I’m really struggling to motivate myself to write these days.  I mean, it’s like the topic in my head never changes.  I turn on the TV and tune to MSNBC and, more than likely, there’s Trump speaking (which causes me to either turn it off or leave the room – I really don’t understand why it’s so difficult for his “supporters” to understand the constant stream of LIES that flows from his mouth, seemingly whenever it’s moving) either speaking or being “analyzed.”  I “get” the analyzing and I truly hope the “media” continues to not only “vet” Trump regarding the “Russia thing,” but to be watching what he’s doing “behind closed doors.”  As I’ve said many times here, the amount of DAMAGE he’s going to do to this nation could be monumental – and, unfortunately, at this point in time (at least until 2018) the ONLY ones who can stop him are the republicans in Congress – and, they don’t appear to be “willing.”

One reason Trump’s in the position he’s in is the opposition party is the Democrats.  I’ve stated many times on this site that I’m a lifelong independent voter – but, over the past many years – certainly since the days of the Bush dynasty – (and, probably since Reagan) the republican party has drifted so far to the “right” that I can’t bring myself to vote for any of them.  I watched Mitch McConnell the other day as he was announcing there weren’t enough votes – at this time – to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, and I found myself nearly as close to the “gagging” place I get when listening to Trump.  I know these people are voted in by – in most cases – good, hardworking Americans – who appear to me to cast their votes based on what they’ve always done, what their parents did, or who knows if they’re thinking at all.  Trump actually bragged about appealing to the “uneducated voters.”  That’s one of the rare things I can agree with him on.  So, I often find myself doing what other “progressives” seem to be doing these days which is complaining about Trump and republicans.

This brings me to my thoughts for today.  As I’ve said many times, the main reason Trump and the republicans are controlling our government (and, many state governments around the nation) is that the opposition are the democrats.  I kind of see democrats as the party that’s better at governing, but lousy at winning elections and SPINELESS in defending their basic fundamental beliefs.  For example, in 2014 – during the mid-term elections – I witnessed one democrat after another apparently AFRAID to defend the agenda President Obama had been pursuing – at that point – for six years.  One reason “Obamacare” (The Affordable Care Act) was a liability for democrats was because they seemed AFRAID to defend it, fight for it, AND PUSH for the needed improvements.  Sadly, when the law was enacted, democrats abandoned the fight for the so-called “public option” which they SHOULD still be FIGHTING for today.  Additionally, I haven’t heard more than a “peep” from democrats for a push to REPEAL the Bush era law that prevents Medicare from negotiating drug prices – leading to “big pharma” hauling in BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of dollars from “we the people” that would be a great place to start in controlling the cost of medicine in America.

It appears – I’ve said this for years – that democrats are “feeding from the same trough” as the republicans – it’s just that they get the leftovers – and, by this, I’m talking about taking money from the wealthy elite in this country that has guaranteed we have a corrupt congress which does the bidding of the corporate masters at the expense of “we the people.”  When you listen to one republican congressman/woman after another say that “health care is not a right” – implying that if you can’t pay for it – too bad – you’d think that in itself would be a campaign issue allowing democrats to take back control of Congress.  But, what I hear is a constant barrage of email messages telling me I should support democrats because republicans are so bad.  It’s not hard to find people who believe Trump is a terrible president – but, it’s almost as easy to find people who believe democrats are spineless.  In the 2016 election Bernie Sanders demonstrated there’s a willing audience for candidates who have convictions they will defend and fight for.  Many of the people I knew who liked Bernie were republicans – they admired him despite their total disdain for “socialism.”  (A topic, I might add, that has been so “muddled” by our “liberal press” that it’s just another example of how “we the people” are among the least educated in the advanced nations of the western world.

Yes, I want democrats (and republicans) to continue PUSHING the investigations into the Russian meddling in our election and the apparent collusion from some in Trump’s campaign – with the likely possibility that Trump himself was involved (do you remember him publicly encouraging the Russians to find Hillary Clinton’s “missing emails?”)  It is curious that Trump still has not said a disparaging word about Vladimir Putin, there’s absolutely ZERO evidence that his administration is doing ANYTHING to combat the Russian intrusion – to me, not only into our election, but apparently our functioning government, the evidence that Trump has attempted to impede the investigation of, at least, Michael Flynn – and, based on the reports of his meeting with the Russian “ambassador” shortly after firing Jim Comey, he’s trying to impede the entire investigation (which is ultimately going to be uncovering his financial ties to Russia), and he’s violating the emoluments clause of the constitution virtually every day – according to reports I’ve read or heard.

Any of those “discretions” should be enough for an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives – but, ALL of that – whether people such as me like it or not – is on the republicans in Congress.  As I watch them I seriously doubt they’ll act even if it’s proven there was collusion (which would be TREASON) with the Russians or obstruction of justice regarding the impeding of the investigations.  We’ve already seen a lack of interest in enforcing the emoluments clause of the constitution (they all pledged to uphold) and, of late, there’s a total lack of willingness to hold Trump accountable for his childish, bullying, misogynist, racist, and disgusting LYING and twitter attacks that are a regular part of his shtick.  His latest vile “tweets” about a female member of the media – which bring back memories of the “Access Hollywood” tape – gets a temporary “naughty boy” response from republicans – and, then it’s back to “business as usual” as they all “look the other way.”

People (and leaders) around the world are just shaking their heads one after the other saying things like – well, we’ve got to forge ahead on our own because we can no longer trust America to be the “leader of the free world.”  (I’ve heard recently Trump is planning to impose a 20% tariff on goods imported into America that will further exacerbate the situation – unless you’re one of the white nationalists who are the basis of his support.)  In fact, Trump is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin shortly at the G-20 summit meeting which will undoubtedly end up being another embarrassment for the United States in foreign affairs – AND, I have no doubt that Trump is like a “sitting duck” for a man like Putin.  Putin will play Trump like a vintage fiddle.  Undoubtedly, it will be good for Russia and bad for the U.S.  The Russian “meddling,” I’m sure, is yielding results above the Russian’s wildest dreams.  The scary part for the rest of us is that this is the area that could be the greatest DAMAGE Trump causes prior to when his term in office comes to a merciless end.  Again, that’s going to be up to the republicans in Congress, and every day they allow this man to continue in office, the more he stamps his “brand” on their party.

Getting back to the democrats.  My point is there’s not much benefit in the constant barrage of emails telling “we the people” that Donald Trump is a bad person and a lousy president.  Most of us are smart enough to figure that out.  What I want to here is what do you want to do about it?  What are your plans to improve the Affordable Care Act (if it survives the republican assault)?  What are your ideas regarding rebuilding the infrastructure of this nation and how to pay for it?  What are your plans, if you have them, to reduce our military spending and our seemingly endless participation in un-winnable WARS?  How would you go about rebuilding our inner cities and helping to improve the lives of the unfortunate and neglected people of this country?  (If you’re a Christian, I refer to the words of Jesus: “The least of these”)  What would be your plan to help create more jobs in America – especially, for the age group in the 50ish range that was so hard hit by the Bush/Cheney “great recession?”

I could go on, but my point is to the democrats – stop complaining about Trump 24/7 and lay out a plan that will guarantee retaking Congress in 2018!  Focus on what needs to be done to actually improve the lives of the people who voted for Trump – many, in my view, out of desperation and frustration at the lack of conviction they were hearing from the mouths of democrats all over America.  As mentioned above, in 2014 democrats ran away from their own president and the policies they, themselves, had put in place.  The Affordable Care Act was just a starting point in dealing with the health care crisis in America – but, without democrats willing to defend it and FIGHT to improve it – we’re going to end up going backward instead of forward.  One thing Americans won’t tolerate is TIMID politicians.  Democrats need to start PUSHING a progressive agenda SOONER rather than LATER – and, quit making decisions based on the latest poll and begin focusing on what is RIGHT!  America is thirsting for a true populist leader and political party that actually stands tall for “we the people.”  The opportunity is there for democrats – republicans put it there as if on a “silver platter:” and, that’s electing Donald Trump.

To the democrats:  Let the republicans solve the “Trump problem,” and allow them to continue to “own” Trump if that’s what they choose.  Get out of the “swamp” he’s lured you into – yes, it’s OK to make comments about things like his misogynist or racist tweets – but, FOCUS on a progressive agenda that makes people want to vote for democrats again.  Allow the republicans to be the “party of Trump” – and, make plans for 2018.  (and, if you pull it off, please remember 2006 when “we the people” voted democrats into control of Congress to stop the madness in Iraq – and, what did the democrats do?  NOTHING!  Please, a repeat of that should be “off the table” – job #1 in January of 2019 – if Trump is still in office – IMPEACHMENT!)

One thing “we the people” have to understand is those around the world are not stupid as we are often brainwashed into thinking.  In fact, as a retired teacher, I often noticed during my career that “new” instructional methods would come from other countries – especially regarding literacy.  The sad truth is that the number of American’s who drop out of the education process is startling.  The reality is there are many “uneducated voters” in America that Trump so famously embraced during the previous election and, with the help of the Russians’ “fake news” (the real fake news – which was supplemented by  the republican congress along with media outlets like Brietbart, Fox, and social media sites like Facebook), managed to smear Hillary Clinton to the point where “we the people” elected the MOST unprepared president in our history.  Everyone who’s paying attention knows that Donald Trump is in way over his head – he’s unable to understand how our country operates let alone what a foreign policy might be.  (That doesn’t even take into account his personal corruption)  As I see it, those foreigners who don’t like America will be pushing harder and harder in an attempt to get Trump to further expose his incompetence.  Unfortunately, this could be a very dangerous scenario – for us AND for our adversaries.

Trump is the second republican “elected” president via the Electoral College.  That is, both he and president Bush failed to carry the most votes – in Bush’s case it took the Supreme Court to block the true counting of the votes in Florida that SHOULD have swung the election to Al Gore.  In Trump’s case – he LOST by a record number of votes for a “winner” (3 MILLION) – and he had the help of the Russians, the congressional republicans (Benghazi), the FBI and Jim Comey’s blunderous announcement 11 days prior to the election, AND all the voter suppression tactics emanating from the Supreme Court’s “gutting” of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act to overturn the actual will of the people.  We all know what happened with Bush – the “endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – and, now we’ve got the Russians, the Iranians, and the North Koreans – to name a few – who are gearing up to push Trump into some kind of stupid military move that could result in disastrous consequences.

This is all really hard for me to watch – I’ve been observing politics in America since the days of Eisenhower v Stephenson.  I “get” the frustration many people in America’s “heartland” feel about the dysfunction in our nation’s capital.  The biggest problem, as I see it, is that they don’t understand the role the republicans have played in bringing us to this point.  Yes, the democrats leave a lot to be desired, but it’s the republicans who’ve practiced the strategy of obstruction since – I want to say since the days of Newt Gingrich and the “Contract for (on) America” republicans ran on in the early 1990’s – but, I believe it really started with the now infamous “memo” of then soon to be Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell to the Chamber of Commerce back in 1972 which started the organized push to turn America into a “corporatocracy.”  During President Obama’s two terms, for example, Mitch McConnell – in a brazen attempt to make sure Obama “failed” – filibustered around 700 (that’s HUNDRED) democratic attempts to push through a progressive agenda aimed at improving the lives of the middle class.  Just their blocking any infrastructure legislation drastically hurt many of the areas of the country which went for Trump – and, their strategy worked – because, either via republican propaganda or the inability of democrats to defend their own message – many blue collar Americans are voting republican – which would have been unthinkable before Powell initiated the corporate strategy to put the working class “in their place.”

During this time republicans have proven over and over again they are much better at winning elections than democrats – AND, they’ve proven over and over that they are incompetent at governing.  Bush/Cheney managed to push through some horrific tax cuts that pushed our annual deficit to historic heights and our national debt into scary territory (at least from my perspective) – but, they proved incompetent at almost every other aspect of governing.  Even the war mongering was done incompetently.  The end result of their two terms in the White House was the lingering wars AND the meltdown of our economy due to the inevitable conclusion of their encouraging reckless monetary policies that had no basis in economic reality.  President Obama managed to kind of stabilize the “ship of state” despite the obstruction of the republicans EVERY step of the way, but many Americans – especially in the 50 – 64 age group – are hurting financially.

I found it almost humorous (except all of this seems really serious to me these days) when I heard Donald Trump announce “I inherited a mess.”  As I see it, here’s the reality;  Trump inherited a fairly strong economy that had been on a slow “upswing” for about five to six years.  It’s kind of like the huge ship slowly plowing through the water and it’s hard to slow it down.  From my vantage point, Trump will “benefit” from Obama’s economy for about another – maybe – six months (it won’t take much to shorten that time-frame significantly) and then the reality, good or bad, of what he’s “accomplishing” will begin to take effect.  From the outside it doesn’t appear that much of anything (other than “signing statements” and “executive orders”) is getting done.  It’s apparent to me that if the republicans in congress can manage to put ANY type of legislation together they have a willing “signer” in the White House.  Trump will sign whatever they come up with – and, if it doesn’t work, the “blame game” will be interesting.  For example, if republicans manage to pass a “health care” overhaul (tax cut) it will undoubtedly be referred to as “Trump care.”  Based on the preliminary reporting (the bill is being put together in secret) the resulting legislation could be very unpopular.  Trump, himself, characterized the House version as “mean.”  Should be interesting to say the least.  Either way – if they allow the Affordable Care Act to “fail,” or they pass their own bill, the republicans are going to be looking for creative ways to shift the BLAME away from themselves – that’s what they’re good at!

Getting back to how the world is viewing what’s happening in America, this morning I listened to an “expert” on foreign policy say that the danger of something escalating into some kind of war is at a point that would have been unthinkable a year ago (Donald, that’s when President Obama was in charge).  Even the Russians appear to be “pushing buttons” to see how Trump will react to their bullying tactics in international air space.  A couple Russian fighter planes “buzzed” an American unarmed transport plane (? I’m actually not completely sure what type of plane it was) reportedly coming within five feet of one of its wings.  The first question that came to my mind was “Is Vladimir Putin” trying to find out if there’s anything he can do to get Donald to say something negative about him or Russia?  Do they have to shoot the plane down to get Trump to react?  Makes me wonder, “What do the Russians actually have on Trump?”  I keep thinking of the so-called “dossier” and the suggestion there might be a video of the most salacious part of that “dossier.”  If that’s true, and if it comes out, it could be more than very embarrassing for Trump – this one would be worst than the “Access Hollywood” tape.

It appears to me that every day the republicans in Congress “look the other way” at the actions of Trump in his legal battle with the FBI, his incompetence in governance, the real possibility he’s using his office to make money for his business interests, and the REALITY that he’s still NEVER even acknowledged Russia, essentially, ATTACKED our republic – ensuring there will be no concerted response and the attack will be ongoing – our nation becomes weaker and more vulnerable.  The Russians are getting (I’m sure) more than they anticipated when their (supposed) goal was to weaken Hillary Clinton’s presidency.  They are weakening the foundation of our democratic republic and, so far, Trump hasn’t even acknowledged it happened.  Trust me, everyone interested in damaging America is watching and understands how vulnerable America has become.  I don’t believe Mike Pense is the one to solve this problem – so, “we the people” will need to endure this until 2020 and hope and pray for the best.  (Pense has proven to be a willing LIAR for Trump on several occasions and he’s lost whatever credibility he may have had prior to the election – and, I might add – from my perspective Pense is a terrible LIAR.  He doesn’t hide it well)

I started this post a few days ago and Trump has now acknowledged that Russia “may have” interfered with our election.  However, instead of taking some kind of action to send a message to Vladimir Putin all I’ve heard from Trump is more blaming of President Obama.  Like: “Why didn’t Obama do something about it?  Everything that comes from Trump’s mouth is either a LIE or a poorly thought out comment.  I could write, probably, a couple posts on why I believe President Obama didn’t come out with a stronger response to Russian interference prior to the election – but, the reality is that our “liberal media” had all they needed by early October.  They were more focused on allowing Trump to “play” them right up till election day and virtually IGNORED the warnings from the intelligence community prior to the election.  Our media is now totally “IN”  on the “Russia investigation” – but, it took Trump’s election and the reality of what that means to get their “attention.”  I would say to Trump, stop blaming Obama for everything you can think of – you’re never going to be as cerebral as him and he’s not the problem – you’re the problem.  You’re so ignorant you keep “shooting yourself in the foot” because of your LYING mouth and you’re LYING “tweets.”  If Trump was concerned about the reality “we the people” have been ATTACKED by Russia, he’d create a response that damaged Russia’s banking system.  From what I’ve read that’s a doable option – EXCEPT, that I believe Trump is beholden to Russia’s banking system – and, when that all comes out, much of what we’ve been trying to understand about Trump’s actions will become crystal clear.

Yesterday a presumably “liberal” whack job opened fire with an assault weapon on a field of republican lawmakers practicing for the annual Congressional “bipartisan” baseball game in Washington DC.  Of course, just as I feel a sense of disgust when any “whack job” (I characterize anyone who’d purposely try to kill people that way simply because, to me, you’ve got to be crazy to do such a deplorable act) does something like this, I thought I’d just sit back and observe the conversations that ensued thinking that most of these acts of violence in America – that seem to have political overtones – in the past have been aimed at “liberals” or “liberal” institutions.  I’m thinking of the attack in Denver on the Planned Parenthood operation, for example.  To me, it’s always interesting to listen to the dialogue after something like this because our “liberal” gun laws are bound to be part of the discussion – and, we know where a certain political establishment sits on that subject.

Obviously, there was a lot of “coming together” on Capital hill after one of the leading republican legislatures was critically wounded along with, I believe, a staff member and members of the Capital police – who, by the way, have been credited with saving a major tragedy by killing to perpetrator before he could kill who knows how many of the members who were practicing for the baseball game.  I have to say that, despite my negative feelings regarding the republican party and what they’ve done to America in the last 35+ years I shared in the thankfulness that a larger tragedy was avoided.  (to me, the solution to the problem of the republican agenda lies at the voting booth)  And, I had to agree with most observers that the rhetoric in Washington (DC – I live in Washington state – which almost feels like a different country than DC) is inflammatory and might be what is leading to some of these acts of violence.  Personally, I worry for people who are in Congress (it wasn’t too long ago that Gabby Giffords was attacked in Arizona) and, I especially worry for people in the media who’ve been relentlessly and verbally – in a vicious manner – attacked over and over again by Donald Trump.

The man who attacked the republicans was, apparently, a volunteer for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary campaign.  I’m not sure if we’ll ever know what triggered this action on his part, but we know that both Bernie and Trump “connected” with many of the Americans who are frustrated and fed up with the way government has been functioning for the past many years.  If you’ve read many of my posts on this site you’ll already know that I place the “blame” for that mostly on republicans for their “obstructionist” strategy since the days of Bill Clinton.  While I don’t focus much of my writing on the democrats, I don’t give them a “pass.”  It’s my opinion that the democrats, in many cases, don’t have the courage to stand up for their own convictions.  For example, in the 2014 mid-term elections there were few democrats willing to defend the policies they had pursued under the leadership of President Obama, from what I could tell, because his “popularity” was down.  It’s apparent to me that the one thing the American electorate won’t support is “timid” politicians.  And, many democrats have come across as checking the way the wind is blowing before taking a position on issues.  On many occasions I’ve referred to that as spineless.

That all being said, there’s a couple things that have happened in the past few days that have caused me to gain more clarity in my mind as to how we’ve managed to get to this point.  With a shooting like the one which happened yesterday there were members of both parties hugging each other and FINALLY talking about the need to “work together” and tone down the rhetoric.  But, almost predictably, there was one republican who stayed true to form – and, in my view, is as unable to “tone down the rhetoric” as the man who sits in the “Oval Office.”  That man is Newt Gingrich.  As I would have predicted, Gingrich came out with a statement that was laced with the, apparently in his mind, awful word “liberal.”  I took, as I listened to a broadcast of what was apparently a Facebook post, (I don’t do Facebook) it was as if Gingrich was placing blame for this shooting on those “on the left” who oppose Trump.  As if it’s their rhetoric that has inflamed the political “waters.”

Listening to that post brought back many (unpleasant) memories I have of Newt Gingrich.  To me, he is one of the main reasons America finds itself in this terrible quandary where the country is so clearly divided.  I remember when he was first in Congress Gingrich was the man who first pushed the “obstructionist” strategy.  The plan was for the republicans to stop as much of government from functioning as possible and BLAME the democrats.  He initiated the attacks on the word “liberal.”  He had outlets like Fox “news” (at the time with former republican dirty trickster Roger Ailes at the helm) on board with his plan – and, to this day, they’ve been participating – to the point where those on the air at Fox can be regarded as pathological liars – give them a “talking point” and they’ll repeat it until they can’t talk anymore – and, he had the right wing talkers on the radio airwaves, led by Rush Limbaugh, supporting his plan – “hook, line, and sinker” – all this, since the days of Ronald Reagan.

During the Clinton administration (which, despite the personal shortcomings of Bill Clinton, brought the economy into the Black – leaving an annual budget surplus of $250 BILLION for Bush/Cheney to squander away), if you remember, it was Gingrich who initiated the strategy of “shutting down the government” in order to “get his way.”  Of course, this “strategy” backfired majorly and it helped Clinton to “recover” from the constant attacks coming from right wing republicans.  (leading to Clinton being called “the comeback kid”)  Gingrich, in the midst of his own infidelity, led the impeachment push against Clinton for Clinton’s disgusting actions with an intern in the White House.  While Clinton’s personal behavior turns me, personally, off – similar to my feelings about Trump – the hypocrisy of the republicans during the Lewinsky scandal was almost unbelievable.  If I remember correctly, there were several members of the House republicans who led the impeachment charge who were essentially doing the same thing at the same time.  Gingrich was the “leader of the pack.”

Due to his own infidelity, at one time, Gingrich was “banished” from the national political scene only to return in the last few years attempting to either win the White House or gain a position of importance from, at this time, Trump.  I’m not going to get into all the hypocrisy or flip flops of Gingrich in this posts, but suffice it to say there’s much to discuss.  What caught my eye was his attempt to place blame for the shooting the other day on those who are “resisting” Donald Trump.  It’s as if he’s applying for SOME job – ANY job in government.  (it was rumored he wanted to be Secretary of State after Trump “won” the election.  (with 3 MILLION less votes!)  It’s as if, every time I forget Gingrich existed, here he comes with something that is aimed at making himself relevant again.

Prior to blaming “the left” and their attacks on Trump for the shooting, Gingrich was encouraging Trump to “fire” Robert Mueller, the “special counsel” now leading the so-called “Russian investigation.”  Just three weeks after coming out with strong support for the appointment of Mueller because he’s “impeccable for honesty and integrity” and saying “the media should now calm down,” Gingrich came out with a “tweet” saying “republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair.”  OK, in case you’re confused – he’s talking about the same person.  Mueller is, of course, the “special counsel.” So, you might ask, what changed?

Well, from my perspective, not much changed – but, I’ve been operating on the logic relating to all the circumstantial evidence that’s been “drip, drip, dripping” out since it became apparent there’s something Trump doesn’t want “we the people” to know about regarding his dealings with the Russians.  So, now we have Newt Gingrich suggesting to Trump that he “fire” the special counsel because this man who’s got “impeccable integrity” isn’t going to be fair.  All this reminds me of the commercial on TV where two people meet and say EXACTLY what’s on their mind – like, “I’ve got alternative plans in case this date doesn’t go well.”  Well, since Mueller’s appointment, it’s becoming more apparent that, for Trump, this isn’t going well.  Evidently, in Gingrich’s eyes, that means Mueller is no longer “impecably honest.”  In fact, the more Trump listens to people like Gingrich, the worse it gets.  But, somehow, Gingrich has remained as a “voice” in the republican party despite a career full of folly and failure.

I could (and might have to) write an entire post on the ramifications of Trump listening to Gingrich and “firing” Mueller, but that’s for another day.  (Actually, Trump can’t fire Mueller, he’d have to find someone in the Justice Department to do so – starting with Rod Rosenstein, the man who appointed Mueller. who would most certainly resign before firing Mueller – or, Rosenstein could refuse and force Trump to fire him – then forcing Tump to work down the DOJ heirarchy until he could find someone like the man Nixon found during the infamous “Saturday night massacre” – Robert Bork, who severely damaged his career by following the “orders” – to fire Mueller.  If this happens, it will be interesting to see how many people would refuse or resign regarding the president’s “order.”  Trump would be dooming his presidency!

My point today, however, is how did we get to the point where the talk in Washington DC is about the level of the rhetoric and what it is doing to how our nation’s government functions and how it affects “we the people” who love this nation and are frustrated by the dysfunction in our nation’s capital.  That’s kind of a “what came first, the chicken or the egg?” argument, but I think a strong case could be made that the dysfunction was purposeful and was the strategy Newt Gingrich put in place to bring Washington to a standstill and give republicans a way to blame democrats for government failures.  Republicans are again proving they’re much better at winning elections than governing, but this shooting brings up how deep the divide in America really is.  To me, while Newt Gingrich is blaming rhetoric on “the left” for the DC shooting, it is his own “rhetoric” over the years that’s at the crux of America’s political divide.

Final thought:  I’ve been saying, almost since Trump took office, that he will inevitably be impeached – whether by this republican congress, or by the one “we the people” will elect in 2018 if republicans don’t act first.  If Trump decides to “fire Mueller” – which, I believe is possible – as Gingrich has suggested, I would be surprised if Trump lasted another month after doing so.  Regardless, the “ship of state” is anchored down going nowhere and republicans must be getting very frustrated with the lack of “production” while they have control of the Congress.  I don’t think it will be too much longer until the damage Trump is doing to “we the people,” the American image around the world, and to their own party here at home becomes so apparent to them (republicans in Congress) that they decide to act.

Delusional:  characterized by or holding idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of mental disorder.  Today, as I was driving around doing errands, I listened to Sean Spicer give his first “daily brief” since Donald Trump returned from his “first overseas trip.”  As I listened to Spicer’s incredible description of what I saw, all I could think of was the word delusional.  Trump, apparently, is delusional – and, his surrogates either share that diagnosis – or, they just have to force themselves to LIE repeatedly to the American people as a way to continue being employed.  I don’t want anyone to lose their job, but I have to believe people like Spicer and Conway (and others working for Trump) are doing serious damage to their long term career opportunities.  I’m guessing, for example, Spicer is prepared to “go down with the ship,” but I often just feel a sense of empathy for him – that his job is defending what is clearly Trump’s directions and not informing the public of the actual White House “doings.”

Of course, there is truly a “divide” in America and I’m the first to admit that I don’t understand the so-called “Alt Right” – so, there surely is a “landing spot” for Spicer and Conway and Bannon and the others who came from Breitbart.  (Well, actually, I believe Spicer was somewhat part of the “mainstream” of republican circles before Trump)  Breitbart, to my knowledge – and, again, I don’t pay much attention to those “circles” – is the American version of the Russian journalism that actually “invented” the “Fake news” phenomenon.  Obviously, as a devious political strategy, “Fake news” is very effective.  Of course, Trump has attempted to “turn the tables” on actual “Fake news” by claiming that any news reporting on him that he doesn’t like to be “Fake news.”  At least, “we the people” are now aware of the strategy so, hopefully, in the future it won’t be as effective.

My son, at one point (and, unfortunately, him and many of his friends – “20 somethings” – don’t participate in politics) pointed out to me how people create “fake” websites in order to scam people on the internet.  Websites that look real to someone like me who’s unsuspecting of anything “evil,” allowing the perpetrator to either get someone to “click” where they shouldn’t, give info they shouldn’t, or in the case of politics – believe information that’s been made up.  Since he’s pointed that out to me, I’ve run into many situations where people are using the internet to “intrude” on unsuspecting old people, like myself, with offers and websites that actually look real but are FAKE alternatives.  I’ve learned to always check the URL before I click on ANYTHING and, often you’ll see one letter changed from the real website’s address – so, that even the fake URL looks real without close inspection.

So, Spicer started his news conference with one of the more incredible descriptions of something I had actually witnessed that I’ve ever seen.  The first thing he did was refer to Trump’s trip as “historic” in the sense that it was “wonderful” – something more impressive than foreign trips by other Presidents.  Despite the FACT the Europeans were shocked at the way they were treated by Trump and the FACT Trump actually kissed up to the Saudi’s in an astonishing way – evidently, as other “leaders” have done – apparently because of the oil in Saudi Arabia – ignoring the FACT that MOST of the 9/11 attackers were Saudi’s and it’s not a public “secret” that funding for Al Qaeda and ISIL – in large part – comes from members of the vast array of Saudi “princes.”

Additionally, the idea of promising something like $350 BILLION worth of sophisticated military equipment to the Saudi’s was “historic” certainly gave me pause.  Why on earth are we continuing to arm them at this level (if that is actually what happens – most of what Trump has claimed in his propaganda regarding “job creation” has been phony)?  Is that the way we create jobs in America now?  I guess that decision will end up being “historic,” but I certainly have some reservations about how it will be characterized when “push comes to shove.”  I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have NO confidence that this (supposed) arm sale was part of any coherent Middle East foreign policy that will have any kind of positive result for them or us.  I’m certainly no expert on the region, but continuing to arm the Saudis at such a significant level certainly raises red flags in my mind.  I guess, we in America will forever be willing to “look the other way” from the 9/11 reality in return for the oil.

And, to me, a massive arms sale to Saudi Arabia sends a very disturbing message to the Shia who’ve been at odds with the  Sunni’s – which is what the Saudi’s predominately are – about the allegiances of the United States.  On the one hand we say our main objective is to “defeat ISIL” (which is made up of Sunni’s) and then we throw our military support to the “home” of Al Qaeda and the terrorist organizations started by Osama bin Laden.   Remember, the ruling majority in Iraq are Shia and the source of the war is Shia v Sunni.  Again, it seems we (America) have no coherent foreign policy in dealing with this MESS that was exacerbated when George W Bush/Dick Cheney LIED the United States into invading Iraq all the way back in 2003.  I often wonder how Bush and Cheney are able to sleep at night knowing what damage they’ve done to the stability of one of the most critical parts of the world (not to mention the number of people DEAD as the result of their fiasco)?  It seems almost like an unsolvable problem – and then along comes Trump whose  actions are like pouring gas onto the fire.

Every time I listen to Trump it’s as if he’s operating in another universe.  The words that come from his mouth, almost every time, defy reality.  His claims rarely have any basis in FACT, and he’s convinced his supporters that anything reported about him that is negative would be “Fake news.”  He seems to be operating as if the so-called “Russian investigation” will just go away now that he’s fired James Comey, the (now former) director of the FBI, and he promotes his “legislative agenda” (which has gone nowhere) as something “very great” with no seeming connection to the realities of his own proposals.  Every time I listen to him the word “delusional” comes to mind and I’m reminded our president is a pathological liar.

For example, while bashing the Affordable Care Act (and, purposely attempting to undermine it – I truly believe Trump is the nation’s head racist – and, he could care less about people’s health insurance – he wants to dismantle ANYTHING with President Obama’s name attached to it) Trump is proclaiming the “health care” bill put forth by Paul Ryan and the House as something “wonderful.”  He ignores the FACT that the CBO estimates that 23 MILLION less people will be insured and that for anyone not in the younger healthy “class” premiums will skyrocket.  He also says NOTHING about the TRILLION dollar tax cut – which is what his “health care bill” really is and how it will cut almost $800 BILLION from Medicaid.  This bill will lead to realities that will truly make Trump’s presidency “historic” should the Senate go along with the House – but, the sad reality is the damage caused by all this will take YEARS to fix.

Evidently, the idea of fixing the Affordable Care Act is not “on the table” with Republicans because the last thing they want to do is help supplement President Obama’s so-called “legacy.”  What I don’t think they realize is that as every day passes they make Obama look much BETTER.  Heck, Trump is even, from my perspective, making George W Bush look better.  I’m not sure how long today’s republican party will continue to put up with Trump, but I believe he’s already etched himself into a place as the WORST president in the countries’ history (that’s historic!) and, as I’ve said many times here, the extent of the damage is still to be determined and it’s pretty much up to the republican party to determine when they’re going to “pull the plug” on this man.

Unfortunately, and this becomes clearer every day, what lies on the other side of Trump isn’t much better.  I believe Mike Pense has already begun the process of preparing for the ascendancy – I’ve read where he’s set up a “Super PAC” for the fundraising.  Pense, during his short term as Vice President has shown himself to be a willing LIAR as well.  I’m not sure he would fall into the “pathological” category and I’m not sure which is worse – a pathological liar or a “willing liar” – although, on thing I am sure of, they’re BOTH really BAD!  Right behind Pense in the line of ascension is Paul Ryan.  He’s another republican who’s exposed himself as, at a minimum, a willing liar.  By that, I mean he doesn’t have a second thought of standing before reporters and clearly LYING about the most basic things.  This “health care” bill has so many holes in it no one would have enough fingers to “plug the dike.”  Yet, I’ve heard with my own ears Ryan claim that “no Americans will go without health care.”

Of course, Ryan would claim he’s being “honest” because he’d point out if you become sick and you don’t have health insurance you could just go to any emergency room and they would be obligated to give you treatment.  I probably don’t have to explain to you why that is such a bogus claim – but, suffice it to say that the last time I was in an emergency room (6+ years ago, and for less than four hours which included something like five minutes with an actual doctor) the charge was $6000 for what seems like almost no service.  And, without health insurance my savings, at the time, would have been more than wiped out.  Had I have needed to be admitted, I would have faced financial ruin without health insurance.

Even with the Affordable Care Act there’s still MILLIONS of Americans without health insurance – but, with “Trumpcare” that number will increase by 23 MILLION.  Additionally, some people insured via the ACA can’t get into the doctors of their choice.  So, what should be happening is the ACA being FIXED – with a bipartisan solution (like a “public option” or a plan to head us toward a “single payer” “Medicare for all” system.  But, what we’re getting is a republican party trying to figure out a way to “repeal the ACA” with a “replacement” that angers the fewest number of right wing voters and allows them to give a YUGE tax cut to their benefactors.  Again, when they call their plan “health care” they are being DELUSIONAL.

Trump’s explanation of his foreign trip, his description of his “successes” so far in his administration, his claims about the “Russia investigation,” and virtually anything that comes from his mouth or the mouths of his surrogates ALWAYS comes across as delusional.  And, we have a republican congress that is apparently allowing their party to become the “party of Trump.”  They’re going to have to defend Trump as we get closer and closer to 2018 and hollow rhetoric will become less and less effective.  Many of the Americans who have benefited from what President Obama managed to get through an obstructionist congress during his two terms in office are people who voted for Trump (presumably because they couldn’t stand Hillary Clinton).  Trump’s delusion is soon to be their reality and it could get ugly.

Additionally, I can’t bring myself to believe there’s many Americans who are going to be willing to “look the other way” when the TRUTH about the Trump campaign’s involvement with the Russians becomes apparent.  The circumstantial evidence that there was COLLUSION is becoming overwhelming and the investigation by Robert Mueller is bound to overflow into the Trump financial empire – that’s likely to be wound tight by obligations to Russian sources of MONEY.  I’ve read enough sources that have said Trump’s preponderance to file bankruptcy, thereby STIFFING lenders and workers out of MILLIONS of dollars, left him no choice but to seek financing for his projects from abroad – with much of the money coming from Russia.

This would explain why Trump has yet to say one negative word about Vladimir Putin, why he’s not been quoted once as to having ANY concern about the Russian attack on our election (he didn’t even bring it up in his conversations with James Comey), why he met with the Russian ambassador and foreign minister shortly after firing Comey and exclaiming to them that the firing would “take away the pressure of the Russia investigation,” and, probably the most interesting part of this, why he continues to praise Michael Flynn and contact him encouraging Flynn to “stay strong.”  (Makes you wonder what Trump’s hiding and what Flynn knows – I’m guessing we’ll learn the latter before Flynn has to go to jail – what he knows about Trump and the Russians is likely his “get out of jail free” card.)

I’ll end this by saying that listening to a majority of republicans in the congress brings that word to mind again – delusional.  What becomes apparent is with republicans in Congress it’s all about politics and not about honor.  If they had taken their oath of office seriously, they’d be lining up as I’m writing this to end America’s present nightmare.  (Actually, for me, I’m almost hoping the republicans hold out until 2018 and let “we the people” vote in democrats to put them (democrats) on the spot as to whether they would impeach Trump – I don’t think Trump will make it that long – but, I’m concerned that Pense is even more dangerous – because, with him at the top Republicans could probably get their draconian agenda passed)  We (Americans) are drifting here at home – with MAJOR needs that should be addressed in a progressive manner – and, our standing in the world is reeling.  We will be able to recover from this, but it depends on how long Trump is allowed to live in the White House as to how difficult the recovery will be.  Kind of reminds me of smoking cigarettes.  The longer you do it, the harder it is to clear your system of the damage.  “We the people” all need to be praying that there’s no significant international crisis while Trump is still at the “helm.”  That would be the “thing” that could make the damage he does almost irreversible – the man is delusional!

I was reminded today as I was listening to John McLaughlin, former director of the CIA, about the “goal” of the Trump administration, as put forth by White Nationalist Steve Bannon; to “deconstruct the administrative state.”  The Trump administration is busy trying to destroy virtually everything “we the people” have fought for since the days of the Great Depression.  The evidence of administration connections to ruthless dictators around the world is becoming irrefutable and the attacks on fundamental American institutions – which might block his efforts – like the media, the FBI, and the intelligence community in general – not to mention the other parts of the “administrative state” (State Department, EPA. Education, etc., etc.) – should get people’s attention – even many who voted for Trump but still actually believe in our “democracy.”  Remember, they’ve been brainwashed since the days of Reagan to believe “the government’s the enemy.”

I keep wondering how long this stuff will continue before the republicans in congress take notice and intervene for “we the people.”  Lately, I’ve been rereading “A Family of Secrets” by Russ Baker for about the fourth time.  It’s a reminder to me that presidents who get on the wrong side of the intelligence community don’t have their terms end well.  After reading this book again, I’m convinced JFK’s demise was the result of the CIA and the eastern oil alliance conspiring to bring Kennedy’s administration to a premature ending.  Deposed CIA head, Allen Dulles – fired after the boggled Bay of Pigs invasion – was one of the “investigators” on the Warren Commission along with others who had no interest in discovering what really happened to Kennedy.  It should surprise no one that Kennedy’s assassination has never received complete closure.

Then there was Richard Nixon.  The Watergate burglars were led by CIA agent (also of Bay of Pigs fame) E. Howard Hunt and a bunch of Cubans also involved in the bungled invasion.  Of course, Nixon was undermined by his own paranoia and the ensuing cover-up.  However, to me, and if you disagree I would suggest you read this book – it is well documented – Nixon was “outed” by the same force that got Kennedy.  The CIA along with the oil alliance which helped the CIA set up “secret” outposts around the globe following WW II, had several reasons to dislike Nixon.  One big one was Nixon’s lack of support for the “oil depletion allowance,” along with his overtures to China and Russia – both in opposition to the strong “anti-communist” nature of the CIA at that time.  Now, I have to say I was no supporter of Nixon back then – but, until much later I had no idea he was undermined by the CIA.  If you read Baker’s book it’s hard not to wonder how much power the intelligence community actually has.  Every time there’s a new president elected I have this picture in my mind of that person’s first order of business being the CIA instructing him/her on the job’s “expectations.”  I don’t think Nixon was paying attention.

Now, fast forward to Donald Trump.  He’s picked “fights” with several organizations that I don’t think he understands what he’s dealing with.  The so-called “liberal media” has definitely, to me, seemed much more “liberal” (if that is what you’d call standing up to Trump) since Trump began his relentless attacks on them – routinely calling anyone who reports what Trump is actually doing as “Fake news” – a term which actually originated during the election from the Russians’ strategy of finding ways to get ridiculous stories published via America media circles (or, them – the Russians – creating crude facsimiles of websites and “reporting” on them as if real – of course, people using the media to spread their propaganda is nothing new – to me, there’s a difference).  Several times in the campaign Trump mentioned that anyone in the media who was “nice” to him would be OK – however, anyone who says anything negative about him will get BLASTED as Trump will fight back without any respect to integrity or actual FACTS.

Trump seems to “shoot straight from the hip” in his response to circumstances virtually as they arise.  He’s the classic 6th grader I dealt with during my years in the classroom who was constantly getting in “trouble” due to issues caused by “blurting out” – where I would be constantly trying to teach students to “think before they would say something.”  Additionally, Trump has the classic signs of a bully – but, I believe he’s getting a taste of reality regarding what happens to bullies who are unable to get their way.  Attempting to bully the media and the intelligence community is beyond foolish – it’s STUPID!  As I’ve said before, Trump seems to be “in way over his head.”  He’s essentially encouraging the media to intensify their investigations of him and his surrogates by making one baseless charge after another against them and, in regards to his standing with the intelligence community, well, firing Jim Comey was really STUPID – especially, the way he went about it.  One thing that is blatantly clear from reading Baker’s book is that the intelligence community is a close knit brotherhood.

Had Trump fired Comey the day he took office the news of the firing probably would have received the response he expected – but, right after Comey publicly announced that the FBI was investigating his campaign, including possible criminal investigations, made it look REALLY bad.  Of course, making something look really bad isn’t good enough for Trump, so – the next day – he gave an interview with Lester Holt of NBC where he ADMITTED he fired Comey because of the “Russia Investigation.”  Then, he STUPIDLY topped that off by meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister and Russian Ambassador in the Oval Office (with ONLY Russian journalists present) where he confirmed to them he fired Comey (who he disparaged to the Russians – one of them the same guy involved in “scandal”) to take the pressure of the Russia investigation off of himself – STUPID – and, then to top it all off, he disclosed some of the most sensitive of Classified information to the Russians.  As someone said – “you can’t make this stuff up.”  It’s beyond STUPID! (if you ask him, Trump will tell you “I’m smart”)

Of course, trying to minimize the effect of the media and the intelligence community would be the work of someone who has authoritarian tendencies.  Along with those “tendencies” you also have the attacks against the judiciary and complaints about the constitution.  There, to me, is ample evidence suggesting Trump and his surrogates feel comfortable in disregarding the “laws of the land.”  Combining all this with his “bromance” with Vladimir Putin and his comfort with other dictators around the world, even republicans in congress should be seeing MAJOR red flags!  World leaders are beginning to flee from America and, despite Trump’s “base” supposedly being very loyal, republicans in Congress who took an oath to support our Constitution and the “laws of the land” need to be “stepping up.”  Whether they like it or not, the solution to the Trump problem lies in the hands of the republicans – they’ve got control of Congress.

Today is the day Trump is suspected to be going to pull America out of the so-called “Paris Climate Accords.”  (He actually did it!) From what I understand, the “Accords” are voluntary and possibly more symbolic than anything else – but, in reality, the only two countries in the world who are not signatories to the agreement are Syria and Nicaragua.  I’ve questioned many times on this site as to how much DAMAGE Trump will be allowed to cause before republicans in Congress do the inevitable and IMPEACH him – well, the Climate Accords might be significant along those lines – although, Trump may actually decide not to pull out – he promised his “White Nationalist” base he would pull out during the election – you know – anything President Obama was for, they are against – but, from what I can tell, NUMEROUS CEO’s around the country are counseling Trump to keep America involved.  The end result of America pulling out could conceivably, from my perspective, help catapult China further into the “lead” in the fight against “Climate Change” along with speeding up their goal to be the world’s leading economic power.

From what I’ve heard and read, China is focused on pushing the “green” energy agenda.  Renewable power sources, for instance, obviously are the “future” – but, in America, the republican party and people like Trump are still stuck in their commitments to oil and coal.  The sooner “we the people” get beyond that “reality,” in my mind, the better – especially for our children and grandchildren.  I’m bringing this one aspect of “what’s going on” up as an example of the actual and potential damage of continuing with Trump in the “White House.”  Everyone in Washington DC understands there are already multiple reasons Trump could legitimately be impeached – not the least of which would be his violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution.  Republicans are waiting for the political winds to shift to the point where their own jobs are in jeopardy – which, I believe is ALREADY the case for many of them – before they take up the reality that Trump has “got to go.”  If nothing else, I’m sure his overall incompetence is wearing thin on republican leaders in Congress.

So, Trump is not only attempting to “deconstruct the administrative state,” he’s undermining America’s standing in the world.  I listened to as much of his speech yesterday as I could stomach, while he was announcing withdrawing America from the Climate Accords, and one thing he said really caught my attention.  “When are people around the world going to be laughing at the United States?”  Well, I don’t believe that time is here – I think they are shaking their collective heads and wondering what the hell has happened to America – but, there are many who seem to be trying to find ways to tolerate what is going on who are LAUGHING at Trump as a way to mitigate their concerns and/or anger.  He has evolved to a somewhat pathetic person, who clearly doesn’t understand what’s happening to him – and, as the investigations get closer and closer to him, in my mind, he becomes even more dangerous.  2 out of every 3 Americans believe we (America) should be leading the fight against “Climate Change” – not, handing that role to China.  Only 20% of Americans support Trump’s “health care” (tax cut for the rich) bill, and most want him to honor his pledge to support Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

If Trump succeeds in “deconstructing the administrative state” the American people will suffer extreme damage for years to come.  I’m not the only person in this nation waiting to see which republican (if any) will have the courage to step up and lead the charge to stop the DAMAGE Trump is inflicting on the rest of us – sooner rather than later.  Remember, what he calls an “overwhelming victory” in last year’s election was actually the largest LOSS in America’s history of any president who managed to win the office despite LOSING the popular vote – in Trump’s case by 3 MILLION votes!

He has NO MANDATE, and he continues to push the divisive agenda promoted by the likes of Steve Bannon and Steven Miller – both “White Nationalists.”  Every day we’re a bit closer to November 2018 – I can’t imagine there’s many republicans who want to go to the polls defending the “deconstruction of the administrative state” to people who don’t understand that includes Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, unemployment INSURANCE, Meals on wheels, early childhood education, children’s healthcare legislation, the ACA (which should – and could – be improved), and the list goes on.

Final Thought:  Speaking of “history,” the history books are going to give Trump a spot that I can’t imagine anyone would want – and, I’m saying that without any consideration to the investigations which are ongoing.  His general incompetency and his narcissistic behavior is likely to put him at the bottom of the list of presidents.  (George Bush is smiling)  Should the “evidence” lead to Trump’s financial dealings with the likes of the Russian Oligarchs – we could be talking about legal issues worse than Nixon – with, at this point, still the possibility of espionage involving – certainly – some of his surrogates, and very possibly Trump himself (I, for example, don’t believe Michael Flynn and/or Jared Kushner were operating as “rogue” diplomats in their covert meetings with various Russians connected to Vladimir Putin)