MESSAGE TO trump: "LEAD OR GET OUT OF THE WAY."

UPDATE:


TRUMP SPEAKS AFTER FIRST U.S. CORONAVIRUS DEATH: Pres. Trump addresses the latest coronavirus developments. Health officials just announced that one person with coronavirus from King County, Washington has died. The virus has now killed over 2,900 people globally and spread to at least 58 countries. At a rally yesterday, Trump called coronavirus the Democrats' 'new hoax'; earlier in the week, Trump falsely claimed that coronavirus has a lower mortality rate than the seasonal flu; in fact, its mortality rate is roughly 20x higher.



From former Bush administration aide Max Boot: 

"To those who believe smaller government is always better, this is a cautionary tale. The Trump administration isn't the cause of the coronavirus, but their fingerprints are all over it."

********************************

The "stable genius" told his cultists at his cult rally in S. Carolina yesterday that the coronavirus is a Democratic HOAX.

Will trump's cultists ignore the CDC's warnings about the coronavirus? Their cult leader told them it's just a hoax, so when do they start making plans to go to China and South Korea? Iran? Italy? Seems the Democrats, according to trump, are hoaxing all over the world!

Seriously, trump is a malevolent idiot with no leadership qualities to see America through any crisis, let alone a pandemic.

Trump put Mike Pence, who is an anti-science Evolution denier, in charge of the coronavirus response. Does that make you feel secure? A guy who claimed smoking doesn't cause cancer and who "prayed" on one of the worse HIV outbreaks in his state, is in charge of dispensing information to the public.

The incompetent trump administration told Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to "stand down," from appearing on all the Sunday news shows.

Rep. Garamendi (D-CA):

" 'I can repeat what he said, he said, 'I was not muzzled. However, I was to go on the Sunday talk shows five of them. The vice president’s office then took over the control of this situation, and told me to stand down, not to do those shows,'" Garamendi said, quoting Fauci. 

 'Now, you can draw your own conclusions whether he was muzzled or not, but clearly he was scheduled to do Sunday talk shows and he was not to proceed with that,' the congressman added."

Isn’t this how they handle health crises in Communist China?

White House GAGS government health experts from speaking about coronavirus saying they must have Mike Pence's approval for EVERYTHING they say about mounting crisis - despite VP having zero medical qualifications


Trickle-down Virus Protection.

“In a moment that perfectly encapsulated the problem of handling a public health crisis of this magnitude when you are equipped only to promote business, today Secretary of Health and Human Services Alexander Azar, a former drug company executive and pharmaceutical lobbyist, told Congress that when scientists manage to make a vaccine for the coronavirus (12 to 18 months out, by all accounts), not everyone will be able to afford it. “We would want to ensure that we work to make it affordable, but we can’t control that price, because we need the private sector to invest. Price controls won’t get us there.”

This is the modern Republican Party laid bare. Profits before lives, because only businessmen, not government policy, can manage the country.” 

Heather Cox Richardson

Heh.

SHAW KENAWE'S HOUSEHOLD HINTS

Trump puts Pence in charge of coronavirus response

So trump thinks that the Democratic presidential debates caused the stock market dive. He also tells us that there were only about 15 coronavirus cases (there are 60 as of yesterday) in this country, and they are all getting better, so the problem will soon go away. Also, the warmer weather in April will help to dissipate the problem.

Isn't it confidence-inspiring to have a preznit who can so brilliantly analyze pandemic problems?

Trump's response to the coronavirus? He put his VP, Pence, in charge. Pence.

As governor, Pence famously said he had to “pray on” law enforcement and health officials’ request for a needle exchange program to help an exploding HIV epidemic in southeastern Indiana, which in turn was caused by his defunding and the resulting closure of Planned Parenthood, the only HIV prevention and testing facility in that area. His two-month delay in approving the program caused a public health crisis to become even more disastrous. 

 Pence also was the genius behind Indiana’s anti-gay legislation, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which resulted in calls by the NCAA to move the Final Four out of Indiana, NASCAR criticizing the law, and causing many CEO’s and corporations to question doing business or increasing operations in Indiana. The result was that Pence had to sign a revised version of the bill which stated that businesses could not refuse to provide service bases on sexual orientation, race, religion or disability.


IOW, with his past history, Pence is totally unprepared, without any experience in infectious disease control and pandemics, and totally incompetent to head up the coronavirus response.

Trump Tweet from October 17, 2014.

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Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response

As it improvises its way through a public health crisis, the United States has never been less prepared for a pandemic.

" 'Trump cuts to national security staff may hurt coronavirus response, former officials say. For the first time since 9/11, you don't have someone directly reporting to the president responsible [for threats like] pandemics,' an ex-official said.


WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's decision to downsize the White House national security staff — and eliminate jobs addressing global pandemics — is likely to hamper the U.S. government's response to the coronavirus, according to veterans of past disease outbreaks and experts who have studied them. 

 'This is why you have a National Security Council,' said John Gans, a former Pentagon speechwriter who wrote a book about the NSC, which has long been the principal advisory body inside the White House for national security affairs. 

'The changes have made it much harder for the NSC to do this.' Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is leading the Trump administration's coronavirus response efforts. On Wednesday, Azar disputed reports that Trump would soon be appointing a coronavirus "czar," or response coordinator."

Trump to speak to the nation about coronavirus today.

The "stable genius" who claims windmills cause cancer, who's been at war with science and facts, and who regularly exaggerates and manipulates data and truth, now will come before the American people and expect us to believe what he says about the coronavirus and how the government is prepared to deal with the pandemic?

That's the problem with liars. They can NEVER be trusted to tell you the truth, especially when a nation's health and their re-election depend on it.

I believe NOTHING the Liar-in-Chief says.




Trump Hits Media on Coronavirus as He Prepares an Evening News Conference 

President Trump, back from India, lashed out at the news media for fanning fears of the coronavirus and said his administration was doing a “great job” in its response.

On Wednesday, Moody’s Analytics said it now sees a 40 percent chance that the virus will break containment in China and grow into a global pandemic that would push the United States and the world into a recession. Its chief economist, Mark Zandi, said in a research note that he expected the virus to reduce American economic growth by 0.2 percentage points this year — and that a “black swan” recession now looked uncomfortably possible.
  

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

trump wants to cut funding for heating oil for the poor, while wasting millions of taxpayers' dollars on his selfish golfing weekends.

"With fears of coronavirus mounting, the pressure is on President Donald Trump’s administration to work with Congress to fund immediate infection control and treatment efforts. But the talks do not appear to have gotten off to a good start. 

 According to Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman of the Washington Post, the administration has demanded that the coronavirus response be funded, in part, by cutting funding for low-income heating oil assistance.  

'A document that the Trump administration sent to Congress, which we have seen, indicates that the administration is transferring $37 million to emergency funding for the coronavirus response from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which funds heating for poor families,' they reported. "

Bad News for Trump

LOL!

But GREAT NEWS for those of us who respect the rule of law.

"A Poll Shows Impeachment Helped House Democrats 

 A new Gallup Poll revealed that support for House incumbents is at its highest level since 2012, which means impeachment didn’t hurt Democrats  

 According to Gallup, “Democrats have a solid majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the elevated 59% of Americans saying their member of Congress deserves reelection augurs well for their bid to maintain their majority next year. 

This assumes, however, that the 59% holds for the remaining nine months before Election Day. If Americans still feel their member deserves another term at a similar level closer to November, this could mean a favorable environment for Democrats’ prospects of maintaining power in at least one chamber of Congress.” 

 Trump thinks that he is going to use impeachment to get his revenge on Nancy Pelosi for impeaching him, but the numbers suggest that if Trump tries to win back the House, he will be wasting his time. 

The conventional wisdom among Trump supporters that impeachment would hurt the House Democratic majority is turning out to have been very wrong. Impeachment has made House Democrats more popular with voters back home in their districts. While the nation is focused on House and Senate races, it looks Speaker Pelosi is going to guide House Democrats to a smooth majority victory in November."

POLITICS

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Support for Congressional Incumbents Is Highest Since 2012

GALLUP:

Most Americans (59%) say the U.S. representative in their local congressional district deserves to be reelected, and 35% say the same for most members of Congress. http://on.gallup.com/37TlGVz 

The GOP's preznit is worried about being re-elected, not about the Coronavirus hurting Americans.

"Trump has told advisers that he does not want the administration to do or say anything regarding the Coronavirus outbreak that would further spook the markets. He remains worried that any large-scale outbreak could hurt his reelection bid." --WaPo

ANOTHER TRUMP TWEET THAT DIDN'T AGE WELL

UPDATE:

The Tweet below is fake, a parody. Thanks to P.E. reader, Howard Brazee for the heads up. I usually check these out before publishing them, but this seemed so like Trump that I failed to do so. My apologies. Trump tweets out enough ridiculous nonsense,  so we don't need to make any tweets up!

Thanks, Howard!

Meanwhile,  Der Orange Fuhrer (with the help of the wife of a Supreme Court justice) is purging his administration of anyone who won't kiss his fat, greasy, ass and swear unswerving loyalty to Der Orange Fuhrer!

He also demanded that two Supreme Court justices recuse themselves from any case involving Der Orange Fuhrer Drumpf!

Anyone out there with an eighth grade education understands what separation of powers means. How about three equal branches of government? Do checks and balances mean anything anymore? Independent Judiciary? Remember that one? 

 If anyone in the world knows what these things mean and how they operate, you might want to inform the idiot trump because obviously he does not.

Imagine if Barack Obama had made such an unAmerican, anti-Constitutional demand. The rabid righties would be spitting nails and pooping bricks, calling for the immediate removal from office of such a tyrant.

Trump is trying to force the Supreme Court to be his lap dog is one more step by him in his campaign to become Supreme Leader and Dictator. But the threat to American democracy isn't really trump. The threat is the Republican voters who have no objection to a dictatorship as long as the dictator is a Republican.

Der Orange Fuhrer interfering with the Supreme Court and sh!##ing on the separation of powers that has been the bulwark of our democratic republic for centuries produces no outrage from his faithful stooges. His supporters have no problem with it, because for them their fealty is to trump and the GOP, not America and the rule of law.

They are as much to blame for the breakdown in the rule of law as is Der Orange Fuhrer, and they will be held responsible for eternity for what he and they have done to America.

Harvey Weinstein is going to prison

Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in landmark #MeToo-era case 

The jury in New York convicted Weinstein, 67, of third-degree rape against former aspiring actress Jessica Mann, as well as a count of criminal sexual act in the first-degree against former production assistant Mimi Haley.


If this were a country where justice prevailed, the next  #MeToo case would put the sexual predator and assaulter who's been accused by 20+ credible women  (and a 13 year old victim )-- Donald "Grab 'Em by the Pussy" Trump on trial.

But trump's supporters who excoriated Bill Clinton for his behavior look the other way when their favorite sexual assaulter, pedator and immoral pig commits crimes.

The Weinstein conviction is a moral victory for all of his victims and a warning to those rich and powerful men who believe they can sexually assault or rape women and get away with it. 

Weinstein is going to jail where belongs.

Like a good little tin-pot tyrant,

Trump threatened to pull MSNBC's and CNN's licenses at his latest mob gathering in Las Vegas, because they don't kiss his fat, greasy ass.

Wait.

Isn't that what Communist countries do when media don't suck up to their leaders? 

Yes. That's exactly how authoritarians and Commies operate.

So here we have the GOP's hero, telling his followers that the media that don't flatter him enough, who dare to report all of his lies and corrupt actions should have their licenses taken away by the government.

Folks, whether it's a joke or not isn't important. Here we have an American POTUS talking like a dirty Communist leader, and his followers are too stupid to be outraged by the mere suggestion.

Certain trolls from a certain rabid right wing blog come here on a daily basis and label me a Commie. I have no idea what possesses these trolls; they certainly are not operating from a position of knowledge or rationality. I'd love to ask them how they'd explain Trump's musings about taking away the licenses of media he doesn't like. I'd love to know how those GOP trolls square that threat from Trump with our Constitution and our rule of law.

Breaking: Trump's new intelligence director worked for an oligarch that the United States has BANNED as an **enemy of democracy** -- and that could cost him his security clearance

President Chaos has nominated another corrupt swamp creature to serve in his corrupt, swampy administration:

Trump’s New Spy Chief Used to Work for a Foreign Politician the U.S. Accused of Corruption

Richard Grenell did not disclose payments for advocacy work on behalf of a Moldovan politician whom the U.S. later accused of corruption. His own office’s policy says that could leave him vulnerable to blackmail.

“Trump’s new acting intelligence director, Richard Grenell, used to do consulting work on behalf of an Eastern European oligarch who is now a fugitive and was recently barred from entering the U.S. under anti-corruption sanctions imposed last month by the State Department,” ProPublica reports. 

“In 2016, Grenell wrote several articles defending the oligarch, a Moldovan politician named Vladimir Plahotniuc, but did not disclose that he was being paid.” “Grenell also did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which generally requires people to disclose work in the U.S. on behalf of foreign politicians.”


,

MEANWHILE, Bloomberg is having a good time with his money:

,

Stone gets 40 months in prison

Another one of Trump's close political pals gets thrown in the slammer for 40 months.


Stone's going to jail, and Hillary's enjoying a nice cup of Trumpian tears.

Military veterans condemn Trump

Trump continued his attacks on LTC Vindman, a Purple Heart recipient who obeyed a legal subpoena and told the truth under oath. This week, trump pardoned and praised felons and thugs.

Think about that:Trump attacked a truth-tell and honored convicted extortionists and thugs.

READ THE LETTER HERE.



MILITARY TIMES:


A coalition of more than 1,100 veterans on Tuesday condemned President Donald Trump for his continued attacks on an Army officer who testified against him in the impeachment inquiry, noting that military rules bar the service member from defending himself publicly. 

 “The president should know that, despite taking aim at one Army officer, he has targeted anyone who currently wears — or has worn — the uniform,” the group stated in an open letter. “Our service members and veterans deserve the confidence of knowing that our elected leaders will come to their defense, just as they remain vigilant for ours.”

 Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified before a House committee last fall against the wishes of the White House, was dismissed from his post on the National Security Council on Feb. 7. Administration officials initially called the move part of a routine downsizing of the office, but Trump later blasted Vindman as a sub-par worker who may have leaked government secrets.

**************************

Here's the Law-Breaker-in-Chief supporting a convicted felon:

Good morning. The President had more to say about Stone last night.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

“What has happened to Roger Stone should never happen to anyone in our Country again.” @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews

50.5K

1:02 AM - Feb 20, 2020

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16.4K people are talking about this

The criminal rot of the Trump presidency

Raw story reporting:


"Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told a British court on Tuesday that he had been promised a pardon by people close to President Donald Trump. 

 Assange made the remarks while appearing at a pretrial hearing via teleconference. Courtroom reporter James Doleman broke the news on Twitter. 

According to Doleman, Assange said that the pardon was conditional on him publicly announcing that Russia had nothing to do with the attack on the 2016 election."

Ben Lewis

✔@benlewismedia

Julian Assange court appearance today- His lawyer mentioned a statement, that alleges former US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher visited Assange, saying he was there on behalf of the President, offering a pardon if JA would say Russia had nothing to do with DNC leaks. @SBSNews

137

11:49 AM - Feb 19, 2020

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More on Trump and his corrupt administration:


 "Assange’s attorney Edward Fitzgerald said former U.S. Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a man with his own legendary affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin, delivered the message to Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in August 2017. 

 Fitzgerald told the court that a statement from another Assange lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, recounts “Mr. Rohrabacher going to see Mr. Assange and saying, on instructions from the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr. Assange… said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks,” according to The Guardian. 

 News of the alleged offer arrives at a moment when Trump is waging an unprecedented assault on the American legal system, publicly insisting he has the right to bend criminal prosecutions to punish his enemies and protect his friends if he feels like it. 

On Tuesday, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 11 people, including a handful of political supporters and high-profile officials convicted of corruption."

Today, the GOP's preznit pardoned...

Two extortionists!

Trump rewards two deplorable men who engaged in the same crime he did: Extortion.

MAGA!


Former Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich was not only convicted of selling a U.S. Senate seat. The Illinois governor threatened to withhold state money for a children's hospital unless its CEO coughed up money for his campaign.






"Republicans have advised the president against it, arguing that Mr. Blagojevich’s crime epitomizes the corruption that Mr. Trump had said he wanted to tackle as president." --NYTimes



"The president’s decision came the same day that he pardoned Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., a former owner of the San Francisco 49ers who pleaded guilty in 1998 to concealing an extortion attempt and eventually surrendered control of his team." --NYTimes



The POTUS who was accused of extorting Ukraine's president to get dirt on the Bidens and who was acquitted but not found innocent, today pardoned TWO CONVICTED EXTORTIONISTS!

MAGA!

Trump is releasing these two convicted extortionis to repopulate The Swamp!

MAGA!

America, this is how a tyrannical authoritarian behaves.

Light posting this week because of busy schedule. 

But THIS is important. We now have a POTUS who interferes through his AG with the courts. This is how totalitarian regimes operate.

Wake up America!

Trump Continues Attack on Federal Case Against Friend

President Trump threatened to sue “everyone all over the place” involved in the special counsel inquiry and continued public attacks on the case against his associate Roger J. Stone Jr.

UPDATE:

Judge Unwilling to Delay Stone Sentencing Amid His Retrial Bid

...........................


A reader emailed this to me:


"One thing that Donald Trump and his supporters need to understand. A jury does not have to consist of only people that support Donald Trump, in order to be "fair". 

An investigation does not have to consist of people that voted for Donald Trump in order to be "fair".  
Just because someone says something critical of Donald Trump does not make it a "hoax" and does not make them un-American. 

 Just because someone states a fact that Donald Trump disagrees with does not make it false. 

 This bullshit needs to cease."

***************************

And for petty, tin-pot, insecure, weak P.O.S.POTUS, we have this:

LISTEN TO OUR FOUNDING FATHERS

George, John, James, Thomas, Benjamin, Alexander, and John Jay sing,

"DON'T LET DEMOCRACY DIE!"

The Mob Boss Presidency

So this is where we are now: 

 Trump trashed and threatened a Purple Heart recipient, LTC Vindman, who honorably served his country, for answering a subpoena and telling the truth under oath. Now we have the Liar-in-Chief interceding in a criminal trial for a slimey political dirty trickster, Roger Stone, a swinger and political goon who's done Trump's own dirty work for him. 

This is what happens when a minority of Americans elects a liar, cheat, and a fraud. 

 Expect nothing honorable from Trump or his corrupt AG. They are profaning our democratic republic inch by inch. The only people America sends to prison for too long are those who have no money and no connection. Roger Stone has both. 

 Roger Stone and Trump are vengeful people, and Barr is Trump's lapdog. Believe nothing Barr says. They all got caught cooking up a deplorable scheme because four honorable federal prosecutors quit their jobs at the DOJ in protest of the interference by Trump and his lackey AG, Barr. 

Thank goodness for Judge Jackson. Even she was threatened by Roger Stone, while Trump tweet- threatened the jury's foreperson. 

 There is an awful lot of fear in this country right now. Republicans quake in their boots for fear of what this snake of a president will say about them, so they turn a blind eye to all of his illegal behavior. Career civil servants, seeing what happened to LTC Vindman -- and there may be more yet to come for that honorable man -- are terrified of speaking out. Everyone, down to career prosecutors and even National Archives staff, are self censoring to avoid any potential confrontation with Trump. 

The worst part is there is no one to turn to for protection anymore. We have no DoJ, because it is in on the con game, and protecting the mob boss in the Oval Office People wonder how democratic countries can slip into authoritarianism. 

 We are seeing the answer to that in real time.