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Donald Trump

The Wicked Witch of the White House: Is Nancy Pelosi Dorothy?

October 17, 2019
by Peter Feinman
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/david-nathan-bible.html?blackwhite=1&sortBy=relevant

The Wicked Witch of the White House is a formidable foe. He has been a sleezeball virtually his entire chronological adult life. Year after year he won the coveted “Slimeball of the Year” trophy awarded by the New York City Real Estate and Construction community to the single most disreputable builder in the city.

His winning was no fluke. He is blessed with having no morals, no ethics, and no values save narcissism. He brings to the fight an inexhaustible energy. He throws an unlimited number of punches all below the belt.  Now our immature child president has brought his lack of integrity, competence, and intelligence to the national and international arenas. He is a full-time resident of an alternate reality functioning at a child level with supreme confidence that he can get enough people to believe he really is THE DONALD, the chosen one, and that only he can solve the problems (he has caused).

The Wicked Witch of the White House is not alone. Standing with him are the Flying Monkeys. These are the people who have sold their souls to their Lord and Savior assuming they had souls to sell. They have sworn an oath to take a bullet for him. They will obstruct any effort to obtain the truth. They willingly will be thrown under the bus once their usefulness ends. As always, loyalty is a one-way street.

The Flying Monkeys are well-known to the American public. They frequently appear on Fox if they do not already work there. They include:

Vice President Brown Nose
Bill Barred for Life
Jay Sunk-so-low
Duped-by-Russia Hannity
Nunes the Clown
Clueless Jim Jordan
Marked-down Meadows
Meeting-crasher Maculate Gaetz
All Angles Ingrham
The Grahm Cracker
Kelly Alternate-Reality Conway
The Huckabee Huckster
Ridiculous Rudy, Hero Attack mutt

and the list goes on and on.

The Wicked Witch of the White House and his Flying Monkeys are further aided by Trumpicans – the American people who attend his realities, ignore or disbelieve all charges against him, and cheer him on. His skill as a con artist is his ability to connect with them through his gut-instinct. He uses their pain to service his gain. The results have been spectacular.

Now the real world is closing in. Playtime is over. The Wicked Witch of the White House in the domestic and foreign arenas has to face adults. This is not scripted political professional wrestling where he can mock and insult people all he wants as the seventh-grade smart-aleck dumb-aleck he actually is. The doctored videos of him wreaking havoc against his foes will not help him in the real world of adults. North Korea, Iran, Turkey, and Russia all know he is a weeny limited to simpleminded tweets and sanctions.  The only ones who fear him now are our allies as they know they can no longer rely on the United States as long as Bonespur Boy is President. It’s not Turkey who is concerned, it is the Baltics who destroyed Yugoslavia, it is Israel who knows it faces Iran alone, and it is the Kurds who know even a private message to the President of the United States will be delivered to their enemy.

This is Nancy Pelosi’s moment. This is the moment that history will look to try to understand what the American people finally did when their immature child President attempted to function in the adult world and did not have the mental necessities to do so.

At this point for all practical purposes impeachment is a done deal.  As far as the Ukraine is concerned the public record itself is sufficient grounds to impeach. The hearings serve only to disclose how extensive the conspiracy and coverup were in the effort to use the American government to pursue personal political needs to get dirt on an opponent and then to hide the effort. The testimony of the people outside the power of the Wicked Witch of the White House or who defy it will simply provide the details for the articles of impeachment…not whether or not there will be any.

For those still under the sway of the Wicked Witch of the White House, their obstruction will only serve to add obstruction articles to the impeachment. Their actions will not prevent it. These people have been advised on several talking shows of their need to get lawyers for their own defense.

The number of people involved in the conspiracy raises the question of how Pelosi should proceed. The impeachment of the President is the end game but should it be the only game? As We the People were reminded again and again during the Mueller investigation, Department of Justice guidelines prohibit the indictment of a sitting president. Putting aside the issue of whether that is a Constitutional restriction or simply a matter of policy, that leaves exposed people who are not President.

My advice, for whatever it is worth, is to start with the unprotected non-Presidential people prior to the impeachment of President himself.  In particular, start with the Attorney General. At minimum that should force him to recuse himself. His removal from power will make it easier to pursue the other unprotected people through the federal attorneys. Bill Barred for Life would no longer be able to curtail the work of the Department of Justice the way he declined to pursue the whistleblower’s report in the first place. In fact, that decision could easily be the first article of indictment against him.

Following the indictment of Attorney General, Pelosi could proceed week by week to recommend indictments of the remaining members of the conspiracy and cover:

Vice President
Acting Chief of Staff
Secretary of State

and whoever else deserves it. Then would come the big one.

By that time, would even Republicans in the House of Representatives support impeachment? It’s possible. The 354-60 vote to rebuke the President on his Syria pullout including 129 Republicans shows that it is possible for even the majority of Republicans in the House to defy the Wicked Witch of the White House. It also identifies the 60 Flying Monkeys in the House. In other words, the brilliant strategy in Syria may create the context which the perfect Ukrainian phone call did not. Now Republicans in the House and Senate can free themselves from the power of the Wicked Witch of the White House and vote to impeach and remove him from office…maybe even in time to select another candidate for 2020. But that’s the subject of another blog or two.

“You’ll Be Back”: Hamilton’s King George III Got It Right

October 13, 2019
by Peter Feinman
Jomathan Groff as King George III (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com)

I attended the opening night of Hamilton on Broadway. It was easy. The tickets went for sale at 9:00. At one second after 9:00, I was on the website. The theater was empty. I had my choice of seats as none were taken. I could have bought as many as I wanted…and for as many performances as I wanted. If I had known better, I would have cashed in my IRA!

At the opening performance everyone was excited. The buzz was palpable. Ron Chernow was there looking somewhat shell-shocked that his book was a Broadway musical. Then the musical began. Suddenly something strange happened. A white guy appeared on stage. He was singing British pop not hip hop. He was King George III. The song he was singing was “You’ll Be Back.” He brought down the house. Apparently, it was the first song Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote for Hamilton and he did so on his honeymoon. Even though Jonathan Groff’s performance lasted a mere nine minutes per show, he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

The tone and much of the language for this song appears to come from an actual address King George III made to Parliament on October 27, 1775. In the address, as in the song, George uses the words “loyal” and “subject” several times, followed by a proclamation that he will use force to put a speedy end to the revolt in America. From the address:

They have raised troops, and are collecting a naval force; they have seized the public revenue, and assumed to themselves legislative, executive and judicial powers, which they already exercise in the most arbitrary manner, over the persons and property of their fellow-subjects: And altho’ many of these unhappy people may still retain their loyalty, and may be too wise not to see the fatal consequence of this usurpation, and wish to resist it, yet the torrent of violence has been strong enough to compel their acquiescence, till a sufficient force shall appear to support them.

King George III may yet prove right. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence from England, the desire for a monarchy, a life-long position where you are legally untouchable, looms large with the current president.

Let’s look at the record as Shepard Smith would have reported it.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce We the People under absolute Despotism, it is our right, it is our duty, to impeach such Government, and to provide new Constitutional and statutory guards for our future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of We the People; and such is now the necessity which constrains us to impeach the current Government. The history of the present President of the United States of America is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over We the People. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has disparaged the first President of the United States because he did not name anything after himself the way the great kings of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia had.

He has asserted that Article II gives him the authority and power to do whatever he wants.

He has asserted that as President he cannot even be investigated yet alone indicted, tried, or convicted.

He has asserted that as President he and he alone can decide what checks and balances are to be adhered to.

He has asserted that as President he and he alone can decide what subpoenas to obey and what legislative requests to follow.

He has asserted that as President he and he alone can decide if an impeachment inquiry is valid.

He has asserted that as President that he cannot be guilty of obstruction since everybody who works for him or who is directly connected to him or by six degrees of separation is connected to him is covered by executive privilege and not subject to Congressional subpoenas.

He has asserted that whistle-blowers are traitors and should be treated as spies who should be executed.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A President whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of the Country, solemnly publish and declare, That We the People are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent People; that We are Absolved from all Allegiance to this President, and that all political connection between We the People and Donald Trump, is and ought to be totally dissolved. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Not exactly. On a recent Erin Burnett show, Kim Wehle, author of How to Read the Constitution and Why, expressed the view that Americans should be familiar with the Constitution. We are not a monarchy. She was correct to point out that was true in 1776 but that does not mean it is true in 2019. Maybe Hamilton’s King George III was right after all and we do want a king…or at least many Americans do.

A judge found the behavior of the current President to be “repugnant” and at odds with the Constitution – but where were the lawyers to tell their client the President that it was repugnant and in gross violation of the Constitution?

A judge regurgitated the Fox talking points in legalese in a 2-1 defeat of the President – but suppose there were more Trump-appointed judges on the bench were called upon to rule in such cases, who would win then?

Trump-appointed judges still have cases to adjudicate – how will they rule on ‘L’etat c’est moi’ cases?

Suppose ‘L’etat c’est moi’ cases reach the Supreme Court – how will the Court rule?

Already people speculate on how the Supreme Court judges might rule. It is taken for granted that the Trump-appointed judges will rule in favor of their leader. It is taken for granted that the Republican-appointed judges also will rule on behalf of THE DONALD…except maybe for the Chief Justice in an otherwise tie. It may well be that the continued existence of the United States as a Constitutional country depends on the continued existence of RBG.

King George III demanded loyalty. So does THE DONALD. King George III demanded loyalty to him as an individual. So does THE DONALD. As we begin the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we have the opportunity not only to remember what happened but to relive it. We know there are many LOYALISTS. We have just seen them in Minnesota and Louisiana. They are united. They are passionate. They are committed. They are dedicated. And just maybe they will demonstrate that Hamilton’s King George III was right.

What Do Seth Rich and the Ukraine Have in Common? Answer: Sean Hannity

October 6, 2019
by Peter Feinman
A beautiful mind can connect dots that do not even exist (https://i.imgflip.com/2fg4dr.jpg)

Sean Hannity has a beautiful mind. His skill in connecting the dots is unrivaled. If there was a Nobel Prize for connecting the dots, he would be the winner.

Who can forget his performance in the Story of Seth Rich? Night after night, week after week, month after month, duped-by-Russia Hannity would regale his rapt audience with the story of how this murdered individual that no one had ever heard of was the critical lynch-pin to exposing the evil shenanigans of the Democrats and the Deep State to undo the legitimately-elected President.

In his performance, duped-by-Russia Hannity was insistent, consistent, and persistent. In the time Rachel Maddow would have spent on one of her long opening essays before getting to the point, duped-by-Russia Hannity would have delivered his message multiple times. All the pieces fit together. All the dots were connected. Buckle up and hear the truth.

There was only one slight problem with duped-by-Russia Hannity’s performance – there was no truth to it. The unfortunate murder of this individual who happened to have worked for the Democratic Party was one of the chance events that sometimes occur in the big city. It was not part of some Jason-Bourne-007-Jack-Clancy intrigue….unless you wanted it to be.

Russia wanted it to be. Give credit where credit is due. The Russian “KGB” quickly seized on this seeming minor event and made it into a political thriller. According to the “real story,” Seth Rich was on his way to talk to the FBI about corruption by the Clintons when he was gunned down by a squad of assassins working for them. It was right there on the web. You could read it for yourself. The alt-right did. So did Fox. What was the source of the story? The Russian “KGB.”  Fox had been duped.

What are the lessons to be learned from this experience?

1. The Russian “KGB” is very good. It responded very quickly and very decisively to concoct a story and to disseminate it on the web. It “proved” that the alleged Russian collusion was really Democratic Party dirty tricks led by Crooked Hillary. These actions demonstrated a familiarity with the American political arena, the willingness to act in it surreptitiously, and the skill to do so successfully.

2. It also demonstrated a technique that the Russians would use again and again to meddle in American politics. It succeeded in duping Hannity because it gave him exactly what he wanted. The Russians knew their audience. They crafted a story that appealed to the conspiracy people eager for a story that confirmed all there predispositions. The Seth Rich story did exactly that.

So why not use that approach again?

The Russians did with the Steele Dossier. That really had originated as a Democratic-funded initiative to get dirt on the Republican opponent. In effect, the Democratic Party had broadcast exactly what it wanted. The effort made clear it was looking for precisely the kind of information that would undermine the political prospects of the Republican candidate.

Guess what the Democrats got in the Steele Dossier?

The Steele Dossier provided the Democrats with exactly the information they wanted. The Steele Dossier was nothing if not dirt on THE DONALD. If the allegations made in the Steele Dossier were true, they would be more than embarrassing, they might even prove fatal. Now the Democrats had been duped.  How much time was spent on the elusive and illusory meeting in Prague? And what about Carter Page?

The Democrats had been played by the Russian “KGB” just as the alt-right, Fox, and duped-by-Russia Hannity had been. Remember how Democrats were practically foaming at the mouth in anticipation of a great victory by destroying THE DONALD thanks to the Steele Dossier. How did that work out? Not so well for the Democrats. As it turns out, they were just as eager to believe what they wanted to believe as duped-by-Russia Hannity was.

The Russians were not done. Why not try offering dirt to THE DONALD on Crooked Hillary? We do not know what “dirt” the Russian “KGB” had manufactured in this effort. It does not seem to have amounted to much. But the words of the son who is not the sharpest knife in the drawer says it all: “I love it!” Although this particular gambit failed, it highlighted the validity of the Russian effort to manipulate the American election: give the people what they want and they will run with it even when there is no truth to it whatsoever.

The Ukraine is the final example of this approach…at least so far. The Ukraine maneuver suits Putin’s needs. It assigns the blame for the intervention into the American Presidential election to his enemy the Ukrainians. Therefore the sanctions levied against Russia should be removed and Russia should be restored to its rightful place in the world just as his American asset has been trying to do. The Ukrainian ploy solves the problems of both leaders. It legitimizes the election of the current present and gets the Russian leader off the hook. All the problems are due to the Ukrainians. Seth Rich lives. The Steele Dossier is accurate. The Americans have been played.

Putin was a former KGB agent. How long do you think it took him size up THE DONALD? How long did it take the alpha male to recognize that the immature-child American President was a submissive, simpleminded, ignoramus? If your answer was more than a nano-nano second, then you are not fit to write about American politics and should never be invited as a talking head on a TV or radio show.  Putin does not watch Fox, he dupes Fox. He quickly realized that the weak, superficial, narcissist was a person he could manipulate. Russia did not intervene in the American election, it was the Ukraine.

There are consequences to being the victim of the Putin’s ploys. For Fox, it is being sued by the Rich family. For the Democrats, it was following a bogus trail and undermining the Mueller report. For THE DONALD it was being impeached and watching his whole stack of lies being undone. The drones used to bomb the Saudi oilfields did not cost much. Neither did Russia have to spend much to totally disrupt the American political process. Who knew it would be that easy?

Will Mike Pence Become a Profile in Courage?

October 3, 2019
by Peter Feinman
Mike Pence has been no Captain Merik from Star Trek “Bread and Circuses." Will he be a hero now? (William Smithers)

To become a profile in courage is not easy. First there needs to be a situation where there is a need for someone to be a profile in courage. Second, one of the people in that situation then needs to rise to the occasion. One cannot always know when such a situation will arise. Typically we think of military figures and athletes in all-or-nothing or do-or-die moment, but sometimes such opportunities sneak up on when you least expect it. Sometimes it is the result of your own action which got you into the mess in the first place.

Since everything you need to know about life you can learn from Star Trek, let us examine what another Mike Pence experienced. The show is “Bread and Circuses” which aired on March 15, 1968. In that show, Captain Merik and his crew from another spaceship are missing. The Starship Enterprise crew locates the crew on a planet governed by a 1960s version of the Roman Empire. It is a world where the Empire did not fall but continued to exist for another two millennia.

On the planet, Captain Merik sells his soul to the Roman Emperor, to Caesar and not to Christ. It is not an exact match to V.P. Mike selling his soul to his Lord and Savior, the chosen one, blessed be his name, but it is close enough.  Pence’s performance in the Cabinet meeting where he thanked God for enabling him to share the same space-time continuum as The Donald will forever define him. In its own way, it is even more pathetic than Captain Merik’s abject submission in the TV show.

 Be that as it may, both Mike and Merik have violated their oath. Merik has violated the Prime Directive by interfering in the planet and sharing knowledge of the existence of the Federation of Planets along with the awareness of a superior technology to that a 1960s country possessed. Vice President Brown Nose has been submissive in his behavior but whether he has crossed the line or not is another issue…until the current scandal

Now he faces a moment of truth. He was present during the violation of the Constitution and the cover-up. What will he do? He was part of it. Will he tell the truth? He has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution. He knows that people around him like the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General have no intention of keeping that oath. When Pompeo decided to tell the truth about his presence during the Ukrainian telephone call, it was not because of his pangs of conscience for not telling truth before. It was because he realized that multiple people in the State Department were going to tell the truth. They were going to expose that he had not. So Pompeo does not qualify as a profile in country.

The less said about Bill Barred-for-Life the better.

What about Pence? What will he do? In the Star Trek episode, Merik redeems himself. In the moment of truth, Merik rescues Kirk and Co. enabling them to beam back to the Starship Enterprise and escape the clutches of the imperial order. He pays for that decision with his life. Sometimes being a profile in courage can be fatal. Just because you demonstrate the right stuff to go into the arena does not mean you will survive the ordeal and emerge a victor. In the TV show, Merik did not.

What about Pence? In the early months of this administration there was a lot of silly talk about the 25h Amendment. Somehow V.P Brown Nose was going to lead a cabinet coup against the mentally impaired immature child President and restore decency to the Oval Office. The idea that Pence would rise to the occasion was so absurd as to be completely laughable. None-the-less, adult human beings even with college educations, would discuss this option as if it were a real possibility.

This time the stakes are different. This time the impeachment drive is moving full speed ahead. This time people with integrity are eager to testify and tell the truth. This time each passing day reveals another facet of the violation and cover-up. Should he just stand on the sidelines, watch it happen, and be indicted? The DOJ rules do not apply to the positions of the other co-conspirators. Pompeo and Barr are not immune, they are not exempt, they are not above the law. Neither is the Vice President. He may even catch on to the fact that loyalty is a one-way street with this narcissistic President. You owe him loyalty, he owes you nothing.

What will Mike Pence do? He prides himself on his Christian values. Will he tell the truth? He prides himself on never dining alone with a woman who is not his wife. Will he tell the truth? He prides himself on his integrity. Will he tell the truth? He thinks he is part of God’s plan. Will he tell the truth?

No. Even his staff knows the truth does not register with him.

He will not rise to the occasion.

He will not be a profile in courage.

He never would have been picked for the position of Vice President if he was.

Playtime for The Donald Is Over: The Reality Star Meets the Real World

September 30, 2019
by Peter Feinman
The Wicked Witch of the White House Threatens Whistleblower Toto (https://parade.com)

Playtime for The Donald is over. For much of his presidency up until now it has been fun. He got to be the center of attention. He got to demean and mock people. He got to be the center of attention. He got to help rich people get richer. He got to be the center of attention. He got to reverse almost everything Obama had championed. He got to be the center of attention. He got to promote his resorts, hotels, and businesses to people who wanted to buy his favor. He got to be the center of attention. He got to perform in professional political wrestling arenas before adoring crowds of worshipers. He got to the center of attention. He got to play golf and watch TV to his ego’s content. He got to be the center of attention. And he got to throw rolls of paper towels at people clamoring for his attention. He really did get to be the center of attention.

The real world moments were few and far between. Yes, he thought the Mueller report would expose his entire sleazy tawdry life from being a corrupt slime ball real-estate developer to being a corrupt slime ball president. But that turned out to be a nothingburger. Yes, he has not built the wall but he keeps trying and may be making progress even if it is at the expense of national security and in violation of the Constitution. Yes, he has not denuclearized North Korea and won the Noble Prize. Yes, he has not eliminated healthcare. Still over all, he has taken pride in having the greatest first two years of any American President and undoubtedly deserving of having his face alone carved on the biggest mountain he can find. After all, how can he be impeached with the economy being so great? The sad part is that is actually how his brain operates.

The real world functions differently. There are limits as to how long you can deceive it. Eventually even the Soviet Union was exposed as not being the wave of the future. The same applies to our immature child president attempting to pass for an adult and struggling to maintain the con as the real world presses in. Two recent events have exposed the immature child behind the curtain as not being The Donald. The first was with Iran and the second was with the Ukraine.

IRAN

Iran provided The Donald with a major opportunity to reverse Obama. He kept his campaign pledge to withdraw America from the nuclear treaty that prevented Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Now Iran was free to develop them since there was no treaty prohibiting them from doing so. Take that Obama!

While withdrawing from the nuclear arms treaty, he ramped up the sanctions. His goal was regime change without military intervention. The sanctions would make life so horrid and stressful that eventually the people would rise up and remove the government for us. After all sanctions had a proven record of regime change and behavior modification in Cuba, Russia, and North Korea, so why wouldn’t they work in Iran as well?

Naturally, as an immature child he lacked the mental necessities to think things throw. He was unable to recognize the possibility of consequences other than the collapse of the country. Another possibility was that Iran would lose patience with the efforts of European nations to circumvent the American sanctions and instead would take matters into their own hands. To no surprise to anyone who stopped to think about it, that is exactly what Iran did. It initiated a series of escalating attacks that culminated so far in the bombing of Saudi Arabian oil facilities. Each action provided the Iranians with the opportunity to gauge the mettle of The Donald. What would Bonespur Boy do in the real world when confronted with a direct assault on his manhood?

The Iranians were quick to expose the truth of The Donald. What did they learn from seizing ships, shooting down drones, and bombing oil fields? They learned that he is a warrior on Twitter and in professional political wrestling arenas but not on he field of battle. As Ali Bigdeli political analyst in Tehran put it: “He is not a lion, he is a rabbit.”

It may even be said that the Iranian officials boasted after the attacks about the leverage they had gained. Iran could give Little Donnee-Wanee the finger and pay no price in the global arena.

The world was watching. “If we were to believe everything Trump has said for the past three years, there would have been war with China, North Korea and Mexico,” said Joseph Fahim, an Egyptian film critic back in June. “The guy’s a joke, he’s not serious. We don’t know if these threats are something to believe in, or just another of his many stunts.”  Abdulkhleq Abdulla, political scientist United Arab Emirates said: “Trump, in his response to Iran, is even worse than Obama.”

The unfavorable comparison of The Donald to Obama for his lack of manhood is low blow indeed. Now everybody can see The Donald as a weeny. No matter how he is provoked he will not respond beyond sanctions and tweets. That is his limit. Iran knows it. North Korea knows it. China knows it. Russia knows it…not that it was ever worried about what its asset would do. Our allies know it too. Of course, thanks to transactional relationships on trade, The Donald has done such a superb job of alienating allies that he has created a world of America Alone. What ally would rely on the United States to come to its aid if under attack as long as Donald Trump is president?

IMPEACHMENT

The new question is how much longer will be President? Here we once again can see how quickly the scandal of the day moves on. Remember Greenland. Remember Alabama. Remember Corey Lewandowski. Remember Kellyanne Conway:

“Blah, blah blah. If you’re trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, it’s not going to work. Let me know when the jail sentence starts.”

Answer: it starts when there is a Democratic president and the rule of law returns to the White House.

The Ukraine is a whole new ball game. Ironically it was the Mueller report and the Mueller testimony in Congress that gave The Donald the green light to go forward in the Ukraine with its new administration. Now he would prove that Seth Rich really was behind the hacking, I mean that the Ukraine was. Now he would prove that the witch hunt really had been a hoax. Now he would prove that the wrong people had been targeted and that the real villains had gotten off scot free. Now he would prove that conspiracy theories exposed by Fox were true. Now he would have his revenge.

“You’re a bad man. You’re a very bad man.” The unleashed child in a Twilight Zone classic (CBS) See MAD DOG BANISHED TO THE CORNFIELDS: TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODE BECOMES REAL blog (12/25/18)

So far … and the story is still unfolding… things have not worked out as he had hoped. There turned out to be a whistleblower who deserves a medal unless Putin, Saudi OJ, or the 2nd Amendment boys get him first. There turned out to be an acting intelligence chief who has integrity. The now-resigned- Ukraine envoy probably has integrity too. There turns out to be more hidden phone call transcripts that will expose The Donald. More and more will be revealed as time goes by. The impeachment might even include obstruction charges!

The real world is not like Hollywood. For a child to pass for an adult is not easy. It is not like 13 year-old Tom Hanks becoming big. It is not like Jennifer Garner going from 13 to 30. It is not like teenage Lindsay Lohan becoming Jamie Lee Curtis. As the pressure mounts, the challenge to cope with the adult world will increase. Instead of being a comedy, we are watching a person go off the rails. As David Axelrod suggests, let Trump be Trump. Who knows what he will tweet next that only amplifies his political and legal jeopardy.

At this point, the issue of impeachment seems more of “when” and not “if.” What remains open is what will happen in the Republican Senate now that The Donald has been exposed as a combined Mafioso little-bunny-wunny Rabbit.

The story continues.

Will Mike Pence Become a Profile in Courage?
Will Sean Hannity Become a Profile in Courage?

 

Constitution Day, Corey Lewandowski, and Whistle Blowers: Do Checks and Balances Still Exist?

September 20, 2019
by Peter Feinman
Not Senator Lewandowski

September 17 is the anniversary of the passage of the document that constitutes the very form of government under which We the People live today. Subsequent to its passage by the Constitutional Convention it was ratified by the states and it has been amended multiple times since. It is easy to overlook the fact that though we are a new political entity we are an ancient nation when it comes to being governed continuously by a constitution. England still does not have one as it is painfully dealing with now and other European countries have had multiple constitutions.

Despite all this, Constitution Day is not a national holiday. There have been some efforts to pay homage to it on this day but such attempts are few and fleeting. Obviously, it is a difficult time during the school year to teach the Constitution. The school year has just begun and it will be months before the class gets up to the 1787. As a result, the day generally passes unnoticed.

By chance, on September 17, I attended a board meeting of the social studies conference covering Westchester County where I live, Putnam County to the north, and Rockland County on the other side of the Hudson River. In the planning for the December conference, there were two civic presentations I want the Board to consider.

1. Mapping Early American Elections, 1788-1825 with the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and a professor I know at a Lehman College in New York. I saw a presentation at the annual conference this summer of the Society for the History of the Early American Republic (SHEAR).

2. Voter Education, a fifth grade program offered by the Rockefeller Archive Center for the Tarrytown school district. I learned about the program at a planning session for the American Revolution 250th.

New York State also is getting into the civics promotion business with legislation passed by the Assembly and the Senate to create a Civic education fund. The fund is be jointly managed by the Commissioner of Education and the State Comptroller. Private contributions to the fund are welcomed. According to the bill not (yet) signed by Governor Cuomo:

Monies from the fund shall be expended only for community-based organizations, non-profits and other non-traditional organizations to implement civics education projects including, but not limited to, universities, museums, libraries, and cultural institutions. Such funds may also be expended for civic education projects including, but not limited to, mock trials, debate forums, voter registration activities, and projects that demonstrate an understanding of the connections between federal, state and local politics including issues that may impact the students’ community.

At this point, it is too early to tell how much funding there will be, how one obtains such funding, and whether it will really work or not. In any event, it demonstrates a commitment to civics.

BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE. Then that very same day there was Corey Lewandowski. It was altogether fitting and appropriate that on the anniversary of the passage of the Constitution, that Lewandowski would trash it. All the civic lessons taught in the schools pale in significance to the Constitutional lesson taught by Lewandowski live on national TV. Is there really anything a teacher can do to counter that display of how the Constitution fails to work in the real world?

Think back a few months ago, when checks and balances were all the rage. Remember how the 2018 elections were going to change Washington. Now the Democrats in the majority of the House of Representatives would be able to exercise oversight responsibility. The Democrats would be able to call people to testify. The Democrats would be able to subpoena people to testify when they refused to do. The Democrats would be able to turn to the Courts to enforce the subpoenas.

How has that worked out so far?

After nine months it is safe to say that the Democrats in the House of Representatives have no oversight function. There is no compliance. Even when someone does show up it quickly becomes a joke. For all practical purposes, regardless of the system of checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution, the House of Representatives is a nothingburger. It is easy to see why Nancy Pelosi would be upset with Jerry Nadler. At this rate of investigation hell will freeze over before anything is accomplished. Certainly we will be well into the campaign cycle at which point such inquiries will be rendered moot.

As Corey Lewandowski stated with great enthusiasm and determination, he has no obligation to speak the truth to the American People. He has no obligation to speak the truth to the press. He has no obligation to speak the truth to Congress or under subpoena if the President says not to do so. He considers these affirmations to be a winning ticket for election to the Senate. He recognizes that his word will be worthless in the Senate should he be elected to it. He recognizes that no one n the Senate has to tell him the truth either. This makes life a lot easier for him. Lewandowski will have no campaign promises because who would believe him? Therefore he will break no campaign promises because he has none to keep. And he will never break his word to another Senator because no Senator would be stupid enough to trust him in the first place.

BUT WAIT. THERE IS MORE. Statutory law has no meaning either for the would-be President for Life. Tax returns are to be submitted only if the President wants to comply. Regardless of what the legislation says, the President has the option to determine if the request is for a valid reason and then, and only then, to turn over his taxes. And that applies even if there is a Democratic President.

BUT WAIT. THERE IS MORE. Same with state law. Just as the President is above the federal law, so too he is above the state law. It is right there in Article II. It was hidden so no one noticed for lo these 222 years. In fact, the President cannot even be investigated for a crime while in office yet alone indicted for one. And that applies even if there is a Democratic President.

BUT WAIT. THERE IS MORE. Same for funding. The President is obligated to spend monies in accordance with rules laid down by Congress. If Congress allocates funding for Program X, the President cannot spend them for Program Y…unless he wants to. Forget about Article I and the power of the purse being relegated to Congress. It’s up to the President to decide how money should be spent. And that applies even if there is a Democratic President.

BUT WAIT. NOW THERE IS REALLY MORE!!!!! Same with whistleblowing. It does not matter what the procedures are. It does not matter how clear cut they may be. Just as with the legislation involving tax returns or the subpoenas issued by the House, there is an unwritten rule that trumps everything. No law, no rule, no statue has to be obeyed unless the President chooses to follow it. And that applies even if there is a Democratic President.

I had always intended to write a blog on September 17 about the Constitution…but not this blog. As previously written, one of the reasons nothing sticks is because before you can digest the current scandal it is on to the next one. Remember Greenland? That was years ago. How about Alabama? Wasn’t that months ago? Remember Corey! It is easy to understand why Republicans forced to pose as Trumpicans are throwing in the towel and abandoning ship. Do they really want to defend a President using the power of the Presidency to seek dirt from a foreign country to create his own Steele Dossier? Do they really want to see a President pull the plug on defending Eastern Europe from Russia in the hopes of one day being able to build the Moscow Trump Tower…or is there some other reason he is doing what is doing?

Right now as I am writing this post there still is much that is unknown. In any event, if you are interested in teaching the Constitution, then current events provides all the necessary ingredients. What is the meaning of Article I? What is the meaning of Article II? What is impeachment? Is the President above the law? Is the systems of checks and balances still relevant? Is it true that if he murdered someone on Fifth Avenue that not only wouldn’t he not lose support, but that Rudy Giuliani would defend him? FAKE NEWS!!! That should be enough for at least one 45-minute civics class!

Bringing Order to Chaos: Creating a Trump Taxonomy

September 17, 2019
by Peter Feinman
https://www.amazon.com

Historians and journalists are not the same. By the time journalists wakes up in the morning, they already may be behind the curve. The daily maelstrom generated by an immature, impulsive, ignorant, erratic President of the United States incapable of telling the truth or obeying the law may leave one gasping for breath, struggling to keep up with the onslaught of fake news pouring forth out of the White House. Who knows what the Class 5/Richter scale 10/asteroid/comet-hurtling-towards-earth President will do? Sometimes it is only Fox & Friends who know what is coming since they are the ones who set the table daily. For a reporter, it may be especially hard to develop the longer term perspective required of an historian given the challenge to merely stay afloat in a fast-moving current.

For historians the situation is quite different. Time is required to gained perspective. Time also is required simply to know how things worked out. Take for instance the transformation of the Republican Party into the Trumpican Party. To some extent, this could have been predicted. For many years the Republicans have ceased to be the party of Lincoln. However, exactly what it would become instead was less clear. It was only after the 2016 elections did the new party begin to become take shape. Gradually all candidates at all levels are expected to pledge loyalty to their lord and savior, the chosen one, blessed be his name. Closet Trumpicans may cling to their Republican identity for a time being but eventually they will have no choice but to abandon ship just for their own mental health.

What will happen to Republicans who refuse to become Trumpicans?

Will the Democrats remain a single party?

What will are immature child do while he remains in power?

One can speculate all one wants, but no one knows. Witnessing the birth of the Second Party System in the 1820s or the Republican Party in the 1850s is not the same as being able to write about it historically. You do not know what will happen.

There will come a time when people, historians, seek to bring order to chaos. Historians will attempt to make sense of how we got to where we are today and what happened since. In the meantime, it is difficult to keep up. Today (September 16), Stephen Collinson on CNN writes “It’s nearly impossible to track all the scandals swirling around Trump.” Later that very same day Rachel Maddow on MSNBC laments the difficulty of trying to keep up with the ever increasing scandals. No rest for the weary.

To make life easier for current newscaster and future historians, I propose a Trump taxonomy be created to catalog the events in an organized manner. If this is not done now, it will become the task of doctoral students and historians in the future to sift through the debris to make sense of our world. The more the data can be organized now, the more people will be able to focus on interpreting it and les on having to accumulate it.

What follows then is a proposed taxonomy for categorizing the events of the present. Obviously this is subject to change and other people may wish to propose a different system. The key is develop a standard classification system that is readily accessible.

1. Trumps – Sir little donnee waney is incapable of telling the truth except by accident. So far he has trumped over 12,000 times. In this instance, the number of occurrences is being tracked. Unfortunately news organizations do not display a bar chart with the ever increasing numbers or announce each day how many additional trumps were told the previous day.

2. Hissy fits – Here is where the seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck is in his natural habitat. It is easy to see how much he enjoys demeaning people. He demeans people as individuals, by ethnicity, by race, by religion, by appearance and he has great fun doing so. He especially enjoys responding to criticisms about him by others by insulting them personally. He would not rape someone because she is not his type but did not volunteer who his type was.

3. Bozos – This category refers to the statements by the very stupid moron that display his true ignorance. Who knew that Canada burned the White House after the patriots captured the airports? Who knew that 306 Electoral College votes was a landslide? It is important to distinguish between bozos and trumps. If he says that two plus two equals five, then you need to make a determination. Does he know that the correct answer is four and deliberately misstates the answer? That is a trump. Or is he genuinely ignorant of the correct answer? In that case, it’s a bozo. For example Paul Krugman writes tirelessly and frequently about the economic ignorance of the Wharton graduate. When did he display his ignorance? How many times did he do so? Have those times been catalogued? The historians writing about this administration are going to need that information. Who is maintaining the list?

4. Alabamas – This is a new term for a long-time action of his. When the immature child is caught in a mistake, whether an honest one or a bozo or a trump, what is his reaction? He always doubles down. He never admits he made a mistake. He will demand other people who work for him to trump at the cost of their integrity and possibly their job if that what it takes to cover up his mistake. He will never man up, he will always carry on like the immature child he is. In the classifying of actions as Alabamas, one always needs to link them to the underlying bozo or trump that made the Alabama necessary. The database needs to have cross-referencing capabilities.

5. Ka-chings – Part of the reason for his running for President was to make money. As President, he has worked ceaselessly to bring home the bacon.If China offered to build Trump Resorts in the South China Sea, he would cave in a moment. It’s all about the Benjamins. We need a running tally of the ka-chings both as to the number and the dollar value.

6. Swamp Builder – There once was a time when some news outlets tracked the number of resigned appointees in this administration. Clearly far from hiring the best people available, he aims for people like himself – people who know how to game the system, people who sexually assault or harass women, people who are ignorant. As long as they are loyal to him what does he care? And if he does hire a competent and honest person, how long do such adults last in the White House anyway? How many appointees have there been and how many turned out be ignorant criminal scam artists…including those who still are in power?

7. Flip Flops – If you do not like what he says, wait a while and he may say the opposite; if you do like what he says, do not count your chickens before they are hatched. He will release his tax returns. He will release his tax returns after the IRS completes its audit. He will release his tax returns after hell freezes over. He will meet with Iran without pre-conditions. He never said he would. He will support gun control. No, he will not. You will have to pry his assault weapons from his small cold dead hands. Again there is a need for cross-referencing. The original pronouncement before he flips probably was a trump.

8. Hide and Seek – The most transparent government in the history of the United States (classified as a trump) will reveal nothing. No law, no regulation, no subpoena, no court ruling will ever cause him to reveal anything. Based on the concept of six-degrees-of-separation, this means that everyone in the United States is prohibited from testifying against him because they have some connection to him. How many outstanding unanswered requests for information are there? Historians will want to know.

9. Unfilled Promises – After the election he will sue each and every woman who accused him of sexual harassment. He will balance the budget. He will pay off the debt. He will bring back coal. He will present a beautiful beautiful health care plan. AND MEXICO WILL PAY FOR THE WALL!

The application of this classification system will change the way news is reported. Now each broadcast will begin something like:

On day 969 of this presidency, there were 7 trumps, 3 hissy fits, 2 bozos, 1 Alabama, a ka-ching with the value of $x, 2 swamp builder indictments/investigations, 4 flip flops, 8 hide and seeks, and 9 unfilled promises. If you played the lottery number 732112489 then you are a winner. Tune in tomorrow for another exciting day of As the Trump Turns. It may be your lucky day.

P.S. The unpresidential library will be organized with separate rooms for each category.

Does the Broken Window Theory Apply to the President of the United States?

September 8, 2019
by Peter Feinman
Presidential Broken Window Theory (White House Down)

The Broken Window Theory has acquired a certain cachet in American society. It began as an article in 1982 by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling. It gained national prominence in the 1990s through its application by the New York City Police Department. With the substantial drop in crime, a phenomenon that continues to this very day, the phrase “broken window” moved beyond the realm of criminologists and into the public arena.

The theory posits “sweat the small stuff.” This mantra contrasts with the better known phrase “don’t sweat the small stuff” or “chill.” It proposes that breakdowns in the social order should be nipped in the bud before they escalate out of control. Better to fix a small manageable problem like a broken window before it becomes “there goes the neighborhood.” Better to teach a young child to read than to try to teach a high school teenager who long ago abandoned any desire to learn.

What does the Broken Window Theory mean for the President and the White House? During the last few years we have witnessed the results of the failure to curtail aberrant behavior when it starts and instead to let it fester until it is out of control. At this point no one knows where the spiral will end. Election Day 2020 will mark one critical date in the effort to provide or restore adult control and perhaps the House of Representatives will eventually do something with the assistance of the courts but that is questionable.

The first incident of a broken window occurred during the Republican Presidential debates in 2016. During that campaign, one candidate declined to release his taxes. The Republican Party had the option of stating that if a candidate declines to follow the rules, he cannot participate in the debate. Such a laying down of the law would not have caused the candidate to release his taxes. As everyone knows he is even more afraid of his taxes being publicized than China is of freedom and for the same reason: it would be the end of everything.

In 2016, the Republican Party did not even attempt to apply the rules. The lesson to the candidate was obvious. If you take an eight year-old out to dinner and he carries on like an immature child throughout the meal disrupting everyone, guess what? He will keep acting that way. If the seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb aleck is not disciplined in the classroom, guess what? The teacher loses control of the class. If the Republican Party stands by when a candidate flouts the rules, guess what? He is in control of you, not you of him.

Remember when serious educated people appearing on talk shows said once he became the nominee, he would behave like a grown up?

Remember when serious educated people appearing on talk shows said once he became president he would behave like a grown up?

Remember when serious educated people appearing on talk shows said once he had to deal with a crisis in the real world he would behave like a grown up?

Is there anyone who seriously believes he will ever grow up, behave responsibly, take his oath to the Constitution seriously, and put the needs of others before his own?

The second incident of a broken window occurred immediately after the inauguration. The newly inaugurated President claimed that his inaugural crowd was bigger than his predecessor’s. The crowd was so huge it even stretched all the way to Alabama! His spokesbeing repeated this gross distortion of the truth to the press and the country. A colleague introduced the world to the concept of “alternate facts.” Almost right from the start of the presidency we were put on notice that the new president operated in an alternate reality and that there would be flunkies who help him to sustain that distortion.

Perhaps at first, it seemed funny. After all, it was only a parade, not the Cuban Missile Crisis, Charlottesville, or a Class 5 hurricane. At that point, one could even sympathize with Sean Spicer. Once upon a time he had been a Republican, now he was becoming a Trumpican. Historians one day will trace the transformations of Spicer and Mike Pence to determine exactly when they sold their soul to the Chosen One. No such analysis will be necessary with the Huckabee Huckster.

Now, in retrospect, we can see that the crowd size was a harbinger of things to come. Like the broken window, it heralded the dawn of a new day. Instead of being a laughing matter, it was an example of how the game was going to be played in the new administration. Just as tax regulations are something to be worked around or ignored, so too, all rules of conduct went out the broken window. Who was going to stop him?

Here we are over two and half years later and we can see WHITE HOUSE DOWN. It was the work of no foreign terrorists, no disgruntled insider, no coup d’état. Sometimes people complain that nothing sticks to him, that no matter what egregious action he takes, it has no impact, no effect on his worshipers. One factor overlooked is the pace of the breaking of windows. Think of the beleaguered parent(s) attempting to control the uncontrollable child at that dinner table in the restaurant. The child is inexhaustible, you are not. Remember Greenland? It is already ancient history. How many tantrums have there been since then? Would it ever have occurred to anybody that when a hurricane barreled towards the mainland and devastated the Bahamas, that the President of the United States using a sharpie on a weather map to include an unaffected state would become a leading political issue …and for days upon days?

Amazingly, it once occurred to people that someone would alter an official weather document. So doing was made illegal in 1948. That action drew on decades old efforts to protect the name of the government weather department as the reliable source of weather data.

Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, United States Signal Service, or other branch of the Government service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both.

Since it is up to the Department of Justice to prosecute the violation, the odds are this broken window will remain broken. It will become another example of how the rules do not apply.

Future President in Training (http://savedfromthepaperdrive.blogspot.com)

Perhaps our immature child president was drawing on his childhood experiences with “Winky Dink.” This television shown from 1953 to 1957 was called by Bill Gates “the first interactive TV show.” What made it interactive was that a viewer using Winky Dink crayons could draw on the TV screen whatever Winky Dink needed to complete his mission. Was he stuck in a hole? Then draw a ladder. Did he need to cross a river? Then draw a bridge. The key was application to the TV screen of a piece of vinyl plastic called a “magic drawing screen.” The vinyl could be removed when watching other shows.  For all we know the president who functions as an eight year old simply was doing what was normal for him only using a Sharpie instead of a Winky Dink crayon.

Unfortunately, one small step for an immature child becomes one giant leap for the President of the United States. The latest in the never-ending saga of broken windows is the violation of Article I of the Constitution. Why should the President of the United States be bound by such restrictions regarding spending? He is the smartest person in the room, he knows best, and only he can solve the problems facing the country. If he tried he could probably find all the funding he needs to build the wall from Kentucky alone. Why stop at taking money set aside for military schools? Why not take the funds set aside for public schools as well? How about social security and Medicare payments to Kentucky residents? What about agricultural subsidies? Just because he choose not to today does not mean he would not choose to do so tomorrow. That is the way the broken window theory works. There is no limit as to where it might lead save in the mind of the individual who mocks the concepts of checks and balances and oaths to the Constitution. At that point, “there goes the neighborhood” becomes “there goes the country.

The press needs a better system to categorize and organize the presidential actions in a broken window society. A proposed system will be the subject of an upcoming post.

Are You Suffering from TFS (Trump Fatigue Syndrome)? It’s a Global Epidemic

August 28, 2019
by Peter Feinman
America Alone: No One Wants to Play with THE DONALD

Picture this. You are at a restaurant. You intend to have a nice meal with good company in good surroundings. Then a family sits down at the table near you. There is an 8 year old. He constantly yells and screams and carries on. He makes fun of all the waiters as they walk by – the hair, the weight, the face, the look, everything. Nonstop. The food is no good. He throws it on the floor. Then he starts running around like a bull in a china shop upsetting everything and everyone. Why oh why did you pick this night to come to this restaurant at the time this big baby was there? (See Tom Hanks versus Our Immature Child-President, August 8, 2017.)

There is nothing the parents can do. They send him to military school at age 13 in the vain hope he would grow up. That fails. They buy a place for him at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in the vain hope he would learn business and economics. That fails. They give him $413,000,000 in the vain hope that he will not become the biggest financial loser in American history. That fails. Nothing works.

In the eighth decade of life he still acts like an immature child because he still is one. Portions of his brain never developed. He genuinely cannot understand adult topics. He genuinely cannot function beyond the transactional us versus them level. He genuinely cannot understand multiple or global. (For the impact of twitter on his mental development see Omarosa and the President: A Case of Arrested Development – Suppose Life Is Not a Journey?, August 17, 2018.)

I have a deficit with my supermarket. Following the lead of the VERY STABLE GENIUS, I applied a 10% tariff to the food prices which, of course, the supermarket will pay. That extra 10% charge will remain until the supermarket increases its food purchases from me and stops victimizing me.

I also have a deficit with my gas station. Following the lead of the VERY STABLE GENUIUS, I applied a 10% tariff to the price of a gallon of gas which, of course, the gas station will pay. That extra 10% charge will remain until the gas station increases its oil purchases from me and stops victimizing me.

Come to think of it, I have deficits with the drug store, the dry cleaner, and the restaurant too. I will follow the example of the transactional confrontation of the VERY STABLE GENIUS because he went to Wharton which is a very fine business school and got great grades there which he cannot display because he does not want to brag.

True, he does has some redeeming features. He is the world’s greatest expert on environmental laws since he has completed so many environmental reports for his golf clubs. He is the world’s greatest expert on taxes because he has completed so many complicated tax reports that are so dazzling to behold that they can never see the light of day. He is the world’s greatest manager. He is the smartest person in the room as long as it is a morgue or a nursery school with no teacher. He has the world’s greatest memory unless he is asked questions by the Special Counsel or has to remember which foot he faked having bone spurs on. Only he had can solve the problems of the country and the world because he is the chosen one.

It is impossible to keep up with this whirling dervish of chaos. Remember the world’s greatest health plan he promised we would have in July? Look at what has happened since then. Buying Greenland. A hissy fit with Denmark. Missing meetings at the G7. Imaginary phone calls from China. Imaginary meetings with India and Germany. Imaginary meetings between immigrant trophy wife and Little Rocketman who is becoming bigger Rocketman. Laughed at by the world. Ignored by world when the adults want to talk. Banished to his room where he can watch Fox & Friends and be happy in his greatness.

AND WHO KNOWS WHAT THE NEXT DAY WILL BRING?     

Once upon a time this immature child playing adult had a reality TV show. It did really well and helped make him a national figure. And then people tired of it and the ratings tanked. End of show.

The G7 leaders have reached the same conclusion. They do not watch Fox. They do not attend his political professional wrestling arena shows. They do not take him seriously. They know he is an erratic, impulsive, very stupid moron incapable of telling the truth because he does not live in the real world. They know that in the international arena he functions as a Russian asset. So they try to humor the big baby as best they can, conduct adult business without him, and hold their breaths hoping that one day the United States once again will have an adult in the White House.

Ditto for the remaining Republicans in the House of Representatives who cannot bear being Trumpicans.  They also know that he is an erratic, impulsive, very stupid moron incapable of telling the truth because he does not live in the real world. They know that he is a problem causer and not a problem solver. They know that on any given day there is no telling what crisis he will cause and they will have to deal with. And they know that they cannot do anything because the deplorable base gets all its news from Fox.

As in 2018, the Republicans are abandoning the Trumpican ship. As human beings, there is a limit as to much they can take. On the Democratic side the count is of how many representatives now support impeachment. On the Republican side the count is of many representatives now say “enough is enough, I’ve had it.”

It is even conceivable that some Republican Senators will risk the wrath of Little Donnee Wanee given the political situation in their own states. If Republican Senators wish to be re-elected, they do not have the option of dismissing bad polls as Fake News.

The big issue is whether the Trumpicans themselves ever say “enough is enough, I’ve had it.” I admit that I have been wrong in the past every time I thought the moment of truth had arrived. Finally the infamous Republican base would see the ugliness of the incompetent immature child who pretended to be THE DONALD. I have been wrong every time so I hesitant to make such a claim again. (I first made this claim on August 6, 2016, with the Star Trek episode The Children Shall Lead in Empire State Presidential Elections (2016): A Day in Infamy. Three years later and it still has not happened.)

Maybe this time will be different. Maybe buying Greenland will do it. Maybe nuking hurricanes will do it. Maybe trade wars are easy so why I am hurting will do it. Maybe there is no straw that will break the camel’s back.

We are headed towards two apocalyptic showdowns. On a daily basis, Duped-by-Russia Hannity eagerly anticipates the pending indictments of the Deep State conspirators and the withdrawal from his plea agreement by Michael Flynn. You can see the anticipation with which he and guests count down the days until the September explosion when the biggest corruption case in American history is exposed.

Meanwhile on MSNBC, we are on the tip of another exposure. The tax returns that document that he is not as wealthy as he claimed he was, that he laundered money for the Russian mob, and that he consistently cheated will become public information. The loan documents may show why he is a Russian asset and lobbied for Russia to return to the G7. When the House begins impeachment hearings in the fall, even Fox will have to cover them. Everything Little Donnee Wanee tried to hide will be revealed and We the People will see why he tried so hard to hide those reports. He will no longer be an undocumented President. Time to start documenting the protocols and procedures what to do when he is no longer immune by DOJ guidelines and is subject to New York State laws.

It is becoming harder and harder to simply play at being an adult, to play at being President. Eight year olds can play games where the dividing line between real and pretend is fluid. Gotta convince people the wall is being built and I have successfully defended America from foreign invasion. Gotta convince people I am not in an abusive relationship with my North Korean lover. Gotta convince people I am not a Russian asset. Gotta convince people I am still THE DONALD.

That is what the news of Tuesday, August 27 brought. Who said August was a slow news month? I wonder what will happen today.

Which Trump Will Run in 2024?

August 26, 2019
by Peter Feinman
Presidents for Life if there are no Russian or Hong Kong springs (CNBC.com)

As the 2020 Presidential race heats up, it may seem strange to raise the question of 2024. However sometimes looking ahead provides a clearer picture of the present. I started writing this blog on July27 but never got around to completing it. Look at what has happened since then! Greenland – who knew? Our Lord and savior is the chosen one – who knew? American companies have to withdraw from China. No, they do not – who knows? In Trump time, a month is a like a year for normal people. Nothing sticks to him because before anything can it is on to the next event that has never happened before.

Still, despite all that has occurred, it is worth taking a little longer look than the 24-hour news cycle and to think about the 2024 presidential elections.

First, there will be no Republican Party in 2024, just the Trumpican Party using the Republican Party name. Weld, Walsh, Kasich, and the Mooch can appear on all the cable talk shows they want. It does not matter. They are irrelevant. The red wave in 2018 cleansed the Trumpican Party of dozens of disloyal Republicans at the federal level and even more at the state level. That process will continue until the Trumpican Party has been purged of any lingering Republicans.

It’s time to put aside the wishful thinking and live in the real world whether you like it or not. In the real world the Republican Party no longer exists at the federal level; there is only the Trumpican Party. That party is based on no values, no principles, and no ideology. It exists as a cult of personality for a narcissist. No matter what happens in 2020, the Republicans will not regain control of the party that bears its name.  Republicans who admire Lincoln need to look elsewhere. If Republicans want to have a voice in 2024 they will need to create a new party (the Constitution Party?). It has been done before. That is how the Republican Party originated in the 1850s. It went on to nominate and elect Abraham Lincoln as President. Not a bad start.

So which Trump will be the nominee in 2024 of the Trumpican Party? Let’s consider two scenarios depending on two different election results in 2020 (and ignore his legal situation).

THE INCUMBENT WINS RE-ELECTION

If the incumbent wins re-election, then one might think that ends the president-for-life option. Based on the 22nd Amendment, an individual is limited to serving two terms. Under normal circumstances that would be true. However what is normal now? The father has expressed his desire to rule for life like his favorite fellow autocrats around the world. He has expressed the desire to at least rule for 16 years as he thinks one president already did. His re-election would  do nothing to diminish his desire to remain in power. The only issue is how.

Could he issue an executive order declaring the 22nd Amendment null and void? Of course, he could issue such an order. Would that order have any legal standing? Probably not. It seems unlikely that even the Trump-Judges on the Supreme Court would declare the 22nd Amendment null and void. However, they might interpret to mean what they want it to mean. Certainly it would be worth a try to find out. Perhaps the birthright citizenship issue or his income taxes will preview this possibility of changing the traditional meaning of the 22nd Amendment no matter how absurd that might seem.

But even under the 22nd Amendment a person could run for president for a third term. The 22nd Amendment says “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” It does not prohibit someone running for a third term. The Trumpican Party could nominate him a third time even if he wins in 2020. Sure there might be a fight about putting his name on the ballot but the Trumpicans easily could win that fight. Since it is the Electoral College that actually elects the President, one could easily make the case that anything prior to that vote is not covered by the amendment. That means a two-term president could run for office and be on the ballot. The line that cannot be crossed is having the electors vote a person into office for a third term. What would happen at that point if the two-term President won the vote? For whom would he instruct the Trumpican Electors to cast their vote? You say that has never happened before. That does not mean it could not. Maybe we will find out in 2024.

Of course all these machinations could be rendered moot despite an incumbent re-election. After all, another possibility is the repeal of the 22nd Amendment. That process undoubtedly would be time consuming event. Furthermore it is unlikely that the required standards could be reached to propose or ratify such a repeal. Having the Trumpican Party nominate him for a third term and just keep moving forward seems like the best way to violate the Constitution and do what you want to do. His standard course of action is to just keep doing what he wants to do until he is stopped. Just because something has never been done and seems absurd does not mean it will not happen.

THE INCUMBENT LOSES RE-ELECTION

At the moment, this scenario seems the more likely. Both Fake and Fox News show him losing decisively in the popular vote to a slew of Democratic candidates. One remarkable consistency from the three national polls I have seen is his percentage of the vote. In each of the three polls, regardless of who the Democratic candidate is, his vote remains the same. It is the individual Democratic vote where the vote varies. His vote went from about 42% against the leading Democratic contenders to 41% to 39% while the opponent figures ranged from 44-50%. It remains to be seen what effect Greenland, the economy, and the easy-to-win trade war will have.

We know what will happen if he loses. He forecast that even before the last election – rigged voting. He will claim the Deep State has rigged the results to favor its candidate and remove him from office. How that claim will work out will depend on a number of factors with too many scenarios to diagram here.

There is something the Democrats can do in preparation for the rigged vote charge. They should sponsor the Rigged Vote Olympics. Contestants will be asked to simulate the illegal voting. The contest will be held in voting districts throughout the country especially in California and battleground states. Participants will vote illegally, leave by the back door of the polling station,  run around to the front where they will be given a different shirt and hat, and then vote illegally again. Each contestant will be given a hour and the number of times they navigate the course will be tallied. Runoffs may be necessary. The winner(s) will be granted legal citizenship.

Defeat in the rigged 2020 election where the Deep State finally prevails only means that he will run again as the Trumpican Party candidate in 2024. After all, who could challenge him? It is his party.

Of course, all this is contingent on his legal situation. If he does leave office after the 2020 election, keep mind that he will be pardoned of all federal crimes. He will resign a day or two before the end of his term and be pardoned by the former Vice President now President. That action will wipe the slate clean except for New York. However, it may be difficult to run in 2024 if you are in jail or prison. Keep in mind that he is more afraid of exposing his real hair than he is of his real income and wealth. Who knows how all this will play out? So as for the future my recommendation is to remember the words of Duped-by-Russia Hannity who constantly advises us: “Buckle up!”