;)
The Commentariat -- August 30, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Starting before 6 a.m., Trump let loose a barrage of nearly 90 tweets and retweets touting his chances for reelection, attacking Democratic state and local officials over ongoing protests and defending aggressive actions by his supporters in Portland, who appeared to be firing paintballs and pepper spray at onlookers from pickup trucks as they drove through the city streets Saturday night.'The big backlash going on in Portland cannot be unexpected after 95 days of watching and incompetent Mayor admit that he has no idea what he is doing,' Trump tweeted in response to one such video posted by New York Times reporter Mike Baker, who wrote that the Trump supporters 'shot me too.' Trump responded to a video from Saturday that appeared to show a cavalcade of hundreds of vehicles bearing pro-Trump signs and flags driving toward downtown Portland, writing: 'GREAT PATRIOTS!'... Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager for Biden, said Sunday morning that Trump has incited violence as further protests against police brutality sweep the country. 'He has encouraged his supporters to go out, to be aggressive,' she said on 'Fox News Sunday.'" ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump unleashed an especially intense barrage of Twitter messages overnight and Sunday morning, embracing fringe conspiracy theories claiming that the coronavirus death toll has been exaggerated and that street protests are actually an organized coup d'état against him.... In the weekend blast of Twitter messages, Mr. Trump also embraced a call to imprison Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, threatened to send federal forces against demonstrators outside the White House, attacked CNN and NPR, embraced a supporter charged with murder, mocked his challenger, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and repeatedly assailed the mayor of Portland, even posting the mayor's office telephone number so that supporters could call demanding his resignation."
~~~ Allan Smith of NBC News: "... Donald Trump praised a pro-Trump caravan of activists who moved into Portland, Oregon, on Saturday and whose presence there appeared to contribute to violent clashes in the city.... In a lengthy statement Sunday afternoon, 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned violence in Portland as 'unacceptable' but called on Trump to stop 'fanning the flames of hate and division in our society and using the politics of fear to whip up his supporters.... As a country, we must condemn the incitement of hate and resentment that led to this deadly clash,' Biden said, adding, 'What does President Trump think will happen when he continues to insist on fanning the flames of hate and division in our society and using the politics of fear to whip up his supporters? He is recklessly encouraging violence[.]'"
Chad Wolf Plays Dumb. Sanjana Karanth of the Huffington Post: "Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf claimed Sunday that he did not know the naturalization ceremony he led at the White House last week would be televised at the Republican National Convention later that day.... In an interview Sunday on ABC's 'This Week,' the DHS head argued that he believed Trump just genuinely happened to be leading a naturalization ceremony alongside him with cameras filming it at the White House during the week of the convention...."
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Sunday are here: "Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, who has been under pressure from the White House to speed coronavirus treatments, said in a newspaper interview that his agency would be willing to approve a coronavirus vaccine before Phase 3 clinical trials were complete if the agency found it 'appropriate' to do so."
Laurie McGinley, et al., of the Washington Post take a deep dive into how Trump pressured the FDA into turning an emergency authorization for a convalescent plasma Covid-19 treatment into a false political claim that the treatment amounted to a "very historic breakthrough."
** Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "The Justice Department secretly took steps in 2017 to narrow the investigation into Russian election interference and any links to the Trump campaign, according to former law enforcement officials, keeping investigators from completing an examination of President Trump's decades-long personal and business ties to Russia. The special counsel who finished the investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, secured three dozen indictments and convictions of some top Trump advisers, and he produced a report that outlined Russia's wide-ranging operations to help get Mr. Trump elected and the president's efforts to impede the inquiry. But law enforcement officials never fully investigated Mr. Trump's own relationship with Russia, even though some career F.B.I. counterintelligence investigators thought his ties posed such a national security threat that they took the extraordinary step of opening an inquiry into them. Within days, the former deputy attorney general Rod J. Rosenstein curtailed the investigation without telling the bureau, all but ensuring it would go nowhere." Read on. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I know some of you don't like incendiary terms, but Schmidt's report is a bombshell. I mean, "Ka-Boom." It turns out the Mueller probe was indeed a hoax but for a reason opposite to what Trump claims. The article is adapted from a book that will be published Tuesday. Edwin Rios of Mother Jones has a summary report here.
~~~~~~~~~~
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Carl Zimmer of the New York Times: "On Feb. 26, 175 executives at the biotech company Biogen gathered at a Boston hotel for the first night of a conference. At the time, the coronavirus seemed a faraway problem, limited mostly to China. But the virus was right there at the conference, spreading from person to person. A new study suggests that the meeting turned into a superspreading event, seeding infections that would affect tens of thousands of people across the United States and in countries as far as Singapore and Australia. The study, which the authors posted online on Tuesday and has not yet been published in a scientific journal, gives an unprecedented look at how far the coronavirus can spread given the right opportunities."
Black Lives Matter
Oregon. Trump Supporters Bring Deadly Violence to Portland. Mike Baker of the New York Times: "A man was shot and killed Saturday as a large group of supporters of President Trump traveled in a caravan through downtown Portland, Ore., which has seen nightly protests for three consecutive months. The pro-Trump rally drew hundreds of trucks full of supporters into the city. At times, Trump supporters and counterprotesters clashed on the streets, with people shooting paintball guns from the beds of pickup trucks and protesters throwing objects back at them. A video that purports to be of the shooting, taken from the far side of the street, showed a small group of people in the road outside what appears to be a parking garage. Gunfire erupts, and a man collapses in the street. The man who was shot and killed was wearing a hat with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a far-right group based in Portland that has clashed with protesters in the past." ~~~
~~~ Faiz Siddiqui of the Washington Post: "Earlier in the evening, skirmishes between pro-Trump rallygoers and BLM supporters in downtown Portland left multiple people injured. The sparring groups threw punches at one another and hurled debris between vehicles, and some groups broke into open fighting in the street. Trump supporters in trucks were at one point blocked in by the Black Lives Matter activists, and began exiting their vehicles, precipitating the violence. Blood was streaming down the face of one Trump supporter who had challenged an activist to a fight." An Oregonian story is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Although one might think the shooter was part of the anti-Trump crowd since the victim was a Trump supporter, none of the reports hints of that. It's quite possible that the shooter was among the Trump supporters. But there's no way to know right now.
Wisconsin. Jill Colvin of the AP: "... Donald Trump will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, amid fury over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in the back, which left the 29-year-old Black man paralyzed. White House spokesman Judd Deere told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday that Trump will be meeting with law enforcement officers and 'surveying' some of the damage from recent protests that turned destructive. The visit is certain to exacerbate tensions in the city, where a crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside a courthouse Saturday to denounce police violence. Trump has been running his reelection campaign on a law-and-order mantle, denouncing protesters as 'thugs' while voicing his support for police." ~~~
~~~ "100% Real." Mrs. McCrabbie: By contrast, here's one thing Joe Biden did last week in response to the killing of Jacob Blake. Clare Proctor of the Chicago Sun-Times (Aug. 26): "Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., talked to Jacob Blake's parents and one of his sisters for about an hour Wednesday, his father told the Sun-Times. Biden brought nothing but 'love, admiration, caring' and empathy to the phone call, Jacob Blake's father said. He added that Biden told them he understands what it's like to undergo family tragedies -- Biden's first wife and daughter died in a car crash in 1972, and Biden's son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. 'All he did was offer his support,' the elder Jacob Blake said. 'He was 100% real.'" Donald Trump has not contacted the family.
** Bill Conroy in Medium: "The Trump administration's deployment of federal law enforcers in Portland, Oregon ... has resulted in abuses of authority and the unnecessary use of violence against peaceful protesters, journalists and observers. What has not been reported widely in the media, however, is the fact that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unit that is coordinating the 'crowd control' effort -- an agency called the Federal Protective Service (FPS) -- is composed largely of contract security personnel. Those contractors are being furnished to FPS by major private-sector security companies like [Erik Prince's] Blackwater corporate descendant Triple Canopy as well as dozens of other private security firms. In fact, FPS spends more than $1 billion a year on these contract security guards who are authorized to conduct crowd control at federal properties, such as those in Portland. And, based on available photographic and document evidence, it appears those private contractors are now part of the federal force[.]" --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So, many of those "federal law enforcement officials" aren't really federal officials after all, assuming Conroy's reporting is accurate. No wonder they were keeping their identities secret when protesters asked who they were. They're mercenaries given the power to attack Americans. As someone less delicate than I might say, "This is some scary shit." Because it is.
Arkansas. Nicole Acevedo of NBC News: "An Arkansas sheriff resigned Friday after coming under fire over a leaked racist recording. Sheriff Todd Wright of Arkansas County, about 85 miles southeast of Little Rock, resigned effective immediately on Friday during a public meeting on the incident at the county's Quorum Court, which is its governing legislative body. The meeting, which was recorded live and posted on Facebook, was held after a local news outlet, the Pine Bluff Commercial, identified Wright as the man heard in a five-minute audio recording delivering a racist rant. According to the local outlet, Wright is heard on the recording, which has been widely shared on social media, becoming upset that a woman he was with spoke to a Black person in a store. Throughout the recording, the woman refers to the man as 'Todd.' The man in the recording uses a racial slur against Black people about nine times. Wright apologized at the court meeting for any offense his recorded remarks may have caused...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: "... any offense his remarks may have caused." Because Wright is not sure anyone would be offended by a racist rant, but you know, just in case. After all, the "woman he was with spoke to a Black person," so apparently he figured a racist diatribe was reasonable.
Presidential Race, Etc.
Katie Glueck & Sydney Ember of the New York Times: Joe Biden :took implicit aim at [GOP mis]characterization [of his positions] in his own remarks on Saturday as he swiped at Mr. Trump's calls for 'law and order' and ripped the president's record as commander in chief. Mr. Biden's comments came at a virtual gathering of the National Guard Association of the United States, a group he addressed while speaking against a backdrop of American flags, with a flag pin affixed to his suit lapel. Civil and military relations have been 'tested lately,' Mr. Biden argued, alluding to Mr. Trump's efforts earlier this summer to use federal law enforcement to 'dominate' demonstrators protesting police brutality.... Republicans in recent days have seized on renewed unrest in American cities to argue falsely that Mr. Biden wants to defund the police, an approach he opposes. 'I promise you, as president, I'll never put you in the middle of politics, or personal vendettas,' Mr. Biden said. 'I'll never use the military as a prop or as a private militia to violate rights of fellow citizens. That's not law and order....' ... On Saturday, [Biden] also got some cover on the left from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who at once praised Mr. Biden's candidacy and policy positions and stressed the ways he and Mr. Biden 'disagree on a number of issues.'... Mr. Sanders ... went out of his way to present Mr. Biden as a moderate."
Trump & the Trumpies Lie Again & Again -- Because It Works. Eli Yokley of the Morning Consult: "... Donald Trump needed a convention bounce -- and he got one, emerging from the Republican National Convention with an improved standing against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, fueled by gains among white voters and those in the suburbs, though he still trails the former vice president nationwide. A new Morning Consult poll conducted Friday that asked 4,035 likely voters which candidate they would pick found Biden leading Trump by 6 percentage points, 50 percent to 44 percent. It marked a 4-point improvement from his standing heading into the convention on Aug. 23, when Biden led 52 percent to 42 percent. Friday's poll had a 2-point margin of error, compared with a 1-point margin of error for responses gathered among 4,810 likely voters on Aug. 23. The movement stands in contrast to voters' reaction to the Democratic National Convention held the previous week, when Biden's lead over Trump went statistically unchanged....
** Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: Donald Trump claims he will restore "law & order," but even as he accepted the Republican nomination, he did so in front of a bunch of lawless men & women -- his acolytes who were violating the Hatch Act. ";'If you want a vision of your life under a Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins of Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago,' Trump warned earlier.... Of course ... [this was] Trump's America.... It's true that there has been violence and looting in some American cities.... But by any objective measure the bigger risk comes from right-wing extremists.... The anti-fascist protesters known as antifa have committed violent acts but aren't known to have ever killed anyone, while right-wing extremists have killed hundreds."
Vote as If Democracy Depends on It. Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "Increasingly, Europeans speak of the need for 'containment' of the United States if Trump is re-elected, the term coined by the U.S. diplomat George Kennan to define America's Cold War policy toward the Communist Soviet Union. That would be a shocking development, except that nothing is shocking any longer.... Europeans know how this goes. Viktor Orban, the rightist Hungarian prime minister, has established a template for the authoritarian system Trump would pursue if re-elected: neutralize an independent judiciary, demonize immigrants, claim the 'people's will' overrides constitutional checks and balances, curtail a free media, exalt a mythologized national heroism, and ultimately, like Orban or Vladimir Putin or Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, secure a form of autocratic rule that retains a veneer of democracy while skewing the contest sufficiently to ensure it can yield only one result. In fact, of course, Trump has long since started down this road."
Dynastic Dreams. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "With her blond mane rippling, [Ivanka Trump] was full-on MAGA [at Thursday night's fantasy convention], shoving the amped-up Don Jr. and fortissimo Kimberly Guilfoyle out of the way and positioning herself as the heir to her father's political dynasty. The night was so Borgia, it made sense to end it with opera.... The old joke that if Trump became president, he'd slap his name on the White House almost came true during the egomania jubilee, when fireworks spelled out the name 'Trump.'... In New Hampshire on Friday night, the president considered his dynastic possibilities. 'I want to see the first woman president also,' he said, but called Kamala Harris 'not competent.' 'They're all saying, "We want Ivanka,"' he said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jack Tapper & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has informed the House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence that it'll no longer be briefing on election security issues, a senior administration official told CNN. It'll provide written updates, the official said. The official added that other agencies supporting election security, including the Department of Justice, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, intend to continue briefing Congress.... The abrupt announcement is a change of course that runs counter to the pledge of transparency and regular briefings on election threats by the intelligence community. Last month, the top intelligence official for election security, Bill Evanina, reiterated a commitment to providing 'robust intelligence-based briefings on election security' to key stakeholders that include Congress, along with the political parties and presidential campaigns." Mrs. McC: There's a reason for this, and I doubt it's an innocent one. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Fandos & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "... the change drew complaints from lawmakers in both parties who worried the move would block their ability to question and test intelligence assessments from the executive branch at a time when they are crucial to ensuring that foreign powers do not undermine the results.... Democrats, who fear Mr. Trump's appointees have moved to color intelligence assessments for his political benefit, were particularly furious.... 'This is a shocking abdication of its lawful responsibility to keep the Congress currently informed, and a betrayal of the public's right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy,' [Speaker Nancy Pelosi & Rep. Adam Schiff] wrote.... Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who votes with the Democrats, said dry written briefings never had the breadth of information that a full question-and-answer session had. 'It is an outrage,' Mr. King said in an interview. 'It smacks of a cover-up of information about foreign interference in our elections....'" A Politico story is here. ~~~
~~~ Edward Moreno of the Hill: "Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), acting chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said congressional oversight is facing a 'historic crisis' after the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, notified Congress on Saturday that the intelligence community will be scaling back in-person congressional briefings on election security."
Blake Ellis & Melanie Hicken of CNN: "Jones 1 Inc. was approved for a loan of between $150,000 and $350,000 at the end of April through the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was set up to help struggling small businesses save jobs during the pandemic. The company, which owns a small Shell gas station and travel center in Needles, California, went on to lease 'six beautiful Trump billboards' near the border of California and Arizona.... Lamar Advertising, which leased the space to Jones 1 Inc. ... declined to provide the pricing of the specific billboards. But if they stay up through the election, which the local Republican group that inspired the billboards said is the plan, the costs could range from around $30,000 to around $120,000[.]" --s
Peter Jamison & Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "Kanye West's campaign is facing allegations that voters were deceived by signature gatherers circulating paperwork to qualify the rapper-entrepreneur for the Virginia ballot, the latest setback for a stumbling presidential bid that also is facing problems in other states. Two signed affidavits were submitted Friday to the State Board of Elections from registered voters who said they were duped into signing up to serve as electors for West in Virginia. In a separate account, an Alexandria woman said Saturday that a man tried to obtain her signature on one of West's petitions under false pretenses. It is unclear how the accusations ... could affect his status." ~~~
~~~ Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Rapper Kanye West is suing the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) to get his name on the presidential ballot in the state this fall. West's lawsuit, filed in Brown County, is asking the local court there to rule that his nominating papers were submitted on time and to ensure that he and his running mate, Michelle Tidwell, appear on the ballot in November. The WEC voted by a 5-1 margin last week to turn away the rapper's petition after he missed the deadline to file his papers to appear on Wisconsin's presidential ballot by mere minutes." ~~~
~~~ AP (Aug. 27): "Rapper Kanye West sued Ohio's election chief Wednesday in an effort to be placed on the November presidential ballot after the Secretary of State deemed him unqualified as an independent candidate. West's emergency filing against Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose comes days after the election's chief rejected the nearly 15,000 signatures and other paperwork the rapper submitted earlier this month in an attempt to run for president, citing mismatched information on the signature-gathering documents."
Massachusetts Congressional Race. Edward Moreno of the Hill: "The University of Massachusetts - Amherst College Democrats apologized to Democratic Congressional candidate Alex Morse for the 'distress' and 'homophobic attacks' triggered by the letter they released earlier this month alleging inappropriate behavior. In a letter published by the school's student newspaper from UMass Amherst's College Democrats chapter, Morse, a progressive running against House Ways and Means Chair >Richard Neal (D-Mass.), was accused of using his status as Mayor of Holyoke, Mass., and a lecturer at the institution to seek relationships with students. However, The Intercept reported that the Massachusetts Democratic Party had discussed with the College Democrats ways to damage Morse's campaigns as early as October, 2019."
David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Trump traveled to the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast on Saturday to assess the damage from Hurricane Laura and to promise federal support for the region while also using the trip to try to show empathy toward those dealing with a disaster.... Trump toured damage in Louisiana alongside local officials, including Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) and Republicans from the state's congressional delegation, before heading to Orange, Tex., just across the border, where he was greeted by Gov. Greg Abbott (R).... Trump mostly kept to listening to and interacting with local leaders, while avoiding the type of overt political attacks he often makes during public appearances...."
Daniel Politi of Slate: "... Donald Trump on Saturday stepped up his attacks on his niece, as well as others who wrote tell-all books about him, shortly after she revealed new recordings of his sister, this time criticizing his children. 'About the only way a person is able to write a book on me is if they agree that it will contain as much bad "stuff" as possible, much of which is lies,' the president wrote aboard Air Force One. 'Even whether it's ... an unstable niece, who was now rightfully shunned, scorned and mocked her entire life, and never even liked by her own very kind & caring grandfather!'... In his tweets Saturday against those who have written books that criticize him, Trump also named his former national security adviser John Bolton and journalist Bob Woodward. Trump referred to Bolton as 'a dumb warmonger' and Woodward as 'a social pretender.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That's funny, Donald, because a week ago, in response to an earlier release of taped recordings of conversations between Mary Trump & Maryanne Trump Barry, you said, "Every day it's something else, who cares." Who cares? You do. BTW, if you think the difference is that this time Auntie Maryanne was criticizing Trump's children, well, no. Trump does not defend Eric & Ivanka.
Elisabeth Egan of the New York Times: "Here's a look at what readers will learn on [Stephanie Winston] Wolkoff's [book Melania and Me. The first lady really doesn't care. Wolkoff quotes one of Mrs. Trump's oft-repeated lines: 'Pleasing anyone else is not my priority.'... Mrs. Trump launched Operation Block Ivanka to make sure the president's older daughter didn't steal the spotlight at the inauguration.... Mrs. Trump demanded renovations to the White House, but didn't always get her way.... The president won't eat off a plate that has been touched by a friend.... Wolkoff cites two instances when Mrs. Trump broke ranks with the president: first, on the issue of bathrooms for transgender people.... Later, she chides Mr. Trump for lifting the ban on the import of big-game trophies from Africa -- a move he made in response to pressure from his sons.... Mrs. Trump enjoys 'her game of hide-and-seek with the American public.'" ~~~
~~~ Daniel Lippman of Politico also lists some takeaways from the Winston Wolkoff book, many of which are different from Egan's.
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Reader Comments (11)
At the scene of climate change spawn, hurricane Laura's devastation. Then on to Kenosha to see what his racism has wrought.
Looks like the Pretender will be playing proud president, surveying his work, for the next few weeks...
On the emerging portraits of Melanie:
?I don't care. Do you?"
What vapidity!
@Ken Winkes: Excellent point re: Louisiana & Kenosha. Trump did not directly cause either disaster, but he has exacerbated both. Trump warns of a made-up dystopian "Biden's America," but the fact is that the U.S. (and in the case of climate change, the world) has suffered mightily because of Trump.
There is no way that Kanye West is voluntarily bringing lawsuits to each state that has denied his ballot initiative. The only other guy with such a ferocious lawsuit cannon is his BFF Dronald Drumpf. If someone hacked Kanye's phone or WhatsApp, we'd find extensive collusion with Republican operatives. But no one would care.
Maybe I'm naïve, but I don't see Ivanka as a serious threat to be President. She's a natural follower, sucking up all the grift in the shadows as her shameless father breaks open the corruption. She couldn't stand the heat of the spotlight and I'm not convinced she would want to actually be held accountable for anything. However, she has been studying Mike Pence's toadery every single day. She will be on a Republican ticket as the happy blonde Vice President wingwoman for some other white male asshole.
Aww. Poor Marco Rubio. After three and a half years of administration* stonewalling, plenty of which he took part in, he’s unhappy they are not cooperating with him.
THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT!
"Trump is like the Bellman in Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark”: “I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true.” China would no more own Biden’s United States than Trump’s United States owns Greenland...and [in a world] where presidential falsehoods repeated thrice or more, are "true."–- Roger Cohen
That Europeans would have to view the U.S. as a "Containment" as we viewed Russia during the Cold War if Trump wins a second term is so disheartening. To think we have stooped this low–-to think we have let this happen in a country whose flag always flew so high–-shows how fragile and vulnerable we really are. We were never that shining city on a hill but we sure as hell made a dent; we were never free of racism, ignorance, prejudice, superiority–-all the ills we have grabbled with forever, but we were making progress––I really believe we were making inroads toward a safer, saner existence––––––then along came a man down an elevator who took US down a path so laded with debris and rocky terrain that it is going to take years to clean up this mess. And if he does win? No more three strikes––the game is over.
Ode to Melania
~~~~~~~~~~~
Be bold, Be best
Be, always, for yourself
& never, ever rest on those laurels
you will, sadly, never, ever get.
Baleful observation: we could very easily get four more years of authoritarian rule by a narcissistic maggot and his army of thugs.
If Trump has learned anything over the last 3 years or so, it’s that laws do not apply to him, to his party, or to his supporters. He breaks laws left and right and dares anyone to stop him. Who will? I don’t ask “Who can”, because Congress can. But Mitch McConnell will not allow any law, any shred of decency, civility, or distant thought of morality to halt his party’s assault on democracy and Americans who choose not to goosestep along with them. Look for far more abuses of power, up to and including armed Trump brown shirts threatening polling places and the outright blatant theft of the election.
He believes himself to be a king. He acts accordingly.
"because congress can"
But under the US system 116th congress demonstrates to me that the house is far inferior to the senate. The senate, allied with the president, is well-nigh a dictatorship in action. With the power to name the judiciary, the military leaders, and the AG whatever restraints remain must drive trump more insane than he was 4 years ago. Absolute power is soooo close.
However wise and wonderful your framers were, they left you with a deeply flawed political structure.
Cowichan,
Yup.
The disappointed monarchists among the Founders left us a number of Constitutional time bombs--and the Pretender, Moscow Mitch, capitalism, and our changing demographics have set them off.
"The former deputy attorney general maneuvered to keep investigators from completing an inquiry into whether the president’s personal and financial links to Russia posed a national security threat."
Right on, Marie–- Ka-Boom! Better than a bombshell––more like an Enola Gay Day. And Rosenstein has no comment? Wow–-and we are learning about this now???????????
Every. Damn. Day: more horrors, more corruption, more blasphemy, more terror, more twitter blahblahblah-- I am far more pessimistic than I was two weeks ago, having seen what the entire GOP structure is capable of. Moscow Mitch has moved to #1 with me-- those cold, cruel eyes say a lot about him. Note that Nancy offered to drop the price of a rescue bill, and Tea Party Mark pretended to talk with her, but refused action. Now we have coked-up trumpies in trucks, in there to satisfy their sexual urges with bigger and better trucks and flags and guns, and apparently they are okay with using them. I am not even bothering to be "sad" for whomever someone shot-- my compassion supply is used up. Presidunce Doofus and 90 tweets? I guess he doesn't have any actual work to do. Or none that he recognizes. That's no surprise-- he's never actually worked a day in his miserable life.
Concluding with no intell briefings for the oversight committees of Congress is par for the course. They don't do anything in this administration that is within the bounds of usefulness. So what if Russia is involved...So what if Dumpster is in bed with them and has been for years...wasn't it the GOP that used to worry insanely about "commonists" from the USSR ending up in the US...?? I guess they don't care anymore. Let the poisonings continue, maybe here!!