So, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went to Germany this weekend to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall.

He was at the wall “to celebrate its demise.” You can watch the clip on Twitter.  He said “We lifted billions of people out out of horrific conditions.”

Billions?  I looked it up and the world’s population in 1991 was 5.3 billion and this may be a wild guess on my part but I’m betting not all of them lived in Europe.

However, even outside of Trump’s Biggest and Best virus, if walls coming down is a goal, why are we building one you damn fool?

The Biggest and Best Irony ever in the history of mankind.

Thanks to Kary – who is another gay veteran – for the heads up.

This morning the New York Times did us all a great favor.  It gave us the anwer to every defense the Republicans have made of Trump.  One by one.

I agree with them that using the term Quid Pro Quo was a big mistake on our part.  First, nobody knows what that means, but more importantly, it’s not illegal.  Extortion is illegal.  This was extortion.

Trump extorted Ukraine with money that a bi-partisan congress passed giving them the damn money.  Trump had no right to withhold the money or to extort an entire country with it. It’s not his money. It’s our money. He cannot use it for extortion for his own personal gain.

However, my advice for the day is this:  do not get into an argument with a Republican. Anyone who thinks that making fun of handicapped people is okay is not going to listen to reason.

Thanks to Kary for the heads up.

Dems love to carp about Repubs and their purity tests on taxes, social conservatism, articles of faith on everything from religious freedom (so they can be assholes to people not like them), and voter suppression.  Most of that carping is done nose-in-the-air about how ignorant conservatives are, and how purity tests ruined the GOP.  Then, Dems blindly apply their own intolerant purity tests on their side:  Cases in point – Obama should have waited his turn (2008); Sanders wasn’t Democrat enough (2016 and 2020); Biden’s actions over 40 years ago disqualifies him today; Biden’s too old, too frail, sleepy (amplifying the right’s latest personal attack); male Dems who dare to favor a male candidate over all female candidates are “misogynist” (yes, I’ve been accused of that regularly).  Now the purity tests are already being applied to Bloomberg – he’s “a fool”, “a tool”, “not a democrat”, on and on and on.

I get it.  Dems want the perfect candidate with the perfect file cabinet full of perfect plans (that will never see the light of day).  They demand that their chosen candidate pledge to turn the entire system immediately on its head to fix everything the Repubs have done wrong since 1995.  AND, all candidates who don’t promise to do that are denigrated as “fools” and “not true Democrats”.

And that intolerance is a formula for LOSING.  I watched in disbelief in 2016 as the Dems pushed everyone out and followed the most unpopular Democratic candidate in US history over the cliff because it was “her turn”.  I watched as they dismissed all other comers because they weren’t pure enough.  Apparently, they’ve learned nothing because here we go again in 2019. The second most popular candidate in Iowa can’t get out of single digits nationally.  The most popular candidate in Iowa can demonstrate NO scenario where she can win the electoral college.  I know Dems that muse about a Warren/Buttigieg or Buttigieg/Warren ticket, neither of which would get within 50 electoral votes of a tie with Trump.

National elections are certainly about the vision of a future for our country.  They are a time for introspection and big thinking.  But they are also opportunities for gigantic disasters and averting disasters.  We are where we are today because the Dems were stupid in 2016, ignoring all the signs of loss with a weak unpopular candidate.  We have an opportunity to avert another gigantic disaster, but only if the Dems stop being stupid and start applying grade school level arithmetic.

It’s a hard truth.

Michael Bloomberg has dispatched staff to file for the Democratic 2020 primary in Alabama.  The deadline is Friday, and it looks like he’s going to keep his options open.  If he jumps in, he’ll turn the field on its head.  He’s been quoted as saying Trump must be beaten in 2020, and him making this move says that he’s not happy with the present field on the Dem side.

IF he jumps in, he’ll Hoover up the business community and mainstream Dems.  The party faithful will hate it,  but you have to admit that he (along with maybe Bill Gates) is the only American who can go toe toe financially.  He’s also actually experienced in running government, unlike His Orangeness.

This little development could make 2020 interesting again.

The Huffington Post is on the story.  Yesterday the Texas Court of Appeals denied Jones’s request to dismiss the case brought by Sandy Hook parents in the Texas courts.

Jones has lost every single motion in all the Sandy Hook cases filed in Texas. He’s been through 7 lawyers, including the loud and temperamental California lawyer who was apparently paid to scream all the Texas law he didn’t know.

Little Bubba sent me a copy of the three judge panel’s decision. Lawyers hanging around here will want to read it because it’s devastating to Jones and his lawyers so it’s a delicious read. It’s also very smart and well researched.

The Court of Appeals judge who wrote the decision is Judge Gisela D. Triana, an amazing jurist and a credit to Texas.  Texans take note: she running for the Texas Supreme Court next November.

Well, well, well, the walls are moving in.  Trump and his bambinos were just ordered by a New York judge to pay $2 million for “persistent” violations of charities law.  The money will merrily dance its way into a fund for real charities.

Filed in June 2018, the lawsuit alleged that the President and his three eldest children — Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric — violated federal and state campaign finance laws and abused the Donald J. Trump Foundation’s tax-exempt status. According to the lawsuit, the Trumps allowed the foundation to be used “as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests.”

Honey, Honey, Honey, the whole damn government operates as little more than a checkbook for Trump’s business and political interests.

The story is just breaking so there is more to come.  Enjoy! You’ve earned it.

UPDATE:  Here’s some more background.  Alfredo over at the Dairy Queen says that he would have loved to have been in the room when Trump found out he had to give money to the United Negro College Fund!