I sure hope Republicans pay the price

By Jennifer Rubin - The Washington Post
Opinion writer
April 9 at 3:30 PM
It’s no coincidence that President Trump’s on-again-off-again threats about closing the southern border, his decapitation of the top rank of officials at the Department of Homeland Security and his flip-flop on whether to present a bill to replace the Affordable Care Act (which he wants the courts to eradicate) comes at a time when the administration’s lawlessness has peaked. Chaos is an authoritarian’s best weapon, allowing him to distract some and to make others pine for “order.”

Contempt for the rule of law has been a mainstay of this administration, but consider what has happened of late:

First, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report, the product of a process designed to sideline Trump’s direct subordinates, was immediately subject to the attorney general’s exoneration, was kept from Congress and is being subjected to redaction that may leave the report looking like Swiss cheese. Other special prosecutor or independent counsel reports (e.g. the Starr report, the Watergate findings) had been transmitted in unredacted form to Congress and in, the case of Kenneth W. Starr’s report, made public. (Attorney General William P. Barr says he’ll produce the redacted version within a week, and says that Mueller declined the opportunity to review Barr’s letter — a letter over which Mueller had no control.)



Second, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee requested Trump’s tax returns under a statute that says the Treasury Department “shall” make it available on request. White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney apparently translates “shall” as “shall not in a million years,” and contrary to the statute’s intent, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has consulted with the White House general counsel’s office about the potential release of Trump’s tax returns. (The Post notes, “The process is designed to be walled off from White House interference, in part because of corruption that took place during the Teapot Dome scandal in the 1920s.”) Trump and his administration stand in defiance of the law.

Finally, Trump reportedly lopped off heads at DHS because the now-fired secretary and others resisted orders that violated statutes and/or court orders. Axios reports, “President Trump has directed top officials to execute the most aggressive changes in immigration policy since his inauguration, sources tell Axios. Some officials consider the moves legally and politically dubious.” CNN reports that at an Oval Office meeting that discussed border security, Trump was “ranting and raving.” CNN further reports about a visit Trump made to Calexico, Calif.:

Behind the scenes, two sources told CNN, the President told border agents to not let migrants in. Tell them we don't have the capacity, he said. If judges give you trouble, say, "Sorry, judge, I can't do it. We don't have the room."

After the President left the room, agents sought further advice from their leaders, who told them they were not giving them that direction and if they did what the President said they would take on personal liability. You have to follow the law, they were told.


All of this conduct suggests we have a president whose primary tools of governance are lying and lawbreaking.


Some Senate Republicans who have indulged Trump every step of the way are now, reportedly, alarmed. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told The Post he is “very, very concerned.” Oh, mercy me. If only they had the power of oversight, the power to reject flunkies nominated to back-fill spaces and the power to remove a president after impeachment. Of course, the Senate has each of these powers and has shown it is willing to discard each of them to shield the president. These same Republicans voted against a resolution that would have reversed Trump’s power grab via a phony emergency declaration.

No one should pity Republicans. To the contrary, voters should be up in arms that an equal branch of government has aided and abetted Trump’s trouncing of the Constitution. They are responsible both for the chaos, which Trump uses to justify executive fiats and rev up his base, and for the abject lawlessness this administration exhibits. It would be hysterical if it were not so horrific that Republicans continue to justify support for Trump because he’ll appoint judges who follow the letter of the law.

The 2020 election is now a referendum on constitutional government. Democrats are for it, Republicans work to subvert it. Cast your ballots accordingly.

All about that base

He's all about his Base.....No Rebels

I get so sick of hearing about Trump's base. What do they think? How do they feel? Understand them.
Can I share what I think? IMHO. Trump's base is his power source. Like Thor's hammer. That's why he's always holding rallies and tweeting.
He has to solidify his base. Much like Hitler; his power was the people of Germany. He used emotion and propaganda to keep that base intact. Without that rock solid support much like Trump. He wouldn't be able to succeed. Trump uses the control of his base to control other Republicans. Using them to bully and intimidate any Republican that doesn't fall in line.

Part two. You know all this bragging they do about 46% or so of Americans that supported him in 2016. That's only people who voted. I suspect there was a lot of apathy last time around. I'm not seeing that now. I'm seeing a Resistance ready to rise up and they have kept their Mojo since that Orange thing was elected.

Part three. The Media. They put the idea in the public's head that Hillary was a shoe in. Heck, even I went to bed early on Election night believing that stuff. I woke up to a nightmare. I think there's many more Jedis out there than Stormtroopers and cheerleaders for Trump.

Good Sunday morning DU

"The Southern Strategy introduced cultural memes every bit as powerful as the Confederate flag or the lynch mob's noose.
Only now their buzzwords were "entitlements" "big government," and the "undeserving poor" ~Rev. Dr. William Barber

How the hell does this jive with some Evangelicals and people who swear on their bibles they follow Jesus?
Jesus was an advocate for the poor, the outcast, the voiceless and the powerless. He wasn't an advocate for the rich Romans.
Jesus fought against Injustice, he didn't join in it.

Express yourself

The times they are a Changin'

Just some rambling thoughts, from someone who has rambled.
We are experiencing the continuation of the 'Culture Wars' Change is a mighty uncomfortable thing for many people. Change is scary. Especially if you're happy with things just the way they are.

It was a choice in 2016. The choice between a 'Multicultural society' and the fantasy of going "Back to the future" Happy Days when the World wasn't moving so fast. It's a fear. The fear that you're not top of the Totem Pole. The fear equality means less of it for them. You get the picture. It's fear and resentment. It's resentment that the World is going forward and change is coming. They can kick their feet. Scream until their faces turn red. Intimidate, harm or even kill. But, the times they are a changing.


The Times They Are A-Changin' (Witmark Demo - 1963)
Bob Dylan
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Show biz kids

Making movies of themselves.....

Where is the love

Howdy

Are you allowed just to rant on here? Just wondering. I've been kicked of some pages on fakebook for what they said was inappropriate behavior. I'm not well educated like many of you here. When I was young survival was a lot more immediate. Thanks to spell check I seem smarter than I really am. Just because a person can't spell doesn't mean they are less intelligent. Many haven't had the proper education. Some writers have this problem. Stephen King being one. I notice people here seldom make fun of people for mis- spelling words. Thanks DU

I try so hard not to let my anger overcome me. I try hard not to react in a violent manner. I'm too old anyways. I'd just get my ass kicked or worse. When I saw Joe Biden on the news doing this apology thing. I became enraged. My Granddaughter was watching too. She cried out. OMG! Leave that poor little old man alone. All this beating up on him because he made someone uncomfortable. Her words not mine. My words were FOR FUCK SUCKS! Democrats! Stop cannibalizing each other.

Let's talk about uncomfortable. What makes me uncomfortable and others like me. The treatment of human beings on the border. The mistreatment of people trying to escape dire straits. This piece of shit President we have that breaks traditional norms on a daily basis.
19 women accused him of sexual assault. Hell he confessed to it on television. What? People don't believe what's on the tube anymore. Evangelicals acting like he walks on water. No! He floats on Bullshit! He cheats at everything. He cheats on his wives. He cheats on his taxes. He even cheats at gulf. He's a stone cold asshole. It makes me uncomfortable that Democrats in Oklahoma are being bullied on a daily basis. Our Democratic houses being defaced. People being slaughtered in our streets. Because they are economically deprived? I don't care if anyone agrees with me. That's just some media driven horseshit. The right is making memes calling Adam Schiff 'pencil neck' That's the law and order president doing this. School yard bully. A cowardly lion. Someday little Toto from Kansas is going to rise up and bite him in the ass.

Please don't tell me not to be angry. It won't help anyway. That train has left the station. I got this anger and it burns like a furnace. The furnace keeps me alive.

I'd rather be a hammer than a nail

Time for a cool change

I'm about up to my eyebrows with the news and discussing. I need a shot of music.
My medicine