Remember earlier this month we were talking about John Bolton banging on the war drum and Trump moving military forces into the Persian Gulf?  There were ominous warnings about Iran’s aggression and our bases being put on high alert in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Remember, too, how no other country saw the threat and dared to say so? Well, just as quickly as the threat appeared, it also disappeared, ending when Trump, standing in the West Wing door, said, “I hope not,” when a reporter shouted the question about going to war with Iran.

Now we know what all that was about – arms sales to Saudi Arabia.  Trump has made some backroom deal with MBS and the House of Saud to sell weapons to them, along with the UAE and Jordan.  The trick?  By declaring a another fake emergency, Trump can bypass Congress, which approves arms sales to other countries.  Since MBS had journalist Jamal Kashoggi brutally murdered (and Trump didn’t do anything about it) Congress has refused to support the Saudi attacks on Yemen or to approve arms sales to them.  So, Trump just ignored Congress, again.

This is how Trump operates.  When the invertebrates in Congress occasionally stand up, or when the courts step in, Trump just disregards the law and acts unilaterally to do what he wants.  The strength of our system of government is also its greatest weakness.  The Founders designed a system of checks and balances to keep power in check.  The problem with that system is that they never dreamed that each of the branches of government would be simultaneously corrupt; they anticipated a Trump-like president, so gave the Congress co-equal power to control or remove him/her if necessary.  If the Congress is also corrupt, the system collapses, and this is exactly what’s happening.  Trump does what he wants, lines his own pockets, destabilizes entire regions of the world, and is making the US an unstable oligarchy with widening social injustice and gaping income inequality.  When Congress does makes some lame effort to slow his corruption, His Orangeness just doubles down and does what he wants.  McConnell and company just shrug, since they’re busily packing the courts with radicals and weirdos while Trump infests the WH.

At least we now know why the fake concern over a fake threat from Iran so Trump can declare a fake emergency to funnel weapons to his fellow oligarchs who are differentiated from him only by their garb, language, and hair style.

In the furor over the Mueller report in April, many Americans, included yours truly, missed Turtleneck McConnell rolling out the Republicans’ new campaign slogan for 2020 on Fox Noise.  Was it his overseer’s idiotic Make America Great Again mantra? Nope. It’s worse.  A lot worse.  When asked if the American people were going to get Medicare for all, McConnell said, “Not as long as I’m majority leader.  It ought to be called Medicare for NONE.”  And there you have it…not only do the Republicans want to kick millions of Americans off of the ACA, they want to kick another 58 million, 50 million of whom are over 65, off of Medicare.  Let’s think about that a minute.  Before the ACA, there were about 44 million Americans without healthcare.  That number today is about 27 million, not lower because of the GOP’s sabotage of the plan in the states.  That’s not good enough for McConnell, though.  He wants to take healthcare away from all those people and the 58 million on Medicare.  Doing that would cost millions of lives and untold billions of dollars.

Let’s be blunt – The GOP is now fully under the control of criminals, political radicals, and the profoundly corrupt.  They already have lifetime control of our only safety only net, the judicial branch; because of this, voters simply cannot allow them to control both houses of Congress and the WH again.   Believe it or not, McConnell is more dangerous than Trump for two reasons – he has zero regard for the Constitution, rule of law, or common decency, and he’s using Trump as a blunt instrument to reshape America into his radical vision of every person for themselves and his social program, Fuck the Poor.

So, while you’re hyperventilating over Trump’s latest outrage, keep in mind the real goals of McConnell and the rest of the Republicans – destroying the US as we know it.  Also remember their new campaign slogan –

GOP 2020 – Medicare for NONE

ProPublica is on the case, digging in on Trump’s personal self enrichment using his own resorts to reap millions in government money and stuff in his own pockets full of American taxpayer cash.   One textbook example of how he does it is described in detail, and it goes like this:  Trump and his merry band of criminals descend on Mara Lago for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in April 2017.  Late in the evening of the state dinner (profits to Donald Trump), Steve Bannon and unknown number of his cronies take over the posh Library Bar in the resort, order the bartender out and post the Secret Service at the door.  In the ensuing hours, they consume 54 premium cocktails (self served) while the agents block the door from entry, including the bartender himself.  The bill, totaling over $1,000 (with the service charge) was later toted up and sent to the State Department which it refused to pay.  It was forwarded to the White House, which, of course approved the bill without question, writing the check, taxpayers paying the bill.

The article goes on the describe how the Trump administration has lifted the caps on hotel bills at Trump resorts, allowing trump to profit, selling rooms to the government for $500 dollars a night and more.

Trump is nothing more than a mobster, stealing money from Americans while 42% of them cheer him on in his criminality.  The corruption is jaw dropping, while his sycophants look wide-eyed saying “What?  You were serious about that?”

As we roll into the new year, a few observations:

As of this moment, we have no Attorney General, no White House Chief of Staff, no Interior Secretary, no Director of the EPA, the Secretary of Education is a religious nut trying to destroy education, the VP is a religious nut who believes women should be subjugated, the Secretary of State is a political hack helping cover up the murder of a Saudi journalist, the Director of National Security wants to bomb Iran, 18 countries have no US ambassador (including Australia), half of the positions in the State Department remain unfilled, the stock market is down almost 3,000 points, China now owns Pacific rim trade, the US is the only major power to NOT be in the Paris accords, the entire world is either terrified or laughing at us, and the president has shut down the government for the last 10 days over his 5th century solution to a 21st century problem. Notice I didn’t mention anything about everyone convicted, in jail, or on the way to jail, or Trump’s current average of telling over 500 lies per month.

This is great? Are we tired of winning yet?

I’m just tired.

Happy New Year

#myattorneygotarrested #pleasetellmethisisanightmare #ITMFA #gotemoluments? #trumpresign

Trump tweeted this morning that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is out.  This is the…I’ve lost count now…umpteenth  one of Trump’s cronies out on the street and under DOJ investigation.  Zinke has been rushing to burn down the Interior Department ever since he infested the office in early 2017.  Recall that Zinke is the one who approved a tiny two man electrical contractor from Montana to rebuild the entire Puerto Rican electrical grid that was destroyed during Hurricane Maria.  The company, Whitefish Energy, once employed Zinke’s son.  That contract, of course, ended in incompetence and scandal.  Since that disaster, Zinke has been running roughshod over the country’s federal lands, slashing budgets at the US Forest Service, BLM, and other critical agencies under the authority of the department.  He has attempted to undo decades of environmental protections and putt our nation’s resources up for sale.

Zinke is now the subject of at least six federal investigations for ethical misconduct and policy violations.  One, thought to be related to a shady land deal Zinke did with Halliburton’s CEO, has been referred to the Justice Department as a criminal case.  What a nice guy.

Zinke is now going the way of the many before him, his reputation destroyed by being touched by Donald Trump.

And, in the words of Sonny and Cher, “The beat goes on.”

This is not directly about politics, but in the end really is.  A couple of days ago, it was reported that notorious mobster, James “Whitey” Bulger was found dead in his cell.  OK, he was 89 years old and in poor health; another dirtbag dies in jail.  That happens all the time, but this one is different – he was murdered in his cell.  OK, that happens all the time, too, right?  It’s still different. Bulger, who was wheelchair bound, was viciously beaten to death with a padlock stuffed into a sock to make a sort of medieval mace.  That’s not all, though – his eyes had been gouged out and at least part of his tongue cut out.  Jesus.

Bulger was an infamous member of the Irish Mob in Boston who was famous for his cruelty and cold blooded murder.  He was also an active informant to federal law enforcement during his life of violent crime.  He was finally jailed in 2011 for life when caught after 16 years of hiding in plain sight.  Since being imprisoned for two consecutive life terms he’s been a pain in the ass for prison officials and disciplined multiple times.  Bad guy, right? But here is where it gets weird.  Bulger was suddenly moved this week to the maximum security federal prison called Hazelton in West Virginia.  Within 24 hours, he was beaten to death and mutilated in his cell. The cell was in the general population of the prison.  The prime suspect is a guy named Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a Greek hitman for the Italian mafia in Massachusetts who is serving a life term for murder.

So here’s the point – and it’s not that a really bad guy was brutally murdered by another really bad guy both serving life in a maximum security prison.  They’re both vicious murderers.  The point is that this is no coincidence.  Some official in the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the US Department of Justice authorized this move.  This official moved Bulger to a prison where he was most certainly in deadly danger, and danger became reality in less than 24 hours after the move.  Some employee of the federal government signed Bulger’s death warrant, and THAT is the point.

We are in a time of great uncertainly and instability.  The federal government, led by a morally bankrupt individual, is fragile.  This brutal murder in a federal prison by an inmate supervised by the federal government was sanctioned by an official of the federal government.  Our Constitution commands equal protection under the law.  Those Constitutional rights extend to EVERYONE in our country.  EVERYONE, even vicious criminals in our prisons.  The Department of Justice has a legal obligation to protect everyone under its jurisdiction, especially those in prison.  This murder exposes the rot within the DOJ.  If a federal official authorizes a move that would result in the certain death of one under their care, is the next step disappearing people who politically disagree with the government?  What about those arrested for protesting in Congress or at the Supreme Court?  Bringing the full force of the federal government to take the life of a prisoner demonstrates a shocking corruption that must be removed.  Corruption is corruption no matter where it lay, especially in the federal government.  This corruption must be exposed and eliminated.