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There are 250 Congressional Republicans … Is There One Patriot Among Them?

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Last week’s impeachment hearings were devastating for Trump. Witness after witness testified to his scheme to extort the Ukrainian president to do his political bidding by “investigating” a company named Burisma and “the 2016 election.”

We all know now, as some of the witnesses made clear, Burisma is codeword for the Bidens and “the 2016 election” means the debunked conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, no Russia, that meddled in our 2016 elections.

And yet not one single Republican member of Congress (53 in the Senate; 197 in the House) has come out in support of Trump’s impeachment.

The closest we’ve come are a few timid souls who have stated that while what Trump did was wrong, it does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense. 

The most notable Republican to hold this view is Rep. Will Hurd, a so-called moderate from Texas who is not running for reelection.

Said Hurd:

“An impeachable offense should be compelling, overwhelmingly clear and unambiguous, and it is not something to be rushed or taken lightly. I have not heard evidence proving the president committed bribery or extortion. I also reject the notion that holding this view means supporting all of the foreign policy choices we have been hearing about over these last few weeks.”

With someone like Hurd, who many called one of the most likely Republicans to break ranks to vote for impeachment, holding firm, the prospect of any Republican doing what their oath of office compels them to do is very unlikely.

Just look at the lengths to which some Republicans have gone to defend Trump and his conspiracy theory about “the 2016 election.”

When Chris Wallace of Fox News today asked Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, “Who do you believe was responsible for the hacking of the DNC and Clinton campaign computers, their emails – was it Russia or Ukraine?” Kennedy gave the absurd and delusional answer, “I don’t know. Nor do you. Nor do any of us.”

The wagons have been circled. For Republicans, it’s defend Trump no matter the costs … to our country, to our Constitution, and to our dignity.

What’s so alarming is this lockstep support for Trump just might work. In a recent poll of independents, after the House hearings, support for impeachment has actually declined

Photo | businessinsider.com

Will Trump Pull A Nixon And Resign?

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Donald Trump and Richard Nixon have a lot in common. Trump, like Nixon did, hates to pay taxes. Also like Nixon, Trump hates the press. And, of course, like Tricky Dick, Trump is staring down the barrel of impeachment.

But the two men differ in one important way … unlike Trump, Nixon was not a moron (or a “f-ing moron” as more aptly put by former Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson).

Old Milhous was smart enough to know when to fold the tent and skip town. He could read the writing on the wall. Instead of facing an impeachment trial in the Senate, that was likely to succeed, he resigned from office. OK, it did help Nixon in his decision making that a bunch of influential Republicans told him he had to leave. That has not happened with Trump … yet.

Just within the last 24 hours, two newspapers, The Boston Globe and The Orlando Weekly, have come out with basically the same headline: Forget Impeachment, Trump Needs To Resign.

Today, during an appearance at the Texas Tribune Festival, Beto O’Rourke became the first Democratic presidential candidate to say Donald Trump should resign.

“The best possible path … is for this president to resign, allow this country to heal and ensure that we come back together with the greatest, most ambitious agenda we’ve ever faced, none of it possible while he remains in office,” the former El Paso congressman said during a conversation with MSNBC’s Garrett Haake at The Paramount Theatre in Austin.

No Republican has yet come out asking for Trump’s resignation. And in today’s highly partisan political environment, it is unlikely any will.

But I’m guessing even if Mitch McConnell, or Lindsey Graham or any other Trump enabler sat him down and read him the riot act, Trump would not go.

Trump has already indicated as much. Speaking of Nixon and impeachment, Trump said to Politico this past June, “He left. I don’t leave. A big difference.”

No. No matter how much public opinion, or Republican sentiment, turns against Trump in the coming days, he’s not going anywhere. This is a man who has never been concerned enough, or smart enough, to do the right thing.

Well, unless someone makes him a “beautiful” deal, protecting him and his family for any and all future liability!

Photo | pbs.org

 

 

 

It’s Not Too Late For Dems To Embrace “Don the Con”

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Back in 2016, when then candidate Donald Trump was vilifying Hillary Clinton at every turn by calling her “Crooked Hillary,” I suggested she return the favor by disparagingly calling him, “Don the Con.” (Hillary Needs To Rebrand Trump)

She never did.

Maybe it was that whole “when they go low, we go high” thing championed by Michelle Obama. Or maybe it’s just that Democrats are not very good at political “branding.” Whatever … Clinton missed a golden opportunity to stick Trump with a simple, hit-him-where-it-hurts nickname.

Let’s face it, Republicans are masters at the art of framing issues. They understand political marketing.

According to David Aaker, “Being able to frame the discussion by imposing a perspective that’s driven by a label is key to winning — whether it’s a divisive political argument or a tough brand battle.”

The linguist, George Lakoff, has noted that winning the framing war with respect to a brand, object, or issue will dictate perceptions, attitudes and behavior — no matter what the logic and evidence may say. Strong frames or perspectives smother and distort rational information processing.

Thanks to Republican efforts, the abortion battle is framed around being “pro life” instead of “anti-choice”; inheritance taxes are labeled “death taxes” and not the rare estate taxes few people pay; The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is branded as “Obamacare” not as a law to make healthcare more affordable.

People have short attention spans and they tend to be lazy, especially when it comes to politics. So a simple, easy to remember name or label is just good old-fashioned marketing.

Look at what has happened with Mitch McConnell being labeled “Moscow Mitch.” The name has stuck; it has gone viral. You can buy “Moscow Mitch” t-shirts and mugs online! The repeating of the too-close-to-home moniker has clearly gotten under McConnell’s skin.

Can we ever forget these nicknames: “Low Energy Jeb,” “Little Marco,” “Lyin’ Ted” or “Crazy Bernie?” No, the names stuck because they were repeated by Trump ad nauseam. This is what Democrats should do with Trump.

Democrats need to burden Trump with one simple, unflattering nickname … and stick to it. It doesn’t matter if it’s “Don the Con” or some other equally disparaging name. “Lyin’ Donnie” or “The King of Corruption” would work just as well.

The key here is for Democrats to do to Trump what he so ably does to them … keep repeating the demeaning nickname until it sticks in people’s subconscious … and in Trump’s craw!

Photo | punchingbagpost.com

For Trump, And Republicans, Not All “Invasions” Are Of Equal Concern

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The word “invasion” has been much bandied about lately. For Trump and his allies, it refers to the hordes of brown-skinned people seeking to illegally enter our country. For our intelligence community, it’s about Russia’s attack on our country’s 2016 presidential election, and its continuing efforts to do so in 2020.

The thing about all this “invasion” talk is that one is 100% real; the other is 100% made up.

Russia did attack our country in order to help elect Trump. The crisis along our southern border is not one of forced entry but one of desperate people fleeing for their lives hoping to find asylum and safety in the U.S.

But even if you buy the Republican talking point that we have an “invasion” of dangerous people along our Mexican border, it seems not all “invasions” are created equally.

For Trump and his Republican lackeys, the two “invasions” are being treated entirely differently. For one, you do all you can to build a wall; for the other, you graciously open the front door.

There is no doubt Russia attempted, and succeeded I would say, to get Donald Trump elected president. But Republicans in Congress are just peachy keen with all that … so much so that they are, in effect, welcoming a repeat performance in 2020.

Mitch McConnell, aka “Moscow Mitch,” who, as leader of the Senate, has the power to do something about preventing a second assault on our elections, is refusing to even bring up bipartisan election security bills.

Heck, Donald Trump has had the chutzpah to publicly state he would welcome foreign interference in our next presidential election!

So where have Trump and his Republican handmaidens focused their “invasion” efforts? On the real or the fake?

Yep, they’ve been focused on building a costly, and useless, wall along our southern border; on throwing destitute asylum seekers into cages; on discouraging other migrants, desperate enough to make the 2000-mile journey from Central America to the U.S., by separating families at the border.

Yes we have an “invasion” problem in our country. But it’s not coming from our Mexican border. It’s coming 5000 miles away from the land of Putin.

Photo | salon.com

 

For Republicans, It’s “Just Win, Baby!”

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It’s no secret Republicans play dirty when it comes to elections.  They’re smart enough to know it’s the only way they can win and hold on to the power they so desperately crave.

Literally within hours of the Supreme Court striking down key provisions of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, several Republican-controlled states passed voter suppression laws. As soon as Republicans got the chance to do so, they gerrymandered districts guaranteeing minority votes (which tend to tilt Democratic) would be diluted.

And now, just a few days after Robert Mueller testified Russians manipulated our 2016 elections and “they’re doing it as I sit here … and they expect to do it during the next campaign,” Mitch McConnell blocks election security bills from coming to a vote.

McConnell’s reasoning didn’t even try to hide his corrupt motive. Said McConnell, Democrats are trying to give themselves a “political benefit.”

Wow, now securing open and fair elections, free of foreign interference, is a partisan issue?

But the old “Grim Reaper” is absolutely right …  secure and open elections would elect more Democrats.

House Democrats need to start formal impeachment hearings without delay! No, not against Trump (although that is also necessary) but against the openly traitorous, democracy-hating leader of the Senate, “Moscow Mitch.”

Photo | Eric Thayer/ Reuters

 

Republican Winning Strategy For 2020? Wipeout Healthcare for Millions of Americans!

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It appears what Republicans could not do through the legislative process, they may pull off through the courts.

What initially seemed like a sure loser-of-a-lawsuit for Republicans, even to many conservatives, may be headed towards ultimate victory.

The 2018 lawsuit, brought by 20 Republican state attorneys general against the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or what we commonly refer to as Obamacare, was a winner at the trial stage when Texas District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled the law unconstitutional this past December.

And now, the 5thCircuit Court of Appeals appears likely to do the same.

Of course, no matter the appeals court’s ruling, the Supreme Court will make the final decision. But can one really count on Chief Justice John Roberts rescuing Obamacare … again?

If you remember, Roberts came up with a pretty nifty rationale for finding in favor of the healthcare law in 2012. Roberts upheld the law (specifically the individual mandate penalty) as an exercise of Congress’s taxing power– even though President Obama famously claimed the law was not a tax!

Then in 2017, Republicans in Congress repealed the individual mandate, which required a penalty (tax) be paid by nearly every American who did not have health insurance.

With the mandate gone, might Roberts just go along with the lower courts’ reasoning that once Congress repealed the tax penalty that enforced the mandate, the whole law became invalid?

Let’s remember, the Democrats’ huge victory in the 2018 midterm elections revolved mostly around promising to protect people’s healthcare!

If Republicans get their way and the courts strike down the ACA, along with all its popular provisions, it won’t be very pretty for them in 2020. It makes one wonder what those Republican attorneys pushing this litigation are smoking! Secretly, many Republican lawmakers are hoping Roberts saves their skins by saving the ACA.

Yes, eliminating healthcare for an estimated 21 million Americans and doing away with pre-existing conditions coverage for nearly 133 million citizens is a great election strategy … if you want to lose!

Now if only Republicans had a plan to replace Obamacare with what Trump promised, time and again, would be something  “much better” and  “much less expensive” for “everyone” (Bernie Sanders – Gee, sounds like Medicare for all!).

Photo | HuffPost.com

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No Champagne For Me This Year, Thank You

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As we are about to ring in the New Year, I’m in a sour mood. What is there to celebrate? The end of a horrible 2018 about to be replaced by an even lousier 2019?

Yes, I know, the Dems have retaken the House and are sure to investigate Trump up the wazoo. Yes, I know we may soon get Mueller’s report on the Trump-Russia investigation exposing all sorts of Trumpian crimes and misdeeds. Yes, I know even some Trump voters are beginning to see the light and moving away from their support for 45.

But something keeps sticking in my craw … what if none of this matters? What if we are stuck with another year of Trump sinking to new lows? What if Trump is around to run for reelection in 2020? What if he is reelected?

Yes the House, by a simple majority, has the power to start impeachment proceedings against Trump. But would enough Republican senators vote to remove him from office? If all Senate Democrats voted to convict Trump, they would still need the support of 20 Republicans, for a total of 67, in order to send him packing.

I am not sure that will ever happen as most Republicans have so tied their political fortunes to Trump that his demise will be seen as their demise. Trump still remains wildly popular with the Republican base. Unless Mueller reveals something truly earth-shattering, I don’t expect Trump will be made to walk the plank.

But what about Mueller indicting Trump for his crimes?

This is also unlikely. The Department of Justice has a long-standing legal opinion that sitting presidents cannot be indicted. While this is only a policy, and not settled law, Mueller is the type of straight arrow to follow such a policy.

The thought of one (or two) more year of Trump sitting behind that desk in the Oval Office makes me want to lose my lunch. Just how much more mayhem will he be allowed to inflict on our nation by those feckless, enabling Republicans? Just how much more damage can our democracy withstand before the harm done is irreparable?

So go ahead with all your New Year’s celebrating. Rattle those noisemakers. Bow those horns. Go ahead and open that other bottle of champagne. For me I’ll stick to the non-alcoholic eggnog.

Photo | topofthehill.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s GOP Is The Party Of Jefferson Davis, Not Of Old Abe

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Republicans like to refer to themselves as the Party of Lincoln.  This could not be further from the truth. In Lincoln’s day, the Republican Party was more like today’s Democratic Party. It cared about issues of social justice.

Today’s Republican Party is unabashedly stomping all over Lincoln’s legacy.

As Harold Meyerson wrote in a 2015 Washington Post article, even before the GOP became the party of Trump, the Republican Party is doing all it can to suppress black voting; “opposes federal efforts to mitigate poverty; it objects to federal investment in infrastructure and education just as the antebellum South opposed internal improvements and rejected public education; it scorns compromise. It is nearly all white. It is the lineal descendant of Lee’s army, and the descendants of Grant’s have yet to subdue it.”

Make no mistake … today’s GOP is more the party of the Old Confederacy than that of Old Abe.

Photo | National Park Service

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