Rational Nation USA

WSJ - At a meeting of all Republican senators on Tuesday after the White House lawyers wrapped their opening arguments, GOP leaders told their conference they don’t have the votes to prevent witnesses from being called at the impeachment trial of President Trump, people familiar with the matter said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the vote total wasn’t where it needed to be on blocking witnesses or documents, these people said. He had a card with "yes," "no," and "maybes" marked on it, apparently a whip count, but he did not show it to senators. Republican Senate leaders and the White House have dismissed the need for new witnesses or documents, and hoped to wrap the trial up by this week. With sme republican senators leaning toward witnesses and or additional documents it is now within the realm of possibility that the senate might actually decide to do the right thing and call witnesses. John Bolton's explosive revelations ...

Let the words of the following flow over you and enter your consciousness.

Spirituality is not religion. It is found within oneself as ones consciousness is elevated and your connection with the truth regarding God is revealed to you. What follows might leave you a bit unsettled, Which is exactly as your religions "spiritual leaders" would have it. Religion is about control over the beliefs and thoughts of the "flock". By instilling the myth of eternity in "hell" (there is no hell) for those who sin and fail to "repent" in the way prescribed by the "Church" guides you the "spiritual leasers" have effectively instilled their mechanism of control. What follows, for those who seek to truly understand spirituality and God, will set your feet on the path to a raised and enlightened consciousness..

Truth is a tough cookie. It is only a matter of time before truth is revealed. Such will be the ultimate outcome with regards to the Trump impeachment. With new revelations continuing to surface Trump will, at the end of the day, go into the history books a disgraced president. It will be as t should be. Truth cannot be suppressed for long. Not even by the likes of professional liar Trump or his sycophants... New York (CNN) - President Donald Trump was captured on tape at a 2018 dinner with Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman demanding the firing of Marie Yovanovitch, who was then the US ambassador to Ukraine, according to an attorney for Parnas. "Get rid of her!" a voice appearing to belong to Trump says on the recording, according to ABC News , which on Friday first reported its existence. "Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it." CNN has not reviewed the tape. According to Parnas' attorney, Josep...

Myth 1: You deserve your lot. Universal truth: Love is your birthright; you don’t need to earn it. Myth 2: You’re selfish if you love yourself. Universal truth: You can’t love anyone else unless you love yourself first. Myth 3: Anything can happen in real love. Universal truth: You can’t love another unconditionally until you love yourself unconditionally. Myth 4: We’re not okay. Universal truth: We’re born perfect in every way. Myth 5: Health care holds the key to our health. Universal truth: Seeking guidance and deciding on the best course of action lies in your hands.  Myth 6: It’s all coincidence. Universal truth: We’re part of one big, cosmic whole that’s intricately connected. Myth 7: Sins are paid at the time of death. Universal truth: Only unconditional love and compassion exists on the other realm. Myth 8: Spiritual people are devoid of egos. Universal truth: The ego is necessary for survival in the physical world...

The Senate impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump will be a sham. The Senate leader, Moscow Mitch McConnell decided long ago that the trial was going to be short, witnesses and new evidence would not be considered, and the predetermined outcome was to be acquittal of Trump. The president's desired and demanded outcome. Like something right out of Orwell's 1984 the sycophant filled republican Senate is only too happy to oblige their leader and master. … The rules that McConnell has laid out , on which the Senate will vote this afternoon, provide for a Potemkin trial, not a real one. McConnell has been open that his goal is to dispose of the trial before the State of the Union address, on February 4, and the rules show far more interest in speed than accuracy or deliberation. SKIP McConnell indicated that the rules would mirror those adopted for Bill Clinton’s impeachment, but they diverge in crucial respects. These include the two-day limit, which is clearly designed to min...

That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained. Haile Selassie

What follows is an excerpt from an article speaking the hard cold truth about the present GOP and its almost completely unified effort to make a mockery of the pending impeachment trail. As truly sad and unfortunate as it really is it is the state of the GOP and hence America and her body politic. On one hand, all the ceremony seemed a bit much, almost screaming out for powdered wigs or, maybe in the spirit of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a “ farcical aquatic ceremony ” with a “watery tart,” a sword and a stone. On the other hand, it closed the loop between 1787 and the ideals of the Framers like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison who drafted the impeachment clause, and 2020, when the worst kind of corrupt and reckless demagogue that the Founders so much feared is sitting in the White House (unless he’s out golfing). All of which makes it a shame that in so many ways this whole beautiful exercise is already becoming a travesty of a mockery of a sham. In fact,...

"It is not only war that can stop war but men of goodwill, conscious of their mission can deal with such deadly enemy."  Haile Selassie "Enlightened leadership is spiritual if we understand spirituality not as some kind of religious dogma or ideology but as the domain of awareness where we experience values like truth, goodness, beauty, love and compassion, and also intuition, creativity, insight and focused attention."       Deepak Chopra "Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold."  Bob Marley

AMES, Iowa — Democratic voters fear their party is on the brink of repeating the mistakes that sent  President Trump  to the White House as they consider their choices weeks before the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. The four front-running contenders are all battling to prove they are the most likely to defeat Trump, a reflection both of the president’s looming presence over the race and the anxiety felt by Democratic voters, who fear fatal flaws with each candidate could doom their hopes of winning back the White House. In conversations with nearly two dozen Iowa Democrats before and after Tuesday’s debate, many analyzed the unsettled Democratic primary through the lens of a television pundit. They weighed the relative strengths and weaknesses of former Vice President  Joe Biden , Sens.  Bernie Sanders  (I-Vt.) and  Elizabeth Warren  (D-Mass.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor  Pete Buttigieg  (D) and more often than not expr...

“The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.”  “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” “Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” Dalai Lama

It is time to amend the United States Constitution so that its citizens are more equitably represented. Our democratic republic is no longer being effectively served by the Electoral College. What follows is a modest sensible approach to amending the constitution to achieve a more equatable distribution of power. VOX -  To create a system where every vote counts equally, the Constitution must be amended. To do this, Congress should pass legislation reducing the size of Washington, D.C., to an area encompassing only a few core federal buildings and then admit the rest of the District’s 127 neighborhoods as states. These states — which could be added with a simple congressional majority — would add enough votes in Congress to ratify four amendments: (1) a transfer of the Senate’s power to a body that represents citizens equally; (2) an expansion of the House so that all citizens are represented in equal-sized districts; (3) a replacement of the Electoral College with a popular vote...

Saw this movie this afternoon. Foxx as usual, was outstanding! This folks is what much of the South looked like not so long ago. Sadly it still does today. America CAN do better.

Killing of Soleimani reflects an aggressive national security team not inclined to curb Trump