Republican National Committee censures truth tellers

It is bad enough the Republican National Committee (RNC) decided not to have a 2020 platform codified at their last presidential convention. This means we don’t know what my old party officially stands for. Yesterday, the RNC decided to censure the two truth tellers in the party (Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger) courageous enough to say we must hold the former president and others accountable for the January 6 insurrection.

In my view, this officially puts a dagger in the Republican Party. It has been this way for a while, but the official censure says the party is adrift untethered to the truth and lawfulness. When the truth tellers are vilified and liars aggrandized it says all one needs to know.

Ironically, this latest censure is occurring because the truth is coming out. I read a piece recently that noted the GOP realizes it messed up by not taking the January 6 commission more seriously. As more participants are sentenced and others start telling the truth, the former president loses even more credibility with his fraudulent claims. In fact, former Vice President Mike Pence responded yesterday to his former boss’ latest claims that he could have over-turned the election.

In an interview that appeared on ABC News, Pence said “President Trump is wrong. … I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.”

So, I guess the RNC will now censure Pence for telling the truth. Of course, they may need to censure Asa Hutchinson, the GOP leader of the National Governors Association who said the former president should not be president again. Or, maybe they should censure former Attorney General William Barr who said directly to the former president, his claims of election fraud are “bull**it” before Barr was fired by said president. Of course, they are on a small but growing list of Republicans who feel there are fewer repercussions to call out the former president for his lies and seditious activities.

Truth be told, the former president had his day in court and has lost all but one of about 65 court cases, a pretty abysmal track record. He has also lost every recount, every audit, and every review. He cannot lose any more than he has. In fact, some funders of his court cases want their money back as they felt misled, while several attorneys, including Rudy Giuliani have had their law license suspended. So, why does his base still believe his BS, as Barr called it.

We need a viable Republican party, but at this point if leaders continue to not only remain silent, but censure the ones with courage to tell the hard truths, maybe this version should expire and a new and more sane version can start up. It is hard enough to solve problems when we look at facts and truth, but much harder when we have to put up with this BS from the RNC and former president.

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Two weeks later – the debate disaster still impacting Trump

I did not need a presidential debate to understand the nature of the beast who is the US president. His corrupt, deceitful, bullying and childish behavior over years has show us who he is. Yet, sometimes, there needs to be a clear reminder. The presidential debate a few weeks ago may have served that role.

In an article called “Trump hasn’t recovered from tailspin set off by raucous debate performance, poll shows” by David Lauer of The LA TImes, the following paragraphs frame this story. The entire article can be linked to below.

“With three weeks left until election day, President Trump has not recovered from the self-inflicted wounds of his first debate with Joe Biden and, instead, has sunk farther behind his challenger, a new USC Dornsife poll shows.

The encounter in Cleveland, dominated by Trump’s repeated interruptions and his cryptic statement that seemingly welcomed a right-wing extremist group, appears to be the exception to the usual rule that the impact of debates fades quickly.

The damage the debate did to Trump’s standing has persisted through his bout with COVID-19, leaving him with a deep deficit and little time to recover. (Trump’s refusal to participate in an Oct. 15 virtual debate led to its cancellation; the final debate is set for Oct. 22.)”

Last Saturday, I watched a replay of “Real Time with Bill Maher” from the night before. The guests made two interesting observations about Trump’s debate disaster. For all of those viewers who were are troubled by Trump and his behavior, they were fully reminded of who Donald Trump is with his rude and overbearing behavior as he repeatedly interrupted both Joe Biden and the moderator, Chris Wallace.

That would have been enough, but for a US president to swing and whiff at an easy lob by not condemning a white supremacist group, was mind-boggling. Then, to give tongue-in-cheek support to a white supremacist groups was beyond the pale. I am not surprised the racist president feels this way, but I am surprised he said what he did. It was truly an unforced error, but an actual window into his nature.

On this same Bill Maher show, a female guest added something interesting about the Vice Presidential debate. She noted that even though Mike Pence is not as rude as Trump, he still talked over Kamala Harris and the moderator, Susan Page. The guest noted many women have used (or thought of using) the line Harris said, “It is my turn to talk.”

Being overbearing is not restricted to men. But, when men are overbearing, people think less of it. When a women is overbearing, they are labeled with harsher words. The exception is when a man is over-the-top overbearing. The president does not study facts or history, so his way of arguing is to name-call and raise his voice. As my grandmother said, those who name-call and shout usually have a poor argument.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-hasn-t-recovered-from-tailspin-set-off-by-raucous-debate-performance-poll-shows/ar-BB1a0Qcy?ocid=msedgdhp

A few funny takes on the news

Taking a step back from the seriousness of the news, we can find some humor. Here are a few thoughts to ponder.

Did anyone tell the president a side effect of taking hydroxychloroquine is hair loss? I mean the guy already has a two feet long comb over.

Does Mike Pence practice that puppy dog loyalty expression in the mirror? His boss has said some of the most inane things right in front of him (like ingesting disinfectant) and he does not break from that expression.

Did you hear the nickname Joe Biden gave the highly prolific nick-naming president? Joe called him “President Tweety.” I am not a fan of name calling, but this one, while colorful and apt, may be one of the least offensive ones he could have used. I may have said “Mr. Tweety” instead, but again it is colorful and descriptive of an excessive tweeter.

Joe Biden is a decent man and will help bring us together, if elected, but people should refrain from showing him saying things he should not out loud as way to say he is getting senile. Joe has a history of saying things he could have checked. On the upside, in one interview, he let the cat out of the bag and forced Obama to publicly embrace same sex marriage before Obama was ready to. When the ACA was signed, he could be heard whispering to Obama, “this is a big f***ing deal.”

One of the funniest sights occurred when the president spoke of ingesting or injecting disinfectant to cure COVID-19, then turning to Dr. Deborah Birx for corroboration. Watching her try to disappear in her chair with a mortified look on her face was priceless. It reminded of the times in high school where you prayed the teacher would not call on you.

The last place a White House staff member wants to be is behind the president when he goes off script. Unfortunately, I am tall and could not hide. I am reminded of former FBI Director James Comey, who is about 6’9″ tall. He was in the White House and he was trying to blend into the blue curtains with his navy blue suit to avoid be called on. Unfortunately, the president found him and called him out to shake his hand.

Sadly, many things the president says could be viewed as funny, but they are too scary or sad. When he invents things or openly speaks of what is talked about as “what-ifs” with staff, as if they were real, it becomes scary. My personal favorite is when he announced in front of the Pakistani leader, the India leader asked him to broker a peace deal over the area called Kashmir. The Pakistani leader looked surprised and encouraged. Unfortunately, that was not true. Within the hour, Prime Minister Modi of India sent out a press release saying “no such request has been made.”

What are some of your funny moments?

Three why questions

Tell me why, three why questions have not sunk into more people’s minds about the Ukraine mess caused by the US president?

– Why did people who heard the “perfect” phone call try to hide it?

– Why does the US president want witnesses called, but prevents those in the know from testifying?

– Why don’t more people believe hard working, honorable public servants who testified under oath at great risk instead of a person who is known to be cavalier with the truth?

I would like to hear some answers to these three why questions starting with people named McConnell, Graham and Barr. This American would like to hear from folks like Mulvaney, Pompeo, Giuliani, and Pence under oath. Tell me why I should not be able to do so?

End of week wanderings

With multiple topics rolling around in this older brain, here are a few end of week wanderings (or wonderings as the case may be). In no particular order:

It still amazes me that people in leadership still don’t know people record things. Congressman Anthony Weiner sends pictures of his Johnson to a teen girl and then is surprised when it goes public. Justin Trudeau talks in public about “he who shall not be named” and it goes viral. Boris Johnson denies being in the conversation, when we can see him in the conversation. And, “he who shall not be named” makes the same mistake later. Let’s face it, people talk about dealing with Trump as he is like trying to hold mercury in your hands. Just don’t play your hand where we can see (or hear) the cards.

I feel sorry for my friends in the UK as they have a choice between the same Boris above and Jeremy Corbyn. Neither person is a day at the beach, but Johnson has a Trump like propensity to be untruthful. He is just more glib than the US president. Brexit will likely occur and it won’t be pretty. The UK will be in the doldrums for several years as a result. In some respects it will be poetic justice if the folks who misled the public are in charge when the you-know-what hits the fan. I fully understand the Brexiters point of view, but the financials will not be pretty as forecasted by smarter people than me.

I am not sure if the Democrats will help or harm themselves by impeaching the president in the House. It is probably both. But, they still must do it. The US president is a national security risk with his modus operandi that has become apparent on Ukraine. Using shadow diplomacy to exploit a country for personal gain, not briefing the real diplomats on all the issues, covering-up a phone call and other key emails and obstructing justice (as also evident in the Mueller Report) and the US has a president that can be used for nefarious purposes. He would detest this word, but I feel he is a “stooge” for Vladimir Putin. The question is he an active participant in that role or is so uninformed, he will believe Putin if he gives Trump perceived victories. Yet, the other key reason for the impeachment is the president thinks he is a “king.”

By the way, the US president wants Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi and the Bidens to testify in the Senate. OK. If they do, I want Donald J. Trump, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Mick Mulvaney and Mike Pence to testify. I would like also to hear from Dan Coates and Sue Gordon as to why they were asked to leave the National Intelligence leadership. Trump will never testify as he has so much difficulty with the truth.

The Global Climate Summit is going on in Madrid. Progress must be made. Several US states and business are likely present, making up for the Trump stance. Good things are happening, they just need to happen faster and with the US leadership a part of the equation rather than what they are getting now.