people around Trump to show they have courage and to demand he resign or they resign en masse. This includes John Kelly, H. R. McMaster, James Mattis, Rex Tillerson, and Nikki Haley.

The time for the cancer of Donald Trump to be excised has come, and the Democrats must use Trump against the Republicans, if they refuse to take responsibility for the dangers and authoritarianism that he represents.

It is time for the Republicans to put nation over party.

Are We On The Way To President Paul Ryan?

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With the growing evidence of Russian collusion and lying by Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and many others in the administration, the possibility is growing of the first time in American history where the Speaker of the House of Representatives might become President by succession.

It could have happened in 1974 had there not been the 25th Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1967.

That amendment allowed for the appointment of Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew, and within eight months of becoming Vice President, Ford became President.

If this had not been able to happen, there would have been no Vice President for ten months, and Speaker of the House Carl Albert of Oklahoma would have become President, instead of Gerald Ford, when Richard Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974.

Ryan may very well have been aware of Russian collusion in the eyes of some observers, but unless that is proved to be so, he would become President if Mike Pence was forced out, and Donald Trump was forced out, and if there was no time to select a new Vice President under the 25th Amendment.

Ryan, not at all admired, and much criticized by this blogger in 2012, when he was the Vice Presidential nominee for Mitt Romney. would be a terrible successor, with his Ayn Rand libertarian philosophy, and his desire to privatize Medicare and Social Security, and end the concept of government assistance to the needy through Medicaid, Food Stamps, and aid to dependent children.

We are in a time frame where Donald Trump is a nightmare, but Mike Pence, with his overtly theocratic view of religion and government is a different nightmare, and Ryan is a third example of what horrible choices the nation faces from the results of the Presidential Election of 2016.

It will take decades to recover the damage already done, and the damage yet to be done.