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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As I’m watching the Trump issues regarding the Russian “invasion” of our political process, (OK, I know some of this was routine) I can’t help but keep thinking of Trump’s “National Security Adviser” Michael Flynn standing in front of the Republican national convention claiming, “If I did one tenth what Hillary Clinton has done I’d be locked up” or something to that light.  Then he started leading the “lock her up” chant that became so “normal” at Trump campaign rallies.  Of course, at the time, Flynn was standing there illegally as an unidentified foreign agent – reportedly having pocketed over 500,000 dollars in a two month period “lobbying” for the Turkish government.  While Flynn was leading the “lock her up” cheer, Paul Manafort was still the campaign manager for Trump and, unbeknownst to most of us, he also had been a foreign agent for Russian interests in a way designed to improve the image around the globe of Vladimir Putin.  According to reports, Manafort was paid in the tens of MILLIONS of dollars for his “advising” in both Russia and Ukraine.

Of course, much of this was known to the Trump campaign and Washington insiders when Trump hired these two guys, who are now like YUGE (in the words of Bernie Sanders) “paper weights” on the Trump presidency due to the FACT they were hired as the two leading voices (originally) in Trump’s campaign.  There are others with sketchy, at best, connections to the Russians in Trump’s “circle,” but from my vantage point it’s time for Flynn and Manafort to get counsel and start trying to figure out how to either LIE there way out of the mess they’re in, OR “cut a deal.”  That last part has to be what might be making Mr. Trump a bit uneasy.  Of course, none of us know how deep Trump himself is into all of this, but the TRUTH is that he’s participated (knowingly) in trying to cover it up (he knew, for example, about Flynn’s involvement discussing “sanctions” with the Russian “Ambassador” for weeks prior to “firing” him.)  The list of LIES involved with the “firing” of Flynn is interesting to say the least, but the reality is that he was “fired” because the news media “outed” him.  Trump, Pense, and the rest were fine with what Flynn did until it became public knowledge.

I keep asking myself, is Hillary Clinton secretly chanting “lock him up” as she’s witnessing what was going on behind the scenes while she was being accused of being a “criminal” for doing what the two Secretary of States before her did – using a private email server.  The reality is that Flynn very well might be looking at being the one “locked up.”  Not only did he fail to register as a foreign agent – even after he was officially hired as Trump’s National Security Advisor – but reports are now surfacing that Flynn conspired to kidnap a Turkish dissident and “whisk him out of the country” so he could be prosecuted in Turkey!  This is very NAUGHTY (or should I say, ILLEGAL) stuff!  This is the guy President Obama had to fire for (essentially)  insubordination and then, probably illegally, hired himself out to Russia itself.  From my understanding, former military personnel are not supposed to take money from foreign countries (especially adversaries) after leaving the service without permission – in this case from the Army.  The guy was a general – he should have known better.

Of course, just like his future boss Donald Trump, Flynn apparently had more regard for Vladimir Putin than our own president – who was his commander in chief.  The hypocrisy from this guy is “off the charts.”  Of course Trump blamed the media for Flynn’s firing (as odd as that might seem) up until the media uncovered his failure to disclose he was representing a foreign nation all the while “advising” our future president on “national security.”  This all just keeps getting more and more bizarre.  For those of us old enough to remember Watergate, this – I’ll call it “Trumpgate” – is looking much more serious.  I’m really concerned that the Trump administration is totally vulnerable to the Russians and when everything actually comes out we’ll find out they’ve had an influence on more than “just” the election. (I put that in quotes because I personally am feeling as if there may be some traitors in the present administration.  Cheating in elections is FAR WORSE than cheating at golf! You know, the “gentleman’s game” – where you’re supposed to act with honor)

Putin is pushing a world wide “White nationalist” right wing agenda that would allow him to reconstitute the “former Soviet Union.”  He wants to “Make Russia Great again.”  Sound familiar?  I believe that eventually we’ll all know actually what took place before and after the election – but, it’s not going to be easy.  There are too many republicans willing to sell themselves out for Trump and my hope is that the voters remember this at the next election.  No one should be arguing, least of all Trump himself if there’s no “there there” as they like to say, against a BIPARTISAN investigation into this situation.  The more Trump fights the investigations, the more it appears he’s going to be caught up in all this as well.

It was reported the other day that Manafort, Flynn, Carter Paige, and Roger Stone have all “volunteered” to testify before the House Intelligence committee.  The first thing I’d say is that ONLY if it’s under oath.  The second thing I’d say is that as long as Devin Nunes is the chair of that committee the chances of a “bipartisan” investigation are slim and none.  The guy is unbelievable – which is apparently why he was hired as part of Trump’s transition team.  He’s already shown his lack of competence in how he’s been dealing with “intelligence” and his committee members AND his inability to pull himself away from his loyalty to Trump.  It doesn’t take a “brain surgeon” (my apologies to Ben Carson) to understand you don’t take evidence to the “target” of an investigation DURING the investigation – if you want to be perceived as unbiased.  That’s now impossible for Nunes. (Evidently, the evidence Nunes reportedly “took” to the White House, he actually was given at the White House.  Yes, you’re correct, Nunes got the “evidence” that Trump claimed proved President Obama “wiretapped” him – from someone in the White House while he was IN the White House.  Maybe we are all STUPID – if they get away with all of this)

Why might Flynn and the others want to “volunteer” testifying?  Well, I suspect they’re trying to find creative ways to head off the FBI’s investigation in which director Comey used the term “criminal.”  The only people, besides Comey, who knows what these people have actually done – that is the level of their involvement with the Russians – is themselves and their counsel.  I’m guessing their counsels will be attempting to get them to give congressional testimony that will prevent the FBI from being able to criminally charge them with actual crimes.  Nunes could be part of that plan – I wouldn’t trust that guy “as far as I could throw him.”  And, personally, I believe this all goes way beyond these four guys.  There’s an old saying that it’s not a crime unless you get caught.  Well, there’s now people all throughout the Trump “team” who seem to be looking at the possibility of “stuff” being exposed that no one would have given a second thought to had they not joined Trump’s campaign.

Take Manafort for example.  He’s now being connected to a bank in Cypress that is KNOWN as a center for Russian money laundering – evidently, he may have collected MILLIONS of “dirty” money along the way according to reports I’ve seen and his connections to the Russian “Oligarchy” (mob) is beginning to see the light of day.  My first thought was, “I wonder if Manafort claimed all that money that came from Russia and Ukraine on this tax forms?”  Of course, I doubt if anyone in Trump’s circle would cheat on their taxes, but “I’m just sayin …….”  And the head of that bank in Cypress is now Trump’s Commerce Secretary – his name is Wilbur Ross I believe – and, it should be interesting to find out more about this guy’s dealings.  He apparently was a partner in that bank with a Russian Oligarch with close ties to Putin – I guess just one more dot to connect between Trump and Putin.  Do you, as I do, wonder what kind of financial dealings Trump has that are connected in some way to Russia?  I’m guessing, at some point, Mr. Trump will be forced to release his tax returns – although, at this point, nothing Trump does causes me to believe he’s being honest and I’m not sure I’d trust anything he released. (Maybe the FBI could force the IRS to release them once the never ending “audit” is completed :o)

Trump himself encouraged all the “lock her up” chants that constantly rang out at his campaign rallies.  Do you see the irony in all of this?  It appears to be getting deeper and deeper as we progress into Trump’s “first 100 days.”  Many people I’ve talked to suggest the Russian government is run like a mafia organization and you have to wonder how much it will bother Trump’s die hard supporters when it all comes out.  He was down to 37% approval 58% disapproval in the last poll I saw – which are startlingly (bad) numbers for a president in his first two months in office.  Could it get worse?  I believe it could.  As I’ve said before on this site, I believe the republicans in congress will “pull the plug” before things get to the point where Trump is jeopardizing their reelection chances (in the “safe” districts) and we’ll have Mike Pense as the 46th president.  Each week that day seems to be getting closer.  I’m worried that Pense is damaging his own “brand” as he attempts to sugarcoat the “Trump reality” to the point where he won’t be much more effective once he’s in the White House.

If democrats are smart (something I’ve never accused them of) they’ll be working to find candidates in EVERY district they possibly can for the 2018 election.  I would love it if they chose to fight it out in so-called “red states” and “red districts.”  Somehow, I get the feeling that they don’t even attempt to win elections in places that have really weird representatives (aka Louie Gohmert)  MOST of the American people have become involved since Trump’s election – including many who voted for him only  to realize the first thing he was going to do was take away their health insurance.  The opportunity to take back the House in 2018 is looking democrats right in the eye – we’ll see if they can mobilize and actually put up a FIGHT that has its foundation in traditional democratic principles.  Bernie Sanders proved last year that there is a LIBERAL “base” to the democratic party that’s been “silent” for years because the leaders have allowed themselves to believe the right wing attacks on the word liberal itself.  Every great advance in this nation’s history could be considered “liberal” at the time it took place.  In virtually every instance the “advance” required courage, persistence, and a willingness to stand on principle.

Democrats have the opportunity to get the young people of this nation mobilized and I firmly believe if they do this, we will be looking at a return to the ideals of the New Deal.  I don’t know of anyone, for example, that doesn’t believe our infrastructure is in bad shape and needs to be “brought up to code.”  That, in itself, would be a great investment that would create probably MILLIONS of good paying jobs.  Yes, the wealthy would have to pay more in taxes, but that’s the way it was when our highways were originally built along with all the other infrastructure that is now so in need of repair or replacement.  We have the opportunity to turn America’s energy system progressively greener and wouldn’t it be nice if our leaders finally internalized that we’re not the “world’s policeman?”  Instead of spending more on the military (our leaders have made Dwight Eisenhower a prophet regarding his warnings about the “military industrial complex”) wouldn’t it be nice if we worked to rebuild our cities, improve our education system, help all our veterans (especially all the homeless ones), and basically use our wealth for humanitarian purposes instead of WAR.  OK, I know I’m an idealist –  but, the reality is there’s an opportunity staring us in the face thanks to Trump’s incompetency – I guess that’s what it is going to take to get people’s attention.  However, this will take a commitment that will last years – I’m not sure “we the people” have the attention span to do it – AND, you can be sure the “right wing” will be kicking and screaming all the way.  (They’ve been plundering taxpayer dollars to the tune of TRILLIONS since the 80’s.)

Democrats and Republicans SHOULD be able to talk to each other and work out issues with each other in a way that is fair to both sides.  But, the reality is that republicans have been nothing but obstructionists and LIARS for the past 20+ years and those who instituted that “strategy” (Gingrich, McConnell, et al) will probably need to be purged before “bipartisanship” will have a chance to return.  You can see it from those who’ve been in the streets since Trump took the oath of office – the “base” doesn’t want democrats cooperating with Trump, Ryan, McConnell in any way.  Personally, I look forward to the day when we can talk to each other respectfully and work out differences in a way that leads to the most good for the most people.  However, as I stated above, when I think about Trump and his surrogates, the picture in my mind is Michael Flynn leading the “lock her up” chant.  Before any of my “wishes” have any kind of a chance to become reality, people like Flynn, Manafort, Stone, Paige, Ross, and even Trump need to be fully investigated and any “hint” of Russian involvement in our democratic republic needs to be vanquished. I’ll end by asking once again, do you think there will become a time when Hillary Clinton is leading a chant, “lock them up?”

Final note:  Do you find it as curious as I do that republican “oversight” committees were so eager to investigate Benghazi and seemingly have such little interest (they’re being forced by media reporting) in investigating a Russian cyber ATTACK on our nation – with the distinct possiblility (likelihood) of collusion with the Russians and Trump’s campaign not to mention Russian influence post election?  It appears to me that for PARTISAN reasons they’d be happy to just “look the other way” and let the Russians get away with this.  And, remember, the Russian “plan” goes way beyond destabilizing the United States.  As I stated above, Vladimir Putin’s plan is to “Make Russia Great again,” and he can’t do it if “we the people” are still in control of our government.  “Just sayin……”

The level of damage Donald Trump is doing to America is mounting FAST and, unfortunately, I believe we’re at a point ALREADY where “we the people” are relying on the republicans to save us from as much of this “damage” as possible – and, sooner rather than later.  People around the world have to be shaking their collective heads in a disbelief that could exceed many of us in the “homeland.”  The reality is that the United States plays such a significant role in the WORLD that every day Trump pushes his “America first” agenda – which is clarifying the role of (unelected White nationalist) Steve Bannon in our politics  – a larger chasm is growing with the traditional allies of our great country.  If republicans don’t reject Trump and do “the right thing” (impeachment) we’re looking at a world that will be drifting closer and closer to chaos.

The other day, for example, the chancellor from Germany visited the White House and it was clear from everything I read and heard (and saw) that she, Angela Merkel, was the “adult in the room.”  Trump is out of his league around a sophisticated leader like Merkel and it must remind him of his campaign against Hillary Clinton (who beat him by almost 3 MILLION votes) where his incompetence showed through in each of the debates as it did in his meetings with Merkel.  He seems to almost show childish behavior around women who are intellectually superior to him.  He needed the Russians and the FBI director’s intervention in the election to pull off a surprise Electoral College victory (along with two decades of right wing Clinton bashing on talk radio and outlets like Fox “news” in the GOP’s effort to stop Mrs. Clinton – remember, in many of the “rust belt” areas, the predominance of “information” comes from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Fox)  The problem is that now Trump is actually in a place where he needs to be the president and he’s in WAY OVER HIS HEAD.  As I’ve said in previous posts, if it weren’t so important this would all be comical.  (actually, the comedians, not just in America, but around the world, are having a field day.  Click here for an example from the Netherlands – watch the video – it’s really funny)

I’ve written before that those of us who call ourselves liberals (if we’re timid we use the euphemism “progressive”) have no choice but to hope that the democrats, as the saying goes, grow a pair – and put up a FIGHT against the Trump/Bannon agenda.  After all, Trump/Bannon/Conway/Miller are all closely tied to the Breitbart side of America which includes what Mrs. Clinton (foolishly – from a campaign standpoint – despite the “truth”) referred to as a “basket of deplorables.”  Of course, she was referring to the segment of Trump’s “base” that includes groups like the KKK, the “Skinheads,” Neo-Nazi groups, and essentially the so-called “alt right.” I have to believe that a significant portion of the “rust belt” working class voters – who believed Trump would bring back their jobs which have gone to China, Mexico, and elsewhere around the globe where there’s “cheap labor” – are not part of the “alt right.”  They’re just disenchanted because they’ve seen their economic situation remain stagnant at best since the days of Ronald Reagan.  To me, these are good hard working Americans who are confused as to how things “got like this.”

Unfortunately, many of these people are vulnerable to what Noam Chomsky and Herman Edward refer to as the “Propaganda model” of media which has been pretty much the norm in America since I was old enough to start paying attention to what our government has been “up to.”  There are so many instances over the years where our media has given “we the people” information that fits the wishes of those in power.  For example in the Viet Nam “war” (and the Iraq “war”) the American public was rarely given the truth about our government’s actions or motivations.  This was true in Central America during Reagan’s time in office, it’s been true in places around the world over and over again since WW II, and it was terribly true in the 2016 election as media outlets (like MSNBC – which is the one I watch when I can stand it) refused to call out the constant LYING of Trump and his surrogates.  I believe people like Chris Matthews (I point him out because I’ve written about some of the stuff he did that “got to me” during the election – at the time I said: “he should know better” regarding the enabling) never thought Trump could win and helped to legitimize him with the purpose gaining better ratings and  more money for MSNBC. (The amount of advertising revenue media outlets generate during the election is staggering)

Matthews (and several of the others) are now “singing a different tune.”  For example, I believe Matthews now fully understands the DANGER of Trump continuing as president although I doubt he’ll ever admit his role in making this possible.  The other day I heard him say, “I hate the word LIE” as he was fighting to find another way to characterize one of Trump’s, well – LIES.  Trump masterfully manipulated the media to get elected and now he’s lashing out at the media in a classic effort to ensure that his “base” doesn’t get “thinned out” as the TRUTH about his ties to Russia (and who knows who or what else) becomes known.  “We the people” can only hope that people like Matthews – we can’t change what’s happened in the past – will continue pushing to “connect the dots” that are leading to exposing Trump for what he really is – which very well might be a corrupt businessman with ties to the Russian Oligarchy.  Personally, it wouldn’t surprise me if everything in the so-called “dossier” published a month or two back by “Buzzfeed” is true.  (Decide for yourself by clicking here)

Trump campaigned on the slogan “Make America Great Again” (as I’ve said numerous times here, similar to Hitler’s “Make Germany Great Again” back in the 30’s – sorry, but I can’t seem to help myself reminding anyone of that similarity.  I think the only  other politician to use that phrase was Stalin – or maybe Putin) and yesterday, when “Trumpcare” went down in “flames” in the House of Representatives because – first, the bill was TERRIBLE, and second the republicans in Congress, obviously, are already figuring out how incompetent Trump is and they’re “circling the wagons” in an attempt to keep their majority in the next election – ALREADY – after just 9 weeks of Trump’s administration.  UNBELIEVABLE! – I couldn’t help but think of how ironic it would be if Trump’s presidency actually made America “greater.”  (In my mind, it’s already a great country – “we the people” have simply fallen for the scam pushed by Republicans for the past 35+ years. (“Trickle down” – which in reality means “trickle up”)  Trump began his “blaming” after the “health care” bill (really a tax cut for the top 2%) went down in flames by naming Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer (democratic minority leaders in the House and Senate respectively) because NO DEMOCRATS voted for the terrible bill that was advertised as “repeal and replacement of Obamacare.”  (I could write an entire post – and probably will – on that topic) Of course, republicans didn’t even try to get democratic support (and wouldn’t have had they tried) but the real heroes in stopping this terrible bill were “we the people.”

I’d like to think my representative was going to vote against the bill because of my call urging her (a republican) to do so, but the reality is that the phones were VERY busy in her office and those of virtually EVERY other House republican OVERWHELMINGLY urging members to vote this terrible bill down.  Apparently those republicans who voted for Trump aren’t that eager to lose either their own health insurance or they don’t want to see those they know and love lose their health insurance.  For all its problems, “Obamacare” evidently isn’t so bad.  Most people know it needs “fixin” – but, the republicans don’t have a clue about how to go about it.  I saw Sean Spicer, when he introduced the bill at a news briefing some weeks back, claim it was far superior to the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) because the pile of pages was significantly smaller.

The American people didn’t like the FACT that their premiums (especially, the older Americans who aren’t quite to Medicare age yet) were going to go WAY UP, the coverage was going to go WAY DOWN, and anyone who’s been sick before was likely to be out of luck completely.  The LIES coming from Trump, Pense, Ryan, McConnell, and others were almost unbelievable to me – as if “we the people” are actually as stupid as they think.  (Maybe they  think we’re stupid because how else would Trump get elected in the first place?) However, the exciting part of all this is that the American people responded in a RESOUNDING manner to demand Congress defeat this bill.  That, in itself, is exciting for me.  One of my biggest frustrations is watching election results in our nation with one third to sometimes two thirds of the voters failing to participate – especially younger voters.  (or people who should be voting)  Republicans have been pushing voter suppression legislation almost continuously since the Supreme Court GUTTED section five of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which was designed to prevent states from creating obstacles to voting aimed at minority groups such as African Americans, Latinos, or any others.  In my mind, if the people rise up and participate in the process this country will be “greater” – and, maybe the reality of Trump in the “White House” will cause them to do so.  I guess what I’m suggesting is that Trump may be the antidote to voter suppression!

Here’s the scary part of what happened this past week.  (Not only did the “health care” bill fail, but Trump’s claims about President Obama “wiretapping” him were TOTALLY debunked by the head of the FBI and the Director of Intelligence – two people who would KNOW the truth – although, any sane person knew how ridiculous that “tweet” from Trump actually was from the “git-go” – AND they also announced that Trump’s campaign has been under counter intelligence investigation into possible colluding with the Russians since last July)  All in all, it’s been a very bad week in a series of very BAD weeks for Trump.  The defeat of the “health care” bill will bring (and, has already brought) a lot of derision toward Trump and scrutiny as to how incompetent he is and how damaged any plans he has for future legislation has become.  Putting two plus two together – the mounting failures in policy with the investigations – and,  I’m very concerned that Trump is likely to do something BIZARRE.  He’s likely to fight back in the ways he’s always managed to “succeed” (despite all the bankruptcies, etc. from his business career) in “Trump land.”  As with most bullies, Trumps “mantra” is to lash out at critics and to throw blame when things go “south.”  That is on the horizon – and none of the possibilities in my mind will be helpful to our nation.

On the mild side, for example – there are probably ways he can make executive orders that create havoc in the Affordable Care Act – so that he could possibly try to help it become the “disaster” he claims it is.  It’s certainly unlikely that he would understand how to or be willing to attempt to “fix” Obama’s signature piece of legislation to make it better.  He’s committed to “repeal” it and he’s promised to replace it (which, obviously he’s got no idea how to do that – and, if he did, the republicans wouldn’t go along with him – the ONLY way to “fix” this bill is to work with the democrats) and considering this week’s failure I can see him trying to help it FAIL – just so he could say, “I told you so.”  In other words, Trump could react to this defeat in the House by causing problems for Millions of Americans by trying to mess up the Affordable Care Act in subtle executive order ways. The question then becomes are the republicans with him?

Clearly, he’s already committed impeachable offenses. We all knew that his refusal to divest himself of all of his business interests would put him in violation of the emoluments clause of the constitution almost from the moment he took the oath of office.  The question with Trump becomes, how much can the republicans stomach before they intervene?  (He’s got family members in the White House and I’ve already heard reports they’re making MILLIONS since Trump took office – yikes!)  The likelihood of democrats working with Trump to fix this bill seems to me to be near zero, so maybe, as a sign by republicans that they want to save their party, we could have them, along with Mike Pense, attempting to actually create something that works for as many “working class” people as possible.  Pipe dream?  Probably, but, hey, we all like to dream once in awhile, don’t we?

On the serious (more dangerous) side Trump could do something BIZARRE on the foreign policy front in an attempt to draw attention away from the investigations into “Trumpgate.”  Things are looking worse and worse for several of Trump’s surrogates re: Russian collusion (among other interesting things apparently being found) and it all might lead right back to Trump.  Do you seriously think he’ll just sit there and watch this happen.  I hate to even speculate on what he might do in an attempt to draw people’s attention away from the investigations into how serious the Russian intrusion on our government actually is.  We have to hope that republicans in Congress are getting to the point where they’re going to put the reins on this man.  I’ve predicted he won’t last 6 months but I’m getting to the point where I’m hoping republicans end this nightmare sooner rather than later.  (Think: North Korea, China, ISIL, etc.)

I’m absolutely certain that republicans see an opportunity to pass legislation that they’ve been wanting to pass for years – that they thought they could get Trump to sign while they tried to “stomach” all the “stuff” in the meantime.  Well, if they can’t get “stuff” (tax cuts for their millionaire and billionaire friends) passed with Trump in the “White House” what good is he to them?  Do you really think they like someone who made the Access Hollywood admission?  Do you really think they want to go into the 2018 election defending this man?  Personally, I believe those who’ve been falling all over themselves to get close to him are already in “second thoughts” mode.  Trump is down to 37% approval after just two months – that’s the “HONEYMOON” period – it gets harder and WORSE after this.  Do you think there’s a lot of republicans eager to stay on the bandwagon?  Personally, I think most of them wish they had never had the choice – that their greatest fears of what Trump could do to their party are becoming clearer and clearer.  I myself felt Trump would be the catalyst to finally force the republican party back to sanity.  The problem, again, is how much damage can he do to “we the people”  before republicans put a stop to all of this?  (Even though it was James Comey who helped Trump get elected, I’m pretty sure republicans don’t want to wait long enough for it to be Comey who takes him down.)

2018 will be here before you know it.  And, the members of the House of Representatives are painfully aware of how many people are paying attention to what’s going on in Washington D.C.  One thing we know about these politicians is that they want to keep their jobs and they’ll do pretty much whatever it takes to do so.  I believe it’s just a matter of time until the republicans in the House impeach Donald Trump – and, we can all just hope they do it before there’s too much more damage.  Personally, I’m not at all impressed with Mike Pense.  He’s been a willing LIAR since taking the oath of the office of the Vice President in attempting to defend Trump.  And, Paul Ryan comes across to me as a person with no principles – plus, he’s proven himself to be more than willing to LIE to the American people, himself, with no contrition.  The options aren’t good – but, as my granddaughter (12 years old) said to me: “At least Pense isn’t crazy”)  If Trump wasn’t do dangerous I’d say, “leave him in there and stew in your own juices” to republicans – but, for the sake of the nation, it’s time for Pense to be our 46th president.  (sooner rather than later)

Evidently the major requirement to be “in” with the republican party these days is the ability to LIE!  I mean, even (most of) those who support Donald Trump have to be coming to the realization if his lips are moving, he’s LYING.  With Trump it appears to be pathological.  Then there’s Kellyanne Conway.  I’ve said a few times here that the only person I’ve seen better at LYING than her is her boss.  Yes, there are those who call it “spin,” but the reality is they are LYING – about almost EVERYTHING.  Michael Flynn is no longer the National Security Advisor (each day it becomes more problematic as to how he got that job in the first place) ostensibly because of LYING.  Personally, I believe there’s much more to why Flynn was fired, but that’s a story for another day.

Jeff Sessions is no longer leading the “investigation” into Russia’s involvement in the Trump campaign and the 2016 election because of, what else, LYING.  He LIED to a Senate committee that was going through his confirmation process.  The interesting part of this is that Sessions volunteered the LIE despite the fact he was answering an unasked question.  (Not really that smart)  Also, Sessions LIED in a written response to an inquiry given to him by that same Senate committee – and, if there was nothing to all the Russia stuff, you’d think he would have just told the truth.  In Washington DC, apparently, Lying is so “normal” that Sessions is still the Attorney General – supposedly, the lead person in enforcing our laws – despite perjuring himself to Congress.  I still remember Alberto Gonzales doing this multiple times during the GW Bush years and “getting away with it,” so either it’s OK for the Attorney General to LIE to Congress or people are too busy arguing about other stuff to even care about this.

Then there’s Vice President Mike Pense – the person who’s apparently so sensitive to being LIED to that General Flynn had to go after LYING to Pense about his conversation with the Russian ambassador – namely, that he did “talk about sanctions” in the conversation.  Of course, anyone with any common sense could (and probably had) figure this out on their own.  Here’s the scenario – President Obama levied sanctions on the Russians for intruding in our election which included kicking something like 30 or more Russian “diplomats” (spies?) from the country and closing one of their “play areas” around Washington DC.  Naturally, the normal Russian response would be to kick a like number of American “diplomats” out of Moscow as part of a “tit for tat.”  However, THE SAME DAY Obama levied the sanctions Flynn had his conversation with the Russian “ambassador” (spy) and surprise, surprise – no retribution from Vladimir Putin.  He claimed to be “above” this childish behavior.  (Seriously, that one wasn’t hard to figure out, even for a 6th grade teacher)  Do you wonder what promises Flynn made to the Russians? (who, by the way, had employed him – probably illegally from Flynn’s perspective – after President Obama fired him for what some might call insubordination)

The lesson Trump and his “camp” wanted to portray from the “decisive” action of firing Flynn, evidently, was that you can’t get away with LYING to our Vice President.  Of course, Trump – and presumably Pense – knew what Flynn had done well before he was fired.  In fact, I believe Trump (and Pense) knew about Flynn’s meeting with the Russian “ambassador” and knew what was discussed at the time of the meeting.  I don’t believe Flynn took it upon himself to go bring this up out of thin air.  However, even Trump made a big deal in his famous 77 minute “news” conference to why Flynn was fired – despite, even at that time we all knew that the former acting Attorney General (the one Trump fired because she told Trump his “Muslim ban” was not defensible in court) Sally Yates had warned Trump and his associates almost three weeks earlier about Flynn’s vulnerability regarding his actions with the Russians.  Yates, at the time, interpreted whatever information she got as meaning that Flynn was a potential blackmail target of the Russians.  So, what this means is that Trump was LYING when he explained why Flynn was fired.

And, speaking of Pense – the person in Trump’s “inner circle” who I believe is the most “acceptable” to the actual “conservatives” in the republican caucus in Congress – well, evidently he doesn’t like being “LIED” to, but he’s got his own issues.  For starters, as stated above, I don’t believe Pense was unaware of Flynn’s meeting with the Russian ambassador (spy) so, when Pense, on the Sunday news shows  told the country unequivocally that Flynn had not talked about sanctions with the ambassador it was actually Pense doing the LYING.  Why do I think that you might ask?  Well, as we later learned, Flynn was acting as a “foreign agent” during the campaign which Pense also LIED about at least twice – suggesting he had no idea about that FACT until he heard it in a TV interview – responding by saying “this confirms Trump’s decision to fire Flynn.”  However, Flynn’s attorney had already published documents SHOWING that Flynn had told the transition committee – headed by guess who? Mike Pense – that he may need to register as a foreign agent because he was lobbying for Turkey (the country) during the campaign.  Pense knew about this months before DENYING it on, again, national TV.

I’ve got to throw in Sean Spicer here.  In a way, I feel sorry for him.  I don’t get the impression he’s a LIAR like those he’s surrounded by – it’s just that he’s a loyal employee who’s being forced to LIE if he wants to keep his job.  I can’t imagine being in that situation and lasting very long.  Somehow, I feel – if I’m correct about him – that he’ll have a short “shelf life.” (Depending on how long republicans put up with Trump.)  It’s apparent that Spicer is struggling with the LYING and he’s pretty awkward as he does it.  A good example of what he has to do came up a day or two ago when, right before a press briefing, the two Senators leading the Senate Intelligence Committee – with access to classified information – announced that Trump was LYING when he accused President Obama of “wiretapping” him. (the only reason I put it in quotes was because of how Spicer is “spinning” Trump’s own words – I hope you “get it”)  The briefing was held up for over an hour – obviously so Spicer could be coached on how to LIE about what the Senators just said – and, of course, he had to LIE about why the briefing was held up (someone was on the phone).  I really want to read Spicer’s book that will come out shortly after he resigns!

I could go on and on, but my hands are getting tired – but, I’ll add one more;  Paul Ryan.  He’s trying to cram a phony “health care bill” through the House without people knowing what “hit them.”  He was pushing hard to get the bill through the House prior to the OMB “scoring” the bill to clarify the details – like how many  people would gain/lose health insurance benefits, the cost/savings, etc.  I heard Ryan in an interview being questioned about Trump’s promise that “every American would have access to ‘affordable health insurance'” and guess what he was doing?  You’re absolutely correct, he was LYING.  On the day when the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) said 14 MILLION would lose coverage in the first year and up to 24 MILLION after around another 5 – 7 years Ryan said, “Every American will have access to health care” from their bill.  He exclaimed that the OMB results were better than he anticipated.  Now, I call that LYING – It seems almost of the pathological nature.  I’m sure Ryan has his own explanation for it, but I’ll let you figure that out.  I’m guessing he would say that everyone will have “access” (while silently, in his mind, adding – “If they have the money to pay the exorbitant premiums” that have caused the health care crisis in the first place – which is why MILLIONS never had health insurance until “Obamacare”)

I took a break, so my hands feel better – so, lets talk about Mitch McConnell.  This man is absolutely the cleverest LIAR I believe I’ve ever seen.  He’s the best!  He’s got that southern drawl that almost puts you asleep as you listen to him and what comes out of his mouth seems so believable, UNTIL you cross check his comments with either facts or his own words previously spoken.  For example, he seems so genuine as he deplores democrats to get on board with all his republican initiatives and laments how terrible it would be to obstruct.  Yes, McConnell actually does this – the very same man who filibustered President Obama something approaching 700 times.   I’m sure in private he would justify his actions because, well, maybe he believed the birthers – or who knows what – but, he publicly made it his mission and that of his party that President Obama would fail.  That’s all “water under the bridge” now – and, he’s deploring democrats to join him in “bipartisanship.”  (Unfortunately, I believe many democrats are spineless enough to fall for his antics)  McConnell could teach a class at a high level university on how to use words to make it sound like you’re saying one thing by really saying something completely different.  I suppose most would call him the “spin” master – to me, it’s just another form of LYING – which, as I stated at the beginning of this post – must be a requirement to be one of today’s republicans.

If it wasn’t so serious it would be comical listening to one republican member of the House after another coming on cable TV and defending their “health care” proposal that is being billed as the “repeal and replacement of Obamacare” all the while revealing their latest required LYING points.  They can’t defend that “plan” in a way that doesn’t guarantee their defeat in 2018 (for most of them) without LYING. (they’ve been “coached” to ALL use the same keywords in their LYING – a key proponent of the “Big Lie Theory”) It seems to be routine and the commentators leave it to “we the people” to figure this out.  One commentator the other day (Chris Matthews) actually said, “I hate to use the word Lie.”  They all know what’s happening, yet on and on it goes.  Now, I know my friend who’s a Trump supporter will be saying, “But the democrats………” as a way to justify all this.  Let me just add that I in no way would be OK with Trump’s LIES, his surrogates’ LIES, or those others mentioned here if the rationale was, “but the democrats.”

Personally, I believe we all lie to some degree in the course of our lives – but, the magnitude here is far beyond anything I’ve seen – including Nixon and Watergate.  Yes, politicians “spin” things to suit their purposes and/or position, but pathological LYING is another matter.  As many “experts” have already pointed out, Trump’s LYING and the LYING of those close to him creates a TRUST issue that is likely to be dangerous in a time of crisis.  Already there are many like me who don’t believe a word that comes from his mouth (or those of his closest advisers).  That’s not such a major problem, but when it spreads to leaders around the world, it becomes more than a major problem.  And, guess who will be the ultimate benefactor of all this if republicans allow it to continue?  Yes, you’re correct again – it will be Vladimir Putin.  I’ve said this before, the Russian hacking of our election has produced “fruit” that I’m sure is beyond Putin’s wildest dreams.  (And republicans in Congress will continue to ignore that reality as long as they believe they can push their “conservative agenda” past the democrats)  This is NOT good!

Final note:  I’ve explained what the “Big Lie Theory” is here many times.  If you’re not sure, look it up – it was the work of Joseph Goebbels back in the 1930’s and, I believe, a conscious part of outlets like Fox “news” for years.  That “theory” is based on coached and orchestrated LYING – that if you repeat a lie often enough people will believe it’s true.  There’s a difference when someone LIES about virtually everything.  When they’re so used to LYING that they believe their own LIES as they are making them – it’s routine.  That’s pathological LYING and, what I believe we are dealing with as I/we observe the words and actions of our 45th president and those around him.

The incompetence in the Trump administration is beyond believable for an American president who’s been in office for only two months.  Trump and his surrogates have proven those of us who believed they had no idea what they were getting into RIGHT virtually every day.  As I wrote the other day it would be comical if it wasn’t so serious and getting to the point of scary.  I, like many, have lamented on the damage that Trump will be able to do to this great nation in whatever time he has in the “Oval Office,” and the difficulty we’ll have in “fixing” it once he’s gone.  But, the more I observe what’s really happening, the more I realize the damage could be well beyond my wildest imagination.

For example, what if Rachel Maddow is correct in her inference (with much circumstantial evidence to back it up) that the Russians not only colluded with Trump to get him elected, but they have enough on Trump to be able to actually influence US policy.  Certainly to the people I know who support Trump this is all “conspiracy theory,” but, when you look closely what is “out there” not so much.  I mean, there’s NO dispute that the Russians were attempting to swing the election to Trump.  Now it’s come out that there was likely a “quid pro quo” during the Republican National Convention when Trump’s surrogates got a republican “plank” designed to provide aid to Ukraine in its fight against Vladimir Putin’s attempt to “re-acquire” it removed.  Trump was actually asked about this and, like he does with most situations, he LIED about it, saying he had no knowledge of what happened.  Of course, the person responsible for getting the “plank” removed (or as it was reported “softened”) did so on orders from Trump himself.  (Of course, Trump’s LYING has become routine – and, apparently. it’s just accepted by the “liberal media” as OK – I’ll write more about that later in this post)

All the reported evidence regarding Trump and the Russians during the campaign is suggesting there was collusion.  Should that get ultimately “proved” by Congress or another investigative body I believe that will be enough to make Mike Pense the 46th President of the United States.  I don’t think even these republican congress people want to defend allowing collusion with Vladimir Putin to be OK as a way to win office in America.  (That despite the FACT republicans have proven they believe “the end justifies the means” in the past)  But, if Ms. Maddow is correct, it goes way beyond the collusion in the election and EVERY American should be concerned with the implication – and, this needs to be figured out SOONER rather than LATER!  Last night she brought up the State Department.  Of course, I was one of the people who wondered why on earth would Rex Tillerson be nominated as Secretary of State.  (Evidently, the republicans who confirmed him had no worries)

Well, since Tillerson took over, virtually ALL of the top (and important) career diplomats at State have been FIRED.  People who’ve committed as many as 40 years of their lives to the security of this nation.  They’ve worked for presidents since Gerald Ford all the way to Trump – but, soon after Tillerson was sworn in, the axe fell on many of them.  As I’m writing this Tillerson does not have an assistant Secretary of State, I haven’t heard a SINGLE word from his mouth since he’s been on the job, State no longer is doing daily press briefings so it’s hard to keep up on “what’s happening,” and as I ponder all this all I can do is remember the photos I saw of Vladimir Putin pinning a Russian meddle of honor on Tillerson’s lapel sometime in the past couple of years.  I read the book “Private Empire” about Exxon Mobil by Steve Coll which, in itself, gave me pause to think Tillerson would be representing me as Secretary of State.  The one person thrilled with this choice by Trump, I’m sure, was Vladimir Putin.  (I have to wonder if Putin was one of Tillerson’s “references” on his resume?)

Just like Trump has no idea what he’s doing as far as the nuances of running our government, I believe Tillerson is in the same place at the State Department.  Evidently, they look at the State Department as they do the EPA, the Department of Education, and other agencies that fall in the purview of Steve Bannon’s deconstructing our government.  The report I heard is that the budget of the State Department will be slashed by a third.  Of course, they do all of this – including things like the “Muslim ban,” while they’re claiming the goal is to “keep America safe.”  That’s one of the great cliche’s of those in government who are trying to slip something untoward past “we the people.”

While these people are incompetent at running the government they, obviously, are not STUPID. (Even though many suggest that)  There’s an ulterior motive here,  and I’m thankful for people like Maddow who seem determined to find what it is.  “Conservatives” have been pillaging taxpayers for years.  Many on the “conservative” side – in the electorate – and, here I’m talking about “Conservative Christians” vote for republicans because back in the day of Reagan they were convinced republicans were “pro-life.”  And, it doesn’t go past that issue.  Most of the republicans I know have NO IDEA what their party is really up to.  And, now I believe that goes for republicans in Congress as well.  I’ve written ad nauseum about my frustration with today’s republican party and it’s surge to the “right,” but I in no way feel that people like Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and the others are in cahoots with the Russians.  I’m guessing that as I’m writing this they are very nervous in their backroom discussions – although, I also believe they like having a president who will sign their draconian legislation if they can get it past filibusters in the Senate.  I can assure you they will push as much as they can as fast as they can in anticipation that Trump will eventually be exposed.

For example, I don’t believe for a minute that the reason Ryan is trying to “cram” the “repeal/replacement” of the Affordable Care Act through in three weeks is because it’s that necessary.  No, I believe it’s because he knows the “you know what” is going to hit the fan and the republican agenda will be in peril if all the dots get “connected” regarding Trump and Russia.  The agenda won’t be health care.  It will be impeachment and then figuring out how deep the Russian intrusion into our “system” has managed to succeed.  I believe there’s going to be some people who are exposed for some really bad stuff. (I read this morning one of Trump’s “top advisers” is a “lifetime member” of a pro-Nazi organization in Europe)  When Trump uses the term “bad dudes” he may need a mirror for himself and some of his surrogates.  Trump is yet to say a bad word about Vladimir Putin (everything I’ve heard him say makes Putin sound like Trump’s hero) and there could be a very good reason why.  If you haven’t read the so-called “dossier” that was published by “Buzzfeed” some time back, you should do so.

When the “dossier” first came out our “liberal media” attacked the publisher of putting out uncorroborated material – which had been known for some time but most “news” people were keeping “under wraps.”  Well, bit by bit pieces of that “dossier” are proving to be corroborated.  And, some of it is really salacious – and, if true will mean more than impeachment for Trump.  If you remember, Trump virtually admitted to sexual predator behavior on the Access Hollywood Tapes (which, by the way, were followed within hours by the first of the democratic emails Wikileaks published – thanks to Russian hackers) so the allegations in the “dossier” seem more believable (The “Golden shower”?).  The British agent who compiled the “dossier” disappeared after Buzzfeed published it and, reportedly, some Russians who gave him the material met with the wrath of Putin.  Reportedly, there’s video evidence of some of the allegations, which would make Trump vulnerable to blackmail.  It all seems like a British spy movie – but, well, who knows?

The British (former) spy has resurfaced and I certainly am one of the many who would love for the investigators to interrogate him and try to find out how much of that dossier is able to be corroborated.  Like who’s got the video.  I don’t actually want to see it, but I’d like someone who’s in a position to investigate all this to see it if it exists.  There’s enough of that dossier that’s already proving to be accurate that this guy needs to talk to the investigators about all of it.  There’s too much here suggesting that the collusion is going way past the previous election and if that’s the case this will be the greatest national crisis in my lifetime.  Again, Tillerson as Secretary of State???  It’s hard to imagine how that came about without wondering what influence does Vladimir Putin have on Trump.  (And, Michael Flynn and the Russians in another piece of the “puzzle” that is more than intriguing)

Earlier in this post I said I would get to the LYING of our president and the implications of having a pathological LIAR in the White House.  Of course, he’s busy brainwashing his “base” into believing our media is “fake news” (Ironically, “fake news” is a prime tactic of Russian interference in countries around the world) and anyone who disagrees with him is “dishonest.”  There are many who support Trump who won’t believe ANYTHING that comes out regarding the Russians, but there are enough people in America who already understand Trump to be a LIAR that he won’t be able to overcome the truth when it finally comes out if the dots actually get connected.  (I’m suggesting that until they’re connected it’s all speculation which is why Trump, if he’s “innocent” of collusion, should be pushing for an independent investigation more than anyone)  But, here’s the thing – a little over a week ago Trump gave a speech to a joint session of Congress that was somewhat well received because his “tone” was better (he actually proved he could read from a teleprompter).  That just shows how low the “bar” for this man is.  It was reported (I believe in Politico) that he LIED 51 times during the speech, but the focus was positive because he was nicer as he was LYING.  Makes me shiver as I write that – what has become of us?

Trump is so engrossed in his own self that, since the day he took office, he continues to PROVE that he has no idea how this all works – and, fortunately for him, neither do most of the people who support him.  Yes, the stock market has surged up since he won – in anticipation of all the tax cuts and reduced regulation Wall Street is anticipating which is really ironic to me because most of his supporters voted for him because he portrayed himself as anti-Wall Street.  But, Trump is claiming credit for one President Obama accomplishment after another.  He’s claiming credit for jobs created in January and February that are the result of actions taken as much as two to three years earlier – the man is clueless.  This fiscal year the government is functioning under the guidance it received from Obama – just as Obama was “stuck” with the Bush/Cheney fiasco for most of his first year in office.  The job numbers that Trump will be able to claim credit for will come next year and beyond (if he’s still president).

I reluctantly have to agree with my libertarian friend who “likes everything Trump is doing” that if Trump’s policies bring jobs “back to America,” if the economy flourishes and wages go up Trump will likely become much more popular.  However, when I try to look with a sober mind at what is transpiring I don’t see that as the result of Trump initiatives for anything more than a short period of naive anticipation – from those on Wall Street and in executive office buildings who loathe being restricted by things like environmental and/or financial regulations.  Many of Trump’s supporters don’t understand who will benefit from the “deconstructing” of our government.  When the health care crisis gets worse, when deficits balloon, when the financial industry gets out of control, when the haze returns to our cities, when seniors get their fixed incomes reduced even more, when our food supply gets less safe, when our national defense is focused on our military even more and our diplomats even less, when the jobs (lost to technology) don’t “come back,” when people realize the repeal of “Obamacare” is really a HUGE tax cut for the top 2% of Americans, and when we realize we’re being duped by a dictator in another nation many of Trump’s supporters will not be so happy.  To me, the “essential question” is:  How much damage will the Trump administration create before their Russian entanglement and their incompetence is fully exposed?

Final note:  There’s a part of me who wants to hope that my friend is correct and I’m wrong.  I’m not one to want my president to FAIL – as republicans tirelessly attempted to do to President Obama (and, continue as they attempt to rewrite history with no Obama accomplishments allowed) – if the president fails, America fails.  Yet, the LYING, the narcissistic behavior, AND (most of all for me) the Access Hollywood tapes – makes it difficult for me to even look at Trump – I turn the channel when he comes on TV.  My hope is that there will be a resolution to the “Russian connection,” the abuses of the emoluments clause of the constitution, or whatever it takes for an impeachment.  Maybe once that takes place government can function in a way that involves something resembling bipartisanship.  I sense that’s the only way, long term, republicans can save their party.  If they continue the “all in” with Trump, they will sink or swim with him – and, I’d hate to be in deep water in that boat!

Probably the most frustrating part of watching the “Trump train” heading for the cliff is anticipating the damage – which, as so often happens, goes to “the least of these” (in the words of Jesus Christ) – and not wanting them to be the “fall guys” for our beleaguered and dysfunctional political system (and, especially this president) as is so often the case.  And, then trying to understand how the “system” became so dysfunctional in the first place and what is going to have to happen to “fix” it just leads to more frustration.  Unfortunately, I keep coming to the same understanding as I ponder all of this: Greed.  I still remember (clearly) the days of the Reagan administration when I believe the “focus” of this great nation changed in an almost 180 degree direction and, to this day, the actual reality of what transpired back then has not been fully “vetted” publicly by our so-called “liberal media.”

Today, I was watching on TV as there was a “Women’s March” (A day without women in the workplace – I believe is what it was billed) going on in the streets of the nation’s capital (and, presumably, around the country) while our national legislators were debating whether our present president is legitimate, whether our past president committed a felony (you know, like what GW Bush and Dick Cheney did THOUSANDS of times – wiretapping Americans – in this case Donald Trump), and – most importantly to “the least of these” – the “repeal/replacement” of the “Affordable Care Act.”  Democrats are now (lovingly) referring to the health care proposal being propped up by Paul Ryan as “Trumpcare.”  I have not read (and probably won’t) the bill in its entirety but it’s interesting listening to the republicans who are pushing it.

Ryan and the others are claiming their bill will lower costs, improve health care, lower premiums, and – all in all – will be a huge improvement to what they refer to as “Obamacare.”  They claim “Obamacare” is “collapsing of its own weight.”  Of course, what they don’t say is that for 7 long years they’ve done NOTHING but vote 50+ times to repeal “Obamacare” with NEVER attempting to “fix” it.  Evidently, their new bill is the “fix.”  And, from all indications they’re going to have a difficult time getting this bill through their republican controlled congress and, if they do, people will remember all the claims they and Trump have made regarding the process of “repeal and replace.”  On many occasions, for example, Trump has said that the “replacement” will provide health insurance for EVERY American – and, it will cost less and work better.  Hey, I have to say, I’m all for that.

For many years I’ve been advocating, just like Bernie Sanders, that health care should be a RIGHT in our society (apparently the wealthiest society in the world) and not a privilege.  Getting back to my earlier point of when Reagan entered the White House, things back then were MUCH different.  For starters, hospitals and health insurance carriers were mostly “not for profit” entities.  As with virtually everything else – from the “conservative” point of view – privatization was the answer to the health care “crisis” which began emerging in the 70’s and continues to this day.  Reagan convinced Americans that the government is the problem – in virtually every area.  Instead of creating a single payer, “Medicare for all,” solution back then, the answer was “HMO’s” (along the lines of Kaiser Permanente) and incentives for doctors and health providers to withhold treatment to save money. (More profit)

The good news – back then – was that it was pretty much assumed that health insurance was a NORMAL benefit that went with being employed.  I remember working for the minimum wage (back then it was $1.25) and having full medical coverage – which, at the time, I didn’t need.  Businesses, at least everyone I was associated with or observed, back in the 60’s and 70’s simply accepted the responsibility of providing group policies for their employees.  The employees were the most important part of their businesses.  That all – publicly – changed when Reagan began the right wing assault on America’s great middle class. (I say publicly, because, by all accounts I can figure out, it really changed with the so-called “Powell Memo” that soon to  be Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell sent to the Chamber of Commerce in 1972 outlining the plan for a corporate takeover of America’s government – the anti-worker plan that Reagan so expertly put into place)

It was under Reagan’s leadership that America went from being a “we society” (ie – the “New Deal” and “Great Society” of FDR and LBJ) to Reagan’s version – a “me” society.  That’s when shareholders became more important than workers.  That’s when the traditional republican assault on unions gained “full steam ahead” status – as Reagan himself, violated his own promise to the air traffic controllers, and “busted” their union on national TV.  Certainly, there could be an argument against the demands of PATCO (the union) but it’s undeniable that Since that day, the power of workers has diminished in America and executives have become almost unbelievably rich!  The percentage of workers represented by a union has dropped from around one third at the time of the PATCO strike to less than one tenth today.

If you remember, it was Reagan who promised: “I’m going to cut taxes and balance the budget.”  Well, I wasn’t paying that much attention to politics at the time, but I clearly understood how STUPID that claim/promise was.  Of course, Reagan did, initially, cut taxes (mainly for the wealthy) and his “trickle down” policy not only “trickled up” but that’s the direction of the deficit.  Like ballooning by about 300%.  So, and I really am trying to get back to my point, since the days of Reagan workers have been disrespected. The rhetoric would say otherwise – coming from republicans – but, the reality says……. Yikes!  The promises keep coming, the results, not so much. It’s not good.  And, yet, it’s the very workers who’ve been “left behind” by the “trickle up” policies of republicans that were the force that allowed Trump to move into the White House.  And, from what I can tell, it’s the blue collar working class – especially those still struggling from the 2008 financial meltdown that would have become another depression without President Obama’s (less than ideal – thanks again to republicans) stimulus package passed, ironically, in his first two months in office, that will be the “losers” from “Trumpcare.”  (Of course, Trump’s in his 7th week and so far the proposed repeal/replace of “Obamacare” is the first thing “on the plate”)

Instead of fixing “Obamacare” (like putting in a public option) most “conservative” republicans want to completely repeal it and “start over.”  I don’t think there’s many – if any – of us “common folk” out here in America who totally understand the nuances of the Affordable Care Act.  Yes, it’s really complicated and, no doubt, needs a lot of “fixing.”  However, based on the information I’ve gleaned by listening to the republicans pushing their new “plan” there’s no way it’s going to live up to their promises.  It really does remind me of Reagan promising to “cut taxes and balance the budget.”  “We the people” have been suffering the consequences of Reagan’s policies since the 80’s and republicans continue to push us toward the “cliff.”  It seems to me that with Trump at the helm, the “cliff” is getting near, and it could be a big drop when we get there.  Is that what it’s going to take to wake up Americans who just don’t want to pay attention to what their government is doing?  I know people who are relying on their health care (which comes through the exchanges) to survive.  It looks to me like rates are going to go UP, not down, coverage is going to go DOWN not up, and, for people who are older – like those in the 50 – 65 age group who are still reeling from the “great recession” their out of pocket expenses will balloon.

Those who have “pre-existing” conditions will still be able to buy health insurance – it’s just that for most, it will be prohibitively expensive.  The proposal includes a defunding (for one year, I believe – which republicans probably believe will be enough to destroy it) of Planned Parenthood, where many low income women get their health care and, from what I can tell, the plan will have Medicaid in the “cross-hairs.” Probably the most important part of the “repeal/replace” proposal to republicans and their benefactors is the apparent $380 BILLION tax cut that goes covertly to the top 1% of Americans.  Obviously, that’s just more money in the “coffers” of republican politicians..

I’m sure the list of “unintended consequences” will be long – but, as I stated at the beginning of this post – I believe it will be “the least of these” who bear the brunt of the repeal of “Obamacare.”  Obviously, I don’t believe Trump (actually, I’ve learned that you can’t believe a word that comes from his mouth) and the republicans that “everyone” will have coverage and that it will be less expensive and better.  As I’ve said many times on this site, “I hope I’m wrong.”  However, in most instances – whether talking about republicans or democrats – that hasn’t been the case.  Most of us out in the “heartland” seem to be better able to see what is actually happening in our nation’s capital.  Maybe that’s because we don’t have the spectrum of special interest money clouding our vision.

That last sentence is exactly why, at the beginning of this post I mentioned the the word that I believe was encouraged by Reagan and those who’ve followed him as republicans and those who financially support them: Greed.  The statistics don’t lie.  The working class has been stagnant at best since Reagan and the corporate executives have had their compensation soar since then.  The health of our corporations and our nation’s economy is (publicly) gauged by the stock market, and corporate executives have found creative ways to boost their own salaries by creatively boosting stock prices at the expense of long term health of corporations.  Since Reagan corporations have become increasingly “healthy” while MILLIONS of Americans are deciding whether to buy food or go to the doctor.  That will not change as long as “we the people” continue to be brainwashed to think the more money that goes to the top (the “job creators”) the better off we’ll all be.

When I was young it was not unusual for people to work for one company their entire career.  Today, is seems unusual for a “worker” to be in the same place 10 years.  And, lately, the republicans have put their faith in the very people who’ve been behind this trend.  In 2012 it was Mitt Romney – an expert “corporate raider” who would purchase a company, bleed it of all its assets, take a huge profit, and then abandon it – often times to insolvency.  The workers left wondering what happened are just “collateral damage.”

Now we have Donald Trump.  And, somehow (with the help of the Russians and James Comey) he became the 45th president.  Trump represents GREED personified.  The list of workers he’s “stiffed” seems endless from the reports I’ve read, and he’s strategically filed for bankruptcy 6 times – again, leaving workers in the pile of “rubble” that remains after he takes “his” and “goes home.”  I’m not sure why so many Americans fell for his schpeel, but now, at least until the republican congress comes to their senses, we’re stuck with him as president.  It should be no surprise to anyone that “Trumpcare” will just be one more Donald Trump lie.  As I’ve stated so many times of late, the real problem is the damage he creates (including the “repeal/replace” of “Obamacare”) could last a generation or more.

A final note:  Regarding my wondering how the system became so dysfunctional, and for anyone who believes my “bashing” of republicans means I’m a democrat, I’ll leave a final thought.  As much as the republicans frustrate me for their GREED and disregard for “the least of these,” the democrats aren’t far behind for their lack of courage.  Yes, there’s a few who seem to be “fighters” (Elizabeth Warren, Sanders – yes, he’s really an independent, and Jeff Merkley to name a few) but many don’t seem to have the courage of their own convictions.  Their lack of “fight,” in my view, is why seemingly EVERY mid term election is dominated by republicans.  The base who would support democratic ideals aren’t given a reason to get excited and vote.  That, to me, is the reality and if democrats want to be the solution to the problem they had better “lean to the left.”  It’s almost as if they’re afraid of backlash of the “liberal media.”  I say, if your position is honorable, FIGHT for it!

If the world was not in such a sad state, watching the Trump presidency would be comical.  However, the reality is that Trump appears to be as unhinged, “unqualified,” and incompetent as those who opposed him pre-election predicted.  Of course, at that time, not many people (including Trump from what I’ve read) expected him to be president.  Now, people in the media who were willing to prop him up for the sake of higher ratings and more advertising money during the election are “singing a different tune.”

I had breakfast the other day with a good friend of mine (a diehard republican who voted for Trump) who’s like most Trump supporters and is willing to accept all the baggage that goes with Trump because he believes much of the agenda he supports will get passed with Trump in the White House.  He is also in the “isolationist” mold and has no problem with the United States focusing on America and leaving the rest of the world to “whatever.”  (That’s my characterization of a much longer conversation)  It doesn’t matter to him if the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians.  I’m only pointing this out because I believe there’s many Americans who think exactly like that.  My friend says he doesn’t read Breitbart, but when Trump “tweets” some absurd “fake news” that he picked up at Breitbart my friend points it out to me as if it’s true.  Trump has convinced his “followers” that the “liberal media” is “dishonest” and that is where the so-called “fake news” is coming from (actually, of course, “fake news” is one of the main “weapons” of Russia as they are attempting to totally destabilize the “West”) so that his die hard followers are not going to believe the “truth” – whatever it might be – when it finally comes out unless it totally exonerates Trump and his surrogates.

Trump’s tactics, which I personally believe are being orchestrated by Steve Bannon (and, maybe to a lessor extent Stephen Miller), are classic examples of authoritarian takeovers of societies.  Attack the press, the intelligence community, and anyone who disagrees with you – make it more difficult, if not impossible, for opponents to fight against you (In America, the attack on voting rights is likely to become more intense under Attorney General Sessions) using accepted “norms” – ie, voting, protesting, etc,  And, of course, when things look bad, Trump and his surrogates can be counted on to “lash out.”  The latest “lash” is Trump “tweeting” that “sick” President Obama ordered Trump to be wiretapped in the previous election.  I’m guessing he “tweeted” that because he can’t figure out how all the information him and his associates are trying to keep secret keeps coming out in the press.  Again, if this world was not in such a dangerous place, this would all be comical.  Trump, this morning – if I heard it correct – proposed EXPANDING the investigation into his campaigns involvement with the Russians during the election to include whether President Obama ordered Trump Tower to be wiretapped!

Personally, I say, YES!  Do this!  People on both sides of the “isle” have been arguing for weeks over how this should be investigated.  I say, get it out into the open and investigate ALL of it!  Absolutely check to see if President Obama ordered surveillance of Trump and EVERYTHING else in question.  Let’s have an independent counsel so there’s no questioning the results.  What were Trump’s surrogates saying and doing in their MANY meetings with Russian officials during the campaign and after the election?  If President Obama felt Trump should be wiretapped, what was the reason?  Wiretaps require a warrant through the FISA court (unless you’re Dick Cheney and George W Bush, of course) so, if Trump was wiretapped, what was the reasoning behind it that allowed the FISA court to authorize it.  (Of course, Obama’s head of intelligence said no such thing happened – but, hey, let’s include this in the investigation)

Here’s what’s the most unnerving about all of this to me.  My friend doesn’t care about what Putin is doing in Russia and believes that if the Eastern European countries (who are now part of NATO – which, by the way, Trump conveniently wants to undermine) can’t defend themselves from Russia, that’s their problem.  He even said that he didn’t believe the Nazi’s would ever have attacked America had we chosen not to enter World War II.  (I’m only pointing this out because I don’t think he’s alone in this thinking) So, I asked him what he thought about the 54 BILLION dollar increase in (what I already believe is a totally BLOATED) defense budget and he said he’s OK with that.  Honestly, it’s really hard for me to make sense of that type of thinking that seems to be contradictory on its face.  I want to be an isolationist AND I want to spend almost 700 BILLION dollars on “defense.”  Yikes!  (Doesn’t it make sense that if we’re going to focus on our own borders $600 BILLION a year on defense is enough???  Maybe a bit too much???)

This all leads me to believe that there are many Trump supporters who are fine with the Russian meddling in our election and that apparently Trump’s “team” colluded with them.  In my heart I have to believe that those who feel as he does are a small minority of our population and that if, after the investigation that Trump himself now is calling for, shows that Trump’s surrogates were involved with the Russian attack on our process (I mean, when they were predicting accurately when the “stuff” that was hacked from Podesta would be made public, most of us can add two plus two, right?) then the Trump administration will be in its final days.  I don’t believe there’s enough Republicans to save Trump if it turns out his campaign workers were colluding with Putin and his underlings.  Yes, republicans have shown an incredible ability to “go with the flow” – that is, they’ve allowed Trump to re-define their party and now they have to live with it but, I can’t imagine people like John McCain and Lindsey Graham, for starters, going along with appeasing Vladimir Putin.  Although, I’ve maintained on this site that those who will truly make a “name” for themselves out of all this will be those in the republican party who stand up and say, NO! and point out the obvious – that nothing that Trump represents is “mainstream” in America, it remains to be seen if there’s anyone in the republican party with the “stones” to do so.  (and, I have to add that if an investigation confirms what people like me believe – at that point the republicans won’t seem so courageous when they “jump ship.”)

Yes, there are many good hardworking Americans who voted for Trump because they believe he’s going to bring  “high paying jobs” back to America.  Of course, most of Trump’s job creation claims are pure bloviating (to this point; remember, the first year of his administration he’s working under the previous administration’s policies) or outright “untruths.”  For example, Trump is claiming to have saved jobs in instances where the decisions he’s talking about were made long before he took office.  We’ll see in a couple of years how all this shakes out, if Trump is still in the White House (I still believe MOST republicans would prefer Mike Pense as president) However, there’s soon to be a “crisis” over the debt ceiling.  Wall Street has gone wild expecting huge tax cuts and deregulation – yet, so far, NOTHING has been even initiated.  Trump’s budget is likely to EXPLODE the deficit even farther (Obama had cut GW Bush’s deficit more than in half) and we’ll see if all those “conservatives” in the House still agree with Dick Cheney who famously said, “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”

Republicans are constantly working on revising HISTORY in a futile attempt to make themselves look better.  The reality is that even retired 6th grade teachers like myself have learned how to “Google” information and get something much closer to the truth than you get on Fox, Breitbart, and wherever else people like Trump get their “talking points.”  I believe when the reality of Trump’s inability to do ANYTHING hits Wall Street we’re all in for another crash – this time with someone at the “helm” who’ll have NO IDEA what to do.  (Have you read the history of 1929 and Herbert Hoover?)  My friend mentioned above told me that no body cares about anything but the economy and he believes the economy will flourish under Trump.  I told him that if in two years Trump is still president and the economy is flourishing I would agree with him that Trump will make it through his term.  I don’t see either of those scenarios coming true.

The reality is that Russia and what they’re doing around the world is DANGEROUS.  GW Bush/Dick Cheney committed the most STUPID action (possibly) in the history of this great nation by invading Iraq.  President Obama spent 8 years trying to clean up the mess and was making progress as he left office (Iraqi’s were in the process of pushing ISIL out of Mosul) and I truly hope Trump’s incompetence doesn’t screw up the progress – but, I have no confidence that will be the case.  Trump clearly is an impulsive person who is liable to do something really STUPID when it comes to decisions relating to foreign policy. (Unfortunately, I believe it’s just a matter of time until Trump “outdoes” The Bush/Cheney fiasco)

Russia is in the process of pushing the white nationalist movement around the Western world and if we continue to take a blind eye to what they’re doing, the damage could be among the worst of the damage we’re going to have to endure because of Trump’s presidency.  While,  as stated above, I’m saying this all would be comical if it weren’t so serious, I’m guessing Vladimir Putin is totally enjoying what’s happening in/to America.  During the campaign I believe he was truly hoping that he could destabilize to some degree Hillary Clinton’s administration.  He clearly feared a Clinton in the White House.  What Putin has accomplished in regard to helping create Trump’s administration, I’m sure, goes beyond his wildest dreams.  Trump’s presidency has put Vladimir Putin into a stronger position world wide anyone could have imagined prior to the election.

As an aside:  Someday our “liberal media” will figure all of this out!