Don’t rankle the new king

In a speech in Charlotte on Friday, the new king of America acknowledged the presence of junior Republican Senator Thom Tillis. While Tillis voted for acquittal, he got a lot of GOP flak for criticizing the new king for closing the government last year. He quickly fell in line.

Yet, what made his subservient role telling is what the new king said Friday according to The Charlotte Observer. He acknowledged, “(Tillis) as a great friend except for a couple of minor disagreements. Of course, I won’t put up with it for long, Thom Tillis.”

The new king put Tillis in a corner telling him not to slight the king. It should be noted this was the same day the new king fired two witnesses (Alex Vindeman and Gordon Sondland) who told the truth under oath at the risk of knowing this reckoning would come. For good measure, the new king fired Vindeman’s brother. This is on the heels of Marie Yovanovitch deciding to retire after she became persona non grata by standing up to the king’s corruption and telling the truth.

The GOP led Senate opened Pandora’s Box and annointed the new king. My guess is many knew better, but had to acquiesce to a person who one Republican said keeps a list of those who criticize him in word or deed.

The evidence of Trump’s Ukraine corruptive behavior is overwhelming. By choosing to look the other way, the GOP has far damaged its party and country. The egregious vindictive actions of just this week, are only the first of many.

A fable about a mistreated woman

Once upon a time, there was a woman who represented her employer in client relations. She had been doing her job well for about thirty years and was now working to assist a growing, but fragile client.

Unbeknownst to her, her boss’ boss had been told she was not doing what he wanted, which was actually corrupt. She stood in the way of her boss’ boss accomplishing is illicit task. The big boss even hired an attorney to dig up dirt and bad mouth her to the client and others.

Sadly, her boss did nothing to support her. He actually participated in the process. Her long time good service did not matter. When the bad-mouthing hit the press, she was chagrined.

She was eventually fired. Yet, what puzzled her is why did they not just fire her? They did not need to drag her name through the mud. They could have simply replaced her.

This is not a fable. The woman’s name is Marie Yovanovitch and she was the US ambassador to Ukraine. Her boss is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his boss is Donald Trump. The attorney is Rudy Giuliani.

Let’s set all the machinations aside. Of course, the president has the right to fire anyone. But, why did he have to run down Yovanovitch’s name and sully her reputation? That is a damn shame. It also speaks volumes about the relative character of those involved.

A few why questions – sample letter

The following is a draft letter I forwarded to my newspaper. It is short and sweet given their word limitations. I hope they will print it. Please feel free to adapt and use if you like the concept:

I am troubled by a few why questions:

– why did White House staff try to hide the president’s so called perfect call?
– why would Ukraine leaders meet with Lev Parnas if he did not have the “juice?”
– why would real diplomats be kept in the dark by the Giuilani/Trump shadow diplomacy?
– why did Rep. Devin Nunes not recuse himself if his name appeared in the Parnas documents?
– why do 63% of Europeans feel the US president is untrustworthy (per a recent Pew survey)?

Please feel free to share any success or sample letters that you have gotten printed or sent to Senators and Congressional representatives.

There is a reason the US president does not want people reading evidence

In an editorial by Neal Katyal and Joshua Geltzer yesterday in The Washington Post called “Lev Parnas and Rudy Giuliani have demolished Trump’s claims of innocence” (see link below), it lays bare false reasons of the US president using strong-arm tactics in Ukraine. Per the editorial:

“Americans who have been wondering why President Trump has taken the extraordinary step of trying to block every document from being released to Congress in his impeachment inquiry need wonder no longer. The new documents released Tuesday evening by the House Intelligence Committee were devastating to Trump’s continuing — if shifting — defense of his Ukraine extortion scandal, just days before his impeachment trial is likely to begin in the Senate. These new documents demolish at least three key defenses to which Trump and his allies have been clinging: that he was really fighting corruption when he pressured Ukraine on matters related to the Biden family; that Hunter Biden should be called as a witness at the Senate impeachment trial; and that there’s no need for a real, honest-to-goodness trial in the Senate.

The most basic principles of constitutional law require relevant information, including documents and executive branch witnesses, to be turned over to Congress in an impeachment proceeding. Particularly because sitting presidents cannot be indicted, impeachment is the only immediate remedy we the people have against a lawless president. For that remedy to have any teeth, relevant information has to be provided. That’s why President James Polk said that, during impeachment, Congress could ‘penetrate into the most secret recesses of the Executive Departments … command the attendance of any and every agent of the Government, and compel them to produce all papers, public or private, official or unofficial.’ No president, not even Richard Nixon, thought he could just say ‘no’ to impeachment. That’s why the House added Article II to Trump’s impeachment: ‘Obstruction of Congress.’ It was a response to an unprecedented attempt by a president to hide the truth.

The documents released Tuesday show what Trump has been so afraid of. For starters, they prove that his already-eyebrow-raising claim to have been fighting corruption in Ukraine was bogus. Notes taken by Lev Parnas — who is an associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and is now facing federal criminal charges — show what his and Giuliani’s mission was when they got in touch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “get Zalensky to Announce that the Biden case will Be Investigated.” Look hard at the real goal here: not to prompt an investigation of Hunter Biden, but to score an announcement of a Biden investigation. Pursuing an announcement, rather than an investigation, makes sense only if Trump’s objective was to dirty the reputation of Joe Biden, a leading political rival.”

There is not much to add as this article and the above three paragraphs speak volumes. In a nutshell, it is yet one more example of why taking Donald J. Trump at his word is a fool’s errand. It is also is more evidence as to why Trump is the most corrupt and untruthful president in my lifetime, including Richard Nixon, who incorrectly said he was not a crook.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-lev-parnas-and-rudy-giuliani-have-demolished-trumps-claims-of-innocence/ar-BBYYE1P?ocid=spartandhp

Two powerful quotes

Two quotes. One from Carl Sandburg, the other from Samuel Clemens, or Mark Twain, as he is better known.

I was reminded this weekend of the quote from Sandburg in an editorial by Ned Barnett of the Raleigh News and Observer. The context for the editorial which included the quote, is the receved death threats toward Michael Gerhardt, an impeachment expert after he testified that Trump should be impeached.

Referencing the “histrionics of the Republican members,” Gerhardt cited Sandburg, “If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell.”

I have cited the Twain quote several times. It defines the difficulty in changing the impressions of Trump supporters. Twain said “It is easier to fool someone, than to convince them they have been fooled.” Sadly, this quote needs an addendum to update it for modern social media and biased news sources.

The addendum is “It is even harder when the person doing the fooling controls the sources of information of those fooled.”

Per Trump, the impeachment document is filled with “fake news.” As I have said countless times, the biggest purveyor of fake news in America is Donald J. Trump and it is not even close. Sadly, his sycophants are oblivious to this observation. As Thomas Wells, an attorney who worked for Trump for years, wrote before the election, “Donald Trump lies everyday, even about things of no consequence.”

Think about this third quote as you ponder the more famous two.

Republicans should lead the impeachment effort

Whistleblowers should be heeded because of the risk. We have been told by the DNI acting director that this one is credible. The partially released phone call is indicting enough per Judge Napolitano on Fox whose opinion is supported by other legal people per Shep Smith, a Fox news person.

But, what should give Americans and Republicans pause are these three things:

– multiple sources in the White House felt the president abused his powers;
– the White House lawyers tried to classify the call and move it to a national security data base – why?
– this is not the first time it has occurred.

In my view, based on this and the obstruction of justice and lying by the president portrayed in the Mueller report, the Republicans should be leading the impeachment process. You simply cannot be the self-portrayed party of law and let this president not be impeached. Trump is a wounded animal and this will get far worse. Yesterday’s press conference where the president accused all of his accusers with ill-intent or bad behavior is just one example.

As an independent and former Republican, I have consistently shared my concerns over this regal-minded president with Senators and their staff. I see him as a clear and present danger to our democracy, our planet and the Republican party. What people fail to realize is the president has never reported to anyone besides his father. His regal behavior has been cultivated for many years.

But, the question that should scare the crap out of Mitch McConnell, et al is what will you have to defend next week, next month or next year? And, its scary corollary is you don’t know if he has already committed such a sin or if it is to be committed. (I have been saying this for months even before the latest Ukraine issue).

I have said all along, the president’s worst enemy looks back at him when he shaves. That image reveals an untruthful, unaccountable and (proudly) unprepared bully. And, it is proven recurringly, he does not think he ever does anything wrong, even when evidence to the contrary clearly exists.

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Note: It was reported today: “Fox News anchor Chris Wallace called out ‘astonishing’ and ‘deeply misleading’ spin from President Donald Trump’s defenders over the whistleblower complaint on his contacts with Ukraine.”

 

 

Unforced errors

In homage to our ever-professor and former tennis coach Hugh, the statistical term “unforced errors” is tracked during each tennis match. In essence, unforced errors are mistakes made by the player without much instigation from the other player. My guess is tennis pros detest this statistic more than any other.

Unforced errors are as good a description of the actions of the US President as can be found. I first thought of the term as it relates to his highly offensive idea of placing tariffs on our allies. The tariffs are poor form, but the bullying, lying to and lying about allies are far worse.

But, it is not just the tariffs. The US President claims the media is his worst enemy. That is not close to being true. The President’s worst enemy is the guy named Donald that stares back at him when he shaves. He cannot stop himself from lying and bullying.

If the news is good, he has to lie to make it better. If it is bad, he has to lie to make it good. If it is horrible, he changes the subject. It is all part in parcel with his sales schtick. It is why his measured rate of lying per Politifacts is 69%. In other words, for every three statements or tweets, two of them are untrue.

Just yesterday, he unnerved his staff by having an impromptu press conference. He was all over the place with statements and had to go back and amend several. I saw one of his sycophants in the Freedom Caucus say that is just the President being unpredictable. I strongly disagree – that is the President who does not care to know details and cannot keep up with his own statements. So, his answers to questions are a crap shoot.

An old friend used to say “Always tell the truth, you don’t have to remember as much.” If the President wants better coverage, he could begin with telling the truth. His lies would be reduced as he need not have to change his story. Or, as one insider said yesterday, “The President was confused earlier today…” Yet, he still has to answer for his actions.