Our Next National Hurdles Once Trump Is Gone

This is what I've said for some time. 

From The New Yorker yesterday.

The Next Big Challenge: 

Trump-Proofing the Presidency

Along with cleaning up so very many messes after this President and his presidency, we need to make sure that nothing, nothing even remotely close to Donald J Trump ever, ever happens again in America. And the way we do it is by, first, overturning Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court and then ending campaign contributions entirely in our nation. After that, also outlawing gerrymandering and voter ID laws that disenfranchise fellow American citizens from voting. Finally we need to bring back the Fairness Doctrine in our government and media.

I'm not hopeful. We could do it, we could it all but no, I'm not hopeful.

Links:

Get the Big, Ugly Money Out of Our Election System and Government

Outlaw Gerrymandering and End Voter ID Laws

Bring back the Fairness Doctrine

Ladies and Gentlemen, I Give You Donald J Trump

Herewith, Donald J Trump:

~Got his own birthday wrong when trying to vote.

~Got his own father's place of birth wrong.
~Got his own wife's name wrong.
~Called his own son "Melania's kid" (he does get credit for getting her name right that time).
~Repeatedly wandered away from Melania because he forgot she was with him.
~Waddled away from signing ceremonies forgetting to have signed anything (at least twice).
~Asked where Giuliani was when Rudy was sitting right in front of him.
~Thinks he talked with "Tim Apple".
~Thinks his own Secretary of Defense is named "Mark Esperanto".
~Thinks people need to have an ID to buy groceries (at least twice).
~Thinks tariffs are paid to the federal government (numerous times).
~Thinks people don't know that President Lincoln was a Republican (which, of course, means he didn't know).
~Thinks he met the president of the Virgin Islands (he is the (so-called) president of the Virgin Islands).
~Thought he was in Fairfax when he was in Fredericksburg.
~Thought there was a mass shooting in Toledo when it happened in Dayton.
~Thinks we have a "Marine Core".
~Has a Russian Soyuz spacecraft depicted on his official Space Farce coin.
~Thinks Nambia, Nipple, and Button are all countries.
~Waddles around in public stuck to toilet paper (at least twice).
~Waddled away looking for a gigantic limo that was parked right in front of him.
~Thought he got "beautiful letters" from the Boy Scouts and the NFL (both of whom denied sending any).
~Called Detroit a "titty".
~Referred to the USA as the "United Straits of America" (maybe it will be by the time he's done).
~Thinks there were airports during the Revolutionary War and that we rammed the ramparts.
~Thinks he invented the phrase "priming the pump".
~Had Kellyanne Conway try to convince people "covfefe" is a word and his supporters would know what it meant.
~Thinks injecting people with light bulbs and disinfectant might be a viable medical procedure.
~Talked about the attacks on 7-Eleven.
~Thinks Colorado is building a wall.
~Can't even spell "coronavirus," much less, mitigate it.
~Thinks we can nuke hurricanes.
~Tried to pass off a hurricane map he altered as official.
~Thinks there's a "Noble" prize.
~Doesn't exercise because he thinks people have a "battery" that will get depleted.
~Thinks he personally redesigned naval warships to be "more beautiful" and "less expensive," like "yachts with missiles on them".
~Considers being able to waddle down a ramp at a snail's pace without falling over ("Look, Ma! I didn't even use the handrail!" and drink water with one hand are major accomplishments that he should brag about.
~Refers to himself in the third person so he can praise himself on the extremely rare occasions when he actually does his job.
~Uses pseudonyms like "David Dennison," John Miller," "John Baron," and "John Barron" to praise himself.
~Thinks increased testing spreads Donnie's Covfever.
~Brags about passing a cognitive test given to people suspected of having serious mental deficiencies.
~Thinks he visited "Paradise" California. There is no such place.
~Wanted William Barr to determine the "oranges" of the Mueller investigation (twice).
~Thinks astronauts travel in "capsicles".
~Thinks windmills cause cancer.
~Thinks we have a national park called "Yo! Semite!"
~Thinks there's a country called "Thighland".
~Thinks stealth fighters are literally invisible.

Now that we've covered senility, lets move on to creepiness:

~He said he would like to date his own daughter.
~He told a minor he would probably date her someday.
~Let Princess Nepotisma sit on his lap long after it was appropriate.
~Told Howard Stern he could call her "a piece of @ss".
--Speculated on Tiffany's future breast size when she was an infant.
~Walked in on teenagers, including minors, intentionally, in their dressing rooms because he thought owning the pageants made it OK for him to be a lecherous, leering old man.
~Has been accused of sexual impropriety by about 2 dozen women, at least one of whose lawsui is currently working its way through the legal system.
~Bragged about grabbing women by the genitals. Cavemen didn't even do that.

Thanks, Republicans.

Quite the guy you foisted on us all, pushed off on the nation.

You must be so proud.

So much winning.

Links:

Coronavirus: US surpasses 5 million confirmed cases

Trump on Americans Dead From COVID-19: 'It is what it is'

America has more coronavirus deaths than other countries

Coronavirus: Why America Has More Deaths Than Any Other

Quote of the Day -- Donald J Trump, In a Nutshell

Someone on Quora asked “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response: 

A,few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.

But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created? If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

This President, This Impeachment and What We're Witnessing

The whistleblower: "He did it."

The Inspector General: "He did it."

The partial call transcript: "If you look right here, you'll see him doing it."

Donald Trump: "Of course I did it! I'll do it again, too! Look, I'm doing it right now on live TV!"

Rudy Giuliani: "WE DID IT TOGETHER! AS HEROES!"

Mick Mulvaney: "You're damn right he did it! That's politics, baby! If you don't like it, go fork yourself!...wait, can I change my answer?"

Noah Feldman and Pamela Karlan: "It looks like he did it, which is an egregious violation of the Constitution and a textbook impeachable offense."

George Kent: "He did it."

Alexander Vindman and Jennifer Williams: "Oh yeah. He did it. That still matters in America, right?"

Kurt Volker and Tim Morrison: "Yep, he definitely did it."

Gordon Sondland: "He 100% did it. Everyone was in on it. Here are some text messages proving it."

Fiona Hill: "Yes. He did it."

Marie Yovanovitch: "He had to get me out of the way in order to do it."

David Holmes: "I acutely remember overhearing a phone conversation in which he was doing it."

OMB: "Yeah, we withheld the aide on his orders. Obviously, he did it."

The Government Accountability Office. He did it and, in doing so, he broke the law.

Lev Parnas: "He did it, and I helped. Here's a treasure trove of documents showing how we did it."

Republicans: "There's just no reason to think that he did it. If only you had some witnesses."

On Impeachment: A "How To"

Thank you, Dr. Robert Reich.


Let's do this.

Quotes on a President-- To a Congress

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” 

―Edmund Burke.

"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

--Elie Wiesel

Timely Definition

fool1
fo͞ol/
noun

1.
a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person.
"what a fool I was to do this"

synonyms: idiot, ass, blockhead, dunce, dolt, ignoramus, imbecile, cretin, dullard, simpleton, moron, clod

Links:

Trump proposes $100 billion more in tariffs on China

Trump tariffs not a sustainable policy: 

Yale economist Robert Shiller

What Trump's tariff trade war could mean for you: 

Higher prices, layoffs

'This would widen the trade war tenfold': 

U.S. automakers say no to

 trump's car tariffs

Two Quick, Easy Examples Today of Stunning Admissions From Trump's Himself

Both of these took place earlier today on the White House lawn. Here's the first.

President Trump Said He Wants People to 'Sit Up at Attention' for Him Like They Do for Kim Jong Un

The president strode out from the White House in the morning, first appearing on Fox and Friends alongside Steve Doocy, and then taking some questions from reporters on the lawn of the executive mansion. While he covered a range of topics, and went through many of his greatest hits, the most notable elements were his praise for the totalitarian rule of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, his own declarations of criminal behavior by political opponents, and a series of easily disprovable statements about immigration law and a Justice Department inspector general’s report released Thursday.

While Trump has shown surprising deference and affection for autocratic rulers in the past, including effusive praise for Kim after the summit earlier this week, Friday’s comments were still unusual.

Here's the money line:

“He is the head of a country and I mean he is the strong head,” Trump said. “Don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”
Got that, America? Get that? This is what he wants from us. America? Land of the free? Not if he has his way.

Then there was this beauty.

Trump’s Remarkable Admission About Dishonesty

The other most notable moment came during the gaggle, when reporters asked Trump about a statement to The New York Times concerning a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort, along with a Russian lawyer. The president dictated the statement, as his lawyers acknowledged in a letter to special counsel Robert Mueller. That statement was false and quickly debunked.

“That's irrelevant,” Trump said Friday. “It's a statement to The New York Times, the phony, failing New York Times. That's not a statement to a high tribunal of judges. That's a statement to the phony New York Times.”

In short, the president is saying that it’s totally acceptable to lie to the press, and by extension the public, as long as he is not under oath in the justice system.

Trump admits he dictated lie 

about his son's meeting with a Russian

 lawyer, says it doesn't matter

From his own mouth, ladies and gentlemen. No interpreter. No other source. His own mouth.

Quote of the Day -- Poetry Version

Pity the nation whose people are sheep,

and whose shepherds mislead them.

Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,

and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice,

except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero

and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.

Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own

and no other culture but its own.

Pity the nation whose breath is money

and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.

Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode

and their freedoms to be washed away.

My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.

― Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Notes, Facts, Recent Developments On This Presidential Administration

The following are just some of the most recent developments emanating from this Presidential Administration. Source: Wake Up To Politics

--The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded in a bipartisan report that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton.

--The Senate Judiciary Committee released more than 2,500 of pages of testimony and documents related to the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between top Trump campaign officials (Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort) and Russians. Trump Jr. told the panel that he had been expecting the Russians to provide "potential information about an opponent" in the meeting, which was set up after he received an email promising dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of "Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."

So with that, right there, the Trump family, the Trump campaign to have Donald J Trump, was willing to turn to a self-sworn enemy of the United States in order for him to become President.

If that's not treason, ladies and gentlemen, nothing else is.

--In a new financial disclosure form, President Trump formally acknowledged reimbursing his longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, for an October 2016 $130,000 payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.

Proving the President did, in fact, lie when he said, publicly, on the record, on Air Force One, that he had no knowledge of any payment to Stormy Daniels.

--The Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) detailing payments Michael Cohen received from AT&T, pharmaceutical company Novartis, and a firm tied to a Russian oligarch were leaked by a law enforcement official who became considered after other reports went missing, the official told the New Yorker. 

But wait.  It gets better.

The official said that two reports documenting even larger transactions flowing into Cohen's accounts suddenly disappeared from the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) database, a rare occurrence, driving him to leak the third report.

A summary of the last year of the investigation of this President and his election campaign:

In the past year, Mueller has...brought 75 criminal charges against 19 people — including President Trump's former national security adviser, former campaign chairman, and two other former campaign aides — and three companies, racking up five guilty pleas and one sentence, according to CNN.

Additionally and finally here, for today, from the last 24 hours:

Trump on immigrants: 'These aren't people. 

These are animals.'

In Rebuke of Trump, 

Tillerson Says Lies 

Are a Threat to Democracy

More of this Unprecedented Presidency

You're President of the United States

So far:

--British Royalty avoided inviting you to a rare Royal wedding, 

--a former President didn't invite you to his recently-deceased wife's funeral--and you're of the same political party

--and a serving US Senator with brain cancer announced, publicly, ahead of time, he doesn't want you at his funeral.

You think it might be you?

Links:

A Royal Wedding Riddle Is Solved: 

No Trumps

Donald Trump wasn't at Barbara Bush's funeral. 

Melania Trump attended

McCain doesn't want Trump at funeral, 

friends tell White House

Three Perfect, Very Recent Examples of Republican Party Officeholders

Here's just three very recent examples of Republican Party government officeholders--what they've done and who they are.

Sam Brownback, Kansas Governor

Kansas' tax cuts are a spectacular failure

Epic fail of Kansas' tax-cut plan 

offers a lesson for us all

Kansas's ravaged economy a cautionary tale 

Children paid for the failed Kansas tax cuts

S&P drops Kansas credit rating, 

citing lack of cash reserves

S&P revises Kansas rating outlook 

to negative on budget pressures

Under Brownback, Kansas' credit 

faces another downgrade

Plan to fix Kansas budget through school cuts 

implodes in state

Gov. Sam Brownback is cutting aid 

to Kansas schools by $44.5 million

Kansas, facing a huge budget deficit, 

wonders what to do next

Budget Cuts Are Putting More Kids 

in Foster Care - Talk Poverty

Donald J Trump, United States President:

Under Trump's watch, national debt 

tops $21 trillion for first time ever 

Sound familiar?  Then it gets worse.

Meet Stormy Daniels, porn star who allegedly 

had an affair with Trump 

Here Are 13 Examples Of Donald Trump 

Being Racist

George Will: Trump has a 'dangerous disability'

Trump's 'get ready' threat to Moscow 

isn't just careless, it's dangerous

'The Most Dangerous Man in the World': 

Trump Is Violent, Immature

Woman testifies that Missouri governor hit her, sexually assaulted her

Eric Greitens, Missouri Governor who only just began his administration and term, it should be remembered.

Eric Greitens: Missouri governor admits 

cheating on wife

Missouri governor admits cheating - 

but denies blackmailing mistress 

Ex-lover accuses Missouri governor 

of forced sexual encounter

I ask you, Missourians, Kansans, Americans...

Is this what and who you wanted in your state and/or national leader?

Trumpian Hypocrisy On Paying Taxes

Have you seen where President Trump is attacking Amazon, the company, for not paying enough taxes?

Trump Attacks Amazon, 

Saying It Does Not Pay Enough Taxes

What chuzpah.

Remember this, remember what he said during the campaign for the Presidency?

Trump brags about not paying taxes: 

'That makes me smart' 

And did he ever release his taxes to us, to the American public, showing how much he pays?

Of course the answer is no, he certainly did not and has not, in spite of his promise. Excuse me, promises, because he said he'd do it repeatedly.

The many times Donald Trump said 

he'd release his tax returns 

Besides being a hypocrite, he's not that bright, I say again, and he's a pitiful and repeated liar. He means virtually nothing he says and will say anything, at the moment, to get himself out of a situation. Heck, he'll say anything to get out of a conversation.

We must make Republicans pay for this Presidency and all its obscenities.

Quote of the Day -- Prophetic Edition

'Stupidity and greed will kill off humans' 

Stephen Hawking 

How Insane This Republican President Is

Extending the most bizarre Presidency in the history of our nation, bar none, at this moment, this same President's own political party is creating bills to undo the man's own very recent handiwork.

GOP Talks of Bill to Thwart Tariffs

Here's what's happening:

Republican lawmakers are openly discussing legislation to limit President Donald Trump’s trade powers after the White House detailed plans last week to impose global tariffs on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum.

It seems Benedict Donald decided, out of the blue and on his own, that he thought we should put tariffs, taxes on aluminum and steel because, you know, we just aren't a wealthy enough country yet. Once he made the decision, he created unilateral Executive Orders, taxing these more, trade agreements and partners be damned.

Now, bad as that is, what's great is that his own political party realizes and understands how crazy this all is, so they're writing a bill to limit his own very powers so he doesn't pull this kind of nonsense in the future.

Ya' just gotta' love these Republicans.

Well, when they aren't destroying the nation or environment or some such, anyway.

This is, as I have said before, the unprecedented Presidency, without doubt.

Entertainment Overnight -- On This Administration

It's Donald Trump and the Republican Party vs the Rest of the World

When you think about this past year, with Donald Trump, President (it still depresses me), you have to recognize and accept that it's all become, yes, in fact, Donald Trump vs everyone else, vs all others, groups, individuals, everything and everybody.  Really. Think about it.

During the campaign last year and even after, it was him vs even what was supposed to be his own political party:

Trump Attacks Republicans for Giving Up 

on His Campaign

Donald Trump Berates Paul Ryan 

and 'Disloyal' Republicans

To prove my point further, once he became President, it didn't stop.

Trump's attacks stun Republican senators

Fallout grows as Trump continues attacks 

on fellow GOP members 

And they weren't easy attacks:

Trump Attacks Republicans As 'Fools'

Once President, he took us, the US out of the Paris climate accord, the only nation in the world against it, suddenly.

The US is now the only country 

not part of Paris climate agreement

Syria Joins Paris Climate Accord, 

Leaving Only U.S. Opposed

Next, he's followed that up with his and the Republican Party's tax bill they've created, fought for and just passed yesterday.

Most Americans think the Republican tax bill 

is a bad idea

Why Everybody Hates the GOP Tax Bill

Economists were against this latest Trump/Republican Party tax plan, for pity's sake.

Economists Say The Trump Tax Plan Will Have Disastrous Consequences

Here's a best example.

The Republicans' “Win” on Taxes Is a Loss 

for American Democracy

Now, today, of course, Mr. Trump and his representative at the United Nations are all going after any and all other nations that vote in that body against his bone-headed idea of making Jerusalem the capitol city of Israel.

Trump threatens to cut aid 

to countries over UN Jerusalem vote

I'm telling you, it is this man, this President (shudder) and his political party are both, all against the rest of the world. If you're not already wealthy and/or a corporation, you are not on his side, their side. He's against you. They're against you.