I’ve said (admitted) many times here when I watch TV “news” I watch MSNBC, and during this latest “purge” of individual 1’s perceived enemies I have to wonder if the number of SCANDALS which our so-called president has “showered” on “we the people” has caused the pundits to somewhat lose their minds. (Or, at least, their memories) Today’s “news” (ie scandal) coming from individual 1 and his “Roy Cohn” (ie William Barr) is Barr having a US Attorney somewhere in Missouri “looking into the charge against Michael Flynn.” The suggestion is Flynn was “tricked” into LYING to the FBI investigators who interviewed him shortly after individual 1 took office. Yikes! (How do you “trick” a LIAR into LYING? Yikes!!!)

Of course, the FBI KNEW Flynn was LYING (to, for example, Mike Pense) about his conversations with Sergey Kyslyak, the Russian Ambassador, which included a proposal relating to sanctions that had just been imposed on the Russians by President Obama – this being done while Obama was still in office a clear violation of, I think it’s the, Logan act. So, now Flynn is attempting to pull back his plea and, apparently, he’s got Mr. Barr (likely upon orders from individual 1) in his “corner.” This is all very interesting to me, but, it seems, like many people are forgetting what COULD have been the charges against Flynn – and, by the way, his son.

At the time of his arrest, by all accounts (and, I heard a person who was actually in a meeting where this plan was being “hatched”) Flynn COULD have been charged (along with his son) for a scheme to kidnap a Turkish Muslim Cleric, Fethullah Gulen, for a reported “cool” $15 MILLION, at the request of Turkey’s dictator Erdogan. Additionally, Flynn was alleged to have received $500,000 from Turkey while working for individual 1’s campaign and without registering as a foreign agent. He allegedly LIED in the foreign agent filings which is also a FELONY. (Of course, as a military officer he should know better, shouldn’t he?) I have to wonder if Mr. Barr, when re-opening Flynn’s case of LYING to the FBI will remember these other alleged CRIMES, including those of Flynn’s son.

I don’t do “Twitter” (or other “Social Media”) and, obviously, (so far) no TV network has “discovered” me – (OK, that was a joke) – but, it appears that’s now how AG Barr and individual 1 are having their most intimate conversations. Of course, in the past 24 hours Barr suggested individual 1’s “tweets” are “making it impossible to do my job” and, sure enough, today individual 1 suggested “I have the right to ‘tweet’ whenever I choose.” As Rick Wilson said in a book I read, “Everyone (individual 1 – I can’t bring my fingers to write the name) touches dies.” Well, Barr won’t likely “die” from being in individual 1’s “orbit,” but his reputation is already in “tatters” and it’s going to continue getting worse. (Attorney General IMPEACHED?)

I’m sure, by now, Barr realizes he’s simply a “pawn” in individual 1’s attempt to have COMPLETE control of America’s government. It’s been clear, at least to me, individual 1 is “dead set” on “being like Vlad.” He wants to have the same power as Vladimir Putin and, sadly, there’s a significant segment of the American public who are “all in.” Having an “iron fist” control of the Justice Department is a requirement of individual 1’s goal to go after his enemies. Of course, William Barr is a necessary “evil” in this scheme and Barr, at least at this point in time, seems to be “all in” as well! This really is dangerous, especially if people don’t VOTE!

In my last few posts I’ve “owned” up for the parts of individual 1’s scheme I failed to “get” from the start up until now. I honestly believed, at some point, the republican “firewall” would “break” – I believed when the republicans feared for their own jobs they would “see the light.” Evidently, virtually EVERY republican left in Congress (less Mitt Romney and Justin Amash) seems to be willing to “go down with the ship.” Yes, there seems to be around 40% of America which is “on board” with whatever individual 1 chooses to do, but, I have to believe the “resistance” far outnumbers the CULT. We’ll have to wait until November to find out if those who claim to be “for anyone but individual 1” will show up at the polls. (Of course, we KNOW individual 1 and the republicans will do every thing they can to suppress as many voters as they can get away with)

I’d love to be the person who puts together the opposition add in the Senate “race” in Maine where Susan Collins is seeking re-election. Ms. Collins first gained notoriety when she sided with accused sexual predator Brett Kavanaugh in his confirmation hearing for the U.S. Supreme Court – voting to give a lifetime appointment to a man credibly accused of sexual assault by multiple women on the nation’s highest court – while emphasizing her support of “women’s rights.” Actually, Kavanaugh’s history of legal opinions SHOULD have been enough to disqualify him (he was involved to some degree – they didn’t allow the evidence into the hearing – in the TORTURE issue during the Bush/Cheney regime) as he’s no “friend” of women fighting for equal rights. However, I believe her Kavanaugh vote will not be what she’s ultimately remembered for.

When it was time for Ms. Collins to decide whether she had the courage to do what Mitt Romney did, and vote to convict individual 1 for what she (and every other republican) KNEW he was GUILTY of in his IMPEACHMENT “trial” (with NO witnesses) – she chose to vote to “acquit” and say, “I believe he’s learned his lesson.” OK, can we just agree that statement should be filed in the STUPID remarks file? That would be the statement with which I would start my “ad.” Shortly after the beginning of the “revenge tour” a reporter asked individual 1 what he learned from the IMPEACHMENT process? Well, here’s what he “learned,” “I’ve learned the democrats have a lot of crooked things going, that they’re vicious, and they shouldn’t have brought IMPEACHMENT.” (The next sentence in my ad) In other words, Ms. Collins, he HASN’T learned ANYTHING! (Are you paying attention Mainers?) Then the screen would have a “camera roll” of Masha Yavonovich, Lt. Colonel Vindman (and his twin brother) being “frog marched” out of the White House, individual 1’s threats to his “enemies” including comments with individual 1 attempting to “put Mitt Romney’s head on a pike,” and Adam Schiff’s prediction that’s what Romney knew was “in store” when he made his COURAGEOUS vote, and evidence of Barr’s complicity as our so-called president’s “Roy Cohn,” (I might top off the ad with the FACT Mr. Cohn was a disgraced MOB lawyer with a picture of him with Joseph McCarthy)

Susan Collins wasn’t the only disgraceful republican in the IMPEACHMENT “trial.” I’m just going off the top of my head and I have to admit I didn’t feel the need to watch the “trial” from start to finish, (We all knew the end result before the “trial” started) but lets start with Lamar Alexander. He doesn’t even have the excuse he’s worried about the next election because he’s retiring. He simply said he believed the House managers had proved their point so he voted against witnesses (apparently just too lazy to go through a couple more weeks of the “trial”) and, curiously, he voted to acquit. So, out of one side of his mouth he admitted our so-called president was guilty and out of the other side he voted to acquit. Alexander had the opportunity to put himself into the Mitt Romney part of the History books and chose, instead, the Benedict Arnold section saying it’s OK for our (so-called president – or now, any president) to EXTORT political favors from foreign leaders.

Of course, there were 52 republicans who voted to be part of the CULT. I understand why some of them did. For example, people like Moscow Mitch and Lindsey Graham have proven themselves to be loyal “lap dogs” and I expected nothing less. And, I knew individual 1 was NOT going to be voted out of office by the Senate – but, there were several who had the opportunity to show themselves as courageous (along side Romney – and, I guarantee you, Romney is standing head and shoulders above any other “republican” at this moment in time). Lisa Murkowski of Alaska KNEW the president was guilty – for some reason she decided to do the “easy” thing and vote to acquit. I believe it’s likely McConnell “snuck” some money into her campaign “WAR chest.” I really misjudged Ms. Murkowski, I thought she might choose to do the courageous (and right) thing. Marko Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Cornyn, Cory Gardner, Thom Tillis, just a few of the names I can think of – all COWARDS! (That’s how History will remember them)

Everyone knows there’s a large segment of the republican Senate who can’t stand individual 1 (in private) but the IMPEACHMENT “trial” proved those correct who’ve been pointing out they live in FEAR of him. He comes across to me as a mob boss (I’ve been suggesting that for a couple years now) and I have to wonder what is going on “behind the scene.” Well, in the sphere of Americans who don’t want this nation ruled by an autocratic tyrant, I’ve never heard (or seen) so many people energized to work to vote the (so-called) president out of office, but also as many of the 23 Senate republicans up for re-election as possible. Personally, I’m hoping for another “wave” election (similar to 2018) and, obviously, I believe 2020 is going to determine whether Americans still believe we are “a nation of laws and not men.” This is BIG!

Personally, I’ve already given a few “bucks” to the opponents of Moscow Mitch and Lindsey Graham. I understand Senators as embedded as those two are hard to vote out of office, they’ve got a lot of “minions.” But, I have to believe, even in Kentucky and South Carolina there are people who don’t want to live in an autocratic dictatorship. I have to believe there are many in Kentucky and South Carolina who actually believe in the constitution and how it has protected us all from what individual 1 is “up to” for well over 200 years and are embarrassed by these two “lap dogs” of individual 1. I would consider this election as “interesting” except that I’m old and I’m concerned for my children and grand children. I will be a candidate for depression should individual 1 find a way to CHEAT his way into another “win” (plus I’ll owe for another lost bet).

So, individual 1 has his “Roy Cohn” in William Barr and the future of this nation is “on the line” as we approach this next election. Our so-called president made it clear he’s going to CHEAT in order to “win” the election and the republican party has endorsed this CHEATING (apparently, believing democrats would never do it, so they’re setting a precedent for…………. you guessed it, THEMSELVES – I have to admit, it gives them an advantage). Those of us who consider ourselves as “liberals” or “progressives” or “pragmatists” or, simply disaffected republicans who likely are in the independent “caucus” with me only in a different “apartment” – are relying on democrats to figure out a way to DEFEAT the worst (so-called) president in the history of this great nation. Of course, there’s a lot of worry because democrats have a history of taking defeat from the jaws of victory (as in the election of 2016) – and, in this election, they’re facing the greatest CHEATER in the history of American elections. (Well, I’ve given individual 1 that title) Stay tuned………………….

Final Thought: As I just said, there’s a lot of worry among the (very large) group of Americans whose ONLY (it seems) objective in the 2020 election is to get rid of individual 1. This sense of urgency, ironically, led to something like 30 “candidates” stepping forward as the “best alternative” to individual 1. Of course, having that many candidates creates its own challenges. For example, and don’t get me wrong, in 2016 I supported Bernie Sanders, someone like Sanders is able to “win” primaries with around 25% of the vote. During this process several really “attractive” candidates, from my perspective, have been “winnowed” out because there’s only so much money to go around.

For example, I really liked both Kamala Harris and Cory Booker but they just weren’t able to gain a “foothold” and dropped out prior to any of the primaries or caucuses. So, as the angst of those who ONLY care that individual 1 is voted OUT of office come November continued to rise, in walked “Mike Bloomberg.” Bloomberg is dumping HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of dollars into his attempt to gain the democratic nomination. Now, I’ll give him credit for saying he’s going to support WHOEVER the democrats nominate, we’ll have to see on that – but, I’ve seen a growing number of democratic leaders lining up behind Bloomberg, because there’s nothing more important to them than defeating our so-called president.

This all reminds me of the words of Elizabeth Warren when she pointed out the folly in allowing ourselves to be guided by FEAR. Take Ms. Warren for example. From my vantage point, she’s coming across as maybe the smartest of all the candidates and she’s made several proposals which, clearly, have the support of a majority of the American people. That, of course, put her in the “cross hairs” of America’s wealthy elite and her “numbers” have been going steadily down since, due to the negative advertising – and scare tactics – her proposals aimed at “leveling the playing field” have generated. It appears too many democrats are AFRAID to rely on someone as progressive as Ms. Warren to defeat individual 1. Despite the FACT most democrats agree with Senator Warren that BILLIONAIRES have too much power in America and they’ve “left behind” the middle class. Still, despite all this, it appears many democrats are looking at Bloomberg – along with ALL his “baggage.” Is he really the safest “bet?” Yikes!!!

I have to agree, if he’s the nominee, I’ll vote for Bloomberg – but, I really hope it doesn’t come down to that. I’ve listened to a couple of his campaign speeches (well, parts of them) and I just don’t think he understands what people like me want in America. For example, I listened to his response to a question about whether or not the minimum wage should be increased. Honestly, his answer, to me, was a traditional republican response. As I’ve said, Bloomberg has a lot of baggage, but, as that is all dealt with, I’m concerned his actual republican “bonafides” will be overlooked. He wants to defeat individual 1 (along with MILLIONS of Americans) and he’s got an unlimited amount of cash for the campaign (unlike individual 1 who claimed he could fund his own campaign), but, make no mistake, Bloomberg is no “traditional” democrat!

I keep pointing out here, if the democrats want to nominate a BILLIONAIRE in order to defeat individual 1, I believe Tom Steyer should be the one! While Steyer doesn’t have as much cash as Bloomberg, he’s got plenty! (I’ve heard he’s worth “only” $35 BILLION) Steyer is the BILLIONAIRE with a history of supporting PROGRESSIVE initiatives and legislation. He supports the “wealth tax” of Elizabeth Warren (or some version thereof). He’s a strong proponent of Climate Change legislation. I could go on, but I believe Steyer would be a true progressive should he end up the democratic nominee and, I believe, he can genuinely not only get the support of the African American community, but I believe he would push solutions to the problems “we the people” face in the sphere of income inequality, in the issue of racism and what needs to be done to help lift up the Black community, and, along with many other issues, I believe Steyer would push to reverse the tax scam which has led to a annual deficit above a $1 TRILLION per year! I believe “we the people” need to return to the “bottom up” approach to governing! When those at the “bottom” are “lifted up” everyone prospers!

Like I said, I’ll vote for Bloomberg if he’s the nominee, but if democrats have to nominate a BILLIONAIRE I would much prefer Mr. Steyer!