Iran-backed Islamic Jihad Says 'We Are Going to War' With Israel After Assassination

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/iran-backed-islamic-jihad-says-we-are-going-to-war-with-israel-after-assassination-1.8118638

NOT good. Elections matter. Netanyahu may be singularly going to war with Hamas which means judging by what they delivered after Netanyahu ordered the assassination of a top Hamas leader and killed his wife in the process Hamas showed it has strength with a retaliation of 50 rockets only 20 of which Israel stopped. One hit Tel Aviv coming close to two cars on a highway which it thankfully missed.

A policy of war and not diplomacy has implications for the world equipped with nuclear capabilities on both sides. How is our own useful idiot beholden to Russia and Putin going to respond to this?

Trump says he may begin cutting Social Security and Medicare if he wins in 2020

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-says-may-begin-cutting-201130207.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=fb

For all you Republicans and/or others who are contemplating a horrific vote for Trump in 2020 and who are 65 or approaching that age, beware of how you vote in 2020. You may be voting against your benefits.

Pass this on to anyone you choose!

Poignant words from Charles Pierce in Esquire

This is an excellent piece posted by a political ally and fellow FB blogger quoting Charles Pierce who wrote "Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free."

"In my life, I have watched John Kennedy talk on television about missiles in Cuba. I saw Lyndon Johnson look Richard Russell squarely in the eye and and say, "And we shall overcome." I saw Richard Nixon resign and Gerald Ford tell the Congress that our long national nightmare was over. I saw Jimmy Carter talk about malaise and Ronald Reagan talk about a shining city on a hill. I saw George H.W. Bush deliver the eulogy for the Soviet bloc, and Bill Clinton comfort the survivors of Timothy McVeigh's madness in Oklahoma City. I saw George W. Bush struggle to make sense of it all on September 11, 2001, and I saw Barack Obama sing "Amazing Grace" in the wounded sanctuary of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

These were the presidents of my lifetime. These were not perfect men. They were not perfect presidents, god knows. Not one of them was that. But they approached the job, and they took to the podium, with all the gravitas they could muster as appropriate to the job. They tried, at least, to reach for something in the presidency that was beyond their grasp as ordinary human beings. They were not all ennobled by the attempt, but they tried nonetheless.

And comes now this hopeless, vicious buffoon, and the audience of equally hopeless and vicious buffoons who laughed and cheered when he made sport of a woman whose lasting memory of the trauma she suffered is the laughter of the perpetrators. Now he comes, a man swathed in scandal, with no interest beyond what he can put in his pocket and what he can put over on a universe of suckers, and he does something like this while occupying an office that we gave him, and while endowed with a public trust that he dishonors every day he wakes up in the White House.

The scion of a multigenerational criminal enterprise, the parameters of which we are only now beginning to comprehend. A vessel for all the worst elements of the American condition. And a cheap, soulless bully besides.

Watch him make fun of the woman again. Watch how a republic dies in the empty eyes of an empty man who feels nothing but his own imaginary greatness, and who cannot find in himself the decency simply to shut the fuck up even when it is in his best interest to do so. Presidents don't have to be heroes to be good presidents. They just have to realize that their humanity is our common humanity, and that their political commonwealth is our political commonwealth, too. 

Watch him again, behind the seal of the President of the United States. Isn't he a funny man? Isn't what happened to that lady hilarious? Watch the assembled morons cheer. This is the only story now."

Mr. Rogers Enduring Wisdom by Tom Junod

This is an excellent article by Tom Junod in the Atlantic. It is a bit lengthy but superb!

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/12/what-would-mister-rogers-do/600772/

To Adam Schiff re: Bolton

It will restore my faith in our nation if John Bolton the uber hawk and by his description uber patriot if he would testify before the committee whether by subpoena or by his own choice. I believe Adam Schiff should think carefully about bypassing this man by just appending him to the obstruction of justice count. He belongs front and center because of who he is and always has been an ardent adversary of Russia and its totalitarian leadership!

A blue wave or a nation of none

Finally, some good news has washed over me.  The bellwether national election results last evening for Democrats were an endorphin high.  The endorphins are so pleasurable that I yearn for more and more and more because it feels so darn good.  Now, finally, a shift has occurred in the land of Republican red to a land of Democrat blue.  Kentucky with the upset win for governor of the Democrat Andy Beshear tells the tale.  Trump went to Kentucky trying his best to work the Trumpian charm he thinks he has so the incumbent Bevin would win.  He said it would be a rejection of him if Beshear beat Bevin, a Trump loyalist who was rather detested in his state.  It was particularly satisfying that the narcissist Trump was foiled.  He was right it was a big election.  As much as it was about support for the Democrat Andy Beshear it was, importantly, a rejection of Trump too.  You must not lose, Trump commanded, at his pre-election feel good rally in Kentucky.  How could you do that to me, he asked, because everything is always doncha know about Donald Trump to Donald Trump.  Kentucky by electing Beshear, defeating Bevin and by proxy Trump it defeated Trumpian injustice.  When justice prevails it is a satisfying feeling.

Even more poignantly exciting was that Democrats in Virginia turned their state entirely blue.  Democrats hold it all -- the governor's seat, the senate, the house and more.   For the first time in 25 years Democrats in the state of Virginia are in total control.  It was a wonderful night for Democrats and progressives to behold.

Democrats, though, cannot rest.  We must be vigilant all over the nation going forward trying to turn entrenched red to blue in states like Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Colorado and more. And most importantly we must defeat Donald Trump in the general election next November.  Democrats and progressives must stand for hope and not fear, for foreign engagement and not isolation, for democracy and not dictatorship.  We must stand for the balance of power our Founders bestowed upon our nation and not for a unitary executive they loathed.  We must stand for science and not science denial, for love and not hate, for humanitarian policies and not the policies of racist destruction.  We must stand for election honesty and we must stand for all inclusiveness and not racist white separatism that allows a man to throw battery acid in the face of a person of color simply because his skin is dark or yell "go back from where you came."  I ask back to where?  The United States of America is their home.    We must turn a blue wave into a blue tsunami. We must examine our national character and be a nation for all or we will be a nation for none.  

Scientists Declare A Climate Emergency, Warn Of ‘Untold Human Suffering’--The life you save may be your own!

As the mendacious madman takes the US out of the Climate Change Agreement signed during the Obama Administration scientists are telling us untold human suffering will be the result of Trumpian folly. Elections have consequences and in this case deadly consequences for the children, grandchildren and for great grandchildren yet unborn! This action by Trump spells murder. Our president will be held to account for not only the murder of human beings but the murder of the earth.

Science does not care. Science will do what science does irrespective of the consequences of rancid decision making. When 99% of scientists agree we are in a climate emergency of global climate change brought on by man's overuse of fossil fuels believe them. Believe what they say or don't. It will be at the peril of all of us if we do not.

You get the policies for which you vote. VOTE BLUE ALWAYS UP AND DOWN THE TICKET and save our planet's life before it is too late.  The life you save may also be your own!

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/scientists-declare-climate-emergency_n_5dc0a206e4b0bedb2d513df8

Man, 61, arrested for allegedly throwing acid on Latino man's face in possible hate crime

Mahud Villalaz, 42, who is an American citizen, suffered second-degree burns to his face after a man he described as being white and in his 50s or 60s berated him and threw acid at him.
In security video first obtained by WISN-TV, the two men are seen talking in front of a restaurant when the suspect points at Villalaz and then tosses the acid at his face. 

Villalaz can be seen stumbling away from the man, who then slowly walks toward Villalaz.

A GoFundMe page has been established to help pay for Villalaz's medical bills and lost wages while he recovers and gets additional medical treatment. Villalaz is a welder and continues to suffer from blurred vision in his left eye stemming from the attack.

By 5:30 p.m. Sunday, $700 had been raised toward a $15,000 goal. [give if you can]
On the GoFundMe page, his sister Priscilla Villalaz thanked police for making the arrest and thanked well-wishers who reached out to them."

usatoday.com

Man, 61, arrested for allegedly throwing acid on Latino man's face in possible hate crime

Russia Picked Donald Trump and Ran Him for President, Former Israeli Intelligence Officer Says--BIG SURPRISE -- NOT!

"Russia chose Donald Trump as the U.S. presidential candidate who would be most advantageous to Moscow, and used online tactics to win him the presidency, according to a former agent of the Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad.

"Officials in Moscow looked at the 2016 U.S. presidential race and asked, 'Which candidate would we like to have sitting in the White House? Who will help us achieve our goals?' And they chose him. From that moment, they deployed a system [of bots] for the length of the elections, and ran him for president," former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo told the audience at the Marker's digital conference in Israel on Monday, where experts gathered to discuss online disinformation campaigns and bots.

"What we've seen so far with respect to bots and the distortion of information is just the tip of the iceberg. It is the greatest threat of recent years, and it threatens the basic values that we share—democracy and the world order created since World War Two," Pardo noted, according to Haaretz."

My comment: Russia may as well have attacked the US with bombs.  The damage that has been done by Donald J. Trump to our nation is as all encompassing as if they had.  Our entire system both domestic and foreign policy has been overturned.   If, finally, the curse of Trump is electorally eradicated it will take years to undo.  Send this to whomever you choose and make sure to tell them to vote blue up and down the ticket!

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-picked-donald-trump-and-ran-him-president-former-israeli-intelligence-1273009?fbclid=IwAR0qamhjcsiry6wBrOHM--qNcmYI54XmCmb5p1CygWnHZZy4eoJly9UpuFo

Elizabeth Warren -- Middle class will NOT pay one penny for Medicare for all--Please read her statement

Here is what Elizabeth says re: Medicare for all.

We need a health care system that reflects our values.

No American should ever die or go bankrupt because of health care costs. And no for-profit insurance company should be able to stop any American from getting the care they need.

Health care is a human right, and that’s why I’m fighting for Medicare for All. It’s the only plan that gives everyone in America full coverage, with the freedom to see any provider, with no premiums, copays, and deductibles — no restrictions, no surprises, and no one going broke because they get sick.

Today, I’m releasing my plan to pay for Medicare for All. My plan won’t raise middle-class taxes by one penny. In fact, my plan puts $11 trillion back in the pockets of American families by virtually eliminating their current premiums, deductibles, and copays — that’s bigger than any tax cut in American history.

To cover the cost, we start by taking the money that employers are currently paying in the form of premiums to private insurance companies and have them pay it to Medicare instead.

We make up the difference with targeted spending cuts, new taxes on giant corporations, Wall Street, and the richest 1%, and cracking down on tax evasion and fraud.

Try our new calculator to see what our plan for Medicare for All would mean for you.

Health care is personal for you, personal for me, and personal for every family in America.

My daddy’s heart attack nearly sent our family skidding over a financial cliff.

Today, I think about all the kids this year who will face the double blow of nearly losing a parent and then watching their lives turn upside down as their families struggle to pay a growing stack of medical bills.

I spent my career studying why so many hard-working middle-class families were going broke. For years, my research partners and I traveled across the country, from bankruptcy courtroom to bankruptcy courtroom, talking directly with people who’d seen their lives turned upside down.

One of the biggest reasons we found? Medical problems. In 2007, my research found that the number one reason families were going broke was health care — and three quarters of those who declared bankruptcy after an illness were people who already had health insurance.

Between 2013 and 2016, the number one reason families went broke was still because of health care — even though 91.2% of Americans had health insurance in 2016.

It’s clear: Families are getting crushed by health costs. But you know who’s doing great? Private health insurance companies — they’re sucking billions of dollars in profits out of the system.

Under Medicare for All, we’ll rein in the corruption, waste, inefficiency, and corporate profiteering in our health care system.

And we can pay for it without any new taxes for middle-class families. Existing federal and state spending on health care stays about the same. Business spending on health care stays about the same — payments just go to Medicare instead of private insurers. And yeah, big corporations, Wall Street, and the top 1% pay their fair share.

Everyone’s covered, it’s fully paid for, and independent economists have verified that it’s doable. This is how we end the stranglehold of health care costs on American families and provide one of the greatest federal expansions of middle-class wealth in history.

In just a few steps, use our calculator to find out how Medicare for All would affect you. And share what you see with your friends, your family — with everyone you know.

Person to person, story by story, we’ll fight the misinformation from giant health insurance and drug companies who are desperate to stop anything from getting in the way of their profits. We’ll make it clear why we need to fight for Medicare for All — because it will make a real difference in people’s lives.

Trump’s Syria Troop Withdrawal Complicated Plans for al-Baghdadi Raid

NYT:   "For months, intelligence officials had kept Mr. Trump apprised of what he had set as a top priority, the hunt for Mr. al-Baghdadi, the world’s most wanted terrorist.

But Mr. Trump’s abrupt withdrawal order three weeks ago disrupted the meticulous planning underway and forced Pentagon officials to speed up the plan for the risky night raid before their ability to control troops, spies and reconnaissance aircraft disappeared with the pullout, the officials said.

Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death in the raid on Saturday, they said, occurred largely in spite of, and not because of, Mr. Trump’s actions.";

My Comment:  It's a miracle the raid was completed successfully no thanks to the stable genius who nearly screwed things up by his Syria withdrawal!  The withdrawal did not last long. Troops as I write this are being diverted to the Syrian oil fields.  Trump said of Iraq when we began that war based on lies that we should have kept the oil.  Who would notice?  Seems like a war crime to me to go in and steal a nation's assets.  True to the fascist MO.  Invade, bomb a nation into oblivion and then steal everything that is not nailed down.  Sick.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/27/us/politics/baghdadi-isis-leader-trump.html?emc=edit_na_20191027&ref=cta&nl=breaking-news?campaign_id=60&instance_id=0&segment_id=18289&user_id=85a8ac1c6f518c011d82f4864472cc9b&regi_id=75028030ing-news

Question and Critique everything

I am inclined to give kudos when kudos are due. They are due now. The death of ISIS leader Al-Bagdadi seems to have been well organized and perfected.  Kudos to the military who faced danger completing it.   Still, I have questions.  How did the special ops unit get Baghdadi's DNA if he blew himself up and then the whole big strong building collapsed around him as Trump said? How is that possible? When Bin-Laden was killed it was a clean killing so DNA could be collected. Did the US have an original sample of his DNA to compare with that of the deceased?   Why too was Al-Baghdadi hiding  in an inhospitable place for ISIS?   Kudos to the men who risked their lives to get Baghdadi but I do wonder how true all of Trump 's description of the take down is given Trump's penchant for lying.

Moreover, and most importantly, because Baghdadi was killed that surely does not mean ISIS is dead. ISIS will regroup and live to fight another day with new leadership.  ISIS will never die because it is an ideology with thousands who support it.  This reinforces those of us who decried Trump's abandonment of the Kurds thousands of whom died fighting ISIS with us.  Worse still, the ISIS prisoners did escape numbering hundreds if not thousands to go where? Europe about which Trump does not care or even to the homeland of which Trump claims he cares about so much.  Thanks to Trump this nation will not enjoy the help of the very effective Kurds in eliminating ISIS again. 

Trump's hostile rhetoric calling Baghdadi a dog and a coward running crying and screaming down the tunnel was unnecessary.  It will do nothing but inflame followers of ISIS.  It surely will not scare its members into submission.

Trump did not inform Congressional leadership of the Bagdadi raid which traditionally presidents do for top secret military missions.  He claims he did not because of leaks but truth is I suspect it was revenge against Democrats for their very effective impeachment process.

Trump even in military victory sows the seeds of division in a land he claims to love.  One should question and critique everything or accept the negative foreign policy consequences which could be many from a man who is unfit for the office he holds. 

Elija Cummings 1951-1-2019

My heart is heavy because of the loss of this greatest of men. My tears well up as each speaker sings his praises. He was a yardstick for good and a moral compass for all that is right. He fought for it and then died too soon for the mind of those who loved him to comprehend. Rest easy this warrior for the greatest good. Rest easy for this champion of the poor. Rest easy for this leader who had a passion for humanity and showed us the path to perfection to which this nation should strive.

Elijah Cummings was a charismatic giant who stood on the shoulders of those giants who made this nation into a beacon of liberty's light for the suffering, for the poor, for the immigrant, for the sick and for the dispossessed. I love you, Elijah Cummings. We who consider ourselves humanitarian will miss you more than you will ever know.

Let's get real about Tulsi Gabbard!

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/18/1893465/-Let-s-get-real-about-Tulsi-Gabbard?detail=emaildkre

If you are anti Trump as I am do NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT vote for a third party candidate like Tulsi Gabbard or Jill Stein. I don't care how convincing their arguments are that Clinton lost on her own. Bull pucky. Third Party candidates like a Ralph Nader or a Jill Stein lose it for the Democratic progressive candidates period end of story. DO NOT DO IT IF YOU LOATHE, DETEST AND HATE DONALD TRUMP. IF YOU DO VOTE DO SO FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY NOMINEE!!!

• 
  

  There is talk that Russian bots are posting for Tulsi Gabbard solely to give Donald Trump the win. Say NO to a third party candidate that is solely there to hand a victory to Donald Trump. Think historically how much better things would have been with an Al Gore presidency which Nader negated -- All those lives lost in Iraq would be living now and climate change would have been addressed. Jill Stein is a Russian bot too. How much better would we have been had Hillary taken the electoral college instead of the three million popular votes by which she won. THINK PRACTICALLY DO NOT NOT NOT VOTE FOR TULSI GABBARD.

Rep. Elijah Cummings Dies At 68

This was the first news I read this a.m. I am so sad. This man was a beacon for those of us who call ourselves progressives. His loss leaves an empty space which I hope will be filled by someone fitting to occupy the space which this great man filled. We will miss you Rep. Cummings. Now you rest with the other greats who tried to make this a fairer more perfect nation.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rep-elijah-cummings-dead_n_5da82baae4b0b5c9be49604f

US nuclear weapons are now being held as ‘essentially Erdogan’s hostages’ in Turkey: report

https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/u-s-nuclear-weapons-are-now-being-held-as-essentially-erdogans-hostages-in-turkey-report/

"And over the weekend, State and Energy Department officials were quietly reviewing plans for evacuating roughly 50 tactical nuclear weapons that the United States had long stored, under American control, at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, about 250 miles from the Syrian border, according to two American officials.
Those weapons, one senior official said, were now essentially Erdogan’s hostages. To fly them out of Incirlik would be to mark the de facto end of the Turkish-American alliance. To keep them there, though, is to perpetuate a nuclear vulnerability that should have been eliminated years ago. 

“I think this is a first — a country with U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in it literally firing artillery at US forces,” Jeffrey Lewis of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies wrote last week."

My Comment: Drumpf is going to get us all killed or held hostage to 50 gd American nuclear weapons held in Turkey. Drumpf the blowhard talks smack about how he is going to rain down stiff sanctions on Turkey for their blasting away our former ally and helper in defeating ISIS. I will believe those sanctions when I see them. In the meantime a nation with American nukes is shooting at US forces.  What could possibly go wrong?  All this to appease Drumpf's buddy Putin and to appease his other authoritarian friend Erdogan so Turkey can finally annihilate their perpetual perceived enemy US ally the Kurds and gain a foothold in Syria.  War crimes are being committed as I write this and Trump is the useful idiot helping Tyrants!  If Drumpf were not the so called president he would be in jail! 

If this does not convince you of this crackpot president's threat I do not know what will--The ISIS of this nation

"A graphic video -- story linked below omitting the horrific video featuring a fake President Donald Trump stabbing members of the news media and lighting the head of a political rival on fire was played at a conference for his supporters this weekend, according to a report Sunday by The New York Times." This is utterly disgusting. He has been called upon to denounce it but has not so far and others in his entourage have not either. What is this jerk president made of? What toxic DNA flows through his body? The video is unconscionable and should be denounced in the most adamant and vociferous way.  This will encourage the right wing toward violence as if they needed any more encouragement.  If this does not convince you of this crackpot president's threat to us I do not know what will.  https://www.huffpost.com/.../fake-trump-meme-video...

U.S. Takes Custody of British ISIS Detainees Who Abused Hostages The military took the two men out of a wartime prison in Syria run by a Kurdish-led militia as Turkey invaded the region--MY COMMENT

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/us/politics/beatles-isis-us-custody.html?emc=edit_na_20191009&ref=headline&nl=breaking-news?campaign_id=60&instance_id=0&segment_id=17729&user_id=85a8ac1c6f518c011d82f4864472cc9b&regi_id=75028030ing-news

MY COMMENT:  So the Beast Drumpf was asked by an American journalist what will happen to the ISIS prisoners about 12,000 in number held in prison by the Kurds when the Americans leave Syria. He answers nonchalantly "they'll probably go to Europe" like it was no big deal. Really you idiot they will just probably go to Europe? What and kill more people in Britain, France and elsewhere not to mention the US if they get here? 

For that alone he should be impeached. That's working against our allies for damn sake. Maybe he should make sure they get to Russia to his good buddy the tyrant Putin maybe that will get his gd attention.

Either IMPEACH and convict this gd moron or vote blue and save the world.  This jackass has NO idea what he is doing!

White House Refuses To Cooperate With Impeachment Inquiry; Constitutional Crisis Looms--TRUMP VEERS INTO TYRANNY

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-house-accuses-democrats-impeachment-overturn-election_n_5d9cfd31e4b02c9da0406582?fbclid=IwAR1yPl5comWg5IjB3A_zky05g-EUxdLlwSshN9QhPLdTVDLiU3kONkGPMRw

Moreover because of this Beast's rancid foreign policy adventure leaving our allies the Kurds to encounter a possible genocide as Turkish and Russian troops are lined up to cross the border. This is the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this nation.  Worse thousands of ISIS troops are emerging out of prisons.  This could get him impeached as the Republicans are loathe to this betrayal of the Kurds who lost thousands helping the US.

Turkish invasion of Syria would be 'godsend' for ISIS, experts warn

"We have more work to do to keep ISIS from coming back," the spokesperson for the Kurdish-led forces said. "If America leaves, all will be erased."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/turkish-invasion-syria-would-be-godsend-isis-experts-warn-n1063621

Chaos in Syria, Washington after Trump call with Erdogan unleashed Turkish military

  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/chaos-syria-washington-after-trump-call-erdogan-unleashed-turkish-military-n1063516

 

What a MESS! As long as the Beast has one, ooops he said two towers, in Turkey he goes along with a Turkish Erdogan (a strongman of course) policy to order a pull out of American troops -- allies of the Kurds who defeated with the US ISIS. Now ISIS thinks it died and went to heaven as it will have a second chance to regroup and annihilate the Kurds and even strike the US as ground troops are strewn all over the Middle East.  An impending genocide of the Kurds is at hand.  Even Syria and Russia were surprised by the impulsive action, a hallmark of a Drumpf presidency.  It seems Erodogan had his little feelings hurt not having a one on one with Drumpf in New York.  Trump was trying to get Erodogan off the phone thus promising a Syria pull out and abandoning a Kurd ally.  Sure understandable one wants to get a pain in the neck off the phone so you give them a reward -- a potential genocide!  Is he 15 years old or 74?  Even the Republicans are cracking.  We'll see for how long.

The US is now perceived as an unreliable ally. Another ugly Drumpf feature.  He cares only about himself! Drumpf does not care about a friend which is why he can walk away from the Kurds, who spent blood (10,000 dead) with the US to defeat ISIS.  He is concerned as much as if he were endangering fleas. He cares NOTHING for a friend or anyone else except he does care about his gd money, his Trump tower Istanbul.  UGLY, UGLY UGLY man.

He needs to be impeached, convicted, then prosecuted as a civilian and jailed!

VOTE BLUE UP AND DOWN THE TICKET AND SAVE A NATION!

Suggested Reading

Larry O'Donnell's interview of James Stewart was excellent. Suggested reading: James Stewart's "Deep State" on my list after Rachel Maddow's "Blowout." I wish I had two pairs of eyes to read such great material on the unstable genius Trump. His presidency if you want to call it that, is the shame of our nation!

Theater of the Absurd

It is the height of absurdity for Trump and his minions to want an investigation into what they say is the larger so called "deep state" scandal of Ukraine interference in the US 2016 election rather than Russia. Now I ask you Ukraine is a small nation compared to Russia and, moreover, is defending itself in a hot war against Russian invasion after Russia took Crimea by force. It is in Russia's prime interest to shake the accusation off of it for its interference in the 2016 US election for their electoral preference of Donald Trump and place it on a sham wholly disputed accusation that Ukraine did it. This is reductio ad absurdum.

Ukrainian interference in the US 2016 election has been roundly debunked and dismissed by Mueller himself coming to the absolute truth conclusion that Russia used its massive tentacles and technological expertise to do so. It is theater of the absurd to point an accusatory finger at Ukraine. The head of Ukraine, Zelensky, must tread carefully with Trump because Ukraine depends upon the US to protect its national security with US weapons to the tune of 250 million dollars of support that Trump had held up in order to put force on Ukraine to do his bidding and investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. THAT is the height of a Constitutional violation which Trump took an oath to support. That is the rope Trump has used to hang himself and others loyal to him by asking in a short memo for a foreign nation to do his bidding against his main electoral opponent, Joe Biden. 

How would tiny by comparison Ukraine have the ability to perform the massive 2016 election interference the Mueller evidence of which showed Russia clearly performed? Russia not only had the motive but the ability to use their complex KGB-like intelligence and technology to commit the 2016 election interference that Mueller unequivocally said they did. Trump, as in Beckett's theater of the absurd will have to be waiting for Godot to arrive to prove his lie only to find out Godot never will appear.

Properly had

This ugly man Trump is throwing this nation under the bus taking dozens perhaps hundreds of formerly innocent people with him. Some trusted him, some even loved him and this is what this Beast gave them -- subpoenas, maybe criminal prosecutions, and the need to hire attorneys for what? For working for and not recognizing a Mafia like conman who lies all the time and cares NOTHING for anyone but himself.

Enjoy yourselves, as Sherlock Holmes once said: you've been had properly had!

Salient Points and my opinion in italics and bracketed

have tried to copy and paste what I think are the most salient parts of the Whistle Blower Complaint.  I think it easier to understand if it is written.

My opinion:  Lost in the retelling of the Whistle Blower Complaint is my opinion that the real effort of Trump is to change Ukraine back to right wing leadership that would be favorable not only to Trump but to most importantly Putin taking the onus of Russian interference in the US 2016 election, proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and placing it on so called by Trump Ukrainian corruption which is a lie and has since been disproven.  The former Ukrainian Russia friendly corrupt leadership in Ukraine is now hold up in Russia as he was removed from Ukraine.  Russia has taken part of Ukraine -- Crimea -- and Ukraine is now fighting a hot war on that border with Russia.  Ukrainians generally loathe Russian aggression. Putin's desire, of course, is to return the entire Baltic region to Russian control lost during Glasnost and the fall of the former Soviet Union.  Putin is aiming at Kiev to take all of Ukraine.  The question becomes and always has been in my opinion WHY OH WHY IS TRUMP SO DEDICATED TO ADVANCING RUSSIAN AUTHORITARIAN INTERESTS AND TURNING HIS BACK ON THE DEMOCRACIES?  Once we find this out all other dominoes to me would fall into place.   The accusation of Biden's interference has been disproven and is now a conspiratorial lie promulgated by none other than the professional liar Trump!  It helps Putin!

Phone call of July 25 and beginning of the whistle blower Complaint

initiate or continue an investigation into the activities of former Vice President Joseph Biden and his son, Hunter Biden;

assist in purportedly uncovering that allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election originated in Ukraine, with a specific request that the Ukrainian leader locate and turn over servers used by the Democratic National  Committee (DNC) and examined by the U.S. cyber security firm Crowdstrike,  which initially reported that Russian hackers had penetrated the DNC's networks in 2016; and

meet or speak with two people the President named explicitly as his personal envoys on these matters, Mr. Giuliani and Attorney General Barr, to whom the President referred multiple times in tandem.

COVER UP and FOOTNOTES:  Relegating certain information to be held as "Classified" which should not remain classified but is in order to cover up certain actions by Trump or his minions.  "I also believe that applying a classification marking to this information would violate EO 13526, Part 1, Section 1.7, which states: "In no case shall information be classified, continue to be maintained as classified, or fail to be declassified in order to: (I) conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; [or] (2) prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency."

It is unclear whether such a Ukrainian investigation exists. See Footnote #7 for additional information.

"I do not know why the President associates these servers with Ukraine. (See, for example, his comments to Fox News on 20 July: "And Ukraine. Take a look at Ukraine. How come the FBI didn't take this server? Podesta told them to get out. He said, get out. So, how come the FBI didn't take the server from the DNC?")

The President also praised Ukraine's Prosecutor General, Mr. Yuriy Lutsenko, and suggested that Mr. Zelenskyy might want to keep him in his position. (Note: Starting in March 2019, Mr. Lutsenko made a series of public allegations—many of which he later walked back—about the Biden family's activities in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials' purported involvement in the 2016 U.S. election, and the activities of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. See Part IV for additional context.) [My note:  The entities Trump praises are among the right wing corrupt and have since been voted out of office or removed. Zilenskyy a seemingly honest president, is supposed to clean things up. THERE WAS NO UKRAINIAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE US 2016 ELECTION.  THAT WAS RESERVED FOR RUSSIA PROVEN BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT]

They told me that there was already a "discussion ongoing" with White House lawyers about how to treat the call because of the likelihood, in the officials' retelling, that they had witnessed the President abuse his office for personal gain.

The Ukrainian side was the first to publicly acknowledge the phone call.

  "Donald Trump expressed his conviction that the new Ukrainian government will be able to quickly improve Ukraine's image [i.e. with Trump and Putin] and complete the investigation of corruption  cases that have held back cooperation between Ukraine and the United States." [lie with much needed by Ukraine to fight Russians 240 million dollars of US military equipment held back]

In addition to White House personnel, I was told that a State Department official, Mr. T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, also listened in on the call.

 Based on my understanding, multiple State Department and Intelligence Community officials were also briefed on the contents of the call as outlined above.

COVERUP:  In the days following the phone call, I learned from multiple U.S. officials that senior White House officials had intervened to "lock down" all records of the phone call, especially the official word-for-word transcript of the call that was produced—as is  customary—by the White House Situation Room. This set of actions underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call.
•    White House officials told me that they were "directed" by White-House lawyers to remove the electronic transcript from the computer system in which such transcripts are typically stored for coordination, finalization, and distribution to Cabinet-level officials.

THE POIGNANT QUESTION:

The poignant question is: WHY DIDN'T THE DNI WHEN HE RECEIVED THE WHISTLE BLOWER COMPLAINT FROM THE IG SAYING IT WAS URGENT GIVE IT DIRECTLY TO CONGRESS AS THE LAW STATES? INSTEAD TRUMP TOLD OFFICIALS TO "LOCK DOWN" ALL RECORDS OF UKRAINE CALL!!

Nancy Pelosi Announces Formal Impeachment Inquiry of Trump

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/us/politics/democrats-impeachment-trump.html?emc=edit_na_20190924&ref=headline&nl=breaking-news?campaign_id=60&instance_id=0&segment_id=17294&user_id=85a8ac1c6f518c011d82f4864472cc9b&regi_id=75028030ing-news

SPEAKER PELOSI WAS MAGNIFICENT! An IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY WILL HAPPEN. MADE ME CRY SHE WAS THAT GOOD. STAY TUNED TO MSNBC FOR REPLAY AND AS EVENTS OCCUR!

BEN FRANKLIN WAS ASKED WHAT FORM OF GOVERNMENT DO WE HAVE.  HE SAID "A REPUBLIC IF YOU CAN KEEP IT"  KEEP IT WE WILL!!!

A BRILLIANT INTERVIEW

If you haven't seen Rachel Maddow tonight watch at a later time or go to MSNBC and try to get her show tonight 9/23. She has many revelations that will leave you aghast especially an interview she conducted with Rep. Elaine Luria from Virginia an eloquent soft spoken woman, a physicist and a Navy veteran working in many countries including war zones with nuclear weaponized ships. She is BRILLIANT and it was a brilliant interview testament to the seriousness of Trump's actions which rise to a new level of the necessity of impeachment.

She has an op ed in the Washington Post along with other members of Congress supporting impeachment. Trump has violated his oath of office numerous times swearing an oath to support the Constitution protecting the country from all threats both foreign and domestic.  We are in a new era where the survival and security of the nation and all of us are at risk. It is serious!

Senator Dianne Feinstein laying the groundwork to sue DOJ for release of the whistleblower report

 https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/21/1886964/-Senator-Dianne-Feinstein-laying-the-groundwork-to-sue-DOJ-for-release-of-the-whistleblower-report?detail=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0PEHqdx99bDquahkHsPC8cPwucWUnCc6dfX9hsSYemuOmJ74nx37-ww_Y

 

 

Impeaching Donald Trump cannot be done fast enough for me. At the risk of labeling Democrats feckless and weak it is a MUST to salvage any remaining respect Democrats have lost by their failure to act fast, vociferously and certain on this issue.

If there has ever been a time to impeach -- and I might add convict -- a president for the flagrant abuse of power and obstruction of justice the time is now lest our three branches of government the Founders, in their wisdom, created each a check on the other disintegrate into thin air.  I always knew that this republic stands precariously solely through the consent of the governed.  My fear is the proof of Trump's guilt is so voluminous, so vast and so complex that the electorate tunes out to the very important foundational principles it should uphold. 

How many more illegalities must Trump commit for Congress to do what needs to be done.  Impeachment is the only constitutional remedy short of an election loss to exact this sickening pound of flesh? Trump says he can shoot a person on Fifth Avenue and get away with it. Let us see that he does not!

Whistle Blower Call and email to Speaker Nancy Pelosi

I called and emailed Speaker Nancy Pelosi and told her that the Democratic Party MUST in view of this whistle blower accusation, if true, begin impeachment proceedings IMMEDIATELY.  I was vociferous that Democrats cannot appear to be weak.

I said, Trump should not have the privilege of keeping this Whistle Blower complaint from the Congress receiving it as required by law.  It is an abuse of power against a co-equal branch of government to keep Congress from seeing the Complaint.  It is Congress's duty by law to see the Whistle Blower Complaint and it is also incumbent upon them to keep the name of the Whistle Blower confidential to ensure his/her safety. 

If this egregious even treasonous alleged extortion act by Trump delivered by phone to a  foreign power Ukraine trading $240 million dollars in military aid for dirt on Joe Biden's son to help Trump's campaign, if true, is not grounds for impeachment and even conviction by the Senate then nothing is. 

The Whistle Blower Complaint should be given to Congress post haste.

Here are her contacts if you so choose to voice your opinion.  I suggest you do.  Nothing but the life of the Republic is at stake

Phone Number: (202) 225-4965

https://www.speaker.gov/contact/email-sent

It's Warren

Just made my choice it's Warren for the brilliant person she is. My God let's not choose mediocrity which seems to the American way. Mediocre intellect Bush, and corrupt as all hell disgustingly moronic is Drumpf. Holy God we can surely in a nation of 350 million do better than that.

I like Biden and if he is the choice or anyone else with a "D" after their name they will get my vote. If, however, I could magically create the next president it would be Elizabeth Warren. There is NOTHING mediocre about her. Biden is, in my opinion, too old and not sharp on the come back. Sanders is too old and too gruff.   I want someone SMART and tough but gentle at the same time. Warren is it!! 

Emmett Till’s Memorial Sign Shot Up again 35 days after being replaced -- DESPICABLE

https://blacknewsalerts.com/2019/09/04/emmett-tills-memorial-sign-shot-35-days-replaced/?fbclid=IwAR1SpuDV6Ub1IssubFGolXbkDCk3DnRPTIISB7cqVIqbv6yENKLQK3ZOImM

As long as he can get their vote Trump capitalizes on hate by welcoming the haters into his ranks, refusing to call the extremist right out for what it is and always has been a vessel for hate. Yes, it's always been there but it never has achieved the legitimacy that Trump has accorded it. As long as the haters support Trump, and they do, he will not speak out against it vociferously and condemn it with passion. No he will say there are good people on both sides of the political equation. No, a Klu Klux Klanner, an American Nazi and many in the Republican Party today through his acceptance are NOT good people! Hate courses through their veins and they will use it.

The one or the many who defaced the sign of Emmet Till, who did nothing to deserve his fate, are surely not good people. I cry and shake my head and simply hope even in Mississippi there are more like us than there are of them. If you are Christian follow Christ's words: Matthew 25 40 ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Rollback of clean water protections

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/climate/trump-administration-to-finalize-r

If this does not make your mind explode than nothing will. See link above.  Are we creatures with a brain, do we not have children and grandchildren, do we have human beings that we love? What kind of nation is this that cowers to corporate interests while not giving a rat's petuti about the people who will sicken and die from the pollution effects of these roll back regulations.

One need only look at Flint, Michigan to see what polluted water will do and how torturous the deaths are including an abundance of Legionnaires' disease from tainted water. This is utterly horrible beyond comprehension and hazardous to all of our health!

Call your congress persons and scream bloody murder because this is in fact murder! Send this to anyone you choose.  Vote blue up and down the ticket to save your life and the life of the democratic republic that is at least for now our nation!

See Frontiline's "Flint's Deadly Water."

FRONTLINE | PBS | Official Site | Documentary Series

My letter to Nancy Pelosi

Speaker Pelosi.  The amount of egregiously flouting law and undermining our Constitution by this president knows no end.  The sheer volume of law breaking criminality of Trump is jaw dropping.  Please do not do what Democrats seem destined to do and that is snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

The overabundant rationales for the impeachment of this presidential menace are staggering.  I implore you to get behind those legislators in the Democratic party who are for impeachment and with precision and haste steer them to the road of drafting Articles of Impeachment.  To do anything less would be to turn one's back on the Founders who gave us a roadmap to prevent an authoritarian mad man like Trump from using the powerful office of the presidency to attain unlimited power and wealth at taxpayer's expense subverting from within the Republic they created. 

"Trump Claims Those Fleeing Bahamas Could Be 'Very Bad People'"

 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-bahamas-hurricane-dorian-survivors_n_5d76aad9e4b0752102312348

 

 

Each day is a new outrage or new outrages.  All those human beings left with nothing from Hurricane Dorian and he wants to keep them from coming here without scrupulous checks on their so called "criminal" status because some fleeing he says "could be very bad people."  What about Trump's criminal status?  Should we not check on that?  He says he does not want to keep them out because they are from the Bahamas and might be "criminals" our supremely racist squatter in the White House meant to say he wants to keep them out because they are black.

Trump who is so corrupt the CIA does not even trust a Moscow asset living here who could be compromised by Trump, the Putin lover, himself.  The CIA fears for our spy's life.  See "The Case of the Moscow Asset."  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cia-russia-informant-putin-extracted_n_5d76f3b5e4b0fde50c2bbc9b

Chilling.  If this does not confirm alleged treason or CIA fears of it for good reason committed by Trump then I do not know what does.  He must be thrown out of the White House either through impeachment or electorally because he is a very bad person!

IMPEACHMENT NOW! 

VOTE BLUE UP AND DOWN THE TICKET!

Prince Joseph Kennedy wants what’s properly his--by the Globe's Scot Lehigh

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/08/27/prince-joseph-kennedy-wants-what-properly-his/galIUiQ8WSlwPPTQ0ceelK/story.html?fbclid=IwAR3eFu0kCOgDzEzf6-xfGmwoc0fJlOppQvrZOG-ITurqnRU0XciL2I6_j4g

It's not that I have anything against Joseph P. Kennedy III who is now holding 9 point lead over Markey but when I put the two of them side by side Markey, I believe, has been wonderful on all the issues and has the greater seniority than Kennedy.

I reserve my right to change my opinion but I have never thought as highly about Joe Kennedy III as I have about other Kennedys. I believe he has yet to show the intellectual heft that Markey possesses. After so sterling a record as Ed Markey has had after Markey's 43 year stint in Congress a head to head match shows Joe Kennedy leading Markey by an even larger 14 point margin. I am surprised. Of course, I would support Joe if he is the Democratic primary choice but is there nothing to be said for experience? I guess it is out with the old and in with the new in Democratic politics these days. There is something to be said for that but in this case at this time Markey gets my vote!

"Trump poses with fake map to make it seem like he didn't lie about Hurricane Dorian"

"The National Weather Service corrected Trump to say there would be no hurricane effects in Alabama. So Trump presented a Sharpie-altered map falsely showing Alabama getting hit."   When asked who drew a circle around Alabama with the Sharpie he said as he said about authorizing the sex silencing payments to Stormy Daniels and Susan McDougal.  He meekly said "I don't know."  He does not know?  How about if one takes a wild guess and say it was Drumpf who authorized the payments and it was Drumpf who drew a fake hurricane circle to include erroneously Alabama.

This may seem like a minor lie but it is not minor. It would be if this were the only thing about which he lied but he has lied over 12,000 during his presidency. It would be minor if people's lives did not depend on accurate hurricane reporting.  It would be minor if this were not the essence of this man. He is a pathological liar and a pathological narcissist which makes him extraordinarily dangerous.  His small hands are within reach of the nuclear football. That is what makes all of this a frightening nightmare.

His state department offers cash to Iranian ship captains. It was authorized by Brian Hook of the State Department. When Drumpf was told this his question was "Who is Brian Hook?" He has no idea who is even in his State Department. This is NO joke. The joke is on those of us who had the stupidity to be conned by this supremely immoral man!

https://shareblue.com/trump-fake-map-hurricane-dorian-alabama-lie/?fbclid=IwAR0QEWeuUlZ5ilF4NaBfsl3nhRcKQD9Bi-C4Kpm4-FGnl3PH6kFC_jEIPBY

General Maddis on Morning Joe

The discussion with General Maddis and the co-author of his book on Morning Joe was riveting. The military competency of General Maddis cannot be denied. I understand what he was saying vis a vie remaining silent on the critique of Donald Trump under whom he served. He did not want to undermine, by getting involved in things political, the strength and success of its leader. He does not stray publicly from the main goal of a military leader and that is to carry out what his commander-in-chief, the president, dictates. It seems when he felt he could no longer do this he left the administration.

I disagree with his adherence to his aforementioned tactic and belief. If General Maddis loves this country so much, was willing in so many cases to lay down his life for it and, it seems, believes firmly in the Founders' separation of powers and democracy they created then I believe it is incumbent upon him to reveal to the American public the criticism of Donald Trump that I know he has. 

This president is a grave threat to this republic as if an enemy were at our gate supporting dictators but critical of democracies and as if he took up the weapons of war in allegiance to tyranny. It is, therefore, I think, mandatory that someone of General Maddis's stature to save our nation from the edge of the abyss, should tell it like it was and what prompted his exit. The very success of this experiment we call democracy depends on it and someone like General Maddis not only could but should critique this president publicly as if he were taking up arms to defend the nation!

Recession Part II

Austan Goolsbee was on Larry O'Donnell. He is an economist who is currently the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Goolsbee formerly served as the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and was a member of the cabinet of President Barack Obama. He says Trump's tariffs are INSANE and leading us into another recession. Tariff wars according to him are NOT easy as the Beast lies when he says they are. China will not give in and is in fact selling its wares to other nations. Things American manufactures rely on to create their products are soaring in price. Goolsbee thinks because of Trump's idiocy tariffs what will happen is the opposite of what Trump says.

Trump is cratering the economy that already is a hardship to those Trump thinks are his base -- farmers. Unless he changes his ways, watch, wait and see as we retreat to yet another recession affecting our 401K's, other investments and earnings his base relies on to survive. The suicide rate among farmers is the highest it has been as they lose their family farms!! VOTE BLUE UP AND DOWN THE 2020 TICKET AND SAVE LIVES!!

FB Post -- Funny

A Hitlerian Menace

By George Voyager

I genuinely wish I was making this up. Because every normal human being in this country wishes this was not true. It is.
"When you’ve already separated families, thrown children in cages, and held them in conditions that “could be compared to torture facilities,” it’s a bit of a challenge to come up with your next act. Evil takes creativity, and once you’ve forced migrant kids to go weeks without a shower or change of clothes and fed them expired food, it’s tough to continue nailing those Hitler comparisons. Somehow, though, the Trump administration always rises to the occasion:

Immigrant advocates in Boston say federal authorities are unfairly ordering foreign-born children granted special immigration status for medical treatment to return to their countries. The Irish International Immigrant Center says it’s aware of at least five local families who have received notices this month to leave the U.S. within 33 days. The families have “medical deferred action,” which enables them to receive government-funded health care and work legally while their children receive medical treatment…. Advocates say similar notices have been recently issued in California, North Carolina, and other states.

The new policy is reportedly a major departure from long-standing legal practice; for decades, the federal government has used it to exercise discretion where a little humanity is warranted, like when a child is critically ill and will die if ordered to leave the country. Unfortunately for such children, humanity is not part of the Trump administration’s agenda. Per the Boston Globe:

Consider the case of Marie and her 13-year-old son. They were visiting Boston in 2013 when the boy fell ill. He was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia, a genetic condition for which he’s been treated at Boston Medical Center. She filed for medical deferred action almost immediately and they were approved in 2017. The status, valid for two years, meant she could get a work permit and he would be granted MassHealth and afford access to life-saving care. She is required to bring him into BMC for monitoring every two months; otherwise acute problems might arise that can result in brain damage or kidney failure, she said. Last week, Marie got a denial letter from US Citizenship and Immigration Services after filing for a renewal. They were instructed to leave within 33 days or else risk deportation."

What is this person made of?  

I rest my case:  VOTE BLUE in 2020 to get the Hitlerian menace of Trump off our necks!

"Breaking Hate" -- our lives imperiled

I am posting this a little late but you can catch it, I am sure, at other times tonight or even ultimately online. MSNBC is showing a special entitled "Breaking Hate." It is a must see for all those who in our time see the threat of Fascism within these United States. It is guaranteed riveting broadcasting for all groups and most especially for my fellow Jews and other minorities. Is Hitler dead? He is in body but his spirit lives on. We must be aware in our Trumpian times of those whose main purpose in life is to kill those whom they do not consider white.  Hate and the violence it breeds is infecting our nation and is getting bigger every day we do not pay attention to its threat. 

Who of us could know when Trump descended his escalator in Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for president that he would win, ultimately condone and usher in an extremist force hell bent on creating a totalitarian dictatorship within a once strong democracy?  It is sick and he is sick but those who could legally through impeachment end his repulsive rule will not budge within a Republican Party that brings back memories Hitler's brown shirts in the 1930's.  Do not be deceived it can and is happening as this is being written right here and right now.  

AntiSemitism and many other hate crimes against minorities have risen to heights never before anticipated as has the violence against our brown and black brothers and sisters. It is mandatory to view "Breaking Hate" for the words Never Again to mean something. It can happen here unless we, all of us, who are of kind and empathetic hearts stop it before it ruins a heretofore great nation and imperils all of our lives.  RESIST!