And here’s the deal. Trump hardly even knows him.

The White House insists the charges of lying to congressional investigators and witness tampering ‘don’t have anything to do with the president.’

So this is what Rudy was all blabbering about on teevee the other night. He knew this was coming.

Mueller has shot down a lot of witches in his witch hunt but this one made the loudest splat sound when it hit the pavement.

Update #1

Newspaper story address:  Click here for the Austin American Statesman.

Update #2

Alex Jones steals Roger Stones’ plea for money – you can watch it right here.  It’s

After Stone made his plea, Jones abruptly hijacked his fundraising pitch and said that InfoWars is in dire need of more money given all of the money it has to pay out to cover its legal expenses related to things like the defamation suit filed by parents of children who were killed in the Sandy Hook massacre.

 

I promised a report from yesterday so here goes – Little Bubba and his partner Bill won every motion they submitted yesterday and have been granted an opportunity to take a deposition from Alex Jones sometime in March. No, that won’t be open to the public but transcripts (and maybe even video) will be made public.

Jones’ lawyer is a mess.  All I could think is a that this may be the one guy in America who makes Rudy Giuliani look snappy. He comes into the courtroom dragging giant briefcases on wheels, another briefcase over his shoulder and several zipper cases strapped to the handle of the big wheeled brief case.  All we could figure is that he’s got phone books just in case somebody needs a phone number in the tri-county area. Nobody has attempted to carry the New York Pubic Library into a courtroom in years, especially for a damn hearing.

Lil’ Bubba and Bill each have laptops and a legal pad, and they share an iPad. Most law firms have gone paperless.  They have all the knowledge of the world at their fingertips.

It was a good day in court.  Then we went to celebrate.

Bill and Lil’ Bubba at El Mercado in Austin

Lil Bubba talking to a reporter

Hint:  Electrical wire is not like a garden hose.

Dear John and Ted,

I know you won’t actually read this entire letter (if at all) so I’ll put the demand to each of you up front:

GET OFF YOU ASS AND DO YOUR GODDAM JOB.

Let’s be perfectly clear: Donald Trump promised the American people that he would build a “big beautiful wall” along the entire US/Mexico border and that Mexico would pay for it. First, the notion of a 5th century solution to a 21st century problem is idiotic on the face, and everyone, except for mindless sycophants, knew that.  Second, the promise that Mexico would pay for this farce was bullshit, and everyone, except for the same mindless sycophants, knew that, too.  If each you had just a moment of frank honesty, each of you would concede that even the concept of Trump’s wall is stupid.

Now that we’ve established the idiocy of this notion, let’s talk about the greater idiocy of shutting down the federal government for politics.  ALLOWING the president to do it is worse, and each of you are complicit.  Let’s be more specific – the fact that 800,000 federal employees are not being paid is outrageous.  Requiring almost HALF of those employees to continue working without pay is unimaginable by normal people.  The fact that each of you have defended this negligence and criminality is also unimaginable.

The risk to the US economy is clear to anyone who understands basic arithmetic; every day this catastrophe is allowed to continue, billions of dollars get flushed down the toilet.  Unseen, though, is the risk to millions of Americans caused by this shutdown.  The federal air traffic system is at great threat;  air traffic controllers, who are working unpaid in a high stress job also now have unpaid overtime forced on them due to high absence rate, presumably because many controllers are having to work other jobs to put food on the table. It’s only a matter of time when one of these overworked and overstressed controllers makes a mistake; the results of that mistake can be catastrophic.  Like controllers, TSA agents are working without pay.  The front line of our security system is weakened by overwork and the stress of not getting paid.  The Coast Guard, who has responsibility for protecting our ocean fronts and maritime shipping, is unpaid.  The FBI is now seriously hamstrung in protecting us from terrorists to other criminals because of this shutdown. It goes on and on, and the fact that you are allowing this kind of flagrant risk taking is unconscionable.

Ignoring fact that Trump is singularly unqualified from holding any public office, much less the presidency, YOUR  job is to protect the Constitution, our country, and our state from him.  Let me remind each of you about the oath that you took when you assumed your positions:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

“…I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”  Sorry, guys, you are failing miserably at keeping this part of the oath.  You are both neglecting your jobs for politics.  I can only assume that keeping power for yourselves and your party is more important than protecting Texans, and indeed all Americans.  Ted, Michael Bennet certainly put you in your place after you stood in the Senate yesterday and lied (again) about who’s at fault here.  Just like during your shutdown in 2013, you are again lying to the American people about this shutdown.  John, you regularly peddle absolute bullshit with the weight of a college professor as you neglect your job.  One of your most despicable lies fed the Benghazi “investigation” which ultimately found nothing.  To prostitute yourselves to this president is shameful, and I think, deep down, both of you know that.

The train wreck simply has to stop. NOW.  Trump lost the battle over his wall before he ever started it because it was based on a lie.  Rudy Giuliani has destroyed his reputation because of his lying for the president.  Each of you are destroying what’s left of your integrity by lying for this president, and by neglecting your responsibility to act as a check on the executive branch.  You can fix that, though, and you can do it today.  All you have to do is stand up on your hind feet and do your goddam job.

Open the government.  Period.  A single page resolution would do that.  But that is not enough; it’s time to outlaw the use of debt ceiling brinksmanship and government shutdowns as political bludgeons to extract concessions from the other side.  There’s no reason for it, and it must be stopped. NOW.

Enough of this nonsense is enough.  Stop helping Trump take hostages.  Stop demagoguing immigrants and Democrats.  Stop letting your own cynical politics dominate your presence in Washington.  It’s your job.  Do it.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

,.

.

.

.

.

.

.

In probably one of the most shocking examples of absolute tone deafness (since Donald Trump last opened his yap), billionaire and bottom fisherman Wilbur Ross put on full display the problem within the current infestation of the White House – complete and abject lack of understanding or empathy towards American workers, especially those who happen to be on the federal payroll.

Today, in a jaw dropping moment, Ross, who’s made his money Hoovering up distressed companies and firing people for profit, remarked on CNBC that he didn’t understand why federal employees who’ve been furloughed are going to food banks and homeless shelters.  He said they should just be able to go get a loan since it is “essentially a government guaranteed loan”.  To add insult to injury, Ross dismissed the crisis, saying that “it’s only 800,000 people who only make up .3% of GDP.”  He completely ignores the multiplier effect of those people having no money to spend and the huge risks they’re taking in everything from air transportation to food safety.  What an ass.  Here it is, but you’ll have to hold your nose to listen.