Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Trump's Perfidious Unhinged Performance...
After last night's shit storm of fascist trumpism this welog was going to post a blistering, fact filled anlyisis of Donald J. Trump's unhinged and non factual regurgitations of pure BS. But after reading a few of the coments on rightwing anti truth sites I realized that Dotard the Fascist was absolutly right when he said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue in NYC and he wouldn't lose any support.
So, rather than spending the time writing what all folks with any level of cognition already know we decided to put up a brilliant post debate video by Trevor Noah.
Today, for the frst time in my adult life, I can honestly state that it s embarrassing to be an American. I have never, in my wildest nightmares, ever thought I would see the day when a president of the United States of America would act like a deranged out of control madman.
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Who Ya Gonna Believe, Science Or A Charlatan...
Trump personally dislikes, and therefore distrusts, the science that were it followed by EVERONE religiously would put down the Covid-19 in a quarter. And save thoudands of lives. Instead Trump finds a doctor (Atlas) with no background in infectuous diseases or public health and sits him on the task force. Presumably to spread the disinformation (gaslighting) that Trump has so vigorously pursued throughout the canpaign and his first term. If we as a nation make the mistake of reelecting Trump the disinformation and gaslighting is only going to get worse. You can take that to the bank.
WASHINGTON — The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has grown increasingly concerned that President Donald Trump, pushed by a new member of his coronavirus task force, is sharing incorrect information about the pandemic with the public.
Dr. Robert Redfield, who leads the CDC, suggested in a conversation with a colleague Friday that Dr. Scott Atlas is arming Trump with misleading data about a range of issues, including questioning the efficacy of masks, whether young people are susceptible to the virus and the potential benefits of herd immunity.
"Everything he says is false," Redfield said during a phone call made in public on a commercial airline and overheard by NBC News.
Redfield acknowledged after the flight from Atlanta to Washington that he was speaking about Atlas, a neuroradiologist with no background in infectious diseases or public health. Atlas was brought on to the White House task force in August.
Redfield testified before Congress this month that he suspects that a face covering could protect him from Covid-19 better than any future vaccine. Most public health officials share the view that masks are essential to stopping the spread of the virus. Still, Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on how useful wearing them may be.
"If every one of us did it, this pandemic would be over in eight to 12 weeks," Redfield said before offering a stark warning that contradicted the president's assertion that the country is "rounding the corner" on the pandemic.
"We're nowhere near the end," Redfield said.
Full article BELOW the FOLD
Trump, A National Security Risk...
Aside from Trump not paying his fair share of federal taxes for many years he is also highly indebted, much of this debt is held by foreign entities and is coming due in the near future. Given what the NYT reporting shows this makes Trump a target for foreign manipulation. In otherwords a potentially serious national security risk. That in and of itself is one very good reason to NOT reelect a seriously debt strapped Trump who is beholding to foreign financal instititions.
Bloomberg - In a tour de force of hard won reporting, the New York Times has put numerical clothing on what we’ve known about President Donald Trump for decades — that, at best, he’s a haphazard businessman, human billboard and serial bankruptcy artist who gorges on debt he may have a hard time repaying.
SKIP
Due to his indebtedness, his reliance on income from overseas and his refusal to authentically distance himself from his hodgepodge of business, Trump represents a profound national security threat – a threat that will only escalate if he’s re-elected. The tax returns also show the extent to which Trump has repeatedly betrayed the interests of many of the average Americans who elected him and remain his most loyal supporters.
Skip
Trump has been bloviating about being worth $10 billion ever since he entered the 2016 presidential race, a figure that simply isn’t true. He’s worth a fraction of that amount, and the larger his indebtedness becomes, the more strain it puts on his assets. The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a particularly brutal toll on the sectors in which the Trump Organization operates — real estate, travel and leisure. If Trump is unable to meet his debt payments, he’s either going to have to sell assets or get bailed out by a friend with funds. Trump has never liked to sell anything, even when it’s hemorrhaging money. So if he’s tempted to save himself by getting a handout, that makes him a mark.
If Trump was still just a reality TV oddity, that wouldn’t be earthshaking. But he’s president, and the trade-offs someone like him would be willing to make to save his face and his wallet taint every public policy decision he makes – including issues around national security. If Vladimir Putin, for example, can backchannel a loan or a handout to the president, how hard is Trump going to be on Russia? Not that we should worry about Trump’s relationship with Putin. That’s just a hypothetical question.
Trump’s own history of avoiding tax payments – and often paying nothing -- is the other issue that should alarm the president’s supporters. Trump and the Republican Party engineered a massive tax cut in 2017 that largely benefitted the most affluent Americans and the largest corporations in the U.S. Now we learn that the president who pushed a tax cut that didn’t deliver the economic stimulus he claimed it would, but feathered the nests of the most privileged, has rarely paid taxes in recent years.
Trump paid $750 in taxes the year he was elected! That’s way less than the $130,000 in hush money he paid Stormy Daniels. In 2012, Trump criticized Barack Obama for “only” paying $161,950 in taxes. That’s a lot more than $750 too! And it’s a lot more than the $0 in taxes Trump frequently paid.
Trump even paid far less than his really wealthy buddies. As Times reporter David Leonhardt noted, “Over the past two decades, Mr. Trump has paid about $400 million less in combined federal income taxes than a very wealthy person who paid the average for that group each year.” It’s even more troubling when you compare Trump’s tax payments to an American household earning about $75,000 in 2016. Those folks paid about $14,000 in federal income taxes — which is also a lot more than $750.
Full Article BELOW the FOLD
By no rational standard does it make one iota of sense to reelect Donal J. Trump to the presidency of this nation. He must be retired to what he does best. Playing a reality gameshow host.
Monday, September 28, 2020
Republicans Revolting Against Trumpism and Donald J. Trump's Presidency...
The article following is about the ahistorical number of prominent republicans that are crossing over to support Joe Biden for president. The number is literally in the hundreds.
These prominent republicans are not supporting a democratic candidate for president because they have suddenly become more liberal or plan on leaving the republican party. Not at all.
Prominent republicans are breaking with their party in support of Joe Biden because they know Trump is dishonest, incompetent, inept, divisive, and he is a clear and present danger to our constitutional democratic republic. In short they are crossing over for love of country and to hopefully restore our government to firm and stable footing. WE APPAULD EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM FOR THERE PATRIOTISM!
Thank You
(CNN) - There's a revolution happening within the GOP right under our noses.
The latest sign came Sunday, when former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge penned an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer making clear his intent to vote for former Vice President Joe Biden over President Donald Trump in November.
"He lacks the empathy, integrity, intellect and maturity to lead," Ridge, who also served as the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the Bush administration, wrote of Trump.
Ridge joins fellow Bush Cabinet secretaries Christine Todd Whitman (EPA), Ann Veneman (Agriculture), Carlos Gutierrez (Commerce) and Colin Powell (State) as Biden endorsers. Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, and Chuck Hagel, the former Nebraska Republican senator, both of whom served in the Obama Cabinet, have also backed Biden.
And that's just Republicans who served in a presidential Cabinet! There are a slew of other prominent GOP elected officials -- from former Ohio Gov. John Kasich to former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman to 2016 presidential candidate Carly Fiorina to former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder -- who are on record as either planning to vote for Biden or leaning in that direction.
Then there are the staffers. That group includes the former chiefs of staff at the Department of Education and Department of Homeland Security in the Trump administration! More than 70 national security officials from various Republican administrations are backing Biden. As are more than 150 alums of the George W. Bush White House.
Trump, has, of course, dismissed all of these people as disgruntled losers -- members of the stolid GOP establishment who don't like the fact that he beat all of them (and their bosses) in 2016.
One example, via tweet, of Trump's response: "The failed former Governor of Michigan, RINO Rick Snyder, who was responsible for the Flint Water Disaster (and I let him know it!), is now endorsing Sleepy Joe Biden, who doesn't have a clue!"
And the President and his most loyal allies, rightly, note that he remains extremely popular with the rank-and-file of the Republican Party. His job approval in the latest Gallup tracking poll among Republicans is 92% and has been in the high 80s or low 90s for, basically, the last two years straight. (Trump's job approval with the entire electorate in Gallup's latest poll is just 42%.)
Of course, two things can be true at once:
1) Republican voters are still broadly supportive of Trump
2) There is an insurrection within the ranks of prominent past GOP officials (and senior staff) the likes of which we haven't seen against an incumbent president in a very long time.
And that's exactly what we are seeing here.
In a typical, aka pre-Trump, election, we would see a handful (at most) of elected officials cross party lines to support the nominee of the other party. Georgia Sen. Zell Miller did so when he backed President George W. Bush and spoke at the 2004 Republican convention. Ditto Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman when he endorsed Sen. John McCain and spoke at the 2008 Republican convention. And Michael Bloomberg when he spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
So, it happens! But the very fact that we can a) name the people who have done it in the past few elections and b) all of them got prominent speaking slots at the other party's national convention suggests it's pretty rare -- and something that is treated by a real coup by the other side.
Which brings me to Trump. And the hugely ironic reason that the sheer number of prominent Republicans rebelling from him in this election hasn't received the attention I think it should: Because there are just so damn many of them.
As in, the storyline feels sort of warmed over now; Republicans defect from Trump, blah blah blah. As opposed to, in past elections, how Lieberman speaking at the Republican convention was seen a major moment for McCain -- a testament to his bipartisan appeal. Because there was pretty much just Lieberman. Or just Zell Miller.
For Trump, the raw number of defectors winds up making the coverage more diffuse -- and less effective. Ridge here. Powell there. Snyder. Kasich. Seventy(!) former Republican national security officials. It winds up being treated as just more noise when, in fact, it is absolutely ahistorical to see this sort of abandonment of a sitting incumbent by so many high-profile figures within his party.
Continue reading BELOW the FOLD.
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Trump And His Taxes...
The New York Times has obtained tax-return data for President Trump and his companies that covers more than two decades. Mr. Trump has long refused to release this information, making him the first president in decades to hide basic details about his finances. His refusal has made his tax returns among the most sought-after documents in recent memory.
Among the key findings of The Times’s investigation:
Mr. Trump paid no federal income taxes in 11 of 18 years that The Times examined. In 2017, after he became president, his tax bill was only $750.
He has reduced his tax bill with questionable measures, including a $72.9 million tax refund that is the subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service.
Many of his signature businesses, including his golf courses, report losing large amounts of money — losses that have helped him to lower his taxes.
The financial pressure on him is increasing as hundreds of millions of dollars in loans he personally guaranteed are soon coming due.
Even while declaring losses, he has managed to enjoy a lavish lifestyle by taking tax deductions on what most people would consider personal expenses, including residences, aircraft and $70,000 in hairstyling for television.
Ivanka Trump, while working as an employee of the Trump Organization, appears to have received “consulting fees” that also helped reduce the family’s tax bill.
As president, he has received more money from foreign sources and U.S. interest groups than previously known. The records do not reveal any previously unreported connections to Russia.
It is important to remember that the returns are not an unvarnished look at Mr. Trump’s business activity. They are instead his own portrayal of his companies, compiled for the I.R.S. But they do offer the most detailed picture yet available.
Below is a deeper look at the takeaways. The main article based on the investigation contains much more information, as does a timeline of the president’s finances. Dean Baquet, the executive editor, has written a note explaining why The Times is publishing these findings.
It appears trump has been gaming the tax system for years. Not at all surprising really. As he continues to game the system and play the people for fools.
Continue reading BELOW the FOLD.
Friday, September 25, 2020
Will America Rise To Save Its Democratic Republic From Destruction By Donald J. Trump?
We, the people, will reject Donald Trump's presidency on November 3rd.
There will be no Trump coup in this country.
The American experiment, which has endured since 1776—through civil war, world wars, and depressions—will not yield to a dime-store Mussolini who is faithless to his duty and is the worst president in American history.
He will be repudiated and humiliated by history's judgment. It is our job to make that happen.
Donald Trump is threatening the peaceful transition of power because he is losing and he is weak. Let us finish him off.
When you hear Donald Trump threaten our democracy and stoke racial animus, do not be afraid.
When you hear him say he will not accept the results of this election, do not tremble.
When you hear him pit us against each other, do not waiver and do not flinch.
He is a threat to our liberty and to our democratic institutions, and we will do what Americans have always done: we will defeat the threat.
Will you help us reach every Lincoln Voter and put an end to this lawless presidency with a contribution of $100, $63, or $50 right now?
Remember: we are Americans. E Pluribus Unum — out of many, one. We are a good people and together we will end this disgrace.
— Steve
MAGA - A Demagogues Shout Out To His Sheeple...
The Lincoln Project - Today the Lincoln Project released its first digital video, “MAGA Church” highlighting the hypocrisy of those who claim the mantle of Jesus while supporting or ignoring President Donald Trump’s immoral acts. The video features Evangelical pastors, including members of Trump’s influential Evangelical Advisory Board. Highlighted in the video are White House faith advisor Paula White, Robert Jeffress, Franklin Graham, Michele Bachmann and Jerry Falwell Jr.
“Donald Trump has hijacked the GOP, the conservative movement and now, with the help of these charlatans, one of the largest faith communities in America,” said Jennifer Horn, of the Lincoln Project. “It is clear that in exchange for power and money these “pastors” have been tasked with recasting Trump’s absurdities and moral failures as nothing short of prophetic divinity.” “President Trump’s corruption and dishonesty destroys every person and institution he touches,” Horn continued. “But with faith leaders like these, who spin vices as virtues, the President believes he is exempt from the wages of sin as long as he delivers power to those Evangelical leaders who so clearly crave it.”
“Americans of faith, deserve leaders who want to make the world in which we live a better place through their belief. Those Evangelical leaders who lay their loyalty and faith on the altar of Donald Trump are betraying their congregants and their country.”
Evangelical voters are one of the largest voter blocs in the country, representing 26% of the electorate in 2016.
The Lincoln Project is working to defeat Donald Trump and those candidates who have abandoned their constitutional oaths, regardless of party.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Will Trump's and McConnell's Rush To Replace RBG On The Court Help Or Hurt The Right?...
The following Washington Post article is so spot on we are reproducing it here in full. Author Jennifer Rubin hits the nail squarely on its head with her opinion article.
Biden accomplished several essential tasks. First, like Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democrats earlier Sunday, he formulated that the open seat boils down to preserving the Affordable Care Act. “In the middle of the worst global health crisis in living memory, Donald Trump is before the Supreme Court trying to strip health-care coverage away from tens of millions of families. This took away the peace of mind of more than 100 million Americans with preexisting conditions,” Biden said. “If he succeeds, insurers could once again discriminate or drop coverage completely for people living with preexisting conditions like asthma, diabetes, cancer and so many other problems.” The former vice president continued that “if Donald Trump has his way, the complications from covid-19 … like lung scarring and heart damage, could become the next deniable preexisting condition.” Biden did mention other issues such as abortion and voting rights, but plainly he is folding the fight over the court seat into the two best issues for him — Trump’s failure to handle the pandemic and his attempts to take away health-care coverage.
Second, he put the fight in simple terms of fairness. Republicans think they can make up rules and rewrite them for their benefit without regard to — indeed, despite — majority opinion. Bullying your way through fights with nonsensical blather to disguise your motives is antithetical to democracy. Biden stressed over and over again that voting is already underway, which means Trump is disenfranchising voters who want a say in the next justice.
Third, Biden made the most of his ability to appeal to the most persuadable senators while sending a message to moderates and disaffected Republicans that he intends to end the cycle of inflammatory partisanship. “I’m not speaking to President Trump, who will do whatever he wants. I’m not speaking to Mitch McConnell, who will do what he wants, and he does,” Biden said, acknowledging these men are beyond reason and utterly shameless. “I’m speaking to those Republicans out there, Senate Republicans, who know deep down what is right for the country … not just what’s best for their party.” That would be Republicans such as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and any others with a speck of intellectual honesty:
To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power, and I don’t believe the people of this nation will stand for it. President Trump has already made it clear this is about power. Pure and simple. … Action and reaction. Anger and more anger. Sorrow and frustration at the way things are in this country now politically. That’s the cycle that Republican senators will continue to perpetuate if they go down this dangerous path they have put us on.
We need to de-escalate — not escalate. That’s why I appeal to those few Senate Republicans — the handful who will really decide what happens. Please, follow your conscience. Don’t vote to confirm anyone nominated under the circumstances President Trump and Senator McConnell have created. Don’t go there. Uphold your constitutional duty — your conscience. Let the people speak. Cool the flames that have been engulfing our country.
That message, delivered in sober and quiet terms, is one that less partisan Americans are hungering for. “We can’t keep rewriting history, scrambling norms, ignoring our cherished system of checks and balances,” Biden said. That’s precisely what voters who want to end the downward spiral of incendiary politics want to hear. Here is someone who understands that authoritarian power plays tear the country apart.
Toward the end of his remarks, Biden again drove that message home, promising relief from the insane, mean-spirited partisanship Trump has adopted. “I’ve said it many times in this election. We are the United States of America. There’s nothing we cannot do if we do it together,” he said. “Donald Trump wants to divide this nation between red states and blue states. Between representing those states that vote for him and ignoring those that don’t. I do not, I cannot, I will not be that president. I’ll be a president for the whole country. For those who vote for me and those who who vote against me. We need to rise to this moment, for the sake of our country we love.”
Fourth, Biden gave the best explanation for why presidents should not resort to lists of judges, pointing out that this Trump gimmick is also an assault on our democratic norms. “First, putting a judge’s name on a list like that could influence that person’s decision-making as a judge — and that would be wrong.” In addition to setting the nominee up for “unrelenting political attacks” without the ability to respond, putting together a list unilaterally violates the fundamental process of advice and consent. “Only after consulting Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate — and seeking their advice and asking for the consent,” Biden said. “I will consult with senators in both parties about that pick, as well as the legal and civic leaders. In the end, the choice will be mine and mine alone, but I will consult. But it will be the product of a process that restores our finest traditions — not the extension of one that has torn this country apart.”
Finally, he signaled quietly to the left that Republicans’ chicanery will not stand. Liberals over the weekend poured out their grief, anger and defiance as they honored their icon, donating millions, gathering at memorials and vowing to fight for RBG as she fought for them. “That moment is now for the voters to get a chance to be heard — and their voice should be heard. And I believe voters are going to make it clear — they will not stand for this abuse of power,” he said. “There’s no discussion about what happens if the Senate confirms — on eve of election — or in a lame duck after Donald Trump loses — a successor to Justice Ginsburg.” He need not make the argument that the consequences will be far worse for Republicans than failure to steal another seat; activists, pundits and Democratic candidates can do that. With an open seat, however, Biden can seal the deal with ex-supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who now understand the stakes and Biden’s ability to prevent their worst nightmares from coming to fruition. When he says that “this nation will continue to be inspired by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but we should not only be inspired by her, we should be guided by her,” the left hears that they must fight like RBG, with tenacity and purpose.
In short, Biden managed to appeal both to the left and the exhausted middle of the electorate. He framed the issue as one of fairness and of the ACA’s survival. And he made clear that responsibility for further destruction of our system rests with Republicans, who can choose to pull back. In many ways, it was the most intricate and multilayered speech of his career. It certainly was the most presidential.
UPDATE: 12:50 PM
Romney confirming he is, after all is said and done, a republican incapable of always doing the right thing. Whenever conservative power is to be gained, whether or not its what the people want, then to hell with integrity and hail hypocrisy. Romney has simply confirmed that republicans at their core are not to be trusted. PERIOD.
NATIONAL REVIEW - Senator Mitt Romney (R., Utah) said Tuesday he would support holding a vote to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ahead of the November election, saying he intends to “follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee.”
“My decision regarding a Supreme Court nomination is not the result of a subjective test of ‘fairness’ which, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. It is based on the immutable fairness of following the law, which in this case is the Constitution and precedent,” Romney said in a statement. “The historical precedent of election year nominations is that the Senate generally does not confirm an opposing party’s nominee but does confirm a nominee of its own.”
More BELOW the FOLD
RIP Ruth Bader Ginsberg
May your legacy inspire a new generation of fair minded and just legal minds
And May Biden Pack The Court By Expanding It To 13 Justices And Then Seating The Brightest Liberal Legal Minds On The SCOTUS When He Defeats Trump
Friday, September 18, 2020
Be A Good Person First...
We've seen up close and personal what the polar opposite of a good person in the presidency results in. And as most know it ain't pretty.
VOTE BIDEN/HARRIS NOVEMBER 2020!
A Beautiful Work Of Art...
What follows is real. As it is what should be. People protecting each other from real danger. A virus that kills. Indiscriminately.
Can't help but chuckle thinking on the evangelical response to this!
Article can be found by clicking the highlighted link.
Nudes wear masks in Spencer Tunick installation
Thursday, September 17, 2020
The Non President President...
The president directly contradicts a top federal health expert’s timeline for a vaccine, and secretaries of state demand answers from Louis DeJoy. It’s Thursday, and this is your politics tip sheet. |
Where things stand |
It continues to deteriorate with this imbecile in office. #STOP trump 2020!! |
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