There is only one end game here, for the Trump Crime Family and their Russian Masters. That is a sweeping military coup, the 2018 elections halted, the federal courts stripped of their power, the citizens of the country stripped of their civil liberties, all opposition parties outlawed, cities that oppose the coup occupied, assets of groups like the ACLU seized by the feds as they are investigated for "thought crimes"--you know, like supporting a boycott of another country.

Trump keeps giving money to the Pentagon. He keeps lavishing praise on military leaders. He even rolled back his campaign pledge to privatize the VA. The only section of the federal government that he has not fucked with is the military.

Trump obviously thinks that when push comes to shove, the Pentagon will say "How high?" when he says "Jump."

Any thoughts? Is there a faction of the U.S. military that would fall in line behind a Russian led coup? Or is Trump/Putin delusional?

Trump is so sorry he can't fulfill his (implied) campaign promise to his base. He will be unable to take health insurance away from minorities while letting his white supporters keep theirs. It's all or none. Either everyone of every color loses their health care or no one does.

But never fear! Jeff Sessions has just stepped in to save the day. He has given a big thumbs up to the practice--so common during the Bush/Cheney administration which also waged war against Black folks--of allowing cops to steal the possessions of folks who dare to possess new cars and cash and expensive watches in Trump's America while committing the crime of being Black. Or Gay. Or Muslim. Or Latino.

This is what Trump and his base are all about. Put everyone who is not white or male or straight or Christian in his/her place so that a handful of pathetic losers can feel better about themselves.

I am 100% serious here. How can you align yourself with a party of draft dodgers and traitors? If you stick with them, you tell the American people that what Trump and Family are doing is patriotic. If you break with the GOP and become an Independent, a lot of other Republicans--and Independents--will sit up and take notice of the Russia coup.

Russia has no pity for our elderly citizens, our children, our weak. These are not Russians and therefore their suffering and death will not affect Putin one bit. Trump, under Putin will gleefully raid Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, the way Vikings once raided the coastal communities of other European nations.

Once a soldier always a soldier and this is war.

Trick question. The Mouse trumps all others. Even Trump. He has the slickest team of writers this side of Homer . He knows what wins hearts and minds. He knows how to sell merchandise. Challenge Him and you will regret it---witness former Representative Mark Foley and the 2006 midterm elections. The GOP threatened the Mouse's Empire. The Mouse Roared. The GOP went into the toilet for six long years.

Can Disney/ABC do it again? We had better hope so. Because going in to the midterms, the only major economic force in the world on the side of the American people is the American entertainment industry.

What about our other traditional allies? What about China? China needs us to be prosperous enough to buy their crap. Surely China will save us! Except...

As long as Putin has Trump deporting all our workers and shutting our borders to replacement workers, China will have the edge when it comes to manufacturing cheap goods to sell in the USA to a middle class that finds its own disposable income rapidly shrinking. So, China isn't going to pull us out of the fire. Hell, they are more likely to help the Russian hack the 2018 election.

How about our allies in Saudi Arabia? We have propped up their corrupt regime for decades. They owe us! But then again...

They want oil prices to rise as much as Putin does. They won't lift a finger to stop Russian (and maybe Chinese) hackers from stealing another election if it means that the U.S. will shut down the alternative energy industries and halt production of electric cars.

Surely our cultural allies in Western Europe will come to our aid? Statue of Liberty and all that.Except....

Western Europe makes a ton of money selling U.S. seniors overpriced pharmaceuticals and durable medical goods. They want us to become as sick as possible before we get our universal health insurance at age 65, so we will continue to spend twice as much per person on health care as they do. Plus, they hate us for being their boss for so long. A lot of people in the UK and France and Germany would be a lot happier if we started acting like the colony we once were. With Putin's help, they can pull our strings again.

The other American states that might have been tempted to show solidarity with us now hate our guts. Japan is itching to be free from U.S. control. Everyone on the whole planet (except maybe Australia) thinks we are bullies who deserve to be taken down a notch. There are even self styled U.S. liberals (who may or may not be Kremlin moles) who speak about Putin as if he is doing a good thing. You know, saving us from ourselves---

Which brings me to my point. It isn't a democracy if you expect someone else to save you. Americans need to do this for themselves. They need to get out to vote in such overwhelming numbers that no amount of voter suppression or Russian hacking can change the outcome of the 2018 election.

How do we get Americans off their couches and into the polling places? We appeal to the hearts and minds. Mostly their hearts. And that is what the entertainment industry in this country is all about.

Trump made a major blunder when he pissed off the Mainstream Media. The MSM is part of the much larger U.S. Entertainment Industry. Disney owns Marvel. That means Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk all hate Trump and Putin, who plan to seize control of the press (and the entertainment industry), telling us what we can watch. They hate Trump/Putin who plan to seize all our middle class wealth for themselves, leaving us just enough to pay for food and rent--with nothing left over for Disney merchandise. They fear Trump/Putin who are conspiring to nip our hopes for a better future for our kids in the bud. Because hope for the future, creative thinking, new ideas--these are the bread and butter of the entertainment industry, especially that geared towards children. And so, the U.S. Entertainment Industry is in full rebellion mode as Trump/Putin try to put their tiny little authoritarian boot on our necks...

Because DC and Marvel and Universal and especially Disney are all about The Brave Little Tailor and the Little Train That Could and the Mouse That Roared and the huddled masses of the old world that came to the new world for a better life. You know. An American Tail.

What? You don't think a tiny 100 year old mouse is any match for Trump/Putin? You forget. The Mouse owns the Hulk.



Hulk Smash!

Qatar won't give you the $500,000,000 you need? No problem, have your father-in-law the Don apply the thumb screws--in the form of official, U.S. diplomatic sanctions. That's how you "Crime While White" if you are Jared Kushner.

You have a client who is guilty of money laundering, racketeering and a host of other crimes? No problem. Don Junior can arrange to "whack" the federal prosecutor in the case and get your client a hand-slap. All you have to do is grease his palm with stolen goods. That's how you "Crime While White" if you are Donald Trump Jr.

Chinese regulators sniffing around the sweat shop that manufactures your designer clothes? No problem. People who stick their noses into Trump Crime Family business loses their noses---and then go missing. That's how you "Crime While White" if you are Ivanka Trump.

The FBI getting too close to uncovering the secrets of your criminal organization? The Don can whack an FBI agent, too. He can even whack the head of the FBI and get Congress to approve his hand picked goon. That's how the successful crime lord "Crimes While White."

Get caught with your hand in the cookie jar? Did you take bribes from Russians without realizing that your phone was bugged because the NSA is authorized to bug all foreigners? No problem, you can blame the crime on the Black President that came before you. Any self respecting white criminal will seize an opportunity to "Crime While White." It's the Black man's fault for not standing in your way.

"Criming While White" is the aspiration of a large number of whites who look back fondly at the day when they could do this:



And this:



And this:



And this:



These are the people who think it unfair that they can not use the N-word and slap their wife when she gives them "lip" and impregnate their own daughters. These are the people who think that if a Black man has a business which competes with the business of a white man, the white man has a right to lynch the Black man.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/03/10/memphis-lynching-peoples-grocery-125-years/99004756/

These people now feel emboldened. If the Trump Crime Family can openly "Crime While White", then so can they. Very soon, they expect to rule their own little fiefdoms. The Don has all but promised them their own Trump Crime Family Franchise. All they have to do is kiss the ring and change the subject to Obama's Blackness and Hillary's witchiness, and soon, very soon, they will be sitting pretty in a big mound of (minority) bones.

Wake up America and smell the stench coming from Washington, DC. It isn't the swamp. It's the dead bodies and the corruption and the greed and the arrogance and the utter disregard for the rule of law when it comes to tearing down anything that stands in between the Trump Family and money.

Recently, some have said that Trump's appeal to his base comes from their need for an Authoritarian leader.

I (still) say that his base is a bunch of biker-wannabe-outlaws who worship him for being their Bandit King. The Bandit King has a few things in common with an authoritarian leader. He respects "traditional" (i.e. peasant) values. He uses force. He boasts about his machismo. But in many other ways, the Bandit King is very different from your typical dictator.

Now, we will find out. It is 100% clear as day that quid pro quo was involved in Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian attorney. She gave him assistance. And, in exchange, Trump fired the prosecutor prosecuting her client and arranged to have the case settled for something less than a wrist slap.

I say that Trump's base will do nothing. Or maybe even cheer. Out loud, they will change the topic of conversation to Clinton. They will make it all about her (supposed) guilt. "Of course Trump wanted dirt on that criminal Hillary. No price was too high." Quietly, they will applaud their man for being a criminal who gets away with Criming While White--their own personal goal in life.

I may be wrong. Maybe his base (and the GOP establishment) will finally turn from him in disgust at this obvious criminal conspiracy. But I think they won't. And if they do not disavow him, consider the possibility that I am right and that the only way to stop his corrupt reign is to prove to his outlaw base and the criminal GOP that he is not THEIR Bandit King.

Who knew they had it in them? Even Republican state Secretary of States are defying the Kremlin's request for sensitive voter data that could be used 1) to suppress votes, hack vote totals and steal the 2018 midterm elections and 2) (if number one turns out to be impossible due to Trump's massive disapproval ratings) give Russia criminals enough data to steal the identities and bank accounts of every single American who voted in 2016. Thats 126 million of us! What a great gift idea for Putin from Trump to repay him for all that blackmail, disinformation, hacking, under the table money and the odd handful of "deaths in mysterious circumstances".

Apparently, Americans (who disagree about sports, religion, race) agree on one thing. It is our own damn money. We worked for it. And we are not going to allow Trump to give it to the Russian Mob.

Trump, even if a sucker is born every minute, there are only 550,000 minutes in a year. That's 550,000 suckers compared to the 126 million Americans who actually bothered to take part in the Democratic process in 2016 ( a low turn out year). Some of those American voted for you because you promised them a better life. A few voted for you because you made an (implicit) promise to give Blacks, Latinos, Muslims and women worse lives. No one voted for you because they longed for the good old days of the Great Depression.

SOSs, keep up the good work. While it is the job of state Attorney Generals to keep us safe from crime--like credit card fraud, bank fraud and identify theft---in today's age of cyber-crime, law enforcement needs all the help it can get!

Psst! Get this! If you live in a state with a Republican Secretary of State--like, for example, Texas--your state is about to quietly turn over its entire voter roll including your name, address, party affiliation and social security number to Trump. Trump will then turn it over to his puppet master, Putin. And Putin will give the whole package to his army of hackers who will then proceed to malign, trash, attack and destroy any Democrats on the lists. Oh, while they are at, Putin's puppets in Washington will pressure your employer to fire you, if he/she want to keep getting government contracts. And pressure your government employer to fire you if they want to keep getting money from Congress. And have the IRS audit you. And revoke your citizenship on a technicality if you registered as a Democrat and send you back to Guatemalastan.

What the fuck?!

How do I know this is happening? Because states with Democratic Secretaries of State like Kentucky are giving Trump the big old "Fuck you."As in "You can have my voter rolls when you pry them from my cold, stiff fingers."

I don't want the greasy real estate salesman that Trump once was and soon will be again to have my personal information complete with my social security number. And I sure as hell don't want Putin to have it.

And while we are at it, can I have my f-ing country back? Pretty please.

Now that we know that Putin controls the e-vote tabulation process in the US, we can not count on the 2018 midterms to change anything. Indeed, when Trump and the GOP blithely continue to do such unpopular things as cutting funding for Meals on Wheels and taking health insurance from millions of Americans it is a sign--- a sign that Moscow has promised to protect the GOP and Trump from wrath of voters in 2018.

Don't count on the special prosecutor to get us out of this mess. If Putin hacks the vote and allows the GOP to retain control of Congress, Trump will never be impeached.

The only branch of the government that has ( not yet) been co-opted by Putin is the Judiciary. Now is the time to file lawsuits in all 50 states to get paper ballots. This will give the cases time to wind through the courts well in advance of the elections.

This will be costly but that's ok. Launch a massive "Give me paper ballots or give me death" campaign and money will pour in.

A states with Dems in SOS offices---lead the way by announcing now that you will be offering paper ballots in all upcoming elections. The handicapped can continue to use e-voting but all voters will have to be offered paper ballots. I guarantee that OUR base will use them.

Or give me death!

This has to be the Democratic Party's message. Because if Russia is allowed to hack another election---this time with Trump and Sessions aiding them---democracy in America will be deader than a doornail forever. It was a Russian(Stalin--benefactor of the Koch Family) who said that he who counts the votes controls all. Don't let the Kremlin control our country! Resist! Make them count the votes in 2018---democracy's last stand!