Dems need Judicial Branch to rule against McConnell

Mitch McConnell

The House Judiciary Committee has voted to pass the impeachment amendments against Donald J. Trump as a result of sufficient evidence and witnesses testimony.  

The next steps are to submit the impeachment articles to the full House of Representatives to allow all Representatives to vote.  Impeachment is expected to pass there where Democrats are in the majority.  

As was seen in the impeachment inquiry, the vote was split along party lines.  Despite overwhelming evidence by all witnesses and even public disclosure of culpability by the President and his staff, Republicans refuse to see the evidence as indicative of impeaching Trump.

And now, Mitch McConnell, while speaking publicly on a right wing media show, has confessed that the jury trial of Donald J. Trump in the Senate will be a scam.  McConnell has admitted that he is coordinating with the White House and the President will be acquitted.  Americans should be outraged at the arrogance of the Senate majority leader.  

The Senate is sworn to allowing a fair trial and these remarks by McConnell represent it will be anything but fair.  The Senators are the jury in the trial of Donald J. Trump and when the jury, before having the trial, declares that there is no way the President will be convicted, it is a travesty of justice.

Democrats cannot allow this Senate trial to proceed without the legal intervention of the court system.  If the Democrats allow a vote in the House and then pass the impeachment proceedings on to the Senate, America is guaranteed that all of the evidence against this President will not be considered.  McConnell has said as much.  It will be the real sham impeachment trial, that Republicans have been accusing the Democrats of.  

Perhaps forty percent of Americans want this President to remain in office, but McConnell's admission essentially cheats the majority of Americans of a fair trial.  Furthermore, if there is no penalty to Donald Trump, you can be assured that he will continue to cheat in the 2020 election with renewed fervor.

Assuming the Democrats can sue McConnell for such public notice of disdain for the rule of law and American Constitutional justice, McConnell would have to explain to the court just why the impeachment trial can be run as a Republican sham trial.   If it drags out the impeachment proceedings into next year, so be it.  The negative publicity that McConnell and all Republican leadership would receive would almost certainly make them lose votes in 2020.

And maybe it can bring up new litigation against those Republicans who would dismiss American Constitutional justice and with it, American democracy.

Sue McConnell now!

Chief Justice Roberts is not a Trump Sycophant

Chief Justice John Roberts

Despite what the GOP Congressional leaders want you to believe, it is obvious and undeniable that Trump has committed acts that are abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and deserving of impeachment and removal from office.

But based on recent House impeachment hearings, we know the Republican party will not save America.  House Republicans have shown that they will not vote to impeach Trump.  In fact, despite evidence to the contrary, the GOP defends and praises a "victimized" Trump.  They want America to think that the impeachment is a partisan ruse to remove a duly elected President.  It is not.

In the Senate, where Republicans are in the majority, Senator McConnell wants a fast and speedy acquittal of Trump.

Many believe that partisanship runs so strong that the Republican majority in the Senate will not remove Trump from office and it will be up to the American people to vote Trump out in 2020.  But how confident should we be that the American people will vote him out?  With little being done to prevent it, we can't be certain that Russia won't influence or change the voting results.  Is there any hope that the 2020 election will be fair?  Is there any hope that something or someone may help Americans understand the seriousness of Trump's constitutional infractions?

By most polls, more than half of America wants Trump impeached and removed from office.  Enter Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.  Will Roberts treat Trump's violations of the Constitution with the seriousness it deserves?  Chief Justice Roberts will be presiding over Trump's impeachment trial to be held in the Senate.

Roberts has described the SCOTUS role as that of impartial interpreters of the constitution.  When questioned about partisanship, Roberts has stated that the Supreme Court must not be partisan and must fairly interpret the laws and constitution without consideration of party membership.  It was Justice Roberts that allowed the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act to become law, so he seems to act according to his philosophy.  Incidentally, Trump was extremely annoyed to the point of insulting Roberts for allowing the ACA to pass.  They are not on great social terms.

Roberts could have a major part in intervening in the trial between partisan Senators.  An important aspect of his role in the proceedings is to rule on questions of evidence.

The Trump administration has denied the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees any evidence in the form of documents and witnesses during their impeachment inquiry.  If asked, it may be possible that Roberts may approve requests for those documents or witnesses in the Senate trial.

For example, Mick Mulvaney has direct knowledge and has publicly announced that there was a quid pro quo in the Ukrainian dealings.  Trump had not allowed him to be questioned in the House committees.  Perhaps Roberts will.

Another personality of importance is Don McGhan.  Being a close counsel for Trump, McGhan knows a lot about Trump's character, behavior and infractions.  McGhan voluntarily participated in the Mueller investigation after which Trump fired him without warning.  Recently a court has ruled that Trump cannot shield McGhan from testifying in the impeachment hearings.  If McGhan is asked to be a witness, it is likely the GOP will object, but Roberts may intervene and force McGhan to testify.  It's true that articles of impeachment do not touch on Trump's actions in the Mueller investigation, but McGhan may be a good witness to provide examples of Trump's behavior in that investigation and it's consistency with the obstruction impeachment articles.

Rudi Giuliani is another witness that Roberts could force to testify in the Senate trial.  Giuliani was the central figure assigned by Trump to convince Ukraine to give a public announcement of an investigation into the Biden's.

Add to that list John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and Vice President Pence.  All were involved in the Ukraine quid pro quo.  Roberts would do America a huge favor by having them approved to testify.

The degree to which Roberts controls the trial may depend on his observations of irreconcilable differences between the parties and prior understanding of the actions that Trump is being tried for.

For example, Chief Justice William Rehnquist presided over Bill Clinton's impeachment trial but did not influence that trial much at all.  The difference in the seriousness of constitutional infractions between Clinton (who had sexual improprieties) and Trump (who withheld needed military aid for election interference from a foreign government) may account for that.

Chief Justice Roberts will most certainly review the reports that came out of the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees before the Senate trial.  He should be well versed in the types of infractions being charged and the extreme partisan differences in behavior between the Republicans and Democrats.  Because of that, my belief is that he will take a much larger part in the trial than Rehnquist did with Clinton's trial.

A Senate trial may be run with more decorum than the House Committee meetings, but it will be good to see an impartial intermediary like Roberts help control the proceedings.  Roberts is a reasonable and intelligent individual.  That means he will make good judgements and attempt to keep the participants honest.  The truth must be told.

Although most analysts believe Trump will be acquitted, if the truth is told and Republicans do not convict, they will pay politically for not removing this President from office.

Could Donald Trump usher in the End of the American Democratic Republic?

The End of American Democracy?

With the barrage of witnesses whose testimony corroborated each other, at this point in the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, honest Americans can see that he is guilty.

Nearly every witness so far has testified that Trump directed a group of people to work with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to help Trump abuse his power by recruiting Ukraine for interference in the 2020 US election.

Trump ordered actions taken that would delay Ukraine from receiving Congressionally approved military aid unless Ukraine President Zelensky made a public announcement that he was investigating Hunter and Joe Biden.

Additionally, Trump wanted President Zelensky to announce an investigation into Ukraine's part in the 2016 election interference, a false narrative that is being pushed by Russian president Vladimir Putin.  Every intelligence agency of the American government has identified Russia as the 2016 election intruder.  They have also indicated that the conspiracy Trump is pushing about Ukraine being the culprit in election interference is a Russian conspiracy propaganda attack.

The Republicans on the committee could have accepted the witnesses evidence.  But they didn't.  Instead, they defended Trump's conspiracy theories, blamed Democrats for an impeachment scam, lied and  yelled at witnesses.  They have lost their self-respect and prostrated themselves in loyalty to the worst President in US history.  And for what?  Are they complicit?  Do they know the "fix is in" and they can't lose in 2020?  What could make a whole party go mad?  Does Donald Trump have a spell cast over them?

Maybe it doesn't matter to understand Republican thinking.  Maybe the important things to know are that they do not govern with all Americans in mind.  They will not defend American democracy.  They do not respect the law.  They do not care about Presidential accountability.  They do not recognize their Constitutional duty in the balance of powers.  They do not care about America's national security.

Even worse, hope that the impeachment inquiry will help more Americans come to the realization that Republicanism is a betrayal of democracy, is being lost.  Recent polls are showing that there are now more Independents that are against impeachment than for it.  This is a bad sign for Democrats.  Independents are the game changers for political elections.  If this signals that Independents are becoming more Republican leaning, it could usher in another Trump term.

It is the Senate that determines if Trump is removed from office.  Trump has already met with his jury of Republican Senators who might be on the fence about removing him from office.  The transcripts of that meeting are not published, but Senator Susan Collins, one of those at the meeting, announced that she will not vote to remove Trump from office.  Making this decision before the Senate trials even start, begs the question; what empty promises did Trump make to those Senators?

If Susan Collins and the House Republicans are any indicator, the Senate will never remove Trump from office unless their constituents (the ultra-rich and lobbyists) call for it.  Since the ultra-rich and lobbyists are reaping the lion's share of benefits from having a Republican like Trump in office, there is  no reason for them to insist that Trump be removed.

The Senate will not save America.  In fact, Republicans who support Trump despite the damaging evidence against him, have set up the failure of American democracy.  Republicans have forsaken the balance of powers by defending Trump.  They are denying Article I of the US Constitution and are thereby making Trump more of a dictator than a President.

Trump's administration started out by admitting they were out to "deconstruct the administrative state."  Trump appointed administrative officials who opposed the agencies they lead.  Trump has decimated the State Department.  Regulations that protected Americans' health and welfare have been perverted or overturned to make America less safe for Americans and more profitable for the rich.  Science has been denied and puts human existence in jeopardy.  If Trump is re-elected, there is no telling what other deleterious changes to US democracy and national security he may make.

It has been reported that Trump has seriously asked if he could just get rid of judges.  Without a Judicial branch, all power would lie with the President.  That is a dictatorship.  His praise for and friendships with global dictators is already in public view and gives a plausible assessment of his desire to become one himself.

Ultimately, it is the American voter who has the last chance to save our Republic.  This will not be an easy fight.  Russia will be out in force, attempting to interfere in our elections and power grid.  Trump will be spending millions of dollars on propaganda campaigns to denigrate Democrats and praise himself.  Trump loyalists will be repeating the ramblings of the Trump administration and those in Senate committees will advance Trump's conspiracy theories.  Right wing media will be continuing to lie to their viewers to make Trump appear the right choice for President.  Trump's mysterious and almost supernatural spell over MAGAts and Republican political figures will be strong.

America faces the possibilities of two futures.  One being the shining star of freedom and hope for the world, the other being the frightening world of a self-serving dictator.  We will only get one chance to get it right.  After that, we will have the country we deserve, be it good or bad.

Meet Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren

Born in Oklahoma to a working class family, Elizabeth Warren has the childhood experiences of the ordinary American whose family is struggling from paycheck to paycheck.  She understands what middle class Americans  have been going through for the longest time and in her gut has the motivation to help people.

Her first marriage was to her high school sweetheart, Jim Warren.   Shortly after marriage, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Houston.

A couple of years after having her first child, she enrolled in Rutgers Law school where she received her Law Degree while pregnant with her second child.

The Warrens divorced and two years later Elizabeth married Bruce Mann but retained her last name from her first marriage.

Prior to her service in elected office, Elizabeth has been a public school teacher, a lawyer and a law professor at various Universities including U of Pennsylvania and Harvard.  Law and economics has been her focus area in the private sector.  She is a published author with eleven books to her credit.  She was a highly influential law professor and is the most cited scholar in the field of bankruptcy and commercial law during the time she was in that role.

She is a former FDIC Advisory Committee member and a member of the national Bankruptcy Conference.  She was a vice president of the American Law Institute.  

During the 2007 economic recession, she was appointed to chair the Congressional Oversight Panel to oversee implementing the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.  She was an early advocate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and was assigned by President Obama to setup the CFPB. 

Warren had been a long time conservative and registered Republican, but in 1995 began to vote Democrat because she started realizing that the Republican Party no longer was "principled in its conservative approach to economics and to markets" and instead was favoring the rich and large corporations at the expense of middle-class Americans.

Elizabeth won her Senate seat in the 2012 election win against Republican Scott Brown, becoming the first woman Senator in Massachusetts history.  At the 2012 Democratic national Convention she gave a speech that explained her beliefs as a champion of the middle class.  She ran for re-election to the Senate in 2018 and won over the Republican by 60% to 36%.  As Senator she has been assigned to the Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging.

Since announcing her candidacy for President, Elizabeth Warren has been developing her important focus areas and policies she will pursue as President.  Her top priorities are: 

• Strengthening Democracy
• Rebuilding the Middle Class
• Equal Justice Under Law
• Ending Washington Corruption
• A Foreign Policy for All

She wants to strengthen democracy by ensuring voting rights are not suppressed and by eliminating gerrymandering. She wants to ensure America fights back appropriately when foreign governments attack our elections.  She wants to hold Americans in power accountable for divisive talk.

She wants to rebuild the middle class by building Unions.  She wants workers to elect 40% of the Corporate board.  She wants antitrust enforcement.  She wants to stop the give-aways to the rich and ensure they pay their fair share.  She wants to enact an ultra-millionaires tax on the 75,000 richest people in America.  She is for green manufacturing, clean energy, affordable housing and wants to fight for veterans and service members.  She advocates for Medicare for all and promises that she has a plan to accomplish it without raising middle class taxes.  She wants to create great public schools and refurbish the public school system.

She'll fight for equal justice under law.  She knows there are two legal systems; one for the rich and one for the rest of us.  She will fight to change this.  Criminal Justice reform must make the punishments for laws fair and equal for everyone.  She is for legalizing marijuana.  She wants to ban private prisons.  She'll lead a new commitment to prosecuting giant corporations and their leaders when they cheat customers, stomp out competition or rob workers.  

She'll fight for ending Washington Corruption.  Corruption in Washington, DC makes government work for the rich but fails the rest of America.  She wants to put political and economic power back into the hands of the people.  She wants to remove big money from politics by overturning Citizens United.  She wants no more lobbying, PACS or SuperPACS.  She wants to eliminate the unfair advantage that corporate America gets when high level federal employees go to work as lobbyists for Corporate America after their federal jobs end. 

She'll fight for a foreign policy for all that serves all people and not just the wealthy.  She is against Trump's NAFTA II trade policies unless it produces a better deal for Americans.  She advocates for people over corporate profits.  She is in favor of cutting the military budget to a reasonable level to end the stranglehold defense contractors have on our military policy.  She wants to reinvest in diplomacy and stand with our allies to advance our shared interests, something that Trump has directed us away from. She is an advocate for cybersecurity and fighting climate change.

I can't go into the details here but it will be important for you to follow the debates and Elizabeth Warren's rallies during the campaign.  She explains her policies best when you hear her speak.  In my opinion, Elizabeth Warren has a very good chance to be the Democratic nominee.

McConnell's Senate Graveyard

Pelosi describes McConnell's Bills Graveyard

The primary duty of Congress is to write, debate and pass laws.  Congress is composed of two bodies; the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The leader of the House of Representatives is a person selected from the members of the party in the majority.  In the house, the Democrats are in the majority and Nancy Pelosi is the leader known as Speaker of the House.  

The leader of the Senate is known as the Senate Majority Leader and is also selected from the party in the majority for that body.  In the Senate, the Republicans are in the majority and Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader.  

The White House and the Congressional GOP have often used derogatory terms to describe the Democrats in Congress.  Much like the childish bullies they are, they believe that name-calling is a useful policy tool.  We have heard Trump use slogans like "Do nothing Democrats" to convince their  own gullible constituents that it's the Democrats who are not getting anything done in Congress.  However, in this case, the name-calling tool is really a projection of their own failure to work for America.  

In order to pass legislation that originates in the House of Representatives, Mitch McConnell must bring those bills up for debate in the Senate.  In a normal functioning Congress, the goal is to find agreement in both houses through compromise and concessions during a healthy debate. The goal is to enact legislation intended to help all Americans and improve the condition of the country.  But in the Republican led Senate, the goal is to stifle Democratic legislation that would help Americans.

McConnell has stated publicly that no Democratic bills will ever pass the Senate and will "die" there.  McConnell has been so pleased to prevent America from progressing with bipartisan legislation that he sees his new job as that of a "grim reaper," a name that he gave himself.  And he has been true to his name.  

According to the website congress.gov, in this 116th Congress, the House has so far passed 258 (H.R.) bills since the session started in 2019.  To view each bill and search for other interesting data, visit congress.gov at the following shortened url:  http://bit.ly/2PJQ9A5 .

Only thirty-three House bills have passed the Senate and only thirty-one have become law.

McConnell and the Republicans in the 116th Congressional Senate have introduced thirty-nine bills.  Eleven of them have become law.  Included in those Senate initiated bills that became law are:

• S.2249 A bill to allow the Deputy Administrator of FAA to continue as Deputy
• S.1693 National Flood Insurance Extension
• S.1379 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness
• S.998 Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis
• S.863 A bill to amend title 38 to clarify pay grade and pay of podiatrists of the VA
• S.744 Effective Prosecution and Possession of Biological Toxins and Agents
• S.483 Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension
• S.252 A bill to authorize Bob Doyle to grade of Colonel in the regular Army
• S.163 Alaska Remote Generator Reliability and Protection
• S.49 A bill to designate the outstation of the VA in North Ogden, Utah as Major Brent Taylor Vet Center Outstation

There are so many House Democratic bills that McConnell is holding up, I cannot include them all, but a few of the more important ones include:

• H.R.3722 Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking
• H.R.3710 Cybersecurity Vulnerability Remediation
• H.R.3625 PCAOB Whistleblower Protection Act of 2019
• H.R.3525 U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards
• H.R.3239 Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and Border Protection Custody
• H.R.2513 Corporate Transparency Act
• H.R.2359 Whole Veterans Act
• H.R.1585 Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act
• H.R.1331 Local Water Protection Act
• H.R.1112 Enhanced Background Checks Act
• H.R.987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs
• H.R.986 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions
• H.R.582 Raise the Wage Act
• H.R.6 American Dream and Promise Act

If you visit the government website mentioned above, you can see the stark reality that it is the Republicans in Congress that are obstructionists.  You realize that the Democrats in Congress have the energy, desire and concern for America that enables them to create these bills.

Republicans have proven themselves to be liars, obstructionists, and now grim reapers.  They may think they are attacking Democrats but it is you, the American people, that the Republicans are really hurting. Vote smart when the time comes and don't believe the Republican lies.   

Impeachment inquiry continues to get at the truth while Trump and GOP call it witch hunt

Kiev, Ukraine

Donald Trump's hatred of the beautiful country of Ukraine may grow stronger as his impeachment inquiry continues to uncover damning evidence from witnesses familiar with the Ukraine meeting.

Although there have been plenty of other reasons for the impeachment of Trump, the phone meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky has been the subject that initiated the formal impeachment inquiry by Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats.

Trump and his zealous Republican loyalists have given their own classification of the impeachment inquiry.  According to them it's a "witch hunt," "bull," "a joke," "a lynching" and "a scam."

They believe the Democrats are trying to overthrow the 2016 election.  So they are spending money  on ad campaigns to smear the impeachment investigation.  Trump has so far committed at least $1 million to ad campaigns to lie to the American people about it.

Trump and his supporters present no evidence that would prove Trump innocent of the claims of the whistle-blower and the multiple corroborating witnesses who have been testifying in Congress.  There is only the party line that they expect us to believe, even though they have been caught in their lies thousands of times.

It seems the Ukraine venture by the Trump organization is much more complex than we first thought.

It has been reported that before he resigned, John Bolton warned the administration that Rudy Giuliani may be too closely involved in the Ukraine situation.  Not being an official government statesman, this would be an illegal activity for Giuliani.

Kurt Volker, Envoy to Ukraine, testified that Trump requested military aid to Ukraine to be held up.  Giving testimony on Trump's thinking about Ukraine, he said that Trump believed (or said he believed) that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 election.  Volker also had text messages that showed that Trump and Giuliani pushed Zelensky to investigate the Bidens.

Bill Taylor testified that Trump would withhold military aid to Ukraine until they publicly announced an investigation into the Bidens.

Catherine Croft, who reported to Ukraine envoy, Kurt Volker, testified that Trump told Mulvaney to hold off on Ukrainian aid.  She also testified that Trump was pressured by Giuliani to remove Ukraine Ambassador Yovanovich.  Yovanovich herself testified that there was a concerted effort by the Trump administration and Rudy Giuliani to remove her for questionable motives from her position as Ambassador to Ukraine.

Christopher Anderson, also a report of Kurt Volker, testified that the White House blocked a condemning formal statement by the State Department regarding a 2018 incident where Russia seized a Ukrainian vessel.  Anderson also testified that he attended the meeting where John Bolton warned the White House of the interference of Giuliani in Ukrainian affairs.

Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, a Ukrainian expert, testified that Trump and the White House omitted details about the quid, pro quo regarding dirt on the Bidens from their telephone meeting summary. As the Ukraine expert, he attended the meeting held in Ukraine with Energy Secretary Perry.  After the meeting he was told by the White House staffer Fiona Hill that he would not be invited to the debriefing of the meeting and was instead replaced by a former Devin Nunes staffer, Kashyup Patel.  Patel has no knowledge of Ukraine.

The witnesses corroborating testimony is getting to the facts that even Trump loyalists cannot deny.  We are fortunate that there are still some patriots left in government.  Trump attempts to pervert the truth with such statements as "the Ukraine meeting was perfect!" and "no quid, pro quo!" But these are falling apart with the barrage of witnesses who are claiming otherwise to Congress.

Let the truth cleanse this administration.

Multiple Trump officials should be impeached over the substance of Ukraine meeting

Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker

Throughout his Presidency, Donald Trump gave the public many examples of his betrayal of the Constitution and denigration of the office of President.  So many of Trump's actions have been attacks on  democracy and our American way that any one of them could be a part of the articles for impeachment.

Nancy Pelosi has focused on one of Trump's recent infractions before she committed to impeaching him.  And that one was a big one.  Big in substance but also big in the number of Trump officials involved.

This recent infraction was the quid, pro quo that Trump asked from the newly elected Ukraine President.  Trump is so driven to find ways to ensure his re-election, he has not only avoided taking precautions against future Russians interference, but has also asked the Ukrainian President to dig up dirt on his Presidential challenger, Joe Biden.  Trump told Ukrainian President Zelensky that he must report on the requested investigation into Joe Biden and his son in a public announcement to be given at a White house visit, or he would not be given military aid that Ukraine so desperately needs to defend against Russia.

Just as Trump and his family asked Russia for dirt on his 2016 challenger, Hillary Clinton, they have now asked Ukraine for dirt on his 2020 opponent, Joe Biden.  It seems when it comes to finding an illegal leg up on the competition, Trump is surprisingly consistent.

And now we find out that this plan was in effect many month's ago, when his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, his EU Ambassador, Gordon Sondland and his Energy Secretary, Rick Perry were sent to discuss related matters with Ukrainian officials.

On July 25, 2019, Trump had the infamous quid, pro, quo call with Zelensky.  Mike Pompeo was present for the call.  Trump instructed Mick Mulvaney to delay the Ukraine military aid related to the quid, pro, quo call.

If by these actions Trump is guilty of impeachable offenses, so are all of the other Trump officials that were involved.  Perry has self-impeached as he recently announced his resignation, but all the others except Giuliani should also be impeached.  Giuliani is not a federal employee but has to answer for other crimes such as not registering as a foreign agent.

As for impeachment, Donald Trump's attorneys have gone to court to have the impeachment deemed illegal since there was no formal impeachment vote in the House.  Last week Lindsey Graham introduced a resolution condemning the impeachment inquiry as illegitimate.  Republican officials  have been stymied by a judge covering the case who has determined that the inquiry being carried out by the House is legitimate and does not need a vote to continue.

However, Nancy Pelosi has announced that Democrats wanted to push back on claims by Trump that the impeachment is not valid and will hold a vote on Thursday, October 31, 2019 to establish the procedure for open hearings, dispositioning transcripts and transfer of evidence to Judiciary as they consider impeachment articles.

The impeachment will happen.  The House of Representatives has the votes for that.  However, the impeachment is not the same as removing Donald Trump from office.  It will take more Americans to register their outrage with Trump in order to convince Republicans in the Senate to vote to remove him from office.  At this point, the GOP is still solidly with Trump.

As public hearings give Americans more insight into the impeachable offenses of the Trump administration, perhaps more GOP Senators will come to their senses and save America, democracy and their own dignity.

When the Justice Department helps create a dictator

William Barr, Attorney General

Donald Trump is a malignant narcissist.  He can convince himself he is an innocent victim of any criticism, even if he knows the criticism is accurate.

Believing that he has escaped prosecution for his part in the Russian 2016 Presidential election interference, Trump has been proclaiming that the intelligence community came to their conclusions of his involvement  for partisan political reasons.  He thinks his own Justice Department is conspiring against him.

The Mueller report made it clear that Trump could have been indicted as a co-conspirator in campaign contribution violations.  It identified at least ten instances of obstruction of justice for which Trump was found responsible.  Mueller himself said that the only reason Donald Trump was not indicted was due to a policy statement of the Justice Department.  Foolishly, the Justice Department believes that they cannot indict a guilty sitting President.  Mueller left that to Congress, which has the power to remove such a President through impeachment.

Trump, due to his narcissistic delusions, believes that he can convince the general population of his innocence.  The proof he puts forward has no substance.  There are no witnesses that can vouch for him.  He doesn't have any alibi.  In fact, many of his tweets and public appearances are outright displays of obstruction or violations of the Constitution.  The written answers Trump gave to Mueller's questions were nothing more than "I do not remember" non-replies.  The facts are not on Donald's side.

That Donald Trump believes he must convince America of his innocence is puzzling.  The "heat" of the Mueller investigation is passed.  Democrats did not do a good job of making the serious conclusions of the Mueller investigation an issue for Trump.  One could say he got away with it unscathed.  So why is Trump bringing it up again?

Trump has fired most of the patriots who were in his administration that might have done something about his bad behavior.  He has replaced them by loyalists who have the power and desire to protect him.  Cowardly Republicans in Congress still stand by Trump and defend his every aberrant move.  They will likely stand by him until just before their own careers are impacted.  That day will come as more and more of the American people call for Trumps impeachment.

America will soon begin to hear more about the high crimes and misdemeanors Trump has committed that are worthy of his impeachment.  Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats will impeach him.  In the next couple of weeks, some of the impeachment interviews they are doing will become public appearances.

To my thinking, this is why Donald Trump needs to find another way to convince the American people of his innocence.  Donald will soon need a distraction from the negative news coming from Congress.  That distraction must be large enough to draw the attention of Americans away from the Congressional hearings.

An official investigation into Trump's own intelligence community will give credence to the conspiracy theories he wants us to believe.  He needs the force of the Justice Department loyalists to carry out the investigation as if it were something real.  His hand picked and proven loyalist attorney general, William Barr is just the man for the job.

Trump loyalists have so far ignored Congressional subpoenas.  They have refused to appear in front of Congress.  They have refused to give requested documents to Congress to aid their investigations.  That pretty much means these loyalists are willing to break the law and are likely to take other extreme actions in defense of Donald Trump.

Barr may think he is defending a person of integrity.  Maybe he thinks all Presidents are patriots.  Maybe he is just a fool.  In any case, Trump is counting on Barr to give the conspiracy theory life.  Now it appears that it is about to happen as tonight the Justice Department has opened a criminal inquiry into its own Russia investigation.

If the Justice Department can be used as the President's personal police force to round up political prisoners, then we have a dictatorship.  Something I believe Trump has been working toward since he was elected.

This is a serious attack on American democracy.  America must snap out of their Trump induced depression and start acting like democracy is something to save.

Will the GOP survive once Donald Trump becomes the first American dictator?

The Future Mr. President

Since Trump has gained the Presidency, America is being publicly bombarded with aberrant behavior previously
considered unacceptable by most Americans.  Some of us are outraged.  Some of us are simply not paying attention.


But there are others who are finding cover for Trump's outrageous behavior.  They are trying to convince us that Trump's violations of the Constitution and America's laws are acceptable and within the powers of the President.

Just yesterday, Trump's lawyers were in court arguing that the President could not be accused of any crime as long as he remained in office.  The judge asked Trump's personal lawyers if Trump could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and get away with it, as Trump once claimed.  The lawyer answered in the affirmative.

These are dangerous times, brought to us by the Grand Old Party. The GOP prepared for their eventual rise to power during the Obama administration.  They were convinced that they could rise to power by obstructing everything the Democratic President did for the American people and create false narratives about how bad everything was in America because of Obama.  Some may remember that they even obstructed bills that they themselves brought up if Obama favored them.  They hated Obama so much that they had television interviews where they said they considered Putin a better President than Obama.  The GOP has hated the fact that a black man could be in the most powerful seat reserved for white power. 

Some of you may still believe that the GOP was only trying to protect America by attempting to destroy the Affordable Care Act.  Maybe you believe they only meant the best or were trying to reduce fraud by removing food from the hands of children when they reduced food stamps.  Maybe you think they were only trying to find better jobs for America when they rejected the American Jobs Act that Obama wanted passed.  What reason did you find for the GOP's lack of support for an increase in the federal minimum wage?  How did you rationalize the GOP's resistance to the Fair Treatment of Women's act.

The GOP has proven over and over again that they do not support the average American.  Their recent tax scam under Trump was only meant to serve their true constituents, their million dollar campaign donors. 

A party that is concerned with all Americans does not deny services to the needy.  It should not fight against fair wages for workers.  It should not give entitlements to people who already have enough to live 1000 lifetimes.  It does not reverse regulations that protect Americans health and environment.  It does not create a budget that intends to strip medicare and social security.  And it does not find ways to divide Americans against one another.  But yet, these are the priorities of the GOP.

And now the GOP are at a crossroads.  Do they continue to find excuses for Trump and forsake American democracy for a wannabe dictator?  Or do they come to their senses and save America while at the same time saving their party?

Trump has created around himself, a circle of sycophantic loyalists. These loyalists hold most of the power in government and refuse to abide by the checks and balances of government power.  They openly refuse to obey court orders. 

Trump has a propaganda media company at his disposal in Fox News that is also culpable in the "dumbing down" of the American GOP. 

Trump is making decisions that distance our allies and partner up with the axis of evil.  Trump has created human rights abuse issues at our border.  He has sacrificed our Kurdish allies to the bombs of Turkish genocide.

Trump is seeking campaign help from Ukraine's new President asking him to create and announce a controversy around Trump's political opponent Joe Biden.  Trump will hold off on military aid until Ukraine follows through. 

Trump and his campaign has been delighted to have had help with the 2016 election from the Russians, meeting with them in secretive rendezvous.   In 2016 Trump's personal attorney announced on news shows that there would be an October surprise that was a prelude to knowledge the campaign had in regards to the DNC hacking done by the Russians.

And now Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are investigating Trump for behavior deserving of impeachment.  The GOP leadership is still siding with Trump.  Some even performing ludicrous acts in front of TV cameras.  About thirty-six of the more unstable GOP leadership, led by Matt Gaetz, have stormed a secure SCIF meeting uninvited, with iPhones blazing to defend their divine leader Trump.

Since his inauguration, Trump has thrown a long list of his former allies under the bus by either firing them or blaming them for crimes which he had no part in. (Fingers crossed.)  Here are a few:
Reince Priebus, John Kelly, Kirstjen Nielsen, Steve Bannon, Carl Icahn, Sebastian Gorka, Michael Flynn, H. R. McMaster, John Bolton, K. T. McFarland, Tom Bossert, Rob Joyce, Keith Kellogg, Fred Flitz, Fiona Hill, Rob Porter, Sean Spicer, Michael Dubke, Anthony Scaramucci, Hope Hicks, Sara Huckabee Sanders, Raj Shah, Boris Epshteyn, Michael Short, Gary Cohn, Jeremy Katz, Peter Navarro, Justin Clark, Steve Munisteri, Omarosa Manigault Neuman, Keith Schiller, Bill Stepien, Don McGahn, Ty Cobb, John Dowd, Ronny Jackson, Chris Christie, James Mattis, Patrick Shanahan, Rick Perry, Tom Price, Ryan Zinke, Jeff Sessions, Sally Yates, Dana Boente, Rod Rosenstein, Mathew Whitaker, James Comedy, Andrew McCabe, Alex Acosta, Rex Tillerson, Nikki Haley, Marie Yovanovitch, Kurt Volker, David Shulkin, Dan Coats, Richard Cordray, Scott Pruit and dozens more who were assistants or under secretaries, or deputies.

Trump supporters may not think of him as a dictator, but his actions resemble those of other dictators in history.  American democracy is only holding on by a thread right now. 

The GOP, who is in the majority in the Senate, are responsible for removing him from office, once the impeachment is transferred to them.  Up to now, the GOP leadership has defended Trump throughout all of the damaging news brought into public view. 

If the GOP fails to remove this potential dictator from office, then our last hope will be the American people's vote in the 2020 election.  Here's hoping that one of those two fail-safes prevents the end of American democracy.  My confidence in either is not very high.