Now, the right is saying that we need to be civil to each other and stop this. Well, I think that is a bit amusing. I am not even going to go into it, but I have a list of photos below for your review.
A woman wearing a Muslim headscarf walks past people holding U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump signs before the annual Muslim Day Parade in the Manhattan borough of New York City, September 25, 2016. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith/File Photo
Protesters hold a banner reading ‘No more mosque’ during a demonstration by the UK branch of the German group ‘Pegida’ in the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northern England on February 28, 2015.The German-based PEGIDA movement, which opposes what it calls the “Islamisation” of Europe, was staging its first demonstration on British soil on Saturday. AFP PHOTO / OLI SCARFF / AFP / OLI SCARFF
ATTENTION EDITORS – PICTURE CONTAINS OBSCENE GESTURE A supporter gestures at the media as Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump addresses supporters during a campaign rally for Republican Presidential Donald Trump in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston TEMPLATE OUT
Either way, this is not what this post is about. Those two groups are the people, the voters, his constituents.
I want to talk about the politicians, lobbyists and corporations who love him. It’s obvious why they love him. He has done more in a year to deregulate and destroy everything that we have been repairing from the Iraq war fiasco as well as everything is country has worked for going on 250 years now.
People who are in the middle, not ultra liberal and not ultra conservative, like me don’t understand why politicians don’t stand up to him more and even more so, why they are going to extremes to defend him. We all know that politicians are somewhat shady, but even so they usually wont go too far to defend someone they know is doing wrong. Well, here is my take on what is really going on.
Trump was never a politician. He became the most powerful man in the world and the most powerful politician without ever being a politician. There is no further for him to go, he has no political capital to lose. He can do the things that no other politician can. He can do things that corporations and the morbidly wealthy want without the consequences. He can violate the law, he can tell the American people to go to hell, and nothing will happen. We all know there is no way he will ever be indicted. There are too many legal opinions that it can’t be done and the supreme court is on his side. It is extremely likely that even if Mueller gets really good evidence against him, that he wont be impeached and in the event that he is, Pence will pardon any criminal offenses.
I would even bet that if it gets close to impeachment, he will make up some crazy rationale to resign so that he can keep his pension. $217,000 per year isn’t much, but it would be guaranteed income that I bet he wouldn’t give up.
My point is some of the things he has done like Tariffs, getting out of the Paris Climate accord, the Iran deal and meeting with Kim Jong Un are taboo even in the republican party. There are fringe elements and lobbyists who would like them to happen, but most actual politicians would never use the political capital to make them happen. With Trump as president it gives them cover. They can support the president and if things go wrong, they can just back off and say it was all Trump.
If he goes down in flames they all have enough political cover that they will come out unharmed.
Then there is how much he has not only taken our institutions to the right (rather than being neutral) but so many of them he has done lasting damage to. No other Republican could have done all this without serious backlash.
He has made it normal for huge lies to come out of the White House. We no longer even get upset about it. We just expect it. PolitiFact reports that only 17% of the statements he makes are true.
ATTENTION EDITORS – PICTURE CONTAINS OBSCENE GESTURE A supporter gestures at the media as Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump addresses supporters during a campaign rally for Republican Presidential Donald Trump in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston TEMPLATE OUT
He has attacked our news media. The free press was once thought of as the third honorary branch of government, put in place to keep the other three honest. Trump doesn’t want to be honest, and doesn’t want to be called out on it, so what does he do? He declares that the media is the enemy of the people. This would be unheard of in any other administration.
He bragged about sexually assaulting women.
He admitted that if things don’t go well with North Korea (after he said he had made us safe again) that he would simply make up an excuse.
He has had his press secretaries lie to the American People.
He openly makes racist comments.
He calls for locking people up that are political opponents or those who just don’t agree with him.
He refuses to admit that Russia meddled in our election, and constantly tells the American people that he believes Putin when he says he had nothing to do with it. His own campaign is under investigation for possibly colluding in this matter which would be the biggest crime in American history if true.
He has put so many of his family in white house positions. After John F. Kennedy made his brother attorney general, Congress passed an anti-nepotism law in 1967. Based on a questionable legal interpretation, however, the administration claims the statute doesn’t apply to White House staff. Trump is giving his daughter Ivanka a security clearance and a West Wing office without forcing her to give up ownership of her clothing company, while making her husband, Jared Kushner, “lead adviser” on relations with China, Mexico, Canada and the Middle East, all subjects on which he has no background.
He has so many financial conflicts of interest I can’t even list them all. Any other president would be impeached based solely on these items alone. Trump is profiting off the Presidency to the tune of MILLIONS of dollars.
Lets not forget that he said he would hire the best people. 5 of them have been charged with crimes. This administration has had more departures at this time than any other administration in history. The list at this point in time is approaching 100. This list includes both people fired and those who have left because they just can’t in good conscience stay in this administration.
Another personnel matter this white house is struggling with is leaks. This White House has more leaks than we have seen in, well maybe forever. There seem to be those in this administration who disagree with it, but remain because they feel it is their duty to keep an eye on things and report to the public.
He has left so many executive branch jobs vacant. Of 553 key positions, Trump has failed to fill 488 of them — 88%. At the departments of State and Defense, the only confirmed appointees are the Cabinet members.
He is the first president to have such low approval ratings so soon after taking office. According to Gallup, just 38% of those surveyed approve of Trump’s job performance. The lowest previous tally for any president about two months after taking office was 53%; that was Bill Clinton’s mark in 1993. As Trump would say, we live in “unpresidented” times.
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Here is the text of the appointment letter:
ORDER NO. 3915-2017
APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL
TO INVESTIGATE RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE WITH THE
2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND RELATED MATTERS
By virtue of the authority vested in me as Acting Attorney General, including 28 U.S.C. §§ 509, 510, and 515, in order to discharge my responsibility to provide supervision and management of the Department of Justice, and to ensure a full and thorough investigation of the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, I hereby order as follows:
(a) Robert S. Mueller III is appointed to serve as Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice.
(b) The Special Counsel is authorized to conduct the investigation confirmed by then-FBI Director James B. Comey in testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 20, 2017, including:
(i) any links and/or coordination bet ween the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and
(ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and
(iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4(a).
(c) If the Special Counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters.
(d) Sections 600.4 through 600.10 of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations are applicable to the Special Counsel.
Dated: 5/17/17
Signed: Rod J. Rosenstein, Acting Attorney General
THE FACTS OF THIS LETTER:
- Rosenstein was the acting attorney general in this matter because Jeff Sessions the actual Attorney General recused himself from all matters which involved the Trump Campaign or Administration.
- Former (before Comey) FBI director Robert S. Mueller III is appointed to serve as Special Counsel.
- An investigation into Russia meddling into the 2016 presidential election had been started by fired FBI director James Comey. This investigation had a focus on the meddling, but also involved investigating the Trump Campaign for possible coordination with the Russians. This investigation had been revealed by the fired FBI director to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
- The Special Counsel is authorized to investigate coordination between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign as well as any matters that come about as a product of that investigation.
- Any federal crimes that the special counsel uncovers, he may prosecute.
- Lastly there is a section of US Code which governs the Special Counsel.
So, all that boringness just says that we have this investigator that is to investigate Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election and whatever else may come of it. Anyone who states otherwise isn’t telling the truth.
Russia meddled in the 2016 election. That is a fact not only backed up by evidence but agreed on by nearly everyone in government especially our intelligence community. Notably the only real opposition to this opinion is the President. The same president who has the most to lose by this being public information and the same president who doesn’t even read his “Presidential Daily Briefing” from the intelligence agencies.
Some more facts:
- Special Counsel Robert Mueller is a life long Republican who was originally appointed to be FBI Director by George W. Bush. He was a US Marine Corps Captain serving from 1966 to 1980. From 1973 until he retired from the FBI in 2013 he was a prosecutor of some type for the federal government. He was the second longest serving FBI director, right after Hoover. His original nomination passed by a unanimous 98-0 vote. Special legislation was created to extend his service from 10 years to 12 and passed in the senate 100-0.
- On August 3, 2017, Mueller empaneled a grand jury in Washington, DC, as part of his investigation. The grand jury has the power to subpoena documents, require witnesses to testify under oath, and issue indictments for targets of criminal charges if probable cause is found.
- Three members of Trump’s campaign — national security adviser Mike Flynn, foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, and campaign deputy Rick Gates — have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and are cooperating with the Mueller probe.
- Campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been charged with a variety of financial crimes by Mueller. As of today’s date (6/15/2018) Manafort has been remanded to jail to await trail due to tampering with witnesses. Manafort had been out under house arrest with two ankle bracelets. He has now also been indicted with obstruction of Justice.
- Richard Pinedo, of Santa Paula, CA ran an online service called Auction Essistance, through which he bought and sold bank account numbers that would help users circumvent security measures of digital payment companies. Pinedo transferred, possessed and used the identities of other people in connection with unlawful activity, according to a statement of the offense. He pleaded guilty on February 12, according to court documents. Pinedo faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the plea agreement. It said he has no criminal history and that he agrees to cooperate with Mueller’s office.
- In February 2018, Alex Van der Zwaan was charged with lying to the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators about his interactions with political consultant and lobbyist Rick Gates and an unidentified Ukrainian-based long-term associate of Paul Manafort. On February 20, 2018, he pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to investigators. On April 3, 2018, he was sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000. The Ukrainian Ministry of Justice was his firm’s client and central to the indictment. In 2017, Skadden Arps refunded $567,000 billed by the firm to the Government of Ukraine. After serving a 30-day prison sentence at FCI Allenwood, in Pennsylvania, Van der Zwaan was deported to the Netherlands.
- An additional 17 Russian Nationals & Companies have been indicted in the investigation but are outside US Jurisdiction.
On to the controversy:
Most recent, the FBI IG report which was released today: This report had NOTHING to do with the investigation, yet the president and Fox News are reporting that it shows that there is bias in the FBI against Trump. This report specifically stated that it found no bias in the investigation. What is more important is the investigation it was looking into was the Hillary Clinton email investigation handled by Comey. This investigation revealed that Comey broke from FBI norms, but showed no bias and violated no laws. Trump has tried to say that Comey broke laws and is also stating this report exonerates him in the Special Counsel Investigation which is false. It has nothing to do with the Special Counsel Investigation.
FBI planted a spy in the Trump Campaign: The president has attempted to create yet another conspiracy theory out of something totally legit. He has dubbed this one “Spygate”. What actually happened is the FBI had information that contacted them. They then asked him to meet for additional information. This is standard procedure in any law enforcement action. Even members of Trump’s own party including his supporters like Trey Gowdy have confirmed there is no conspiracy here. This was used, however as a ploy to get investigative materials out of the Special Counsel’s Office.
House wants to Impeach Rosenstein: So for months there have been fights between the GOP and the Justice Department for the DOJ to release documents to the House Intelligence Committee from the Russia Investigation. This is a huge issue for a couple of reason. The first is, with any law enforcement investigation, all materials are kept secret until the actual charges are filed. You never want to tip off your defendant until you are ready to charge and required to by law. The next issue, it that the committee’s chairman Devin Nunes recused himself because of dishonest behavior involving himself and the White House and evidence. He has since started having a role in the Congressional Investigation again which taint’s everything. FOR this reason alone, the evidence shouldn’t be handed over because he will likely give anything and everything to the White House. This fight has caused the GOP to threaten to “impeach” Rosenstein. It is worth mentioning that Rosenstein is a republican appointed by Donald Trump!
The Republicans are claiming that the Investigation is unfair because there are alleged democrats on the team: This is the most desperate claim. Firstly, since Nixon it has been tradition that any Special Counsel is from the opposing party being investigated. This was done with Nixon and Clinton. Well, in this case Trump got a republican, Robert Mueller! Either way, Mueller’s integrity is unimpeachable and when he was appointed both Democrats and Republicans were fully in favor because everyone knew he would be fair and follow the facts. This has since changed on the Republican side as they look for ways to attack everything including their own party. There are allegedly democrats on the team. These people aren’t politicians they are career prosecutors. Their political affiliation is irrelevant. Federal regulations prohibit Mueller from considering political affiliation in hiring decisions. If being investigated by the opposing party makes it illegitimate, then nearly every congressional investigation involving a politician is invalid. This is simply a tactic and is very petty with no basis in reality.
The Deep State: This cracks me up. For years this was a theory of the left about the right. The thing everyone forgets, especially the Republicans, is that Trump used to be a democrat. Trump, anytime he is in hot water, tries to point to some conspiracy against him. He is like a 12-year-old. When he gets caught, it’s always well what about so and so. When that doesn’t work he attacks whomever is bringing the charge against him. Law Enforcement is predominantly republican. That is just a fact. The Republican party have always been champions of the DOJ and FBI as well as most Law Enforcement. NOT NOW, Trump starts peddling his conspiracy theories and Fox runs with them, suddenly half the country hates the FBI and DOJ. The truth is Lisa Page and Peter Strzok were having an affair. Republicans will not miss a chance to point that part out. They are the party of family values after all. (let’s forget the elected someone accused of sexual assaults and paying off porn stars for affairs) These two were anti Trump. We can all agree on that; their texts are totally public, and they used FBI phones. These two were so foolish. The Republicans want you to think that Strzok being involved in the investigation makes the whole thing invalid. BUT Mueller removed him from the investigation as soon as he learned of the texts that was a year ago. During the time he was on the team, only 2 or 3 months nothing happened. All the arrests, interviews and everything else has happened since his removal, so I doubt he had any influence on anything.
I don’t like Trump. That’s no secret, but I could impartially investigate him. I have seen no evidence that he is guilty. I have seen a lot of circumstantial stuff that makes me glad there is an investigation, but I don’t want him locked up unless we prove he is guilty. People on both sides need to be reasonable. Fox News and Donald Trump are peddling in conspiracy theories and lies.
]]>Either way, yesterday Donald Trump met with Kim Jong Un. This is unprecedented no matter what your opinion of it is. I want to address my positive thoughts first.
You wont often hear me say this, but I support Trump in this endeavor. There are a lot of ant-Trump folks who criticized him for his hateful rhetoric about North Korea and now are criticizing him for talking to them. I criticized him for his ratcheting up the rhetoric and getting us closer to war. I believed that was the wrong approach. I believe the correct approach is always diplomacy and I think a genuine dialogue is the way to do that. A face to face meeting is a great idea. I also don’t think preconditions are a necessity. I wouldn’t have even criticized him for coming out of the meeting without gaining anything. I don’t think it is a failure. I think the prospect of a second meeting is a success.
HOWEVER, what did happen was that an “agreement” was signed that was completely vague and unenforceable. Additionally, without anything being given up from Kim, Trump announced we would be stopping our joint military exercises in South Korea. This was something he has wanted as well as his father and grandfather for years. This wasn’t part of the signed agreement. This was ultimate appeasement without anything in return. I would completely support it because I agree it’s a waste of money, but only if we get concessions from North Korea. This is like giving Israel the embassy in Jerusalem. This man who is supposed to be the master deal maker gives everything away without getting anything in return.
So, the conservative pundits are already calling for Trump to get a Nobel Peace prize for this. Frankly, I think that is a bit premature. Trump himself is boasting he has done what no other President has ever been able to do and brought us back from the brink of Nuclear War. The biggest problem with this is he is taking credit for fixing a problem that he created. No, he didn’t get us in this mess with North Korea, but he certainly escalated it.
So perhaps he will be successful in the long run with this endeavor. I genuinely hope he is. You would be a fool to not want him to succeed. I don’t care what you think of Trump, this is a step toward world peace if it is success. Realistically, I don’t believe he will succeed. I don’t think he has the proper skillset or mentality to make it work. We are seeing serious double standards with so many things regarding this matter, including the Iran deal, which he ripped up.
Additionally, he has made so many statements praising Kim Jong Un already. When pressed on the matter, he stated that if he is wrong in 6 months, he will likely make up an excuse rather than admitting he was wrong.
So the jury is still out on how successful this will all end up, but at this point it very much is not.
What really makes me angry about this whole fiasco though is the hypocrisy on the right. See video below.
]]>Everything wrong with Fox News in one video pic.twitter.com/Ja6mualzju
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 16, 2018