McCamy Taylor
McCamy Taylor's JournalManafort Lied to Mueller and Now We Know Why Trump Looked So Scared on Election Night
If the House had stayed under Republican control, Trump and Manafort would be sitting pretty right now. Trump could pardon Manafort for every crime he has committed--including the crime of lying to Mueller--on the grounds that his lies prove that he stayed loyal to the POTUS, and in Trump's universe (the world of organized crime), loyalty is more important than honesty or obeying the law. While some state might choose to prosecute Manafort for other crimes, it is quite likely that Kavanaugh, as part of his soul selling to get on the Supreme Court--had already promised that if Manafort was charged by a state for something that he admitted to Mueller, double jeopardy laws would come into play. Or Kavanaugh might argue that Trump's pardon covered even state crimes as long as they were uncovered in a federal investigations.
However, that plan backfired when the Democrats regained control of the House--and the ability to subpoena witnesses. Were Trump to pardon Manafort now, the Democrats in Congress could demand that the former Trump aid testify. In public. Without pleading the Fifth since he would no longer be in legal jeopardy. If Manafort lied to Congress , then Mueller would tell on him--and another round of federal prosecution would begin, this one even more politically dangerous to Trump than the first since all of Manafort's testimony--and the nature of his lies--would be public.
That means Manafort must remain un-pardoned--even though he now faces many years on federal prison for lying to Mueller as well as for his other crimes. Unless....
If I were a wily, scheming manipulator of politicians, I would have foreseen the possibility that the House would flip. Or that Trump might not deliver the promised pardon. And I would have bought myself insurance by making certain that I had solid evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Trump and Pence. And Jared and Ivanka. And others. I would have placed that evidence someplace secret and secure. And then, I would have my attorneys talk to Democrats in Congress. I would promise to reveal that iron clad evidence and spill my guts in front of Congress and the nation, in essence offering Trump's head up on a platter like the head of John the Baptist--in exchange for a promise from Congress that nothing I reveal to them will be used against me. If at all possible, I would have solid evidence of a conspiracy between me and Trump to lie to Mueller in exchange for a presidential pardon.
The ball is in your court, Congressional Democrats. Mueller has given you all you need to take down Trump. Prison for the Cheeto Haired Pussy Grabber is no longer a long shot.
Trump has one last play he can make---pardon Manafort, get him sprung from jail and on a plane bound for Russia before the new House Dems are sworn in and before any federal or state prosecutor can arrest him again. Which means we need reporters camped out at whatever federal prison is housing Manafort 24/7 and state prosecutors standing by with arrest warnings in hand.
This may be a very entertaining Christmas.
Let's Get One Thing Straight. The Military is Not Our Enemy
Time after time in the last one hundred years, the US Military has defended us at home as well as abroad. When a bunch of banksters wanted to stage a coup and replace FDR with a general, the general exposed the plot. Who shut down the McCarthy communist witch hunts? A general turned president, Eisenhower, when McCarthy declared that he was gong to go after the military. Who was behind "Deep Throat"? The Pentagon. Who stepped in to stop W. from turning the stolen 2004 election into a "mandate" to invade Iran as prescribed in his brother's Project for a New American Century? The Pentagon again, which used its ties to GE/MSNBC and the Washington Post to debunk administration lies about the Iranian "threat", leaving Congress ripe for a Democratic take over in 2006.
What happened when Trump demanded a big Soviet style military parade? Nothing. What do you think will happen if he tries to declare martial law and have his political enemies rounded up? Nothing.
Whatever we may think about some of the foreign wars which our military has fought, the mission of our military is to defend this country, its Constitution, its people. The president serves at the will of the people under the watchful eye of their defenders who sacrifice their own freedom to preserve the freedom of others.
How Much Money Will Trump Demand Under the Table If He Sells Nukes to Saudi Arabia?
Serious question. The NYT reports that Saudi Arabia wants to set up its own nuclear reactors with no oversight of the fuel--meaning they will be able to make weapons grade material for bombs. The first bomb will hit Iran, home of their mortal enemies the Shiite Muslims who do not believe in an Allah ordained monarchy. And, once Iran (and Iraq due to the spill over effect) are completely uninhabitable and their oil fields are untouchable, Saudi and Russian oil will rise in price, making it a Two-Fer for Saudi Arabia. With so much at stake--the Saud Family's wealth and power and the price of oil---how much money will Trump be able to demand? Any guesses?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/22/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-nuclear.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
VA's Job Can Not Be Done by the (Inferior) U.S. Private Medical System
Good editorial at the NYT on why the VA Health System is not inferior to the for profit U.S. health care system, focusing on the research which the VA conducts and then gives away (making no profit on innovations such as nicotine patches and shingles vaccines)--innovations which benefit us all.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/10/opinion/sunday/veterans-department-health-hospitals.html
I want to take this one step further. The VA is not just good for all of us. The VA is good for veterans.
The VA is good for veterans on Medicare who can not afford their medications. At the VA, all medications come with the same low copay whether they are a $4 generic or a $10,000 course of the state of the art medication that you (the veteran) need for your fatal/rare condition. In other words, the VA does not discriminate against those who are sick. The VA also supplies hearing aids without a $4000 co-payment. It offers glasses, durable medical goods, home repairs and other supplies aimed at preventing falls, strokes, illness. The VA is not like the for profit system--it does not make money every time grandpa falls and breaks a hip. So, the VA tries to prevent the fall, prevent the osteoporosis, stop the smoking, control the diabetes.
And now, I am going to take this one step further still. The for profit system absolutely can not fulfill the VA's other purpose which is to keep the men and women in our nation's military reserves health and ready for active military duty if an emergency such as Pearl Harbor occurs. Every combat veteran is entitled to five years of free care at the VA. That means five years with no out of pocket for check ups, medications, tests, smoking cessation programs, gynecology and obstetric care, orthopedic care, mental health care. Imagine what would happen if our combat veterans--the ones who will be vital to our national security if we are attacked--were thrown into the for profit health care system. More than likely, they would have no health insurance. And if they did have insurance, it would be high deductible and it would not cover preventive services and it would have no incentive to invest in disease prevention. Since most young men do not visit a doctor for check ups, veterans would quickly fall prey to the same preventable diseases that have rendered non veterans obese and unhealthy.
The for profit health care system makes money from treating disease. The for profit health care system has no incentive to prevent disease. The for profit health insurance system makes money from writing insurance policies for the healthy, and when the healthy become sick and lose their jobs (and their employer sponsored insurance) they go on Medicare disability or Medicaid or a county funded program, meaning that the for profit insurance system has no incentive to prevent disease. Quite the opposite. In an ideal (for profit) system, those who get sick will get so sick that they can no longer work--and no longer have insurance.
The VA, on the other hand, makes a commitment to take care of veterans from military discharge to the grave. That is why the VA invests in disease prevention insurance. The VA is the closest thing we have in this country to a single payer, cradle to grave system like that in Canada or Western Europe. It is streamlined. It is efficient. And the for profit sector hates it for pioneering research in disease prevention and research that debunks medical claims--like claims that lumbar surgery is 100% effective at relieving pain. The private sector will give a morbidity obese man with uncontrolled diabetes who smokes two new knees--knees doomed to become infected or fail or lead to complications such as chronic deep venous thrombosis. The VA will give that same man bariatric surgery so he can lose weight, diabetes control, smoking cessation--and then, when that is all done, if his knees still hurt, they will give him new knees. Knees that are much more likely to work.
In time of emergency, the United States can quickly increase the size of its military forces by calling upon members of the reserves and those who have recently served. But what good is that fighting force if over half its members are no longer healthy? The U.S. for profit health care system has terrible statistics when it comes to health and disease prevention. If the job of the VA is farmed out to the for profit sector, then national security is threatened.
Saturday Night Massacre Here We Come!
Someone is giving Trump some god awful advice. The man could have reached out a hand to the Democratic House. He could have said "I was just dancing with the folks who brought me to the party. I didn't mean any of it. I want to be a Democrat again." He could have offered to broker deals between the Democratic House and the Republican Senate that would allow them to tackle the problems that really concern Americans--like health care. And health care! And health care.
But instead, he made threats. He bullied. He told Democrats that if they attacked, he would attack back--without actually saying how he planned to attack. There is no legal way for the president to investigate Congress. Maybe he meant that his new acting attorney general would file bogus charges against House Dems. Or maybe he meant that Putin would send thugs to their houses. Or that his base would send them pipe bombs. You never know with Trump.
And then, Trumped forced out Sessions and replaced him with a man named Whitaker who looks like Bane from Batman, but meaner and with a bigger stick up his ass. A man who has recommended stripping Mueller of his funding so that he can not do his job. Because why do things the legal way when you can do them the mobster way? Why act like a president when you can act like a whiny little brat? Why obey the law when it is so much more fun to break it?
Trump is going to fire Mueller. Or rather, he is going to tell Whitaker to fire Mueller. And Whitaker will do it--not for Trump. He will do it for his own political future. As soon as the act is done, Whitaker will make a hasty exit from the public stage and use his newfound Right Wing laurels to advance his own career. He will leave Trump with his ass hanging out, the way Dick Nixon's ass was left hanging out after the poorly conceived and poorly executed Saturday Night Massacre. The two or three Americans who have resisted forming an opinion about Trump's guilt will decide that he is guilty. The new Democratic House will answer the popular call---"Restore the rule of law!" CNN's Jim Acosta will become a superstar covering the House hearings. Trump will wish he was back in the "good old days" when Mueller ran a tight ship Grand Jury--no leaks allowed. Every day will bring a new revelation--and these will be much worse than a few "expletive deleted" s. CNN's ratings will soar----
Hmm. Maybe Whitaker is working for CNN.
Anyone Here Remember the Watergate Hearings?
Trumps does. He must be very worried tonight.
It's on, asshole! The House and all its new Democratic women are going to make you rue the day you and your tiny little hands started grabbing pussy.
Women will be the true winners tonight.
It has been an uphill battle. But it looks as if there will be more women in office in this country than ever before after this election is over. And the women who win will be, by and large, Democrats. Because the Republican Party has embraced "pussy grabbers" and rapists---did they think we would just smile and say "Boys will be boy"?
Imagine...that your vote may be counted. (With bonus John Lennon link)
It could happen. After 16 years of easily hackable paperless electronic voting that was supposed to keep the GOP in power forever, we face an election in which national security agencies like the NSA, CIA and FBI may actually get out there and prevent electronic vote manipulation. For 16 years, we have watched as the GOP peeled off Democratic votes and gave them to third party (GOP funded) splitters. We have watched election "miracles"--like a Georgia Republican who was behind almost 10 points in the polls who "won."
"It will never happen!" you insist. "Those agencies all lean right."
Maybe. But they also lean "American" and "Law and Order" and Trump is an outlaw traitor. Plus, Deep Throat was the Pentagon. If the US Military found Nixon's political shenanigans---squandering US lives for political gain--unconscionable, what do they make of the specter of Trump sending US troops into danger so he can get his own 9/11 moment?
Do not stay home because you think that casting a vote in an electronic system without a paper trail is futile. Something tells me that the Georgia Secretary of State is screaming "Hack!" because he knows that the Republican hack of Georgia is about to be un-hacked--and he is planning to try to decertify the election and force a special election as a last ditch effort to hold onto power.
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