The Screaming Moderate

The shutdown is solving nothing

1/9/2019

President Trump’s low-energy performance last night I doubt changed any minds in the general population but I don’t think that was his target audience.

Best guess is it was the minority Republicans in the House and the majority Republicans in the Senate, who really hold the key to whether he wins the border wall battle or not.

Republican Senate support is slowly peeling away and if that disappears, there is no chance of a border wall and Mr. Trump’s presidency will hit a significant turning point. And a significant promise made to his all-important base will be broken.

I think another result of last night’s speech to the nation is that he gave away leverage to the TV networks. All of them carried his speech, as they should have. But it contained no news. Only a partisan pitch for his wall. That allows the nets to be more publicly un-trusting of any White House requests for air time. This time, they really had no choice. Next time, they will. That’s an important tool in a President’s bag to lose.

This administration has lost its credibility with all but his base and when you request network time, there better be a good reason. This speech was not a good reason.

Trump claimed to network representatives at an off-the-record lunch yesterday that he didn’t want to do the speech but his advisors wanted him to. Uh, he hasn’t listened to advisors, especially on media counsel, before and I doubt he did now. Anytime this president goes on TV live, he has a reason and a goal and I doubt his staff forces him to do anything. He also is scheduled to make a trip to the Mexican border this week, which he also claims he doesn’t want to do. Lowering expectations anyone?

From his first sentence last night, he lied or misrepresented the truth. This was his first line: “Tonight, I am speaking to you because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border.” There is no security crisis at the border. None. Have illegal immigrants snuck through and committed crimes? Yes, but they are isolated incidents, not reaching “crisis” status. And any humanitarian crisis is more attributable to Trump having migrants blocked from entering or taking children away from their parents. (Do we know if they all have been reunited, by the way? I'm asking you, The Media.)

Trump has painted himself into a corner on the wall. So have the Democrats but they actually have the votes to stop a wall. Both sides should agree to end the shutdown which is doing nothing but hurting 800,000 federal employees and their families and the beneficiaries of some key government programs, like food stamps. The Administration agreed to pay those stamps for February. The shutdown is also hurting travelers waiting in long lines at airports, as TSA folks work without pay and are starting to quit their jobs because no pay doesn’t pay the bills. Students are being hurt because they can’t get government approvals on college loans. And a host of other services stopped.

And if, as the President claims, many federal workers support his shutdown and his wall, I’d like to see their names. We know an organization representing border agents supports him because he posed with five agents recently to make that point. But I know of no one else.

That’s a claim similar to Trump saying past presidents support his wall. They don’t. Did any of them support a wall at one time? Maybe but time marched on and technologies have been developed that are more successful at border control.

Trump is trying to keep his biggest promise to voters in 2016. Well, half of his promise. He did say Mexico would pay for the wall. They won’t.

Who’s paying for the wall? You, me and the furloughed federal workers who aren’t getting paid for doing jobs that are important services to the country. I don't see any of us getting a refund for services not given.

And, the President gets elected and paid to lead a government that provides those services. He needs to end the shutdown and start doing his job.

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Shutdown: Will we be reimbursed for the services lost?

1/7/2019

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The partial shutdown of the federal government is ridiculous. The only ones being affected are you and me.

Both sides have boxed themselves into a corner. President Trump says he won’t accept a budget that doesn’t have funding for his wall and Democrats say they won’t accept any wall funding. Hard to find a compromise there.

Trump sells himself as a lot of things but one is that he is the best negotiator in the world. Hard to believe based on his career of business failures but let’s say he is the best: Would the world’s best negotiator lay out a position that can’ be compromised? And now only is that his position. During his campaign he promised, repeatedly to build this wall and have Mexico pay for it.

Clearing he know believes U.S. taxpayers must pay for it and claims we'll be reimbused at least through higher tax receipts based on his new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. Truth is, though, that not only is that agreement not yet approved by the Congress, the money we might get from taxes is not a "profit" that then will be moved to the "pay for the wall" account. That's Trump's attempt at sleight-of-hand.

The shutdown’s results are becoming quite real. Airline controllers are working but not getting paid. How long do you ask someone to work under such stress for no pay and as their mortgage and other bills pile up? National parks are left unsafe and with garbage piling up and other health threats rising. I don’t know what the “typical” number of deaths in national parks is, but since the shutdown, seven people have died.

The Internal Revenue Service isn’t sure it can pay out refunds people will be expecting. They don't have the staff they normally would have to help taxpayers with tax questions.

The Housing department has sent letters to 1,500 landlords of public housing asking them to be patient for payment (just as landlord Trump would be patient in their situation, I’m sure).

Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who aren’t getting paid and are trying to figure out whether to pay the mortgage or buy groceries. And, yes, there are full-time employed men and women who face those choices now.

And the holdup is a wall, which Trump now is calling a steel barrier, as if that’s any different than a concrete wall. But that’s the Great Negotiator – change the branding and it’s new and shiny - and a compromise.

Needless to say, this is ridiculous, as is Trump’s claim that this shutdown could last “years." Unlikely for a lot of reasons but one big reason is the U.S. economy will be affected. Local residents aren’t getting paid, which means they aren’t paying their normal bills and aren’t going out to eat, or making big purchases; they are cutting costs where they can – all of which affects the local economies. All of which affect the national economy. And all congressmen and the President care about that as they head to the next election cycle.

I don’t know the answer other than for Trump to give up his wall or the Democrats to give up their opposition to his wall.

I do know this: All of them – congressmen and the President – swore to uphold the Constitution, which means serving the people, not themselves, and their adherence to that oath as we speak is questionable.

What can we the people do? Write letters, make phone calls. Make your view known. The President is claiming the people are clamoring for the wall. The Democrats say they aren’t. Let your Congressmen know your view. Send letters, make calls to the White House. Put pressure on them to force them to do whatever it is you want.

Holding up services to the people of this country is not the right answer, no matter how you feel. Will we get a refund for the weeks or months we have to go without those services? Will we only have to pay taxes for the months the entire government was open? Uh, we both know that answer.

Pointing fingers at Washington doesn’t resolve it either. But calling your public servants and making them know what you believe will.

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Stop pointing fingers and do something

12/28/2018

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So the government shut down is all about who’s to blame. Both President Trump and the Democrats on the Hill have made that clear.

Now, I get that politics often is about who’s at fault but this shutdown has seen more discussion about who’s to blame than how to solve it. That was clearest in the Oval Office meeting where Trump, in front of the media and the world, tried to pin Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi down – to blame them. Trump, though, never liking to be challenged – publicly especially – quickly said he’d own it, “I’ll take the mantle,” he said, whatever that means. Schumer smiled smugly knowing he achieved his meeting goal.

So….solved!!! Uh, no.

Trump, once it was explained to him off camera that he mucked up did what he always does – pretended that meeting never happened and moved on on to blame the Democrats.

Good, solved! Uh, no.

Government employees are the pawns in this game as are their banks, landlords and store owners who serve them. Even if some on the Hill think that no one lives paycheck to paycheck, and even if Donald Trump thinks all these employees are Democrats, thus who cares, these are men and women who do difficult jobs made all the more difficult by the current government leadership.

I worked in the government and among many very talented career employees. Were there some duds? Of course, as in any workplace. I got to be best friends with one in particular and, to this day – 35 years later – I don’t know if he was a Democrat or a Republican, or either. I didn't ask. He didn't tell. He just came to work every day and did his job. And helped me do mine.

I knew another employee, very senior, who was “banished” to a lesser office in our department because someone thought he was a Democrat. Honestly, it didn’t matter because even if he was a Democrat, and an active one, there was nothing he could do to change anything the Republican leadership wanted to do anyway.

The blame doesn’t matter. It’s who gets the job done that Americans, including those laid off or furloughed right now, judge their elected officials by.

Through no fault of their own, they can’t do their jobs right now, and probably for a bit longer. Over what? A wall? I think the wall is ridiculous for too many reasons to list here. If I were involved in the discussions right now I, though, likely would cave if I got something decent in return – like dealing with the Dreamers. Even if Trump gets the full $25 billion he’s said he needs to build a wall or steel slats (whatever), it likely will not be built and completed any time soon. Heck, they’ve had over a billion from this year’s budget and haven’t spent it.

It will not be completed by Election Day 2020, as Trump wants – few construction projects are finished on time, from small house jobs to building a wall on the southern border. And, with Trump in charge, based on his private sector performances, this one won’t be done on time either. But he’ll say it was, for sure, Heck, he’s even saying construction has already started. It hasn’t. He claims he awarded a big contract in the Oval the other day. He didn’t. If he had, his people would have released the details by now. Presidents just don’t award contracts (nor should they want to because favoritism will always be charged).

Give him the wall money and get something in return, the Dreamers. A deal that once was on the table and never consummated.

Just quit strategizing ways to blame each other and do something.

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It's time the Hill GOP take Trump seriously

12/22/2018

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If you thought the first two years of President Donald Trump were rampant craziness, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Unless, Republicans in Congress finally get over their selfish ways and put country before anything.

Yes, I’m talking to those of you who came out to mourn the passing of President George H.W. Bush and praise him for his bipartisan approach to the government and as soon as the services were over, went back to wearing blinders.

As we are about to hit the two-year mark of the Trump Administration, we literally are watching this country fall into near disaster.

Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned with a flourish, unlike a career soldier who normally would have more quietly walked into the sunset. But Mattis is a true patriot, pledged to the United States of America, not a two-bit faux-politician. If Mattis’ exit letter didn’t shock the Hill into a new behavior, what will?

President Trump is pulling out troops out of Syria. Now, whether that’s good policy or not can be debated. But what can’t be debated is the slap-dash way the decision was made. Trump was on the phone with the Turkish president who was making his standard case for getting American troops out of Syria and finally Trump said, basically, and this isn’t too far from what he’s reported to have said, “The hell with it, Syria is yours. We’re outta there.” And, getting nothing in return for it.

You may not agree with having our troops on the ground while the fight against ISIS is finished, or the various geopolitical reasons we were there beyond killing ISIS, but to leave and get nothing? To make the decision without consulting your advisors one more time, or the Senators and Congressmen who actually do understand the geopolitics, or our allies who are directly affected by our abandoning the fight? Reckless. Dangerous.

Why? Because there are other countries our troops we are in for similar reasons – not only to fight for the countries and people most directly affected by the bombings and killings and to protect basic human rights but because we fight them there, so they won’t come here – a strategy that’s worked pretty well, until now.

When you see Vladimir Putin praising a U.S. president for a foreign policy decision, you know the wrong decision was made. That’s not a throwaway line – that’s reality.

The President gives his word he will sign a budget agreement to avoid a partial shutdown and two days later, after being pummeled by, get this, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter – talk show entertainers – and some wackos on the Right. he goes back on his word to the Hill and holds out for money to build his silly wall that he promised Mexico would pay for. Plus, do you remember not long after he took office that he asked the then-president of Mexico to go along with the wall, but that it would never be built? I do. Plus an easy majority of Americans oppose the wall.

Trump’s base may love it when he upsets another apple cart but this week proved you need to think before you throw over the cart. The market is in free-fall. Since October, those of us with “portfolios” invested for retirement are down a significant percentage. Will it come back? Normally the market does, but these are not normal times. We have a President who now wants to fire the Federal Reserve chairman he appointed not that long ago because the independent Fed is making decisions Trump doesn’t agree with. That is dangerous.

He’s appointed a temporary Attorney General who thinks like he does except not when prosecutors make independent decisions that Trump sees as hurting him. Then what does he do? He calls the acting AG to complain about it. Wholly inappropriate. The Justice Department is investigating Trump and he calls them to “hint” it needs to be stopped? People, he complains too much about the Mueller investigator for there not to be something there.

There’s more but probably old news by the time you read this, so I won’t list everything going to hell in a hand basket right now.

Our country is facing an extremely dangerous time. And the danger doesn’t come from abroad, it comes from within the White House. Trump has two years under his belt and, while I think he was overwhelmed (as anyone would be) at first, now believes he knows more than anyone thus we are being governed by his gut. He trusts his gut, he says, but he doesn’t trust his foreign policy advisors who keep us safe. He won't read a briefing paper to even pretend he understands a policy before his gut changes it.

He either is the dumbest person to ever hold elected office or he truly is a puppet of the tyrants of the world – Russia, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and others. With our international reputation at its lowest in, well, ever and our economy on the edge of tipping into recession with all of our savings at risk, we have a President who seems to love all the chaos he’s producing. In fact, it emboldens him.

We have a system of checks and balances – but only when those checks and balances are used. Impeachment? I don’t know and doubt this is the right time for that for a variety of reasons. But the Congress can do more – can do something – about checking the Executive’s “power.” Pressure alone would be one thing.

Example? A basic one. The House and Senate could have passed a “clean” bill on the budget – a temporary way to fund the government to punt debates until later – and let the President veto it. The Congress can override a veto – why didn’t they do that a couple of weeks ago when it would have mattered? Instead, the Republicans in Congress caved to the will of Trump, who knows absolutely nothing about appropriately governing this country. Does he have to be like every President before him? No, but there are some good lessons in our 200-plus years of existence. We didn't spring up over night.

I’m not expert of the laws of this country or the rules of the Senate or House, but we have experts in those areas. And we should be using them creatively to stop the madness.

It’s time. It's about to be past time.

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Not Trump's merriest holiday season

12/19/2018

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Being President of the United States in the holiday season should be a fabulous experience.

You host fancy parties for nearly everyone in Washington, D.C., at the world’s most famous address. People stand in line to get a souvenir picture with you. Then you take a few days or more and go to a warmer clime to get some relaxation in, understanding you never take time off from being the President.

This cannot be the merriest of seasons for Donald J. Trump

He still can’t get funding for his most memorable campaign promise, a wall -- that Mexico, not us was supposed to pay for. He said he’d be “proud” to shut down the government if he didn’t get that funding. “Proud!” But as we speak, a deal is being made that will keep the government open and not fund his ridiculous wall.

A poll came out that says a majority of American’s don’t believe what Trump says. The special counsel’s investigation seems to be picking up, not running out of steam. His finances likely are being gone over with a fine tooth comb even after he said going into his family finances was a red line not to be crossed.

In fact, since George H.W. Bush’s death, if it’s possible, Trump gets even smaller in my mind. His tweets aren’t as important on a daily basis, the seldom held White House news briefing are simply lies after lies coming from his press secretary who says she wants her legacy to be that she told the truth and was transparent, a dream long gone. I knew 41 was a fabulous president but hearing his accomplishments repeated for a week and comparing him to the current president just made Bush even bigger in my mind, as Trump became smaller.

The special counsel’s investigation keeps broadening. As that investigation goes on, Trump goes even crazier in his tweets. Needless to say: One doesn’t get that riled when one has nothing to worry about. It may not be collusion (but I’m beginning to believe there was some level of coordination with the Russians); then again it may “simply” be the effect the, I think, 17 investigations into Trump or his various entities (campaign, transition, inaugural, private businesses, his “charity”) have on him because he knows those are going to embarrass him and implicate his kids.

Remember, yesterday Trump and his adult children were banned from serving on charity boards for 10 years because of the way they mismanaged and misused the Trump Foundation. The Trump Foundation spent $7 apparently for his son’s induction fee to the Boy Scouts. But he’s already bragging on things the Foundation did, that it didn’t do. Trump knows there is a there there in his businesses and it must scare the pants off him. The investigations clearly have gone where Trump warned they should not – into his finances. I can only imagine the morass of bad deeds there.

I know, the special counsel investigation was supposed to be about Russian interference in our elections and possible conspiracy with the Trump campaign. But when a prosecutor comes across other crimes, he cannot ignore them.

Plus, The National Enquirer has to be a treasure trove of buried stories about Trump. And the CEO of that outfit is cooperating with the special counsel. We haven’t seen a drip of that leak so far.

Not to mention that the stock market has lost all its 2018 gains, stealing a talking point from Trump about his history-making, in his mind, presidency. The Fed may be about to raise rates, which Trump said they shouldn’t do. So he’ll once again realize that his power as President is not all encompassing, like a tyrant’s.

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Even when he does something good – like finally banning bump stocks – the story doesn’t make the front page because there’s too much news from the investigations.

It can’t have felt good for former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to stand before a judge and get lectured about his bad, criminal behaviors as a former general and advisor to the President . And it can’t have felt good, either, for Trump and his talking heads on Fox to hear Flynn say under oath in court that yes, he knew lying to the FBI is a crime. The rug was pulled out from under their “narrative” that the Flynn case would show the special counsel’s work for what they think it is – a witch hunt and a perjury trap.

It’s no witch hunt…and it’s not over.

More shoes are likely to drop. While a successful removal from office is unlikely since there won’t be the votes in the Senate even if the House impeaches him, those who said Trump will resign before his term ends (I live with one of those people) may be closer to the truth than I ever imagined.

So, Happy Holidays, Mr. President. And I wouldn’t go looking in your stocking this year. You may find that product you proudly brag about bringing back – coal.

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RIP, President George H.W. Bush

12/1/2018

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President George Herbert Walker Bush’s death is a gut punch.

I was not part of his inner political circle or a close, personal friend. But I knew him for a number of years and worked for him as deputy White House press secretary. If you met George H.W. Bush, he made you feel as if you were in his inner circle. He was the most genuine person I’ve ever known. And nice. And kind. And gentle. And caring. He was a class act. And, above everything, a decent man.

He had great empathy, and cried quickly and sincerely, so often in fact that he would tone down some speeches so he wouldn’t break down in tears. He had a curious mind. He wanted views from many so he could consider all information before making a decision. He loved his country and his fellow citizens.

His death was not a shock, he had been ill, but what is a shock is accepting that this good man is not part of this world anymore. Though he now joins his wife of 73 years, Barbara who died in April, and his young daughter Robin who died from leukemia at age 4 in 1953.

The obits being run all over will give his proud story of service to his country and his fellow men and women, so I won’t repeat all that here. I will tell a few personal stories about him, if you’ll bear with me:

First, while serving as a deputy press secretary to President Reagan, I was among the staff in Santa Barbara, Calif., when the Democrats held their convention in 1988. The late Sen. Ted Kennedy had given a tough speech attacking Vice President Bush and each bullet point he punctuated with “where was George?” as he tried to make the case that Vice President Bush was absent from being involved in anything important The next day, we were preparing for the press secretary, Marlin Fitzwater, to brief the press and we knew Marlin would be greeted with taunts from the press of “where was George?”

He told me to develop a response. It came to me quickly and, while I don’t have at hand a copy of what the statement was, it was a series of statements that began with “I’ll tell you where George was, he was….” And a similar series to Kennedy’s but this time rolling out the VP’s contributions to the Reagan Administration. When Marlin finally read it after waiting for the press to finish its chants, the reporters were silent.

Back in Washington the next week, we were in Marlin’s office, again preparing him for his daily press briefing, when the door opened and Vice President Bush poked his head in to say, “Marlin, that was great! You were the only one out there defending me!” Marlin smiled coyly but said nothing while Bush went on with his compliments. Marlin looked, embarrassed, at me and said, “Mr. Vice President, in truth…B. Jay wrote that.” The Vice President looked at me and said, “B. Jay? B. Jay can write?” and then he left.

Second, I had interviewed to be Bush’s press secretary a couple of times. Once when he was VP and again when he was putting his campaign staff together. Needless to say, I wanted the job. On the VP job, he decided not to fill it right away. On the campaign job, I interviewed with his chief of staff, Craig Fuller, and then with the vice president who made the interview almost a chat between friends. As I said, he had that ability.

A couple of Mondays later the VP’s office said it would be making an announcement of the campaign press secretary that day. A little later, I got a call from Fuller. When I answered I said, I’m guessing since you’re calling me the day of the announcement, I didn’t get the job. No, he said, you didn’t and he told me that Sheila Tate was to be named. I said well, she’s a fine choice but can you tell me why Sheila and not me? Fuller said, at the risk of a lawsuit from you, the honest answer is that the Vice President wanted to name the first woman to the job. Honesty. And, candidly, she was probably a better choice than I was anyway.

Third, even in his post-Oval Office days, “41” was very kind to me. Once, I asked him to be in a film I was working on for a client in my PR firm days, and the day I went to his Kennebunkport (Maine) family summer home to tape it, he came bounding over and said, “guess who I’m about to play golf with!” Not waiting for my guess he said, “Freddy Couples and Davis Love!” and he was honestly excited that he was playing with them, not thinking that the two pros probably were more excited to play with him. The second was when my wife and I asked him if we would author the forward to a book we wrote on my former boss the late Secretary of Commerce Mac Baldrige, who was a close friend of Bush’s for decades. He quickly responded yes. (In fact, it was thanks to Bush that Baldrige was in the Reagan Cabinet.)

Last, in his first year in office, the Republican National Committee was having several months of bad press and bad decisions. They got attention because the brilliant and precocious Lee Atwater was the chairman and someone Bush cared about a lot. The RNC communications director was taking a bullet and resigned from the committee and Bush asked me to take his place. A bit of an awkward career move. Normally folks worked at political committees and then moved on to Administration jobs, not vice versa.

During my exit interview with President Bush he said he appreciated me, in his words, making the sacrifice to go from the White House to the RNC, but, he said, “I need someone with grey hair up there.” I truly appreciated his faith in me and the belief that he thought I had the wisdom to calm things down, but I was 41 years old and the grey I have now had not even peeked through yet.

George Herbert Walker Bush was a fine man and a very good President. He gets more credit as the years go by for his contributions, especially in foreign policy and in getting the Americans with Disability Act passed. For the various accolades he deserves for his long life of public service, he deserves many more for being a good and loyal friend to many.

He was taught by his mother not to brag about himself, ever. And he didn’t, making it a bit difficult when running campaigns to take credit for things.

One last story that says a lot about the formation of such a modest and good man:
When a young man, Bush came home and told his mother, Dorothy, he had scored three goals in a soccer match. Mrs. Bush said, “that’s nice, George, how did the team do?”

Every team he ever was on did well.

RIP, President Bush.

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As the onion peels...

11/30/2018

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You have to have patience to peel an onion and Robert Mueller, the independent counsel on the “did Russia muck in our election” probe, may be the best onion peeler in history.

The Trump Organization has long operated as a marketing company, selling the “Trump brand,” putting it on alcohol, beef, buildings and anything else that would pay it a buck for many years.

As a marketer, as we’re learning now, the Organization put its toe in many lakes around the world including Russia. But they never got their whole foot in – in spite of aggressive efforts by many on its behalf including Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen, who was along for the ride but jumped off when it was clear the Trump Organization leadership was not behind him when the going got tough.

The drive for money by the Organization appears to have put Donald J. Trump and his children on a very decent ride for years and they envisioned would be even more worthwhile while Dad ran for President.

Trump’s foreign policy has been confusing to those of us who looked at foreign policy as something good for our country but became dominated by what was best for the Trumps. Thus countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia were given prominence in Trump’s campaign and his presidency and the rest of us had to scratch our heads wondering why he was building up Vladimir Putin and defending the Saudi Arabian crown prince who ordered the murder of a journalist.

There also were Cohen’s discussions with Russia about a Trump branded building in Moscow, an endeavor that lingered on for many months beyond what was known publicly. So, Trump was negotiating or trying to with the Russians as he promised other things to his potential voters, who were clueless as to Trump’s personal goals. He swore to the high heavens that he had nothing to do with Russia, that the lives of average Americans were his sole concern.

If anyone doubted it before, it is now clear that Donald J. Trump never expected to win the presidency but he leveraged his candidacy to mine potential deals in Russia and other places while standing as a candidate for the Republican nomination. The President admitted that as he headed to his helicopter to fly to the G-20 meeting yesterday. He said he could have lost the election and thus did not want to cut off his personal opportunities to make money. It likely didn’t stop there since Trump, like the rest of us, never anticipated a Trump presidency.

And now, here he is – up to his armpits in lies to cover his attempts at leveraging his candidacy for business. Shockingly to most of us, and Trump himself, he won the election and now is buried in a pile of lies over his greedy efforts to make money off his candidacy and, probably, off his presidency. It’s gotta be hard to put that greed on hold while you sit in the most powerful chair in the world. Talk about temptation.

Now you can see a few of the reasons he doesn’t want to unveil his tax returns – they would show what deals or loans are in his background that might take some luster off his presidency even in the eyes of his strongest supporters. One thing the President is about to learn is that politicians have no loyalty at all once they see your ship sinking. He’ll learn they have about as much loyalty as he does. Not good timing as the Democrats prepare to take over the House and have subpoena power.

The independent counsel investigation, especially under the watchful and steady eye of Robert Mueller, is like watching that onion being peeled. Paul Manafort may be running from the deal he’d made with Mueller but you can count on the fact that Mueller has evidence to prove whatever Manafort would have testified to anyway.

Comparisons are being made of the Trump Organization to an organized crime enterprise and those will be legitimate comparisons as this goes on. While not the same, Trump clearly sees himself as the King of at least his own Universe, impervious to the rules and laws that others of us must abide.

His children are about to see that dad’s universe truly doesn’t exist on its own, but within laws and rules and mores of this country. Had Trump but stayed a private citizen a lot of what he’s done throughout his career likely would never have come to light. Much of it doesn’t really matter, but those things he has done as a candidate and our President do matter.

You can also clearly see now why he continues to strike out at the media and judiciary, trying to delegitimize both so he can seem more credible to his followers. He will say he is a victim of the media and judges. The Donald is always The Victim.

The presidency clearly has cut into the Trump Organization's ability to strike huge deals. In fact, the Trump brand is suffering hits not just in this country but, probably more importantly, in other countries the Organization has targeted for years. And Trump did himself no favors by treating his global peers like fleas itching him as he continued sucking up to folks like Putin, Kim and the Crown Prince. He’ll also learn that Putin and the others have no loyalty to him.

Those who have watched Robert Mueller over the years know he’s a standup guy. So stand up that if there was nothing to “get” Trump on, then Mueller wouldn’t try to get him.

Meantime, the onion, though, is still being peeled.

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If you're going to pimp out the United States...

11/21/2018

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Thanks to President Trump, the United States now is condoning murder by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

At the same time, he is looking the other way while the Saudis continue to mistreat and abuse women (despite that same Crown Prince’s smiling way of saying he’s making things better for women. "Hey, I'm letting them drive!"). Trump is still attacking judges appointed by his predecessor. He also is overlooking his daughter’s mistakes regarding email that are similar to his former presidential opponent ("Lock her up!!!") and, well, it’s only early morning Wednesday so who knows what else.

This man, the President of the United States, is not a good man. Let me repeat: he is condoning the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia’s order to murder and dismember (possibly while he still was breathing) an “opponent” – a journalist. He may have done it or not, the very decisive President Trump concludes. But, hell, let’s treat it as if he didn’t do it because he said he’d buy $400 billion of war products from us.

Oh, and my advice to you, Mr. President, is: If you’re going to pimp out the United States’ values, at least get the money up front because it’s unlikely the Saudis will ever buy those armaments and, if they do, they may wind up pointed at us. Why get the money up front? Because my guess is the prince’s word is as good as yours. Jus’ sayin’.

My friends, we are not in the Twilight Zone. We cannot make Trump’s behavior the new normal and overlook it because his latest outrage isn’t as outrageous as his previous outrage. My friends who read this and continue to support this man, you need to reassess whether your lives are really as better off as you think they are.

Because his tax cut is a failure, his economy (yes it’s his economy now) got a jump start from the last administration (whether you like that fact or not) and the market, as one indicator Trump liked pointing to for so long, has now lost all its yearlong gains. If he takes credit for its past strength, he also gets blame for the current declines. Sorry, time to put on your big boy pants and accept responsibility.

He did accept blame, kinda sorta, when he said he should have gone to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans’ Day. Duh. Okay…it’s true. Your fear of going into a war zone is one thing (and I’m not condoning that, you are, after all the Commander in Chief) but going to Arlington??? Who’s gonna attack you there? A bicyclist giving you the finger? Oh, that’s already happened, and…you survived!!!! Brave man, surrounded by buff men and women with automatic weapons.

The front page of the Washington Post today led with the President’s decision to not accuse the Crown Prince of ordering a murder (and don’t think that isn’t being applauded in dictators’ offices around the world today!). The Post had a sidebar on the mistreatment of Saudi women and the next story that caught your eye was the one about how the acting Attorney General – that man who of course never winked at the President regarding how he’d handle the special counsel’s probe into Russia mucking with our election and the President’s campaign’s possible collusion – a few years ago took over a dormant non-profit, raised right-wing dollars and became its only employee and then used it as a platform for right-wing attacks, and got paid more than a million bucks along the way. A shining example of an Attorney General who will defend Americans against crime!!

And, yes, I hear my Trump-supporting friends right now saying, "yeah, but what about..." I'm done listening to "what abouts" because we aren't talking about "them," we're talking about Trump. Stay on topic and then we can get to your what abouts later!!!

And, yes, I’m using exclamation points just as Trump did in his statement on the Saudi prince because, well, doesn’t that make it more emphatic, more true?

If you buy that, then let me end this way:

Trump continues to chop down the values this country was founded on, and every president since Washington has upheld. Until now!!!!!

And, for emphasis, !!!!!!!!

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Trump escalates attacks on US institutions

11/13/2018

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One of Donald Trump’s aims has been to reduce the public’s confidence in American institutions which have not just buttressed but are the reason America is America – freedom of the press and belief in our election system, for two.

In just about a week he escalated his game in those two areas by pulling the credentials of CNN’s Jim Accosta, and threatening to pull others, and by attacking the vote-counting still underway in Florida, where he enlisted to his cause that state’s governor who is also the GOP candidate for senator in the not-finished count.

The unfinished counts include ballots filed by military men and women serving overseas whose deadline for voting was a few days after the election. By stopping the counting on Election Night, as Trump has called for, he would disenfranchise those serving us overseas, in addition to not following the Florida laws which require recounts when certain closeness of the vote occurs. And right around when the country celebrated Veterans' Day.

Whether people support Trump or not, these two escalating attacks in his war on America cannot be supported. CNN this morning filed suit to get Accosta’s credential back. They will succeed even if that case goes to the Supreme Court, which I’m sure Trump goes to bed at night thinking he has in his pocket thanks to his two appointees to the court. He’s in for a rude awakening, I believe, because a 10-year-old could decide the cases based on our Constitution and laws in those two instances.

CNN, of course, is correct in going to court to get the return of the credentials. Whether people like Accosta’s style or not he asks the right questions, questions that irk Trump to the point of pulling his White House pass, which is unprecedented.

Calls for the White House press corps to protest that action by boycotting the “daily” press briefing are wrong. The press corps is there to report on the White House, whether they are lied to in those briefings or not. Their job is to report the results of the briefing and to point out any lies or errors. The craft of fact-checking has never been in such demand as it is the last two or three years with a candidate and now President who may lie more often than he tells the truth (the fact-checkers say that in effect because Trump has gone from lying about eight times a day to more than 30).

The attacks on our democratic election system are equally dangerous and cause for great alarm. The still-contested races in Florida (governor, senator, secretary of the state) are very close – not a surprise in Florida based on its track record. Its electorate splits literally down the middle. Trump, though, proclaimed victory Election Night largely on the appearance that his party gained several seats in the Senate. Those victories are peeling away, and Trump can’t have that. There has to be a reason “he” is being rejected and the reason cannot be him.

He tried to get the Arizona GOP senate candidate and state party types to protest a la Florida but they refused. And to the Republican Senate candidate’s credit, she gave gracious concession remarks yesterday when the counting ended and she went from winning to losing.

The biggest question in the Florida count is in Broward County, scene of the great Gore-Bush main event in 2000. That is a predominantly Democratic county so it’s no great surprise to most logical thinkers anyway that the Democrats will pick up votes there. But likely not enough votes to pull out wins.

With all the damning and complaining by Trump and Scott, most political observers will tell you that the likely winners in Florida are Republican Scott for Senate and the Republican for governor, just as it appeared on Election Night. They are close to their opponents but too far ahead to lose, based on trends of past elections.

As to Scott and Trump’s claims of phony ballots being involved not only has there been no proof at all provided by them, the governor’s own department of law has said it has seen no evidence.

In a related development – meaning lying -- Donald Trump Jr., who learned politics form his father, tweeted a story from a Miami TV station exclaiming there were 200,000 unqualified voters who voted in Florida!!

Trump Jr’s tweet:

“Amazing, but not shocking at all anymore. Nearly 200,000 Florida Voters May Not Be Citizens https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Nearly-200000-Florida-Voters-May-Not-Be-Citizens-151212725.html … via @nbc6”

Well, first, the story was from 2012 and they were talking about the 2012 elections, which was pointed out in an editor’s note on top of the posted story. Other corrections were in that Editor’s Note which read:

“The initial list of 180,000 names was whittled to 2,625, according to the Florida Department of State. The state then checked a federal database and stated it found 207 noncitizens on the rolls (not necessarily voting but on the rolls). That list was sent to county election supervisors to check and it also turned out to contain errors. An Aug. 1, 2012, state elections document showed only 85 noncitizens were ultimately removed from the rolls out of a total of about 12 million voters at that time.”

Like father like son, and the son has his sights set on a political future too! Joy.

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We ain't seen nothin' yet

11/8/2018

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For those handful of Americans who held to the thought that Donald J. Trump at some point would become kinder and gentler, yesterday should have convinced you otherwise.

Trump told a reporter the other night that among his “regrets” is that he hasn’t been “softer” in his approach to his public image.

Two days later day he held an hour-and-a-half press conference in which he:

threatened House Democrats with investigating them if they investigated him;
ordered a female reporter who is black to “sit down” when she rose to ask a question but he had hadn’t called on her;
told another female reporter who is black that her question to him was racially motivated, which it was not;
fired his Attorney General as the Department of Justice’s special counsel reportedly is getting ready to announce more indictments (possibly of Trump’s son);
installed a loyalist as AG temporarily who is on record saying that special counsel has overstepped his bounds;
not only mistreated another male reporter who is white as he asked difficult questions but later had that reporter’s White House pass pulled temporarily – something that to my recollection has never occurred before;
And, finally, had the White House put out a doctored video of the incident purportedly showing that reporter “laying hands on” the intern who tried to take away the microphone despite dozens of witnesses who said he never touched her. And, after watching the video many times myself, he did not touch her but did "accost" her by saying “excuse me, ma’am.” Still the White House doctored a video that shows he touched her despite video evidence to the contrary.

In fact, while some may have quarrels with that reporter’s, CNN’s Jim Acosta, hardline approach to this administration, in my watching him in briefings, while his questions are often not just difficult but quite accusatory, he has never been anything but polite with the press secretary or the president. And, he was equally polite to that intern grasping at the microphone and the White House guard who took away his pass (Acosta recorded that experience. I watched it too.). He even thanked the guard for his service.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you didn’t know it before, you saw it yesterday in public view. This President is not a democratic president, he is an authoritarian and is dangerous to this country’s values and laws. Freedom of the press is not an assumed right, it is written in the First Amendment. Attorney General Jeff Sessions didn’t resign as AG, he was fired, as Sessions made clear in his letter which began “At your (Trump’s) request,” he was submitting his resignation. Of course Trump didn't directly fire Sessions. He had his chief of staff do it.

Trump believes the AG is his attorney. The AG is the peoples' attorney, not the President's. He put in a Trump loyalist temporarily to fill that job (and take over the special counsel’s investigation) but he will nominate an equally malleable man or woman to take Sessions’ place permanently. That will open doors likely to many more odd applications of the AG's role and the Constitution's protections. He will, of course, expect the two men he appointed to the Court to back him up if and when matters come to them.

Trump keeps referring to the special counsel's probe as being “into whether there was collusion” and into him – it is not. It is an investigation into Russia’s mucking in our election in 2016. As some proof, multiple indictments have been filed against Russian individuals and countries not for contacts with Trump or his people, but into their hacking into our election. The special counsel's mandate is to, also, follow any other leads that may come up that could be illegal. The counsel can follow on his own or can parcel them out to U.S. attorneys, as he has.

All this after Trump said in his post-election press conference that Tuesday was a big win for him (not the party, him) when it was far from a big win for either. The Democrats took over the House, which is a major change for his second two years in the White House, increased governorships and won a couple hundred state legislative seats. Now, he will not only be challenged in how he conducts the nation’s business but he will be investigated by Democrats with subpoena power.

He can continue to bully with reporters, foes, friends and other countries but he won’t be as free to get away with it. His diehard supporters likely will think that is just the establishment in Washington picking on him more. But they will be holding this President accountable, as any president should be.

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Shutdown: Will we be reimbursed for the services lost?

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As the onion peels...

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Trump escalates attacks on US institutions

We ain't seen nothin' yet

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