Republican Arguments in the Trump Era

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Favorite Republican insanity in the recent news.

-- A lawyer for the Trump administration actually argued against giving the children imprisoned in our concentration camps tooth brushes, and other devices and means of personal hygiene.  Sieg Heil, baby. 

-- An editorial in one of the major rags (WaPo, I think) that argued that the United States Census has "always been the presidents", implying that if Trump wanted to add the citizenship question that he should be permitted to without question.  Actually the census is mandated by the US Constitution and no such privilege or authority exists or has ever existed.

-- Another editorial (probably WaPo, I will check) argued that "liberals owed Gorsuch an apology" because he did not vote the straight conservative ticket on some decision the Supreme Court made.  No, actually, we don't.  Gorsuch is a right wing nutty boy who is sitting in Merrick Garland's chair.  He should be impeached along with Kavanaugh.

When Some Moron Says Trump is Not Impeachable

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I dont have any pro-Trump friends any more, at least not on FB. I might have some friends in real life with whom I do not discuss politics who might be Trump supporters without my knowledge, and that is fine. But for those of you who have Trump supporters as friends, here is a nice concise response from the New Yorker about what to say when they say "What!? What has he done that impeachable!? Nothing!". When some idiot says that, here is at least one reply:


Over its first 20 months in office, this administration has produced what would have, heretofore, passed for a presidency-defining scandal on a near-daily basis. There is, of course, the president’s ongoing campaign to undermine the independence of federal law enforcement; his apparent use of U.S. military deployments as a campaign tool; ostensible violations of campaign-finance law; shameless profiteering off the presidency; gross violations of information-security protocols; use of mass child abuse as a tool for border enforcement; personal business relations with a Saudi government whose murder of an American resident he has enthusiastically apologized for; lackluster response to the hurricane crisis in Puerto Rico; and failure to so much as staff many key federal offices; among many, many other things. Meanwhile, just about every major Cabinet official has seemingly committed at least one major ethics offense.

From the New Yorker.


http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/house-democrats-trump-investigations-oversight-maxine-waters-moderates.html

Letter to My Congressman Salud Carbajal

Dear Congressman Carbajal

Congratulations on your re-election to Congress!  You're victory in these difficult times is a testament to your energy, your knowledge and your accomplishments.

I am new to your district and I am sure I will sound a little strident in this email, but I am extraordinarily unhappy with the events of the last two years as so many Americans are. 

Please do everything you can, and be as vocal as your position permits, and make it clear that (among other things) racism is any form is abhorrent to Americans, voter suppression is not acceptable, that the supreme court and federal judges must be ethically excellent individuals and not be right wing fanatics, and crime in the government must be investigated. 

Stand strong for us, sir, if you would.

Sincerely,
Michael Wahrman

The Democratic Response

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I want the Democrats, my party of choice, to make some clear statements.  At this time, at this place, now, not later but now.

Here is what I want them to say.

Racism is not acceptable in America, in politics, in how we treat each other, in how we vote.  Under any circumstances, it is not acceptable.  But most of all it is not acceptable in our public officials.

The people who are nominated to be a federal judge and especially the Supreme Court must be superior ethically as well in terms of their knowledge of the law and in their judgment.  They must represent all Americans, not just the extreme right wing and religious right, no matter how much they might wish it.  The abuse of this system by the Republican right has endangered our entire system.

Republicans need to learn that crime is wrong and will not be tolerated. You want to spend a year studying an email server, lets investigate racist motivated voting suppression, obstruction of justice, money laundering and treason.

The Democrats Must Stand Firm Or They Will Lose

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Being rewritten, please try back in a few hours!!!

This is what the Democrats have to do going forward.  And let me be clear, any failure to do this will mean that they Democrats will lose at the next election. They have one chance, in my opinion, to redeem themselves from decades of accomodation and of longing for an America that sadly no longer exists.

They must throw out any idea of "bipartisanship" but must stand firm and unyielding and execute a policy based on principles.

Forget legislation, legislation can be dealt with after the right wing Republican nuts have been exposed for the traitors and criminals that they are.

The American people have been subjected to an astonishing array of crimes against their government and the people of this country and of the world.  It is time for the Democrats to make clear that this behavior has to stop. 

Here is a short list of things the Democrats *must* do to maintain any credibility.

In the following I really dont want to hear any stupid whining about how "why bother to impeach if the corrupt Republicans will just turn their back on truth and justice.  Yes, the Republicans are corrupt and will betray America again, but that is not excuse for not  impeaching him.  Leave the Senate to the Senate, let the House execute its responsibilities for once.

In no particular order.

1. Trump must be investigated for his crimes, or at least a goodly number of them.  If appropriate, those crimes may be referred to relevant state departmens of justice for prosecution.  If appropriate, Trump must be impeached.

2. Kavanaugh must be investigated and if appropriate his crimes referred to proper authorities.  it may also be that he should be impeached.

3. Gorsuch is a right wing nutty boy.  He needs to be reviewed by the house, and also, if appropriate impeached.

4. Why was Nunes allowed to betray America and why was he not removed from his position as chair of the Intelligence Committee when the DOJ and FBI begged Ryan to do so.  This must be investigated.

5. Why have N. Dakota and Georgia been allowed to use obviously racist measures to disenfranchise voters?

6. Why has Florida failed to be able to reliably hold an election and count votes?

7. Why is the Senate continuing to approve right wing nutty boys for the judiciary as if that was acceptable?  The judicial system is being destroyed.

8. What was Pruitt saying behind closed doors for which no notes were kept and the American people are not allowed to know.  Let him testify under oath and let those he spoke to testify under oath and let them pay for their crimes.

All of these issues must be addressed before another budget is approved.  If that means the government stops then I am all for it.  Better we get this cleared up right now, first, before continuing some injustice or abomination.

There are other things as well.  Your list may differ.  This is all the House should do. If any of them are not dealt with, then as far as I am concerned we, the nation and the House has failed.

The nature of the crisis will be further discussed in a later post.

The Unitarian Resistance Movement

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As mentioned below, when my local Congressman's office had no idea why I would be concerned about the collapse of democracy in America, or why I would bother them, my elected representative with the issue, they sent me off to the Unitarians.  Go to the Unitarians, they said, maybe they can help you.

Well, it turns out that I live two blocks away from the Unitarian Church in town and they had a nice office with someone working and she thought the story was funny.  Well, she said, we do have a mailing list of people who are interested in doing things politically, and I can put you on that list if you like.

For those who like their history American, the Unitarians have pretty much always been a hotbed of progressive political activity in this country.

My Local Congressman

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Just for fun, I go to my local Congressman's office. As you can see, the notice on the door indicates that the door is locked at all times. So I knock and talk to a very confused woman who did not understand why I would be bothering them about this supreme court thing. We have nothing to do with that, she explained, as if to an idiot. I said I was concerned, she said, so? I wondered if they were organizing any protests. Now I could tell she was really worried. For all she knew, I would become violent at any moment. She redirected me to local Unitarian church, I guess her attitude was that it was stupid to approach one's congressman. I guess they were just too busy to worry about what a constituent thought about their government.

The Horror of Counter Intelligence Under Trump I

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The role of counter-intelligence is to prevent the work of foreign intelligence agencies to gather information or take hostile action against our country.  For example, when Russian manipulated and threw the 2016 election to that traitor Trump, this was a failure of our counter-intelligence.

And they know it.

But they also know that they work for Congress, and that Congress is run by Republicans and Republicans in Congress are well known to be traitors who want to destroy this country and throw elections to the people the Russians want.

This is the nightmare of any intelligence agency.  What if their bosses are traitors working for the enemy.  If you did not know this, read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John LeCarre.

So we are fucked, and they know we are fucked, because of the Republicans.

Maybe Write A Letter / Email to Grassley

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Perhaps today or tomorrow would be good time to write a letter to Sen Grassley (R-Hell) and remind him that since the Republicans lost the popular vote, they dont really have a mandate to turn the Supreme Court into their private retro-fascist 1930s America. And that he should think long and hard about what is good for America and not just what is good for his rich friends. 

Because when Kavanaugh goes on the court there is some possibility that this whole house of cards comes down. Keep it up Republicans, you are sowing the wind and you will reap an impressive harvest.

The Disconnect Part 1

I am often told that we must talk to Trump supporters or we will never blah blah blah.  If they have not figured out by now what a disaster he is then nothing you or anyone says will change their mind. I have read literally hundreds of articles and editorials by Trump supporters and perhaps thousands of their comments back when I read the comments to articles in the WaPo among others and I can tell you that I know what I am talking about.

These people fall into several different categories (no, they are not all the same).  Some are racists, some are stupid, etc.  But some, more than a few, have something else going on.  I am going to call it "the disconnect" as in the disconnection from reality.

Here are two examples I stumbled on in one day, probably through Real Clear Politics, the right wing news aggregator.  I submit them to you here as evidence.

The first disconnect from reality was an essay pointing out with total certainty that those who are worried about Global Warming have been wrong about everything, and those who are skeptics have been totally vindicated.  What I find fascinating about this statement and this article is that the person who wrote it is clearly and unambiguously out of their mind.  There are many things we do not know about global warming, and there are many questions and issues going forward about what we can do and what we should do.  But there is one thing that is not in doubt: global warming is happening and mankind (people, humanity, whatever) is the primary cause.  You simply can not be an adult and doubt this any more unless there is something wrong with you.  Sorry if you disagree.  I don’t think it could possibly be debated any longer.

The second disconnect is an article whose title asks “Is Trump the Most Fun President Ever?”  Whoever wrote this right wing crap thinks betraying their country, violating the law, destroying the judiciary, and racism is fun. 

My point here is not that Trump supporters are all racists, or assholes or whatever.  My point is, there is something wrong with them.  I dont mean this in a nice way.

Millions of People Will Be Hurt and America is Disgraced

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When I discuss the political situation with friends and others, I try to make two points. The first is that at best millions of people are going to be hurt because of the Trump disaster. The second is that every day that asshole is in office disgraces America.

I am ashamed of America that we have allowed this to happen and for it to have gone on this far.

I am ashamed of America that the Republicans are all traitors trying to destroy America.

So when I meet a Trump supporter online or otherwise I tell them what I think of them. Which is to say, that I despise them, that they are morons or worse, and that they must be destroyed for the sake of America and all our people.

The time for compromise is over, and it was over a long time ago.