We STILL haven’t seen the Mueller report, but it appears that it shows all the evidence for and against Trump and his cronies colluding with the Russians, apparently punting an indictment decision to the Justice department.  Barr predictably cleared Trump of collusion with the Russians with NO explanation why; on obstruction, he did what he already said he would do, which was to oppose those charges against Trump.

Obviously, Mueller chose to not throw the country into a Constitutional crisis by giving Trump a pass on the legion of lies and the dozens of contacts with the Russians and with Wiki-Leaks.  His definition of “obstruction” was so narrow that it was impossible to come to criminal charges because there wasn’t a smoking gun (or pee-pee tape). I mean, for God’s sake, Manafort is in prison, Michael Cohen is going to prison, and George Papadopoulos has already served time, all for lying to investigators about their contacts WITH THE RUSSIANS.  Barr’s whitewash doesn’t pass the straight-faced test, and we don’t know yet what we don’t know.

What we do know is that even Barr, who SAID we couldn’t indict a sitting president with obstruction, stated that Trump was not exonerated of this crime.  Since Trump actually confessed to obstruction by firing Comey, it’s pretty clear that he did obstruct justice, but Barr is declining to follow through on the charges because Trump is in office.

We all know what’s going on here, right?  Trump is guilty as hell, that is clear.  To protect the guy who nominated him, Barr is providing legal cover for a period of time so the media can falsely claim that Mueller cleared Trump, which he most certainly did not.  When the truth comes out in a year or so, it will be too late as the lies of his innocence will then be ingrained into popular culture, and we’ll then be in danger of electing this walking violation of the Constitution to another 4 years.

God help us.

As we await the Barr Report on the Mueller Report, Trump’s TeeVee Howlers are proclaiming “nothing to see here”, and “the witch hunt is finally over”.  We all know, though, that it’s not over, not by a long shot.  Mueller sending his report to Justice is just the end of the beginning.  The Dems are already talking about subpoenaing Mueller to testify before the House Intelligence Committee in their own investigation.  The State of New York has multiple criminal investigations against Trump’s “charity”, his real estate company, and against individuals tied to him like Roger Stone and Michael Cohen.  The most ironic investigation is the one of Trump’s inaugural committee where ACTUAL collusion with foreign powers is pretty apparent with evidence of using straw donors to launder money into the Trump’s coffers.

Trump, who usually spends his nights and weekends tweet-raging, is uncharacteristically quiet this weekend, hiding and playing golf in Mara Lago.  You know that Barr has already reported Mueller’s findings to him; also, he has not yet provided the promised summary of the findings to the public. That his attorneys are with him his no surprise.  The White House is claiming there is no war room set up in Trumpland, but you know that’s bullshit, and that his legal team is all hands on deck.

With 37 indictments, 8 guilty pleas, prison sentences and multiple trials in various stages, my guess is that the contents of this report is not nothing.  This is just the end of the Mueller investigation, which is just the beginning of a multi-front legal and political battle.

I wish I had thought of this, but alas, I didn’t.  But I’m going to steal it.  This is the best, most descriptive analogy EVER of Trump.  Wait for it…

Donald Trump is to the US Presidency as Ted Baxter is to Walter Cronkite.

Boom.

We ate all the popcorn and drank all the lemonade during Michael Cohen’s testimony yesterday.  I have to confess that I slipped a little adult beverage in during the last couple of hours just to steady my nerves.  The news is describing the testimony as bombshells, but it just confirmed pretty much everything we knew anyway.

So, here’s my question:  Is any of this testimony a surprise?  I mean, really; Donald Trump is a slimy, two bit slum lord who was able to make enough name of himself from his reality television show that, for some unknown reason, people wanted to pay him money to put his name on their buildings.  That’s pretty stupid in itself, but on top of that, he was denied a gaming license in Australia because of his ties to the Mob.  We’ve known that for 30 years.  He’s a serial liar, even when it’s easier to tell the truth (see Barack Obama’s birth certificate).  He’s lied about everything from his personal taxes to his “foundation”, to other charitable contributions, to you name it.  He’s in bed with the Russians AND the Chinese, if that’s even possible, uses the State Department for his own personal gain and coverups.  He even gets military doctors to lie about his height & weight.  Jesus.

As I watched the Repubs try to discredit him and the Dems ask him question after question, I was shocked about how not-shocked I really was.  I mean, here’s a guy confirming that Trump really DID collude with the Russians to get dirt on HRC.  He really DID pay off a porn star and Playboy model in the weeks just before the election.  He even worked on his Russian Trump Tower project right up to the election and continued his private business into his time in office.  This guy should have never been elected, but he should have been run out on a rail over two years ago.

But now, we’re all just numb, and sick of the whole sordid affair.  I do know one thing, though; every person who has supported him and his lies, from Senators to everyday voters have forfeited their right for LIFE to get scandalized by anything done by Dems or their supporters.

And THAT is my new rule.

NBC News was invited in for an exclusive look at a western themed party at Mara Lago this weekend.  The party cost from $500 per ticket to $20,000 for a big girl table.  The charity for which they were raising money?  Themselves, silly.  This was about the Trumpettes worshipping the Demigod Donnie at his Church of Perpetual Narcissism.  The whole sordid event was one of those that you can’t unsee.

File under You Can’t Make this Up, the almost new Attorney General, Bill Barr, has a son in law named Tyler McGauhey is leaving the Justice Department to avoid conflicts of interest with Barr when he’s confirmed.  Where’s he going, you ask?  To the White House, of course, to work for White House counsel to fight off the Russia investigation.  That’s right, folks, the new Attorney General’s son-in-law will be helping Trump…against the Justice Department.