Are “we the people” simply at the point where we have to just accept that the president of the United States is LYING almost every time words come from his mouth?  Today I read in the Washington Post where Trump was saying (or “tweeting”) how ridiculous it is to measure success for a president in the first 100 days.  This, while at the same time he’s pressuring Congress to come up with some kind of solution to the “repeal and replace” of “Obamacare” (The Affordable Care Act) in the next week – you know, before his 100th day in office along with tax reform AND somehow keeping the government “running.”  I still don’t believe he has any idea what’s really in the “health care” bill (if there still is one) despite saying it’s “really, really good” or that he has a clue about how the government runs in general.  At some point the members of Congress who share his party affiliation are going to get REALLY tired of all this.  The LYING is endless and the INCOMPETENCE is suffocating our government’s ability to function.

We’re days away from a “government shutdown” and Trump’s busy trying to create a mirage that would support his previous statement (LIE) that his administration has been the most successful administration in its first 100 days in American history.  This man is in the process of destroying the republican party and it’s really interesting watching how those who’s jobs are now on the line – the republicans up for re-election in 2018 are responding.  Virtually all republicans are facing such brutal town halls each time they recess that I can see two possibilities.  First, like my representative, they won’t have town halls.  She, Jaimie Herrera Beutler, sends out robo calls to people (evidently who’ve been) in contact with her (which would include me) inviting them to “virtual” town halls.  Huge conference calls which allow her to avoid facing the actual people she represents.  Now, I have empathy for Ms Beutler.  She’s a nice, honorable representative.  The problem is she’s a republican and is expected to vote with republicans on EVERYTHING.  Recently, the local republicans attempted to “censure” her because out of something like 500 votes she voted against the “sheep herders” 5 times.  Having even 1% of a conscience is unacceptable to republicans – and, then she would have to face the real constituents who are being harmed by the right wing agenda being pushed by Trump, McConnell, and Ryan.  it’s a real dilemma for her.  The second way they could avoid the Town Halls would be to cancel the recesses.  However, if you know how many days each year they work, you know that option is beyond absurd.  But, I digress.

So, here we go again – fighting to prevent the right wing billionaires and the the representatives in Congress they’ve purchased with BILLIONS in “investments” (thanks to the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision) from stripping 14 MILLION Americans, in the first year, of health care insurance (Medicaid), and an additional 10 MILLION over the next four or five years by passing “Trumpcare.”  In addition, Seniors will again be subject to the so-called “doughnut hole” for prescription drugs (which, Medicare can’t negotiate prices on thanks to republicans and their devotion to “big pharma” during GW Bush’s administration) AND the top 2% of American earners will gain almost a TRILLION dollars in TAX CUTS over the next 10 years (yes, close to a TRILLION) – with over half of that going to the top 1%.  These tax cuts are designed to set up further “tax cuts” (aka “revising the tax code”) which will be aimed at destroying Social Security.  I’m pretty sure even all the white 70 somethings who voted for Trump will not like that one.  (full disclosure – I’m white, I’m soon to be 70, but there’s NO WAY IN HELL I would vote for Trump!  I’ve always been “independent” [go Bernie] but the republicans have tilted so far “right” that these days I’m usually simply voting AGAINST them)

What bothers me the MOST about Trump and his “first 100 days” is watching how the republicans are dealing with him.  Many were in the “never Trump” movement as he masterfully manipulated the media on his way to garnering the nomination.  There was a reason people called the 17 “hopefuls” the “clown car.”  No one fully understood the level of intrusion from the Russians prior to the election (even today – we’re all waiting to find out about the level of Trump’s collusion with the Russians) and it still seems unthinkable that James Comey would have interceded just days before the election – effectively swinging the “undecideds” toward Trump.  FiveThirtyEight.com said, with an air of certainty (they’re the most trusted “pollers” in America) that Comey’s announcement that the Clinton “email scandal” was “reopened” is the reason Trump is president.  Yet, all the self-righteous republicans who wanted nothing to do with Trump after the “Access Hollywood” tape was publicized (Paul Ryan, Jason Chaffetz, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Lindsey Graham to name a few) have “fallen in line” for various reasons – not surprisingly all seemingly self serving.

Ryan apparently is willing to support anyone who’s stupid enough to sign the legislation he produces – ie the recent “health care” bill – aka “Trumpcare” or “Ryancare” – neither of them wants their name attached to it – that was a HUGE tax cut disguised as “health care.”  The impending “tax overhaul” will be an attempt to give even MORE tax cuts to the top 1% (his benefactors – somehow he’s convinced the people in his district that he’s working for them) AND, more importantly from Ryan’s “history,” to FINALLY undermine the SOCIAL SECURITY system he’s been trying to undo for years.  If republicans manage to get a “tax overhaul” through congress without Trump showing his tax returns (for the previous 10 years or so) people will be looking for Houdini.  (I really hope and believe democrats won’t allow this to happen)  Something tells me that when it becomes apparent that Trump’s guarantee that he will  protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid was simply one in a LONG LIST of LIES and the “tax overhaul” is aimed directly at destroying SOCIAL SECURITY the “you know what” is going to hit the fan.  Even republican “white guys” aren’t going to like that one!  Then there’s Jason Chaffetz.

Jason Chaffetz was the guy who has been busy trying to ruin Hillary Clinton for as long as I can remember as head of the House “oversight” committee.  The Benghazi hearings were absurd on their face – and, then when I listened to the entire 11 hour of testimony (well, almost all of it) of Mrs. Clinton before the committee (after 3 years of harassment) I fully realized what a political side show this had all been all along.  She proved herself very knowledgeable (and honorable) during the testimony and the committee members (republicans) exposed themselves as political hacks and ill-informed ones at that as they repeatedly made absurd accusations and attacks toward Mrs. Clinton – to which, she responded favorably (to her) each time.  Of course, she made them all look very bad and that was the end of a three year witch hunt designed, as Rep. McCarthy admitted, to reduce Mrs. Clinton’s poll numbers.

Inadvertently, the republicans in Congress were working in tandem with the Russians who were trying to do the very same thing in their intrusion into the 2016 election.  The anticipated outcome of their meddling (they didn’t believe Trump could win) was to damage Mrs. Clinton and destabilize our political process – which is exactly why they (along with Trump) were pushing the “rigged election” narrative.  Of course, they were correct – the election was rigged – because of them, their collusion with the Trump campaign – AND the voter suppression laws passed in several key states that ultimately went to Trump by razor thin  margins.  Chaffetz famously said he couldn’t support Trump and then look his daughter in the face and defend that choice after hearing the “Access Hollywood” tapes.  It took him about two weeks to do a 180 degree “about face,” and – after hearing about all the ethics questions regarding Trump once Trump took office – Chaffetz did exactly ZERO investigating.  I guess Russian collusion and violating the emoluments clause of the constitution aren’t enough to “trigger” Chaffetz’ “oversight.” Now he’s quitting “to spend more time with his family.”  (I’m guessing that means a high paying lobbying job)

Obviously, I could go on and on with this stuff – but, to me the most egregious “flip flops” of republicans regarding Trump come from the dynamic duo of John McCain and Lindsey Graham.  These two guys are not “hidden” war mongers but I was somewhat encouraged that their knowledge of the “real” Vladimir Putin might put them at the forefront of any movement in Congress to end the Trump nightmare prematurely.  However, it appears that all it took for Trump to change their minds was dropping a few bombs and threatening nuclear war with North Korea to get them on the Trump bandwagon.  Graham was “giddy” over all this.  Seriously, I just keep shaking my head as I continue attempting to figure out what has happened to the nation I love.  A White Nationalist in the “White House” is a bad dream that I thought was an impossibility (just as I never thought a person of color would be elected president in my lifetime).  Apparently, it’s going to take James Comey – who is largely responsible for the Trump administration – to end the Trump administration (unless, “we the people” will have to endure this for almost another three and a half miserable years. (I can’t believe I’m typing this – but, GW Bush is looking better to me all the time).  I’m sure McCain and Graham have signaled to Trump the way to avoid accountability regarding the Russian scandal is via war mongering.  Yikes!

I can guarantee you that as the Trump “ship” starts to “sink” – and, it’s inevitable – all these republicans who jumped on after he was nominated – or, some waited until he “won” the election (with THREE MILLION fewer votes than Mrs. Clinton) – will be jumping off the “ship” in record numbers.  I don’t think even they want to stand for re-election after supporting someone who colluded with Vladimir Putin during the election.  If the video of Trump in Russia that was mentioned in the “dossier” published by Buzzfeed actually exists I have to wonder if that would be enough to turn all these self righteous republicans back toward their “family values.”  Obviously, the “Access Hollywood” video only got their attention for a few days – and, with the help of the Russians, Trump was able to turn our media’s attention back to Mrs. Clinton’s “egregious” email “scandal.”  It still shocks me that our media (and, many voters) were more turned off to Mrs.Clinton using a private email server than Trump’s admission of grabbing numerous women by their “p@#^ies.”

Today, I started thinking – with the help of my son’s advice prior to the election (he said that maybe we need Trump in the White House in order to get our race to the bottom over more quickly – or something to that effect) – that maybe it was better for Trump to “win” than Mrs. Clinton (who, again, got 3 MILLION more votes than Trump).  I’ve been trying to imagine what it would be like watching the republican congress dealing with a President Clinton.  I’m convinced they would have continued blocking any Supreme Court nominee AND we’d be almost assured a “government shutdown” next week instead of it may happen with Trump at the helm.  Plus, the republican’s inability to actually “govern” would still be hidden behind all the constant obstruction tactics.  Right now, we’re getting a “ringside view” of their incompetence and their lack of ability to actually run the government (I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be able to “get away with” blaming President Obama for their incompetence).  GW Bush had Dick Cheney – who, despite ALL the negative thoughts that come to my mind when I read or hear that name, knew how the government functions plus, at that time, democrats were still willing to work across the isle.

Now, we have a president who’s surrounded himself with people who have no idea of how the government functions and we have a Congress that is being run by people whose expertise is OBSTRUCTION and that’s all they know.  At this point, I believe most democrats are willing to sit back and watch as the republicans self implode.  The problem with all this is the amount of damage, both internally and internationally, Trump and his surrogates are doing to “we the people” and our nation and how will we be able to “fix” it.  The list is long, but my emphasis here is Trump (and his surrogates) willingness to LIE about virtually EVERYTHING and the republicans in Congress willingness to go along with what they KNOW are a bunch of LIES.  (I’m talking LIES not “spin”) Pundits are actually beginning to call the Lies – LIES (instead of “misstatements” or “alternative facts” or “spinning”).  I know many people say, “all politicians lie” but Trump and his surrogates are in a “league of their own.”  Government can’t function if you can’t believe a word coming from the mouths of the “leaders.”

If “we the people” EVER get to the point where we accept what’s happening right now to be OK then America’s place in the world will be turned upside down.  The people observing us from afar are not stupid and they see what’s happening.  Yes, there’s a right wing neo-nazi movement in Europe (and, America) that has gained “steam” beyond any reasonable person’s  imagination, but I can only hope it causes a backlash that pushes it right back to the “fringe” where it belongs.  What’s interesting is that this movement is being orchestrated by Vladimir Putin and the Russian “oligarchs” right out in the “open,” and WAY TOO MANY American “leaders” are either willing to “go along” or “look the other way.”  The best time to stop this movement is RIGHT NOW and, in America (and other places like France, for example) the best WAY to stop it is at the ballot box.  France has that opportunity in a couple of weeks; to block a Trump/Putin “clone” and the United States can put the “brakes” to this phenomenon in 2018 by voting the republican majorities from Congress and letting Trump know that if he makes it in office until 2020 he’ll, unlike President Obama, be a one term president.

Trump may get stopped by our constitution prior to 2020 (should the republicans in Congress decide to honor their oath to uphold it), but the people like Mike Pense, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell will remain after Trump gets impeached – should that happen – and, they’ve proven themselves of the same ilk.  (liars) Again, if “we the people” accept pathological lying as “normal” in our leaders, it won’t be long before America becomes unrecognizable.  The responsibility to stop this unbelievable assault on our basic values lies with the voters. (pun NOT intended) If “progressives” (liberals) continue to sit on their butts at election time – well, like the old saying says – “you get what you pay for.”  No matter how you think – (yes, even if you somehow like Trump) if eligible you should vote.  If you’re an American and you believe the words coming from Trump and his surrogates you’re likely watching Fox “news” and you’re being duped.  Fact check from multiple sources!

Final thought: As I’ve said many times on this site – rights and privileges are much easier to lose than to regain once you lose them.  It’s time to say “enough already.”  It took a generation to pass and refine Social Security, for example, and Trump and Ryan could, conceivably, undermine it in a period of weeks – damage that would be EXTREMELY difficult to undo.  Trust me, Wall Street will do almost anything to get their collective “hands” on the Social Security trust fund.  Paul Ryan has had Medicare in the “cross-hairs” for years – watch that one as well.  Again, Trump and company can do massive damage to America in a short period of time if “we the people” allow it.

I recently read a book titled “Manufacturing Consent (Content)” by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman that was written during the Reagan years and focused on what they call a “propaganda” model of media coverage in America.  I couldn’t help but think of their premise as I heard that almost every media outlet in the United States gave Donald Trump a “thumbs up” on his ordering air strikes into Syria – a sovereign nation.  Of course, Trump warned the Russians (and Syrians) that the strike was coming so, in essence, it was some kind of attempt to “send a message” without really causing any significant damage in the process.  Apparently no one was killed and something along the lines of 20 aircraft were damaged or destroyed.  The cost to “we the people” in those oh so precious tax dollars that our Congress is continually fighting over (unless it relates to the military) was something in the neighborhood of $60,000,000 (that’s correct, $60 MILLION).

Whatever the “message” was, I certainly hope it was “sent,” because I can only imagine what domestic program will need to be cut to pay for the replacement of those missiles.  (and, one thing we can all be assured of is that they will be replaced and the new ones will be more costly.)  From everything I’ve been able to see/listen to in the past couple of days, just as I had suspected, this was a knee jerk reaction to Bashar Al-Assad’s alleged gassing his own people (again).  These are the same people (the Syrians) that just a few days prior to the attack the Trump administration announced that would determine whether or not Al-Assad stays in power.  Now, please don’t get me wrong here – I’m not in the camp that the United States has any right to be determining who’s in power in various countries around the world.  That seems to be a bad habit of American leaders and it doesn’t seem to be a very productive one.  For example, I believe you could make a very strong (if not undeniable) case that the reason Syria is such a mess goes back to the GW Bush/Dick Cheney/Donald Rumsfeld et al deciding to do “regime change” in Iraq.  Seriously, how did that one work out.

Of course, there’s Iran back in the early 50’s, there’s Chile in the 70’s, Panama, Indonesia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Viet Nam, Libya, and Iraq just to name a few of the countries where the U.S. initiated “regime change.”  We always seem to cloak our corporate led intentions with a series of cliche’s that always have the “ring” of “human rights” or “national security” in them.  And, when you read the aforementioned book “Manufacturing Consent” it’s not hard to understand that “we the people” are constantly blocked from knowing what our government is actually “up to” or the true reasons they’re doing it.  I’m convinced that just as Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld had no real “plan” on what they would do after toppling Saddam Hussein (one of the reasons used to justify their invasion was that he “gassed his own people”) neither does Trump have a cogent “plan” in regard to Syria.  I listened to Trump speak at an impromptu press conference today and all I could think about was how people around the world are using very uncomplimentary terms when commenting on Trump’s intellect.  He is (somehow) the president, so I’m trying to be nice here and you can find the derogatory terms elsewhere – but, suffice it to say that I feel a sense of embarrassment each time I listen to him speak.  Maybe I just hear him at the wrong time, but it’s always that he’s either lying or saying something that he’s ill informed on and I just shudder at the thought of him in the “White House” for another 45 months.

I really don’t believe he will make it the full term.  There’s enough coming out about the Russian “connection” to his campaign that leads me to believe there’s something there – or, his administration wouldn’t be lying about their contacts with the Russians and trying to cover up what actually happened.  The “dots” (that the investigators are trying to connect) are leading in a very “dark” direction.  The Russian government – Putin’s government – apparently operates akin to the mafia in America.  There’s a lot going to be coming out about how deep the Russians have infiltrated the Trump organization and I don’t believe Trump will be able to hide all this for much longer.  The part of all this which maybe bothers me the most is the willingness of the republicans to “go along to get along.”  I’ve been writing for years about my personal frustration in watching the republican party surge to the right.  However, I NEVER thought I’d see the day when they would be OK with ANYONE in our political system collaborating with someone like Vladimir Putin to swing an election.

Of course, the PROOF is yet to come out – one way or the other – but, in treating Trump as if he’s a legitimate office holder is a bit alarming to me.  The republicans held up President Obama’s Supreme Court nomination for a year – they’re experts at spinning the reason why (which makes sense only to them – the truth is they did it because they could – and, they threatened to do it for four years had Hillary Clinton won the election) but, they couldn’t bring themselves to at least wait until we know the TRUTH about Trump’s connections to Russia before voting on his nominee for the Court.  If our worst fears are realized, we’ll have a member of the Supreme Court who was appointed by a president who gained office via collusion with an adversarial power – for the next 30 (or more) YEARS!

Just as Chomsky and Herman outlined in their book our media is bending over backward to convince “we the people” that our government is legit and operating honorably.  It’s almost as if they are encouraging Trump to drop more bombs because it will increase his “favorables” with the general public.  Should it convince Trump he can avoid a “showdown” with the investigators by becoming (as GW Bush once said) a “war president” I can only say I hope he’s WRONG.  To me, the reality is that Trump’s outlandish rhetoric is making the world even more unstable and our media is incapable of viewing his actions from the point of view of others around the world, including the North Koreans.

I don’t question that North Korea is a problem – but, the history of America’s media is that they seem incapable of viewing issues from “the other side.”  For example, how would we expect the North Koreans to respond to some of Trump’s rhetoric.  During Viet Nam all we ever heard about was how this “war” (that we initiated) affected us and our troops as if the Vietnamese were not living, breathing human beings.  The same was true in Iraq.  We, via our media, lamented (justifiably) all of the casualties we took in that fiasco (which we initiated) while failing to acknowledge the incredible amount of death and destruction and suffering the Iraqi’s endured (and, continue to endure) because of the decisions of Bush/Cheney et al.  There’s a long list of nations who’ve suffered negatively because of our obsession with “regime change” and “we the people” NEVER get an honest assessment of the true circumstances.

In the case of Donald Trump and his connections to Russia (and the effect it had on the election) we’ve got the range of options from Fox (“news”) – which is going to be pro Trump no matter what – to MSNBC – which is trying to find a way to support our government despite their misgivings, and those in between.  (Yes, there’s “Free speech TV” – but, I don’t believe it’s got much of an audience compared to the others)  My point is that it doesn’t seem far fetched to me that someone as narcissistic as Trump could easily interpret any kind of positive reaction to his authorizing bombing in Syria and Afghanistan as a way out of his troubles.  He may think that if we’re at war, the investigations will stop.  I truly hope he’s wrong, but I have to admit that I have enough trepidation regarding our Congress and media to not be sure.

Trump knows the TRUTH (whether or not he’ll admit to it – obviously, there’s a reason his taxes have been “under audit” for the past couple of years) and he may be feeling a bit as if he’s backed into a corner.  I’ve heard rumblings that the “Steve Bannon wing” of the “White House” is on “thin ice” and may be on the way out.  That’s a sign to me that Trump is trying to move toward the “center” – probably at the urging of his son in law Jared Kushner – as another way to deflect the focus from the Russian connection.  From what little I know of Steve Bannon (and Stephen Miller – who’d likely get the “boot” with Bannon – he’s the guy who was flashing the “White Power” signs while being interviewed on one of the Sunday Morning “news” shows – I believe it was “Face the Nation.”) should he get “fired” there will be a significant blow-back from the “alt right” which Bannon appears to be the figurehead.

So, Trump is in a delicate situation.  If the investigations proceed he could be looking at impeachment (remember, there’s more than the Russia issue – he’s profiting from his office virtually every day which is a violation of the emoluments clause in the constitution – again, none of this matters if republicans are willing to enable his behavior).  His “drift” toward the “center” is apparently aimed at pacifying the republican establishment that could easily turn on him if their own jobs appear in jeopardy (the 2018 election) and, I’m sure, intended to deflect the “investigations” into the colluding with Russia.  Additionally, the issue with Bannon seems almost like a “can’t win.”  If he allows him to stay, the “center” will continue to be questioning why someone like him is in the “White House,” and if he’s sent packing a large number of Trump’s “base” will be very unhappy.  What’s the old saying? “You can’t win for losing”

I just finished Reading Malcolm Nance’s “The Plot to Hack America” which, interestingly, was written prior to the election and clearly outlines the Russian intrusion into the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf.  It’s hard for me to imagine someone reading this book – which is full of FACTUAL evidence – and still consider Trump a legitimate president.  This is why I have such a concern that our media will lose interest in the “investigations” into the Russian collusion and the bombs falling will cause the truth to be “swept under the rug.”  As I’ve said many times on this site, I hope I’m wrong.  Even if Trump is totally innocent of any collusion I believe there is nothing more important than “we the people” finding out.  And, somehow, we need to be able to believe that whatever the findings are, that they are the TRUTH.  We know that Trump, Pense, and Ryan – the three leaders of the republican party – are willing LIARS.  (I’m suspecting that Kellyanne Conway who is one of Trump’s “spokespersons” is not showing up on TV because people are tired of all her LYING)  We know that Devin Nunes – the head of the House Intelligence committee – was acting as a surrogate to Trump during their “investigation.”  Also, the head of the Senate Intelligence committee was willing to do essentially the same.

FBI director James Comey, who is as responsible for Trump’s “victory” as the Russians, is kind of the “firewall” in this “investigation.”  We can only hope that he’s actually following the evidence (which would include interviewing the former British MI6 spy who composed the so-called dossier published a few months ago by Buzzfeed that suggests Trump is vulnerable to Russian blackmail – for example, Is there a video of the “Golden Shower” out there?) wherever it leads.  If our media actually follows the pattern laid out by Chomsky and Herman we may never know.  I’m already getting the sense that Trump changed the topic in the news with a few bombs.  I listened to John McCain yesterday on Meet the Press and, true to form, McCain, a confirmed war monger, sees Trump in a better light due to the bombings.  “At least he did something,” McCain said as he lamented his frustration with the cerebral Barack Obama.  So, will a few bombs cause people like John McCain and the “propaganda media” to lose focus on the Russian collusion?

OK, the ridiculous is getting even more ridiculous!  Yesterday I only watched a couple minutes of TV and, just as I might have expected, there was another STUPID and RIDICULOUS “tweet” from the man who is impersonating as the President of the United States.  What did he “tweet” this time?  Well, apparently Susan Rice committed the crime of the century.  According to Trump, the crime Rice “committed” will be a “massive, massive story.”  And, of course, he added that the issue of Russian involvement in his victory during the 2016 election is a “hoax.”  I wrote the other day of how Trump’s strategy for manipulating the media can be summed up with, “denial, attack, and deflect.”  So far, they’ve been falling for it, but at some point people are going to realize the consequences if “we the people” don’t come to our senses.  The absurdity of Trump suggesting Susan Rice will be a “massive, massive” story ranks with President Obama “wiretapping” Trump tower, the claims about 3 – 5 MILLION “illegals” ALL voting for Hillary Clinton, thousands of Muslims cheering 9/11 from New Jersey, President Obama being born in  Kenya, and the list goes on and on. (he always says, “The proof will come later” – and, of course, it NEVER comes)

All the while North Korea is a mounting problem and is going to continue testing Trump, Syria just gave the extreme “test” (Sarin attack on civilians) only days after Trump’s Secretary of State announced that, essentially, Bashar AL-Assad’s future will be determined by the Syrian people, (I could write an entire post on that one – plus, Trump had the audacity to blame this gas attack on President Obama), republicans are still scheming on how to take health insurance away from 24 MILLION  Americans (and, presumably blame democrats and Obama), environmental regulations are being routinely discarded (like OKing the dumping of coal waste into rivers and streams, harmful insecticides being approved), Wall Street is being deregulated (evidently, we’ll need another financial “meltdown” before anyone notices this), and Trump’s support among the American people is catering virtually every day.  The last polling I saw said Trump has the support of 35% of the American public.  I keep wondering, “how can it be even that high?”  I mean the circumstantial evidence would suggest that it’s the Russian collusion which will continue to be the MASSIVE, MASSIVE story until the people involved are held accountable.

This all gives a pretty clear picture of why foreign adversaries are referring to Trump as an “idiot.”  On that note, today Trump “tweeted” that his administration has had “the most successful 13 weeks in American history.”  I find it hard to put words to that tweet.  It really tells you how deluded Trump is and confirms the pathological liar analysis.  I’m sure Trump actually believes that.  I still think there’s probably an over and under in Las Vegas as to how long until Trump is impeached.

Shortly after I began writing this post, Trump ordered the US Military to send 59 Tomahawk Cruise missiles in an attack on a Syrian air base.  This, coming two or three days after the Syrians gassed their own people in a “rebel stronghold.”  Supposedly, the Sarin gas had been removed after the last major gas attack by Al-Assad – Vladimir Putin had guaranteed the removal which was one of the reasons President Obama didn’t order a military strike into Syria at the time (among other THOUGHTFUL reasons).  After listening to one republican after another, this evening, gushing over Trump’s willingness to “pull the trigger,” that gagging feeling is returning and I remembered the other reason – probably the main reason – Obama didn’t order an air strike into Syria in 2013.  The best way I can explain this is Bush/Cheney and Iraq.  At least one of the pundits, tonight, claimed this attack validated the approach of President Bush and his “shock and awe” attack on Iraq back in 2003.  These people have a combination of short memories and lack of good sense – I really don’t want to use the word “STUPID” here, but, come on people.

What is it going to take for the war mongers in America to learn anything.  Do they not remember Viet Nam?  OK, that was over 50 years ago when we were lied into that fiasco.  But, certainly the invasion of Iraq has to be front and center in the minds of anyone in a position to be on television talking about this stuff, wouldn’t you think?  The invasion of Iraq is the reason that Syria is now being obliterated.  GW Bush and Dick Cheney had no plan, had no idea what they were doing, had on understanding of the Shia/Sunni conflict – which, by the way has been brewing for thousands of years and, if you believe the Bible, will continue brewing essentially FOREVER.  We’re (The United States of America) not going to solve the Shia/Sunni conflict.  At this point I have to wonder if that will ever sink in.

Now, don’t get me completely wrong.  I would agree that the gassing of their own citizens – including little children and babies – is a terrible war crime.  I just don’t think there was a lot of thought in the response.  The possible after affect of Trump’s actions are many and I, personally, don’t believe Trump has carefully thought through them.  You know, like what happens next?  What if Al-Assad attacks more civilians? (which, based on the last few years seems quite likely)  Will that cause an escalation?  What if Al-Assad sends some scud missiles in the direction of the American troops stationed in and around Syria in the fight against ISIL?  What will the response of the Iranians be?  How about the Russians?

If you remember, after we invaded Iraq Donald Rumsfeld predicted we’d be cheered by the Iraqi people as “liberators” – and our troops would be home in “six days, maybe six weeks, certainly no more than six months – of course, by now most people understand that Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld et al had no idea what they were getting into or what was going to happen.  They had NO exit strategy – hence, the problem is ongoing and has flooded into Syria.  As I was listening to the republican “experts” tonight (on MSNBC) it became clear that these people will NEVER accept ownership of what they did by invading Iraq.  Their fallback position on everything is to blame President Obama.  Trump did that after the Sarin gas attack despite the FACT that just days prior to the attack his own Secretary of State (who’s another person in “over his head”) essentially gave Assad the “green light” by saying America no longer had any interest in “regime change” in Syria.  Removing Al-Assad was up to the Syrian people.  (This after hundreds of thousands have been murdered and something like 5 MILLION have fled the country.  And, remember, it was the Syrian refugees that motivated Trump’s call for a “complete Muslim ban” during the campaign. Likely to be more refugees after tonight’s bombing and the after effects)

President Obama organized an international (of sorts) coalition and used diplomatic sanctions in an ongoing attempt to get Al-Assad removed from power without an invasion of a sovereign nation. (You know, like what happened in Iraq)  To republicans who are always chomping at the bit to use our military might that is a sign of weakness.  It remains to  be seen what the outcome of Trump’s actions tonight will be, but I just hope all the militarists who are “giddy” right now can spend a moment or two in reflection.  Was this a sign of strength? (as some are portraying it) or was this the sign of a president without a grasp of the complexity of the situation who’s trying to get the national focus off of his own political vulnerability from the Russian investigation – which could easily topple his entire administration?

Clearly I don’t trust Donald Trump, I believe he’s a person with no conscience when it comes to integrity, I believe he’s a dangerous narcissist in a position that could cause irreparable damage to this nation in so many ways – but, he is the president and I have to hope that his actions tonight end up being a “measured response” to the FACT that the Syrian dictator is willing to GAS his own people (yes, just like Saddam Hussein).  If, however, this action leads to an escalation in the NON-WINNABLE Middle East Sunni/Shia conflict and if, as I’m thinking, Trump has no idea what happens next, what the possible scenarios are, and what the long term “plan” is – then we’re right back to when is this nightmare going to be over?

The political divide in America is stark and the republicans are the masters at deflecting the blame for how we got here away from themselves and toward the democrats.  (I guess I have to add then, that the democrats are fairly inept at fighting back)  Obstruction has been a republican strategy since (at least) the 1994 “Contract for America” (I always called it the “Contract on America”) and even the so-called “liberal media” (and, for my purposes, I’m thinking of MSNBC) continually allows them to “get away with it.”  Today I listened to an interview with John McCain who was lamenting the FACT there’s no “bipartisanship” in the Congress as he was in a discussion about Syria and, toward the end of the interview he couldn’t help himself but to throw in a “blame bomb” toward President Obama (The one person in Washington DC who’s acted like an adult for the past 8 years).  Of course, McCain is a known war monger, but to put the blame for all this (and just about everything else republicans can’t figure out how to do regarding government) on Obama is absurd – and, you’d think the “liberal media” commentators, at some point, would begin calling McCain, Trump, and the others on this.  How could there possibly be bipartisanship under these circumstances.

On top of all that, (these people are suggesting President Obama should have ordered a military strike back in 2013 the last time Al-Assad gassed his own people) when President Obama was facing the decision of what to do after the Syrian president committed a war crime (gassing people IS a war crime) Congress refused to even vote on what’s called a military use of force authorization to give Obama legal “cover” for striking a sovereign nation and Donald Trump himself was telling President Obama not to take military action in Syria.  In fact, Trump was claiming he wouldn’t take military action in Syria right up to the election.  Yes, people can change their minds and their positions on issues, but these republicans MUST stop blaming Obama for everything they don’t like and start taking responsibility for their own actions.  Is Trump going to blame President Obama if his action into Syria proves to be a major blunder?

Here’s the real question here.  Will Trump manage to DEFLECT the attention on his ties to the Russian oligarchy and their intrusion into our 2016 election by pursuing a military conflict in Syria all while he’s accusing Susan Rice of committing a “massive” crime?  Is our “liberal media” stupid enough to fall for that?  I can assure you of this;  We (Americans) care about the integrity of our elections and understand we are not going to solve the Shia/Sunni conflict.  The more we get involved in Syria and the more Trump lies about the election the worse it’s going to get.  We not only don’t understand the nuances of the conflict itself, but we are seemingly unable to “get” how the people over there view the world all while many Americans question Trump’s legitimacy.  The leaders of ISIL have already publicly referred to Trump as an “Idiot,” and there’s little doubt that Al-Assad is thinking along those lines as he shows his willingness to push Trump’s “buttons.”

On a positive note, I’ve heard several people refer to Trump’s National Security Adviser (General McMaster) and his Secretary of Defense (James Mattis) as being competent and respected. That gives me a small sense of comfort, but the reality is that it’s the president who’s the “commander in chief” and I have NO CONFIDENCE in Donald Trump to think rationally.  The reality is that his administration is embroiled in a SERIOUS controversy that’s not going away anytime soon and a majority of Americans view him unfavorably as president and many question whether he should even be president.  Let’s hope he doesn’t feel the way out is to become, as GW Bush “bragged,” (foolishly, of course) a “war president.”  The closest Trump himself has come to war is getting six deferments from the Selective Service back in the Viet Nam days.  As a (liberal, obviously) Christian I will continue praying for our nation and for peace (“Blessed are the peacemakers”).  Actually, I’ve been praying for Mr. Trump because I would never want our president to fail even though I fundamentally disagree with almost everything he does – but, I have to speak my mind; this man is in over his head and apparently the “you know what” is headed straight for the fan.  (After the “Access Hollywood” Tape was publicized it became extremely difficult for me to stomach listening to our watching Trump – I’m just sayin…..)

Final note: One of my libertarian friends (who is a Christian and loves Trump – go figure – personally, I”m not sure how that’s possible) says I never make positive suggestions (which may be an accurate assessment – I rarely re-read any of my posts) so, here’s one:  Why doesn’t Mr. Trump and his buddy Vladimir Putin agree to take Bashar Al-Assad into custody and have him tried for WAR CRIMES?  I know that would be a bit tricky, because Putin is – well, standing on pretty “shaky ground” when it comes to that subject, also we looked the other way after both Bush and Cheney admitted on NATIONAL TV they authorized TORTURE (waterboarding, among other forms of illegal “enhanced interrogation” – that didn’t work – if you’re wondering, that’s a WAR CRIME), and Trump, himself, has said on several occasions he would authorize TORTURE (waterboarding) “and a whole lot more” – so, I”m not sure how my “plan” would play out.  But, from an idealistic perspective, wouldn’t that be much better than escalating the Syrian civil war and thousands more Syrians being killed?

OMG, I just listened to an interview on MSNBC with Rand Paul and I had to turn it off and write ASAP to prevent myself from throwing up.  Every once in a while I try to at least give Paul the credit of being someone with principles.  Today, he proved me even more naive than I usually feel is an appropriate criticism.  A couple of days ago Paul apparently played a round of golf with Donald Trump (if he ever starts acting like an actual president I’ll give him the moniker) and apparently that was all it took to get him “on board.”  In this interview Paul was pushing the latest Trump strategy of deflecting attention from the investigation into Russia’s “invasion” of our nation during the last election by accusing Susan Rice of collecting intelligence material and using it for political purposes.  Suggesting that President Obama actually did order the “wiretapping” (in quotes :o) of Trump and Trump Tower.

Of course, Trump’s ridiculously STUPID “tweet” of one month ago – which has caused him to lose even more credibility (except for the “uneducated voters” – that he claimed he “loves” after the Iowa primary last year) with those Americans who are genuinely concerned about the Russians not only influencing our election but, quite possibly, the actual functioning of our government under a Trump administration.  I don’t believe Trump will last one term in office – the TRUTH will eventually become public and the republicans who are shielding him right now will no longer be able to do so.  If they decide to push this absurd scenario until 2018 I have enough confidence in the American people that the republicans will be voted out of the majority in the House – and, even though it seems highly unlikely in the Senate – maybe even there as well.  I don’t believe the American people will react kindly to those in our government who colluded with the Russians (yes, I know it’s just “allegations” at this point, but the lying and obfuscating leads me to believe there’s “more to the story”) and my hope is they hold republicans accountable for aligning themselves with Trump.

The sad reality of Trump’s “first 100 days” – which isn’t yet complete – is that while Trump is claiming he’s “keeping his promises” as he signs one executive order after another he’s actually doing nearly the opposite, at least with the first piece of legislation that ALMOST made it to a vote in Congress.  “Trumpcare” would have VIOLATED serious promises Trump made to those who actually voted for him.  While he said he was going to provide “affordable” health care to ALL Americans with lower premiums, lower deductibles, and better quality the TRUTH is that “Trumpcare” would have eventually reduced the number of insured Americans by 24 MILLION, it wouldn’t have reduced premiums and deductibles would have gone up.  In addition, the so-called “doughnut hole” for those on Medicare would have returned – violating his promise to preserve “Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.”  In FACT, it was Medicaid that would be bludgeoned by “Trumpcare” – so, right off the bat, he proposed a plan that would VIOLATE his promises regarding both MEDICARE and MEDICAID.  Oh yes, and while those depending on Medicare and Medicaid are among “the least of these” (in the words of Jesus – I point this out periodically because it’s the so-called “Christian Right” which is the bulk of Trump’s “base”) “Trumpcare” would have provided the top 400 earning families in America $7,000,000 per year in tax  cuts.  (Keep in mind, they’re BILLIONAIRES)  The total tax cut “Trumpcare” would provide amounts to something like $600,000,000,000 (Yes, that’s $600 BILLION) with the bulk of it going to those who earn in excess of $200,000 per year.  Someone earning $1 MILLION per year would save almost $55,000 per year in taxes.

What’s clear in all this is that the people who would benefit from “Trumpcare” are those who don’t need it and who are the very people that Citizens United (Supreme Court’s decision to flood our elections with unaccounted MONEY) enabled to further CORRUPT our congress through their “faceless” “donations” er- “investments.”  It was Trump himself who said when he “invests” in a politician he’s expecting a return on that investment.  Now, I have to admit that I too “invest” in politicians.  I’ve given as much as $25 to several members of the House or the Senate – some, I’ve even given money on repeated occasions (ie – Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Patty Murry, and a few others) – However, I’m pretty sure they’re not asking me how I want them to vote on any particular issue and, in fact, I’m confident none of them know who I am.  I give them money because I believe they are fighting for the “little guy,” the person who could be me if I hadn’t been so fortunate as to somehow become a teacher among the various jobs that got me to the age of retirement and to have the benefits of Social Security and Medicare so that I can enjoy some of the remaining time I have on this planet.

They believe in the middle class and the democratic values that many in the democratic party have abandoned since the days of Reagan – the so-called “blue dog” democrats.  It’s the democrats who decided to “go along to get along” who’ve allowed this right wing push that has turned America dangerously close to a corporatocracy.  People like Sanders (yes, he’s an “independent” – like me) and Warren who believe in the “New Deal” values that turned America’s middle class into the envy of the world are willing to FIGHT for “the least of these.” (That’s why I support them)  It took the courage of the “greatest generation” – that is, my father’s generation (WW II) and my grandfather’s generation (The Great Depression) to fight for worker’s rights, human rights, and NUMEROUS benefits that Americans today take for granted and Trump and his cronies want to repeal.  It was Franklin Roosevelt and then Dwight Eisenhower who pushed the first examples of investment in infrastructure that “we the people” have benefited from since the 1950’s.  However, our “leaders” have allowed the roads to deteriorate, the bridges and dams to become – in many instances – unsafe, the schools to be outmoded, and on and on – all because of either political infighting or our addiction to the “military industrial complex” that Eisenhower so presciently warned us about before he left the office of the president. (All while the wealthy in America have been laughing all the way to the bank as republicans legislate one “tax cut for the rich” after another)

President Obama wanted a huge investment in infrastructure during his term in office (when interest rates were at all time lows) but, he was continually BLOCKED by Mitch McConnell and the right wing House – in reality controlled by the so-called “freedom caucus” (ie “Tea party”) – both committed to the “strategy” of “If Obama is for it, we’re against it.”  The good of the nation was never a consideration with the republicans in Congress while President Obama was in office.  Now, we’ve got Trump and he’s proposed an investment in infrastructure, but I’m sure I’m not the only person in America who doesn’t trust anything that comes from his mouth and wonders who is he trying to benefit?  He’s the epitome of the saying, “If his lips are moving, he’s lying.”  For example, during the past month, instead of debating the merits and particulars of a plan to rebuild our “infrastructure” our “leaders” have been embroiled in a debate over whether or not President Obama “wiretapped” Trump.  (Of course, the allegation was absurd on it’s surface – but, Trump and his enablers have spent the last moth trying to figure out a way to justify his “tweet.”)

Of course, we all know that in the end the tweet will still be absurd and ridiculous – along the same level of the “birther” argument or the “I saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheering 9/11” argument or the “three to five million illegals ALL voted for Clinton or I would have won the popular vote” argument – but, evidently, Trump’s supporters simply pretend that Trump’s “alternative facts” are real – they actually believe him  (personally I have no idea how they can get duped by this person – today, it was Rand Paul who was working as the enabler in chief – yikes! There was actually a time when I thought he might be one of the republicans who’d save us from this pathological liar of a president)

One thing about Trump that is important for everyone to understand; he’s lied so much that he believes his own lies as they come from his mouth.  That’s exactly why he’ll never admit he made a mistake – he’ll keep pushing the narrative to the point where the rest of us just get tired of dealing with it and we let it lie. (no pun intended)  Take for example, the “Access Hollywood” tape.  Trump claimed his comments were “locker room talk” and as one woman after another came forward to validate the comments Trump made on the tape – he attacked the women, threatening lawsuits, and repeated over and over that it was simply “locker room” banter.  The strategy worked – with the help of the Russians releasing the first of the Podesto emails via Wiki Leaks.  So, it’s denial, denial, denial – attack, attack, attack – deflect, deflect, deflect.  That’s the strategy Trump uses and our media (and “we the people”) keep falling for it.  He’s still in office, he’s still making absurd “tweets” and he keeps the focus of the media off the real issue – which is that his campaign was very possibly COLLUDING with the Russians during the election.  The circumstantial evidence is pretty telling (that which has come out so far) and reports are that there’s much more.  Hopefully, James Comey (who’s likely responsible for the Trump presidency) will stay on the story and eventually anyone who  COLLUDED will be held accountable.  (Comey got Trump in office, maybe he’ll be the one to get him out of office)

We already know that Mike Flynn is in deep enough that he’s seeking immunity so that he might “tell his story.”  It was Flynn, if you remember, who led the “lock her up” chanting at the republican national convention after saying “If I did one tenth what Hillary Clinton did, I’d be in jail.”  Well, it appears that he actually did quite a bit MORE than Hillary Clinton’s using a private email server – in fact, not including the possibility that he, himself, was involved with the COLLUDING with Russia, he accepted MONEY from the Russian intelligence service (RT TV – apparently, in violation of his U.S. Military obligation), sat at the table with Vladimir Putin at a big dinner where Putin was receiving some award (and, Flynn was the first to stand and applaud after Putin finished his acceptance speech), and he was working as a foreign agent (for Turkey) and receiving over half a MILLION dollars for two months work – all while working for Trump as his “national security advisor.”  I’m guessing Flynn will be wanting to tell his story so that those of us who were offended by his speech at the republican convention don’t start chanting “lock him up.”

Getting back to my main point – people like Rand Paul seem to just need a round of golf with Mr. Trump to become part of the enabling republicans.  The strategy, as I said earlier, deny, attack, deflect is something they keep using – I’m sure because they think it’s working.  I’m hoping that those in the media (who are much smarter than me) don’t fall for this and keep pushing to, as most of them keep saying, until we “get to the bottom” of the Russia story.  (Trump, Paul, Sean Spicer, and the other enablers would have us believe the problem is Ms. Rice doing her job as President Obama’s National Security Adviser – I hope the media doesn’t fall for this “trick”) The possibilities with Trump’s connection to Putin and Russia, in my view, makes Nixon and Watergate look like child’s play.  Even though Nixon was a paranoid president who needed to be pushed out of office, the possibility that Americans would work together with the Russians to affect our election process is MAJOR alarming and, in my view, far worse than Watergate.  It falls in the category of Benedict Arnold lore.  This isn’t hard to see and my hope is that either republicans acknowledge what may have happened and they speed up the process of “investigating” this or “we the people” should consider them accomplices if they continue enabling Trump.  Devon Nunes – the head of the House Intelligence committee, for example, should be in line to lose his job, already, based on his actions in the investigation he’s supposed to be conducting.  He’s definitely acting like an accomplice.

And, keep in mind that while all this “stuff” is going on, there’s the normal role our presidents are supposed to play.  For example, the world is in a mess and we’re supposed to be leaders “of the free world.”  So, North Korea fires off another ballistic missile with the plan to be able to send a nuke to the United States – our Secretary of State responds: “We’ve said enough about North Korea, we’ll have no further comment.” (I’m telling you the truth, that’s almost EXACTLY what he said – in fact, it’s the first thing I’ve heard him say since taking office! In case you’re confused – this is BAD).  Then, less than a week after Trump said we would no longer focus on the removal of Basher Asad in Syria, the Syrians attacked the rebel-held town in Idlib province with chemical weapons (Sarin gas) and, instead of blaming the Russian enablers of Asad it was not surprising to me that Trump blamed President Obama.  Yes, that’s  correct – just as he claimed Putin was a great leader during the campaign, he continues to point fingers at Obama after President Obama’s been out of office for three months.  As I’ve said several times on this site, this would be laughable if it weren’t so serious. (100 people, including around 25 children were killed by the Sarin gas).

I’ve wondered many times here as to how much damage Trump will do before the republicans in Congress come to their senses and remove him from office.  Yes, the “alt right” will be angry when that finally happens, but the damage done already will take a mammoth effort to reverse and it’s going to keep getting worse until Trump is gone.  (Trump’s “approval rating” is already down to 35% and he’s still in the “honeymoon” stage of his administration – it’s going to get worse) In truth, I have little confidence in Mike Pense (the next in line – who’s also proven to be comfortable lying to the American people) or Paul Ryan (the next after Pense – and, yes another competent liar), but Trump has no idea what he’s doing and, for the Christians that are supporting him I would remind them of more words from the Bible.  It’s the FOOL who thinks he knows and the WISE man who knows he doesn’t know.  Trump believes he alone can solve America’s problems despite the fact he’s got no idea how to do this. (the classic fool)

Aside from the potential reality that his campaign (and, by connection him) colluded with the Russians during the election, he’s likely violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution (which I don’t believe he understands, either) EVERY day and he has no idea what he’s got himself into.  (ISIL recently referred to him as an “idiot”)  If the republicans continue enabling Trump, instead of impeaching him, they will own the results.  They were blaming President Obama for the Bush/Cheney deficits before he took office and now Trump is blaming him for his own incompetence in Syria three months after Obama is out of office.  Here’s my question:  When will republicans stop blaming President Obama for their shortcomings and begin actually trying to solve America’s problems?