OMG! I’ve been pointing out for over two years that at some point individual 1 will face a REAL crisis and he’s likely to be as unfit for that situation as with EVERYTHING else he is screwing up. Well, it appears that time may be on the horizon. If you follow the “news” you know that the Yemeni Houthis allegedly struck a key Saudi Arabian oil field with unmanned drones which (may or may not have) come (came) from Iran. True to his nature, individual 1 has publicly admitted he’s waiting for instructions from MBS (Mohammad bin Salmon) so he can determine the “response” of the United States.

Yes, you read that correctly! Individual 1 is checking with MBS for his direction as to how “we the people” (who he “tweeted” are “locked and loaded” – what the hell?) should proceed. MBS is the leader who TORTURES his own people and leads the country which originated (at least) 17 of the 9/11 attackers. He’s the leader who has been attempting to inflict genocide on Yemen – with the help of individual 1 and Jared Kushner – and he’s the leader who allegedly ORDERED the MURDER and DISMEMBERMENT of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident reporter who was a resident of Washington DC and was working for the Washington Post. Additionally, everyone knows the Saudi’s are major donors of terrorist groups like Al Qaeda.

It’s disgusting enough individual 1 has supported the mass murder of the Yemeni’s (many facing starvation from reports I’ve read) to “give back” to MBS for the MILLIONS he’s spent at individual 1’s properties, but deciding how to respond to an attack on Saudi oil fields at the direction of MBS? You’ve got to be kidding! I thought even individual 1 was smarter than that. The Saudi’s have spent hundreds of MILLIONS buying American military hardware. It’s their oil fields and their problem. Why is it assumed “we the people” will deliver a “blow” to Iran?

The first thought which crossed my mind after I heard of the attack was that Yemen’s Houthi’s were giving some back to the Saudi’s. It IS a WAR! for heaven’s sake. I suppose it’s because the Houthi’s hit the oil field which got everyone’s attention. Does that mean the oil fields are off limits in war? I’ve never heard of that before. Of course, individual 1 gets whatever information he receives these days from Mike Pompeo, so it’s no surprise Pompeo (and the Saudi’s) are laying the responsibility of this attack at the “feet” of the Iranians. Pompeo, like John Bolton before him – who was FIRED last week, is a true Iran “chicken hawk” and was key in encouraging individual 1 to pull out of the “Iran nuclear” agreement – which could be the issue which is ACTUALLY behind this attack – if it came from the Iranians.

Clearly, Pompeo has learned that with individual 1 “flattery will get you everywhere.” I believe Pompeo has much greater ambitions than his present post – I wouldn’t be surprised if he took Pense’s spot on the 2020 “ticket.” I have ZERO confidence in the integrity of Pompeo and, of course, no one in his right mind trusts individual 1 – who has been acting like a mob boss since the day he took office.

So, as I’m writing this, there’s rampant speculation “we the people” may be about to attack Iran once MBS directs our so-called president as to how he wants him to respond. Of course, if there’s a U.S. attack on Iran, the Congress will NOT have OK’d that attack as is required by the constitution. Surely, individual 1 will continue the obscene abuse of the Authorization for the Use of Military Force which was granted to Bush/Cheney shortly after 9/11 and has been getting ABUSED ever since. And, of course, having individual 1 at the “helm” is NOT reassuring – he with the “bone spurs.” That rationale would be similar to the Russians blaming the U.S. if Israel used American military hardware to make an attack on Syria or Lebanon. WW III anyone? Yikes!!!

I’ve been talking (writing) about the DAMAGE accumulating from individual 1’s term in the “White House” and we could be approaching the epitome of what he’s inflicting on “we the people” and the rest of the world. So, how did this transpire? Well, if you remember, individual 1’s primary goal as our so-called president has been to destroy the “legacy” of President Barack Obama – reportedly because Obama embarrassed him at a correspondents dinner back in 2012 (during the “birther” days). Individual 1 pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear agreement and ratcheted up sanctions on Iran which have had a negative impact on their economy and Iran is now (apparently) striking back – essentially, putting individual 1 in a very uncomfortable position – as, he’s clearly campaigning instead of governing. I believe he realizes his “re-election” is the only sure way to stay out of jail. (Right now, I’m predicting he’ll pardon himself before leaving office if he loses the 2020 election)

While it’s apparent individual 1 has NO regard for America’s laws – if they apply to him – I don’t believe he understands the Iranians AT ALL. Thinking his brash intimidation tactics will be successful seems far fetched to me. Maybe I’ll be surprised, but my instincts (from what I’ve read about regarding the ill-advised attack of Iraq by the Bush/Cheney regime and the subsequent empowering of Iran) tell me Iran is a much more powerful, dangerous, and more complicated challenge than Iraq ever was. I believe they are lashing out because of the economic sanctions imposed by individual 1 after they were following the agreement made during the Obama administration.

I can imagine there are many around the world on the “edge of their seats” thinking they are potentially going to be affected by the incompetence of America’s so-called president. This is a president who has minimal support “at home” and who is, day upon day, thumbing his nose at those in Congress who are attempting to “oversee” his administration – which is the DUTY of the Congress, for heaven’s sake. Everyone knows individual 1 has ORDERED anyone being called to testify before Congress to defy subpoenas and/or to STONEWALL the democrats – as we saw with Cory Lewandowski just the other day. Lewandowski succeeded in turning the session he had in front of the House Judiciary Committee into a “circus” (until the staff lawyer had 30 minutes to question him). He SHOULD have been held in CONTEMPT and put in jail until he was willing to answer questions truthfully.

I’ve written before that I occasionally have breakfast with a friend of mine who is an unabashed supporter of individual 1. It’s really interesting to listen to him and it helps me to understand just how serious this ATTACK on our nation – from within – is. He considers this a left v right “civil war” and, he believes if individual 1 wins in 2020 “in a landslide” – which is what he thinks will happen in the upcoming election – he believes “liberals” will respond with violence. To me, that is him regurgitating right wing “projection” which he finds on the right wing media he exposes himself to. When I ask him about the LYING or the LAWBREAKING by individual 1 he’s OK with it. He believes that’s what EVERYONE does. While I care deeply about my friend and I’m thankful we can transparently share our thoughts without either of us getting defensive or angry, the reality to me is there is a significant portion or America who thinks just like him.

I don’t believe there are enough people like my friend to get individual 1 into the “White House” after 2020 – but in individual 1’s own words – “we’ll see.” But the reality is that individual 1 has shown this willingness to BREAK one law after another and he has an attorney general who is, incredibly, acting as his “right hand man.” Individual 1, if you’ve read the Mueller report you know this, has OBSTRUCTED Justice, he’s now OBSTRUCTING Congress, and, in the process, he’s putting the confidence of the American people in our system of government at stake. If “we the people” succumb to the willingness of my friend – who doesn’t believe the laws are (or should be in individual 1’s case) enforceable – we are in DEEP trouble.

I’ve said this many times on this site the ONLY place “we the people” (who are opposed to this right wing takeover of our nation which has been ongoing since the late 1970’s) have to turn is the democrats. Frankly, it’s TIME for the democrats to “step up.” As I said above, the Lewandowski fiasco in front of the House Judiciary Committee SHOULD have resulted in Lewandowski being CHARGED with CONTEMPT of Congress. Those who are refusing subpoenas SHOULD be in Court ASAP and Jailed if they refuse to testify HONESTLY in front of “we the people.” The bottom line is that this government is OURS! Individual 1 works for US! (Of course, by now, most people know individual 1 doesn’t work – when it comes to governing)

Just today, as a perfect example of the arrogance of individual 1’s defiance of Congress and the enabling of William Barr (who may go down in history as the WORST Attorney General of all time), the Director of National Intelligence is REFUSING to provide for Congress a WHISTLE-BLOWER’S complaint about an improper “promise” made by (presumably) individual 1 to a foreign leader (maybe Putin or Kim???) which the Inspector General in the Intelligence Community has determined “urgent and credible” and the Justice Department (Barr??) is preventing the IG from giving this information to the Congress as required by law.

Apparently, the argument coming from the “White House” is that because individual 1 is outside the “lines” of the intelligence community he is not subject to the laws in this instance, As usual, individual 1 couldn’t resist “tweeting” about this – even though the substance of the complaint is not public – essentially admitting the issue is about him. He “tweeted” (according to reports because I don’t do “Twitter”) that “no one is stupid enough to think I would say something inappropriate while others are listening.” Well, count me in, I believe individual 1 is STUPID ENOUGH! It seems as if what he’s trying to hide would corroborate his STUPIDITY!

The bottom line is this issue is just another in a LONG line of examples of individual 1 either breaking or abusing our system of laws and then lashing out at anyone attempting to hold him accountable. It should catch EVERYONE’S attention he has an Attorney General who believes the president, in effect, is an autocrat or monarch or, essentially, someone who can operate without acknowledging the “checks and balances” built into our constitution. Most democrats understood William Barr had solicited the job by writing an unsolicited op-ed supporting the idea the president CAN’T commit OBSTRUCTION of justice because, well, because he’s president, but they couldn’t stop his confirmation because they’re in the minority. These thoughts SHOULD get your attention – even if you’re a republican – because these abuses of power tend to become “precedent” and then next president isn’t likely to give this POWER back – whether democrat or republican.

Take for example that the Bush/Cheney regime was violating the FISA laws at random violating “we the people’s” 4 amendment right of privacy which President Obama continued – maybe to a lessor extent, but, the bottom line is every time the executive pushes the boundaries further, well, those boundaries almost always stay the same thereafter. Individual 1 is pushing the boundaries to places which, to me, are unbelievable. Democrats, in my view, are being way too passive in their response. If individual 1 gets away with this OBSTRUCTION of virtually EVERYTHING this country has been founded on this nation will become unrecognizable.

When you have a problem like that presented to “we the people” by someone like individual 1 somehow making it to the “White House” you have the very foundation of our republic being challenged. Not only is it alarming that the republicans are silent about abuse and corruption they supposedly SHOULD be alarmed with, but the democrats, in their traditional passive manner, are focused on following the “rules” and avoiding making anyone mad. The democrats are operating within the bounds of the law – which, also, could now be a problem.

The major success of individual 1’s administration (with the help of Moscow Mitch) has been packing the courts with right wing judges (ie Brett Kavanaugh et al) and, I believe, individual 1 believes those judges will all be “loyal” to him if and when all this LAWBREAKING finally gets to court. Will the courts support the refusals of people called to testify and their thumbing their noses to Congressional subpoenas? Will the courts support individual 1, in this case, having his lackey’s at the Justice Department, block information about something questionable he said to a foreign leader being submitted to the intelligence committee which is “critical” and is REQUIRED by existing law? Will the courts support William Barr’s attempts to call individual 1’s OBSTRUCTIVE behavior OK – because, well, because he’s the president. Meaning, will the courts support Nixon’s claim, “if the president does it, it must be legal?” The bottom line: Will the courts support we are a “nation of laws?” Or, are we a “nation of men?”

Those of us in the “baby boomer” generation have, in my view, FAILED our children and grand children by allowing this abomination to engulf our nation. Individual 1 doesn’t even believe in the reality of Climate change. And, so many of my peers have shown themselves to be, at a minimum, accepting of racist and divisive rhetoric and shown the willingness, by many, to accept a MOUNTAIN of LIES as the new normal. And, I’m talking about tens of thousands of LIES! It’s pathological and it seems unending! God help us!!!

Final Thought: In regard to the issue where individual 1 is attempting to BLOCK the “whistle-blower” complaint – which is “urgent and credible” according to the IG – individual 1, himself, said he wouldn’t say something inappropriate while others are listening. My first thought was he was implying “I only do this when no one is listening.” The truth is, our so-called president is similar to the sixth graders I used to teach who would speak and then think – in his case, where there’s any capacity to actually think. There have been multiple examples of individual 1 making statements to foreign leaders which have broached classified intelligence on multiple occasions and, in this case, someone believes our national security has been threatened. Honestly, November of 2020 can’t get here soon enough for me!

I get a newsletter from a website called “The Daily Kos” and they’ve been reporting on the issue that likely relates to this whistle-blower issue as I’ve discovered in the past day. Apparently, the phone call referred to in the whistle blower complaint referred to the attempts by individual 1 and his “lawyer” Rudy Giuliani to shake down the Ukraine government in a brazen attempt to find “dirt” on Joe Biden. Apparently, he was blocking $250 MILLION in military aid to Ukraine in exchange for the “dirt.” That is CLASSIC extortion! Well, despite me thinking it wasn’t possible, we’ve got even MORE behavior that SHOULD require democrats to IMPEACH individual 1. Personally, I’m getting pretty tired of all their rationalizing! Our so-called president is continuing to act like a mob boss!