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What? Trump Will Talk About The Future Of The Republican Party At CPAC?

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According to a source, Donald Trump will be “talking about the future of the Republican Party and the conservative movement” at this week’s CPAC conference in Orlando, Florida. It seems the former-occupant-of-the-White-House will be taking time off from his usual weekend of golf to address what some have called “the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world.”

It should be a neat trick, considering how the Republican Party is, well, … dead!

The Republican Party, as we knew it, entered its death throes five years ago when it decided to hitch its fortunes to a narcissistic, two-bit con man. It ceased being a major political party when it passed up the chance (twice!) to rid itself of an incompetent, criminal buffoon through impeachment.

What we have today is the Party of Trump or, as Prince might have put it, “the party formerly known as the GOP.” If there is any doubt, just look at some recent surveys showing Trump’s strength among Republicans.  In a Suffolk University/ USA TODAY poll, by a whopping margin of 46%-27%, Republican voters say they would abandon the GOP and join the Trump party if he decided to create one. Their loyalty is obviously to the man, not to a 167-year-old political organization.

Cindy McCain said the other day that the Republican Party is still up for grabs, predicting that her moderate wing of the GOP could mount a comeback.

“Our side, it’s swung way to the right. It’ll come back. It’ll come back” said McCain.

Sorry, Cindy, but I don’t think so. If there ever was a civil war among Republicans, that war is over.

Moderates like McCain, along with others such as Romney, Collins and Murkowski might want to remain blind to the fact that their beloved party is now the Party of Trump but, when you have an establishment group like CPAC rolling out the red carpet for a man who fomented a violent uprising against the Capitol, who still insists the 2020 election was stolen from him … and CPAC will no doubt cater to Trump’s fantasies … you know the GOP of old is kaput.

If anything, today’s Republican Party, if you still want to call it that, is the party of Green, Boebert, Jordon, Gaetz and the like.

Unlike McCain, I predict old-time conservatives will eventually face the facts (and their consciences), see their party has been irretrievably hijacked by Trump and his band of “wacko birds”, leave the party to declare as independents, or perhaps start a third party.

The Party of Trump seems to be here to stay for the foreseeable future (too late, Mitch … it’s a long way down from that tightrope!).

Photo | cnn.com

Trump Defense Lawyers Celebrate Victory They Had Nothing To Do With

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In true Trumpian fashion, Trump’s defense lawyers are taking credit for something they had no hand in … the Senate’s acquittal of their client on impeachment charges.

“We’re going to Disney World,” Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen joked to reporters following the trial. He was later photographed fist-bumping a colleague.

The whole world knows (as I guess so did Trump’s lawyers) that the fix was in and that their presence at the impeachment trial was nothing more than legal window-dressing. They could not lose no matter what baseless, whacked-out, bogus defense they came up with.

There was no way 17 Republican senators were going to join 50 of their Democratic colleagues to reach the two-thirds vote needed to convict Trump.

Trump’s defense lawyers did not have to be articulate, competent or prepared. It didn’t matter. They just needed to show up.

Because the Senate’s verdict was a forgone conclusion, House impeachment managers were wise not to bring in witnesses. Why further delay the inevitable? The case they presented against Trump, even without witness testimony, was open and shut. Just ask Mitch McConnell!

I wonder if Trump’s lawyers ever bothered to read the reviews of their “lawyering?” Because of their bumbling, buffoonish efforts, “My Cousin Vinny” trended on Twitter.

Of course, that is an insult to Vincent LaGuardia Gambini who won his case after winning over an impartial, some might even say hostile, jury!

Photo | Alex Brandon/AP/inquirer.com

Maybe What Democrats Need Is A Mitch McConnell?

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I can’t stand the guy. Yet, I’m in awe of his genius … his evil genius. Machiavelli has nothing on old Mitch McConnell.

There he was yesterday accusing Donald Trump of being guilty as sin just moments after voting to acquit him of what Liz Cheney called the greatest “betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

In a devastating takedown rivaling the closing arguments made by the House impeachment managers, McConnell tore into Trump for his “disgraceful dereliction of duty” saying, “There is no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.” 

So how could McConnell not vote to convict Trump? 

Here is where the evil mastermind’s cleverness comes in. Mitch voted to acquit Trump because he didn’t believe the Senate had the power to convict a president out of office. Of course, we all know that scenario came about only because McConnell refused to hold the Senate impeachment trial while Trump was still in office. Sheer brilliance!

McConnell knew that the only way his Republican colleagues could vote against convicting Trump was on technical grounds, no matter how phony, as the facts of the January 6 Capitol riot were never really in dispute. So, McConnell provided the cover … and 42 of his fellow Republican comrades, voting to give Trump a pass, wrapped themselves in the warm blanket of Mitch’s duplicity.

But McConnell’s speech after the Senate’s acquittal vote showed even more of his shrewdness.

It has been reported that McConnell wants Trump gone and out of the way. But he could not let his fellow Republicans do the job for fear of angering Trump’s loyal base. 

“President Trump is still liable for everything he did while in office,” McConnell said. “He didn’t get away with anything yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country.”

There you have it. Let someone else (state attorneys general, the Justice Dept) do the dirty work!

While Trump might be the most corrupt president in U.S. history, can there be any doubt Mitch McConnell is among the more cunning, devious political leaders ever to hold public office?

Photo | AP Photo/Susan Walsh/dcist.com

No, Republicans Are Not Afraid Of Trump … They’re Scared Of His Lynch Mob

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Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in the Senate starts tomorrow. The prevailing sentiment is that the Republican senators will vote to acquit Trump because of what the vindictive man-who-once-occupied-the-White-House might do to their political careers if they go against him.

I’m thinking it’s much more basic than that. What Republican senators are most afraid of is for their own personal safety. They do not want to stir up that hornet’s nest otherwise known as the MAGA mob.

Trump’s supporters, many of whom have said they would defend Trump to the death, are not shy about threatening the safety of any Republican who turns on their hero or doesn’t acquiesce to his wishes.

If you remember, many in the Trump-inspired horde that stormed the Capitol on January 6 were looking for Mike Pence. More specifically, they were looking to hang Mike Pence! And what was the otherwise bootlicking VP’s offense? He refused Trump’s request to break the law by trying to stop the Electoral College vote count.

Speaking about his Republican colleagues the day of the impeachment vote in the House, Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) said, “The majority of them are paralyzed with fear. I had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues last night, and a couple of them broke down in tears — saying that they are afraid for their lives if they vote for this impeachment.”

So, because of Trump’s goon squad, we are no longer a nation regulated by laws, and the Constitution, but one governed by mob rule?

Some have suggested the Senate should take its vote through a secret ballot.

Robert Reich tweeted recently, “February vote in Senate on whether to convict Trump should be a secret ballot in order to (1) protect safety of senators, and (2) allow them to vote their consciences. Same protections as jurors in most trials. Senate Dems could do this with 51 votes.”

Yes, that might work, Bob, but it’s not going to happen.

While Senate rules provide for a secret ballot, if 20 Republicans vote against such a move, it’s a no-go. In other words, if only one-fifth of the chamber wants the vote to be public, it will be public. End of story.

Also, what are the chances that such a vote would remain private? Slim is the first word that comes to mind.

As Philip Bump writes in the Washington Post, “But it is also almost certain that a number of senators who think Trump deserves to be found guilty will instead vote to acquit out of fear of political — or physical — repercussions. There’s no secret ballot that can change that.”

I agree with Mr. Bump, but I’m betting the physical overshadows the political.

Photo | cnn.com

Trump Hires Top D.C. Law Firm After Exodus of Current Legal Team

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Reprint from moronmajority.com

With little more than one week before the start of his impeachment trial in the Senate, Donald Trump’s entire legal team has quit.

But, with the kind of swift action Trump has come to be known for, the Washington D.C. law firm of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe has been hired to take up his defense.

It is believed the firm’s senior partner, Mr. Cheatem, will personally head Mr. Trump’s legal efforts.

When asked how he plans to defend the former, now twice-impeached president, Mr. Cheatem offered a very basic, elemental strategy.

“We are going to impress upon the Republican Senators who will control Mr. Trump’s fate, ‘If you wish to remain in office, you must not f**k us’.”

With such a brilliant, yet simple, legal strategy, is there any wonder why Dewey, Cheatem & Howe is D.C.’s premier law firm?

Photo | britannica.com

*moronmajority.com is a satirical site … seriously!

Trump’s Post-Presidency Priority Is To Work On Election Integrity! (No, This Is Not Satire)

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I have to admit, it was a challenge writing satirical pieces about Trump and his administration over the last four years. What started out as an attempt at light-hearted humor often ended up as Trumpian reality.

The highlight of my efforts to make fun of the-man-who-no-longer-occupies-the-White-House was a story I wrote about Trump’s deranged pardons. The article was titled, “Trump Pardons Charles Manson.” 

What made that story memorable was that it was picked up by then-presidential candidate Marianne Williamson who did not realize it was “fake news.” She tweeted to her 2.8 million followers, “There is something deeply sinister about Trump pardoning Charles Manson, even posthumously. Dog whistles of the very worst possible kind …”

The brouhaha that arose over Williamson’s faux pas made its way into many media outlets. The story even found its way into Jimmy Fallon’s monologue on the Tonight Show! Williamson withdrew her candidacy weeks later. Coincidence? Ha!

So, when I read an article today in the very conservative townhall.com, titled, “Key Advisor Reveals Trump’s Post-Presidency Plans,” I was shocked to learn just what those plans were! In any other publication the linking of Trump with election integrity would, no doubt, be parody.

Here is part of the very real piece written by Beth Baumann:

Now that President Donald Trump has left the White House, many Americans are wondering what he plans to do next. There have been rumors about him starting a new political party, known as the Patriot Party. But, according to one of his key advisors, Jason Miller, Trump plans to focus on something bigger and far more important: election integrity.

Just one day after boarding Air Force One with the Trump family on their venture from Washington, D.C. to Mar-a-Lago, Miller told “Just the News AM” that the former president has a couple of goals over the next few years, including “winning back the House and the Senate for Republicans in 2022 to make sure that we can stop the Democratic craziness.”

“You’re also going to see him emerge as the nation’s leader on ballot and voting integrity,” he said.

According to Miller, Trump wants to focus on voter integrity but that work will never take place in Washington, D.C. because Democrats don’t believe there is a threat to America’s elections. Instead, Trump is likely to work with individual states and state legislatures to create reforms. 

If you have the time, read the comments of some of Trump’s more ardent supporters. The belief that Trump had the election stolen from him, and that he is right to fight for “fair elections,” is all too real to those wackadoodles.

Sorry, President Biden, but there can never be normalcy again in our great country until a writer’s attempt at political satire is no longer at his peril.

Photo | Forbes.com

We Won The Cold War, Right?

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When Vladimir Putin invested a small fortune to try and get Donald Trump elected in 2016, he knew he might be flushing his rubles down the crapper.

But with Russia’s help, Trump shocked the world and won the presidency (well not the popular vote but the antiquated Electoral College vote).

Now that Trump is about to leave office, it’s safe to say Putin could never have imagined how successful his investment to smear Clinton and promote Trump would turn out to be!

And while Trump did not win a second term, for Vladimir, the chaos, division, violence and mockery Trump wrought on the United States is priceless, far outweighing the billions spent on conventional weaponry like nukes, tanks and planes.

But we did win the Cold War, right?

Photo | nbcnews.com

No Unity Is Possible Until Republicans Renounce Their Support Of The “Big Lie”

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During today’s impeachment hearing, many House Republicans called for national unity. A good number of those Republicans are the same ones who fanned Trump’s false claim that the presidential election was stolen from him … that Joe Biden was not the lawfully elected next president of the United States.

How can we come together as a nation when nearly 70% of Republicans believe the “Big Lie?”  How can we move on with the business of the country when a large number of Republican representatives and a handful of senate Republicans are still peddling the “Big Lie?” How can we restore faith in our democracy, and the Constitution, when 197 out of 207 Republican House members refused to honor their oath and vote for Trump’s impeachment?

Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern, chair of the House Rules Committee, said today during his closing remarks, “We will never have unity without truth and also without accountability.”  He chided his Republican colleagues for their hypocritical pleas for unity.

 “Some of my Republican friends have been trying to lecture us about unity here today — unity after they voted to overturn a free and fair election in the United States of America, but also preaching unity and not acknowledging that for four years many of them gave oxygen to Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories,” McGovern said. 

The fact is that a majority of Republican voters firmly … and fervently … believe the election was rigged. They accept the false notion that Trump votes were not counted or somehow changed to Biden votes. They believe scores of dead people voted for Biden. Many are pledging to never accept or acknowledge Joe Biden as their duly elected president. 

It will be hard to dissuade these Trump voters of the many conspiracy theories fed them by Trump and his willing accomplices … Congressional Republicans and right-wing media outlets. Many believe so strongly in the “Big Lie” that they traveled miles to be part of the mob that stormed the Capitol last week, some claiming they were the true patriots willing to die for their country and the Constitution.

A necessary first step in bringing about national unity is for us all to be on the same page when it comes to the essential truth about the 2020 election.

The 2020 presidential election was “the most secure in American history.” This assessment was put out in a joint statement by the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Those Republican senators (I’m looking at you Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley) and House Republicans (yes, you Jim Jordon and Mo Brooks) need to do the right thing and speak the truth to those misguided and misinformed Republican voters. Fox News has to do some soul searching and try to walk back some of its loyal viewers from the ledge. They all have to own up to their role in spreading the “Big Lie” which led directly to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. 

I know, I know, keep dreaming!

The said truth is that even if this were in the realm of possibility, it might not be enough to get through to those ardent Trump loyalists who would no doubt brand any Republican who dares tell the truth, and attack the “Big Lie,” as a traitor or a RINO. 

Yet, do you see any other way?

Photo | AP/J.Scott Applewhite

Trump’s Seditionists Include Both The Poorly Educated And The Highly Educated

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We all know a good chunk of Trump supporters aren’t very bright. One might say they’re not the sharpest tools in the shed.

During Wednesday’s storming of the U.S. Capitol by the MAGA mob, many were seemingly unaware they were committing a crime. They thought of themselves as patriots. They entered the building maskless, making themselves easily identifiable. They posted to social media photos and videos of themselves breaking the law. Really, how dumb can one be!

Some are already facing immediate consequences for their actions such as being fired from their jobs.  And in the not-too-distant future, many will be arrested and charged with a whole host of crimes, including: seditious conspiracy, damage to federal property, use of explosives, crossing state lines to commit a crime … just to name a few.

As abhorrent as those ill-informed and misguided seditionists may be, they occupy a lower rung on the ladder of despicableness than those more intelligent traitors who know better than to try and subvert the workings of our democracy.

Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz are two United States senators with impeccable educational pedigrees. Both brag of their education as constitutional lawyers — Cruz at Harvard, Hawley at Yale. 

Both Hawley and Cruz know that their attempt to stop the certification of the Electoral College vote count, making Joe Biden president, was against the Constitution. They both know that Trump’s false claims of election fraud went nowhere in the courts, even when they came before judges Trump appointed.

Yet the two Ivy Leaguers have been blinded by raw ambition. Both have their sights set on the 2024 presidential race. Each wants to be the heir to Trump’s rabid base.

Their votes on Wednesday to overturn the results of the Electoral College were made even more loathsome as they came after many of their fellow Republican senators backed down from challenging after the mob of rioters stormed the Capitol, forcing evacuations.

While many on both sides of the aisle are blaming Hawley and Cruz for helping to foment the destructive riot … with some even calling for their resignations … will they pay a price like the one being paid by the more poorly educated MAGA crowd?

Yes, it’s just quite possible. Hawley’s hometown newspaper, The Kansas City Star, issued an editorial accusing him of having blood on his hands. The Dallas Morning News denounced Cruz for abetting sedition and inspiring pro-Trump rioters by resisting Biden’s victory. 

Of course, it’s just as possible Hawley and Cruz’s disgraceful gambits may carry them to the front of the line of possible Republican presidential contenders in 2024.

Photo | nationalreview.com

Turns Out The Party Of “Law And Order” Believes In Neither

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As far back as I can remember, Republicans have been the party of “law and order.” At least that is how they billed themselves starting back in the days of Nixon. 

A popular bumper sticker of the time, directed at the 60’s anti-Viet Nam war protesters, was “America … Love It Or Leave It.” If you were a patriot, you supported the unjust and senseless war. If you were for ending the bloodshed, you were an anti-American, unpatriotic commie anarchist.

As was brilliantly depicted in the movie The Trial of the Chicago Seven, the protesters were the real patriots of the time, not Nixon and his attorney general who sought to imprison those protesters simply for exercising their First Amendment rights.

On Tuesday, at least 11 GOP senators and as many as 140 House GOP representatives have vowed to vote against certifying Joe Biden’s Electoral College win. This act can only be seen as a clear attempt to overturn the vote of the American people and is nothing short of sedition.

As stated by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D), “This pathetic, opportunistic stunt is an attack on our democracy. It’s un-American & unconscionable. Votes have been counted, recounted, certified, & all challenges totally discredited.”

When it comes time for arguments at the January 6th meeting of the Electoral College, Democrats need to take off the gloves. They need to call those Republicans who refused to follow precedent, and the Constitution, what they are … un-American, unpatriotic, seditionists.

Shamefully, Mike Pence, who will be presiding over the Electoral College vote, has stated, through his spokesperson, that he “welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence before the Congress and the American people.”

As Paul Rosenberg recently noted in salon.com, “Fundamentalism and authoritarianism pushed the Republicans from low-grade mendacity into a threat to democracy.” 

Democrats need to forcefully stand up for our democracy on Tuesday. They need to get over this silly idea of making “nice-nice” with the opposition and reaching out across the aisle. Those that would teardown American democracy, and the United States Constitution, are traitors of the first order.

It would be refreshing to see at least one Democrat rise on Tuesday and throw back to his Republican colleagues that infamous 60’s argument, “America … love it or leave it.”

Photo | washingtonpost.com

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