Anyone who’s been paying attention doesn’t need me telling them the republican party has totally abandoned any principle which has “defined” them over the proceeding 30+ years.  Now, if you’ve been reading on this site you know that I haven’t been fooled.  They’ve been “tilting” farther and farther to the “right” since the days of Reagan.  The now infamous “Koch Brothers,” who were part of the right wing fringe when Reagan was first elected, are now driving the agenda.  With republicans it’s ALL about the MONEY and the POWER and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep it.  (The money and the power)  Clearly, they are prepared to enable Trump under any circumstances.  In fact, the House republicans are willing to TOTALLY overlook the likelihood THEIR president conspired with the Russians to get elected!  Yikes!  And, their willingness to enable Trump are creating even greater problems!

What people have to understand about Trump is that the more he’s pressed by the Mueller probe the more he’s going to fight back.  And, he’s pandering to the only people who will stand with him as he’s pushed closer and closer to the “corner.”  It’s  the fringe right wing “base” he’s “throwing” constant “bones” to in order to keep them in line.  At the same time, Trump is “cashing in” on as much as he can, while he can, as he’s DAILY abusing the emoluments clause of the constitution to even greater abuses.  Recently, it became public he’s “making a deal” with the Chinese over a telecom company that builds cheap cell phones while using parts they purchase from U.S. companies and then sell to countries that are subject to U.S. sanctions.  The company itself, ZTE, has now been sanctioned by the U.S. government because of these violations, plus it’s been reported their phones have been used to gather espionage against the U.S. for the Chinese government.  Our military and intelligence communities have BANNED them!

So, what did Trump, “Mr. America first” do?  He’s ordered the Commerce department to work out a “deal” so that ZTE can do business in the United States again, “for the sake of Chinese jobs.”  Are you kidding me?  (Well, obviously not – because what I’m writing here is true and I’m not kidding me!)  To top it off, it’s been reported that the Chinese have, subsequent to Trump’s “let’s make a deal” over ZTE, made a large “investment” in a project in Indonesia which the Trump organization has a significant “stake.”  I know this is a beyond ARROGANT violation of the emoluments clause in our constitution, but, if you don’t believe me (you’re correct, I can’ t believe a president would do this and plan to “get away” with it – picture all these republican ENABLERS if President Obama had done such a thing) you can read about it HERE.  It appears to me Trump is “grabbing” satchel upon satchel of MONEY before the TRUTH catches up with him.

I’ve said many times on this site Trump reminds me of a mafia boss and, in my mind, that’s becoming clearer with every passing day.  And, as I said above, his nature is to fight back and he’ll do whatever he deems necessary to protect himself and his family.  I believe, if it ever was, it’s no longer about “we the people” but it’s about saving his butt.  His son is liable and it appears to me he’s likely to be facing some kind of charges unless the republicans TOTALLY fail to take their oath’s seriously.  As more and more FACTS come out, Don Jr. is appearing to be a LIAR somewhat in line with his daddy.  And, Jared Kushner?  Well, he’s clearly violated several laws relating to the national security of the nation – like LYING (over and over) on his SF 86 form – which is why America’s “savior” for “peace in the Middle East” can’t get a security clearance to read classified information in the “White House.”  Then, I must remind you the emoluments clause affects more than the president.

So, tonight I read in the NY Times (HERE) that the Kushner’s are in the process of getting “bailed out” of the financial disaster they purchased a few years ago, appropriately  the address is 666 Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, by the investment arm of the Qatari government, Brookfield Property Partners.  Keep in mind, it was just a few months ago that the Trump administration supported a BLOCKADE of Qatar (pronounced “cutter”) by the Saudi’s and the United Arab Emeritus, ostensibly – based on “rumors” – because the Qatar led investment firm was not interested in bailing out Kushner on what many consider the 666 albatross.  However, now that the BLOCKADE has been lifted it appears the Qatari’s are seeing fit to help the Kushner enterprise out of a real problem.  The property has a $1.4 BILLION mortgage due early next year and, to date, NO ONE’S been interested in BAILING them out.  Surprise, Surprise, it appears – somehow – the Qatari’s have been convinced to change their minds.

This is all being done right out in the sunlight – yet, the republicans who investigated “Whitewater” – a $10,000 investment the Clinton’s made that went bad – for YEARS and investigated Benghazi FOR YEARS – are going to “look the other way” to CORRUPTION which makes anything ANY other president and/or their family has done, in my lifetime, look like “child’s play.”  I recently wrote a post lamenting Trump’s “draining the swamp” and how his supporters are so STUPID as to believe what he claims.  The “swamp” is clearly NOT being drained – it’s being FILLED.  I guess that’s just a different way to get rid of the “swamp.”  It would be like bringing truckloads of fill dirt to a wetland and FILLING it with DIRT until it was no longer considered a “wetland.”  If Trump continues to get away with this there will no longer be a “swamp” to drain.

I understand the CORRUPTION caused by MONEY in Congress is “bipartisan” – but, the reality is it’s TILTED heavily to the right as well.  Consider the NRA – which used to “donate” to both parties – not equally, but much more “bipartisan” than now.  Here’s an article which will help you “get” that almost ALL NRA money goes to republicans.  Here’s another example;  I recently wrote about how Sheldon Adelson got an almost $700 MILLION windfall (each year) from the republican tax scam so he “tithed” $30 MILLION to the republican party.  Then there’s the Koch Brothers, who are estimated to gain at least $1.4 BILLION (with a B) annually from the tax scam – they’ve committed close to half a BILLION dollars in 2018 to prevent the “blue wave.”  They’ve already begun the REAL fake news which will be a pile of LIES pouring into every imagined part of the media aimed at turning Americans against progressive candidates.  Their target will be all those Trump supporters who continue watching Trump TV or listening to the right wing “talkers” on the radio airwaves who Trump, himself, called the “uneducated voters.”  I”m not saying many of these people are NOT “very fine people” (provided they weren’t carrying Tiki Torches in Charlottesville or supporting those who did) – it’s just that they’re STUPID when it comes to politics.  They are willingly believing LIES – AND they’re too LAZY to fact check!  (many of them DON’T read at all! and, they’ve been led to believe those of us who do are “elitists” – this is the playbook of autocrats!)

I continue to believe in our constitution and believe our system of government is stronger than Trump.  I continue to believe Robert Mueller will do his job and he’ll be further recognized as an American HERO when all is said and done with the “Russia Investigation.”  I read today he’s planning to end the “obstruction” phase of the investigation by September – Rudy Giuliani seemed to be bragging as if he accomplished this.  Well, by my take, Mueller is planning to end that phase of the investigation so that “we the people” don’t go to the polls wondering what his conclusions are.  I’m guessing he’ll give an incriminating report on Trump, his son, his son-in-law, and possibly others in the “White House” – co-conspirators – including Mike Pense, Sarah Sanders, and several who have “moved on.”  I believe he wants to give voters information to help them decide if they want to turn America into a fascist state.  And, it’s not only the surrogates in the “White House” who are conspiring, I believe members of the House are dangerously close to, themselves, participating in the conspiracy to OBSTRUCT  justice.

My understanding, for example, of what entails a “conspiracy” would be:  If you are present when someone is planning a crime and you don’t report it, you are part of the crime.  Take, for example, when Trump fired James Comey.  He reportedly read in what he was prepared to do with virtually everyone working, at that time, in the “White House.”  The next day Pense, Kellyanne Conway, and Sean Spicer (the ones I remember) were out LYING about why Trump fired Comey – only to have Trump ADMIT the TRUTH to Lester Holt on, maybe the most ILL ADVISED interview in American political history, that he fired Comey because of the “Russian thing.”  A couple days later Trump “doubled down” while in the Oval Office with a couple Russian leaders when he again said he fired Comey to end the Russia investigation.  Technically, from how I understand the law, anyone “read in” to Trump’s action would be part of the “conspiracy to OBSTRUCT justice.”  I’m guessing who gets caught up in all this will depend on how serious Mueller takes it all and also, who LIED in their “interview” with the Special Counsel’s office.  At the rate these people LIE, it could be a bunch of them!

Then I have to wonder about the House “Intelligence” Committee???  Devin Nunes, what a whack job!  And, clearly, he’s been working inside the House in an attempt to shield Trump from whatever might be coming from the Mueller investigation.  It’s not that he led a committee that was clearly a SHAM, that I believe makes him vulnerable to the conspiracy.  It was his late night visit to the “White House” to get info from them and then, the next day, act like he’d found “evidence” that would support Trump’s outlandish claim that former President Obama “wiretapped Trump Tower.”  Subsequently, Nunes has been working overtime in an attempt to block the Mueller investigation – which, to me, appears to be OBSTRUCTION.  Nunes and the other members of his committee who are conspiring with him, in my view, SHOULD be held accountable to the law.  Just like the so-called president, NO ONE is above the law!

Trust me, as this investigation closes in and Trump becomes MORE desperate, his actions will be MORE desperate.  He’ll be initiating more radical RIGHT WING policy decisions so that his “base” will continue “looking the other way,” and he’ll be pushing MORE instances of his greedy MONEY grabs due to foreign governments making “deals.”  I’m presently reading “Fascism a Warning” by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. (I recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in understanding the history behind Trump’s “playbook”)  Clearly, Trump is following the example of autocrats before him – like Vladimir Putin (with whom he seems to have a “bromance”), Erdogan of Turkey, and others going back to the 1930’s. (You can draw your own conclusions on what that means)  Our system of government is designed to PREVENT an AUTOCRAT from gaining a “stranglehold” on our government.  When you look at Trump, you can see example after example of how he is attempting to gain complete CONTROL of our government – and, he’s attempting to convince his followers to “look the other way” from his ILLEGAL practices – because he’s looking out for them.

The key component of leaders like Putin, Erdogan, and Trump is the ability to look their “subjects” in the eye and LIE to them – in a way that convinces the followers the LIE is actually true.  This has been the “playbook” of this type of leader since the 30’s in Germany.  Sadly, it appears to work.  Our founders (in the U.S.) planned to STOP this from happening by creating the system of “checks and balances” that has worked for well over 200 years.  Trump is attempting to turn this system of “checks and balances” upside down.  He’s not only attempting to get the Congress to violate their oath to the constitution (so far, effectively – as we see with the brazen violations of the emoluments clause – to name ONE example – there are others), but his attacks on the media and the intelligence community MIRRORS the path taken by Putin and Erdogan (as two examples, there are more – I’m just too lazy to do the work necessary to  list them) as they turned fledgling democracies into full fledged dictatorships.  “We the people” have the power to stop this, but I guarantee you – Trump and his enablers will be working OVERTIME to prevent progressives from voting in 2018 and they’ll spend never before seen amounts of MONEY  in their attempt to further cement their POWER!

Final Thought:  The beauty of America’s system is “we the people” get to vote in order to determine our leaders.  The sad reality in America is that too many people DON’T vote.  And, republicans like that and are attempting to make it easier to NOT vote for those who aren’t committed to participating.  The SADDEST reality is that we get the government we deserve and as long as MOST people choose NOT to participate “leaders” like Trump will be in our future.  Yikes!!!  (Here’s my thought;  if you’re “bitching” about Trump and the state of affairs in America and you’re NOT voting – shut up!  (And, I rarely use that phrase.   In 23 years of teaching sixth graders I can only remember telling one student to “shut up.”  It’s a very pointed phrase)