Trump era: Fascist dawn, or road to liberation?
- Thread starter Cosmos
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Opinion Tom Luongo
Trump's timidity is letting Comey off the hook -- Sott.net
Tue, 04 Dec 2018 19:22 UTC
Mueller's Flynn Memo Disappoints Resisters: No Jail Time, Collusion
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David Stockman
You can't build the Empire and drain the Swamp at the same time. That's because the Swamp is largely the fruit of Empire. And it's also the reason that the Donald is being rapidly undone.
Indeed, it is the Empire's $800 billion national security budget which feeds Washington's vast complex of weapons suppliers, intelligence contractors, national security bureaucrats, NGOs, think tanks, K-street lobbies, so-called "law" firms and all-purpose racketeers. It's what accounts for the Imperial City's unseemly and ill-gotten prosperity.
It goes without saying that the number one priority of these denizens of Empire is to keep the gravy train rolling. That is accomplished by inventing and exaggerating threats to America's homeland security and by formulating far-flung and misbegotten missions designed to extend and reinforce Washington's global hegemony.
As we demonstrate elsewhere, a true homeland security defense budget would consist of the strategic nuclear triad and modest conventional forces to defend the nation's shoreline and air space; it would cost about $250 billion per year plus a few $10 billion more for a State Department which minded its own business.
So the $500 billion difference is the fiscal cost of Empire, which is pushing the US toward an immense generational fiscal crisis. But it's also a measure of the giant larder that fills the Swamp with the projects and busywork of Washington's global hegemony.
In fact, it is the vasty deep of that $500 billion larder which gives rise to the forces that not only thwart the Donald's desire to drain the Swamp, but actually enlist him the cause of deepening its brackish waters.
Moreover, these missions encompass far more than direct military occupations, such as in Afghanistan and Iraq; or indirect aggressions, such as in Washington's arming of anti-government terrorists in Syria and facilitating and supplying Saudi Arabia's genocidal bombing campaign in Yemen; or even the kind of rank provocation implicit in the 29,000 troops Washington still bivouacs on the Korean peninsula 65 years after the war there ended and the thousands of US and NATO forces which conduct virtually constant maneuvers and war games on the very borders of Russia.
OFAC And Washington's Economic Sanctions Strike Force
Beyond the Empire's purely military dimension lies a vast stratum of economic and financial warfare. The US currently has sanctions----trade, financial and proscribed nationals---on more than 30 countries including highly visible alleged malefactors like Russia, Iran and North Korea---but also Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Syria, to name a few.
These sanctions are enforced by an office in the US Treasury Department, which is aptly named the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). Being openly in the business of controlling the assets of foreign countries, in fact, its name speaks volumes about the daily purposes of the Imperial City.
In addition to enforcement actions against the above named three dozen countries, OFAC's global reach has been fantastically expanded by the so-called war on terror, and the mechanism of sanctioning "Specially Designated Nationals" or SDNs.
We are here talking about individual citizens and officers of foreign countries, one at a time. It so happens that the OFAC periodically publishes a list of SDNs and the latest one (May 24, 2018) is a staggering 1,132 pages long. By our reckoning it lists in excess of 500,000 foreign evil doers of one type or another.
The fact that it takes 221 pages just to get through the "A's" in its alphabetical listing---owing to the prevalence of Ali's, Abdul's, and Ahmed's----is perhaps indicative of the nature and scope of Washington's SDN dragnet.
Needless to say, sanctioning 500,000 foreigners generates endless make-work for the denizens of the Swamp and the phalanx of national security agencies and private contractors which employ them. But it's all in a day's work in the Empire because this list exists only by virtue of Washington's self-appointed role of global policeman and hegemon of global order.
Moreover, the list now encompasses far more than the Abdul's and Ahmed's arising from the Imperial City's misbegotten "war on terror". In truth, the latter has actually been a hatchery of terror in the form of blowback and vengeful retaliation for Washington's military devastation of the Middle East and elsewhere.
Nevertheless, there are also thousands of Russian, Iranian and Chinese names on this list owing to Washington's putting a hex on certain disapproved behaviors and policies of these nations. And many tens of thousands more names appear for the sin of not compliantly observing Washington's sanctions on third-parties with which they had wished to do business.
That is, OFAC is now into a higher level of economic warfare: Sanctioning those who fail to sanction the sanctioned.
Here's the thing. Almost none of this busywork of Empire has anything to do with the safety and security of the American homeland.
It is the fruit of middle eastern interventions and occupations which should never have happened--- going all the way back to the first Gulf War and all that followed.
Indeed, it goes back even further in time to Washington's siding with Saddam Hussein during the 1980s Iran/Iraq War and to the so-called Charlie Wilson's War during which the CIA recruited and armed the mujahedeen in Afghanistan against the Soviets after the latter's misbegotten invasion of the "graveyard of empires" in 1979.
It is also the fruit of a needless demonization of Russia and Putin, which , as we have seen, comprise no threat to the American homeland whatsoever; and also, increasingly, the designation of alleged Chinese malefactors for failure to enforce Washington's foreign policy.
Imperial Arrogance: Sanctioning China For Not Enforcing Washington's Economic War On Iran
The Trump Administration's recent attempt----purposeful or not---to destroy China's second largest telecom supplier (ZTE) is an hideous case in point. Once upon a time that would have been considered an act of war, but under the aegis of Empire the shoe goes on the other foot: It's China's fault, apparently, that ZTE failed to comply with Washington's hex on Iran.
In effect, the Donald is getting sucked into functioning as another handmaid of Empire rather than actually performing the noble work of draining the Swamp. After all, the essence of draining the Swamp boils down to shrinking the state and unleashing the energies of free market capitalism--including generation of more export to the rest of the world.
But in the ZTE case, Trump and his neocon and warhawk advisors were doing just the opposite.They had slapped an edict on US telecom component and software suppliers like Qualcomm, prohibiting them from engaging in acts of trade with China's #2 telecom equipment manufacturer and the #4 mobile phone provider in the world.
That is, they were about the business of pumping the Swamp full with even more busybody regulation and bloat---and once again bamboozling the Donald with phony threats to national security.
In this case, ZTE apparently violated "sanctions" put upon Iran and North Korea by the Empire in its self-appointed role of global policeman.
That's right. There have been no charges that ZTE has "stolen" American technology or subsidized exports to the harm of American cell phone factories----because, well, there are none left.
The Chinese state-owned company's only alleged offense, in fact, was not functioning as a complaint enforcement arm of Washington's foreign sanctions strike force.
But threatening to bring daily production at ZTE to a halt because it cannot (in the short-run) make cell phones without those designed-in Qualcomm parts, the Donald was also in danger of putting the kibosh on American production, jobs and leadership in the high technology components end of ZTE's business.
Since ZTE sits on a giant mountain of debt, however,the Chinese had no choice in the near term except to bend over and request Washington's bar of soap. To that end, in fact, they are now negotiating the complete housecleaning of the company's board and top executives and replacing them with names satisfactory to Washington.
Indeed, when this compromise settlement with China was announced a few months ago, we learned that the Donald had told his "friend" President Xi Jinping that in return for letting ZTE off the sanctions hook, Washington would be happy to collect a $1.3 billion fine and take control of company's board and management!
But here's the thing. ZTE is not only a state-owned company; it's also a core national technology champion in the Red Ponzi's statist scheme of economic management.
So the idea that Washington should control ZTE is flat-out idiotic, yet it stems 100% from the Empire's hex on Iran and North Korea----a futile, destructive exercise in the sanctions game which never should have happened in the first place.
As we have frequently explained, Iran should be free to conduct a foreign policy of its own choosing in its own middle eastern neighborhood; and that if we got the machinery of war and empire out of the way, the Koreans---north and south---would readily find a way to denuclearize, demilitarize and economically reunite.
And yet that's not the half of it. The Donald's doddering Secretary of Commerce and former crony capitalist thief, Wilbur Ross, explained to bubble vision at the time of the July deal that "compliance" would be assured by placing an entire squadron of Washington operatives inside the company on a permanent basis to makes sure it does not again violate Washington's sanctions and other edicts.
That's right. Wilbur proposes to run China's giant state telecom company from the Commerce Department Building on Constitution Avenue.
That's draining the swamp?
Well, at least there is some irony---surely not intended----in proposing to control a communist state industrial behemoth from Constitution Avenue.
Then again, through the largesse of the state and the Fed's Bubble Finance, Wilbur Ross became a self-proclaimed billionaire, like his boss.
So how would either have a clue about draining the real statist Swamp?
China Trade Deal---Recipe For A Big Washington Trade Nanny
And that get's us to the Donald utterly wrong-headed pursuit of an overall "trade deal" with China---a prospect that has the far-flung agencies and contractors in the Imperial City giddy with anticipation. It would simply mean a whole new regime of economic meddling, trade management, bureaucratic enforcement and sanctions for not measuring up.
It would also have the meters running overtime at Washington's law firms and consultancies, which would be over-run with demand from Chinese companies and state agencies seeking help with "compliance".
The fact is, America doesn't need no stinkin' trade deal with China.
Yes, as we have seen, we did import $526 billion last year from China compared to just $130 billion of exports. But that $396 billion deficit is due to factors that trade negotiators and enforcement bureaucrats could not fix in a month of Sundays. As we have shown, it's an artifact of bad money and the machinations of central bankers, starting with the Fed.
So even though China doesn't import much, it's not mainly owing to its high tariffs or its labyrinth of non-tariff barriers. Instead, it results from the fact that Beijing has run the People Printing Press overtime for the last 25 years and has thereby buried its economy in $40 trillion of unsustainable and unrepayable debt----debts that will eventually grind its economy to a halt or trigger the mother of all financial implosions.
In the interim, however, it won't import much because most foreign suppliers---and most especially the US---cannot compete with a state controlled economy temporarily blessed with spanking new, debt-financed capital equipment, essentially proletarian labor in a red economy and a minimal welfare state burden on businesses owing (temporarily) to favorable demographics and the stingy benefit policies of its allegedly socialist rulers in Beijing.
Thus, even if the Donald should succeed in strong-arming Beijing into tripling its current $15 billionof agricultural imports from the US and doubling its $20 billion of energy imports, the resulting $50 billion uptick in combined exports from these sectors wouldn't make a dent in the trade deficit.
And even if they do cut their tariffs on auto imports as promised, that's not going to amount to a hill of beans, either. That because a long time ago all high volume US auto producers----GM, Ford and Chrysler---recognized that taking coals to Newcastle was the better part of wisdom.
That is, they all moved their assembly plants and their parts suppliers to China where they face capital and labor costs that are only a fraction of those in the US. Accordingly, there is not a snowball's chance in the hot place that US based production----other than perhaps in the case of tiny volumes of niche or prestige vehicles---can compete in China's 30 million unit auto market.
In fact, autos and parts exports to China currently amount to less than $5 billion, and there is no reason to believe there is much upside at all---even with a zero tariff.
Even when it comes to the heavy capital equipment made by Caterpillar or the advanced commercial aircraft supplied by Boeing-----these US suppliers are doing a increasing share of their production and valued added in their own or JV plants in China, not Peoria and Seattle.
And as to most consumer goods, fuggetaboutit!
On the other hand, the Donald doesn't have a clue about the other side of the equation---the $526 billion of annual US imports from China. That baleful fact, however, is the legacy of 30 years of monetary central planning by the Fed, not cheating by the Chinese.
The essence of the Fed's false prosperity trick was to enable American households to live beyond their means by raising their debts by nearly 6X to $15.6 trillion during the last three decades---- even as wage and salary incomes grew by only 3.7X.
The difference essentially reflected unearned consumption borrowed from the economic future, but also on the margin was supplied by goods emanating from the far lower cost factories of the Red Ponzi.
At the same time, as we have seen, the Fed's insensible pursuit of 2.00% inflation essentially inflated the cost-price-wage structure of the US economy, and at the very worst time imaginable: That is, after Mr. Deng's early 1990's pronouncement that it is "glorious to be rich" and its adoption of mercantilist, credit fueled, state-driven economic development model.
In a word, China was draining its rice paddies of cheap industrial labor, thereby driving the global labor cost curve downward---at the very time that the geniuses in the Eccles Building did their level best to inflate the nominal wage levels of US factories in the opposite direction. The result was that the borrowed consumption of the American household sector got supplied by the peasantry-turned-factory worker in the Red Ponz1.
So, is some kind of Imperial City fostered "trade deal" going to alter these deeply embedded historical legacies?
No, they will not---that is, at least not until sound money policies are once again replanted in the Eccles Building.
The arrival of Janet Yellen in tie and trousers at the helm of the Fed, however, means that the one chance the Donald had to do something meaningful about the China trade gap has been blown.
That's not only owing to the appointment of Jerome Powell, who is a Keynesian Imperial City lifer, but also due to the constant drumbeat of suggestion from the White House that the Donald is a "low interest man" and would prefer to keep the monetary status quo in place; or more recently, has even demanded that the Fed cut an interest rate target that is still negative in real terms..
So why is the Donald wasting his time and fueling growth of Imperial Washington via his "art of the deal" dueling with President Xi?
In part, of course, that's because the Donald has been a life-long dyed-in-the-wool protectionist---a virtual paragon of 18th century mercantilism.
Needless to say, protectionism and mercantilism are the health of the Swamp because they rest on government-to-government deals, not the enlightened self-interest and mutual benefits of capitalist commerce.
Accordingly, the central pillar of the Donald's economic policy----new bilateral "trade deals"--- is inherently designed to fill the Swamp, not drain it.
In the first place, if the Red Suzerains are economically benighted enough to figuratively throw rocks into their own harbors to repel imports and to subsidize exports with cheap credit, repressed wages and other state subventions, guess what?
It's their wealth being penalized, not America's. The Red Ponzi is effectively sending foreign aid to America!
Technology Protectionism----Trojan Horse Of The Warfare State
And it is here where the Imperial City has taken the Donald by the short orange ones. The Warfare State sees trade as just another venue of battle-----and in this case based on the completely spurious notion that China's alleged theft of US intellectual property is a threat to national security.
That just patent nonsense because nearly every technology in today's world is dual use. So if you start with the false premise that China has the will and capability to threaten America militarily---either now or in the relevant future----you are automatically embarking down the road of state control of the economy and an ever deeper Swamp in the Imperial City.
The fact is, the Red Ponzi is a giant house of cards that cannot survive in the long-run, and in the mid-term is completely dependent of US markets to earn the dollar surpluses that it needs to keep its $40 trillion tower of debt from having a crash landing.
So the truth is, it doesn't matter what technologies the Chinese have----they are almost definitionally not a threat to the American homeland. Nevertheless, the Donald's glandular protectionism plays right into the hands of the Washington hegemonists.
They now have him busily attempting to administer a trade spanking to China because purportedly it does not buy enough American soybeans, LNG and Ford Explorers.
But the Deep State has something far bigger in mind. Namely, the complete control of trade in the name of national security in the new age of advanced information technology---and on that front the Donald is turning out to be a battering ram beyond their wildest dreams.
For instance, here is what a true Swamp creature has to say about the matter. Mr. Paul Rosenzweig is apparently a Republican but actually a certified denizen of the Imperial City.
“I knew what was critical in 1958 — tanks, airplanes, avionics. Now, truthfully, everything is information. The world is about information, not about things,” said Paul Rosenzweig, who worked with CFIUS while at the Department of Homeland Security during President George W. Bush’s second term. “And that means everything is critical infrastructure. That, in some sense, means CFIUS really should be managing all global trade.”
Needless to say, the misbegotten China Trade Deal is only one of the many avenues by which the Empire has enlisted the Donald in the business of deepening the Swamp, not draining it. Source: Contra Corner
The author is a prominent American politician, businessman, publicist and author. He was Ronald Reagan's Budget Director, and a congressman from Michigan. He is a frequent commentator on the major financial TV networks on the state of the economy. You could describe him as America's financial conscience and scold - and he's been doing it for 40 years, he famously broke with Reagan over his budget-busting ways.
He writes frequently about the perversity of US policy towards Russia, and we reproduce his work here when he does. See the full archive of his articles on RI here.
WATCH: Full video of heated Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Democratic leaders Schumer and Pelosi over border security and a potential government shutdown https://cnb.cx/2UAf7Sf
Oh, and this Spoof: Strong language
Meanwhile:
CBP on Twitter
#CBP officers in Puerto Rico seized 163lbs of cocaine found inside an inbound container from the Dominican Republic. The estimated street value of the narcotics is $1.8M: http://bit.ly/2QJBtBU
Oh, and this Spoof: Strong language
Meanwhile:
CBP on Twitter
Something that has been bothering me is that, the ONG Pueblo sin Fronteras, had been manipulating people, to make the heck of a trip to the border, as if they (migrants) hadn't had enough in their country, I'm talking about the common people, not the ones whom try to be clever.
On the other hand,
---
Saw the video between President Trump and Democratic leaders Schumer and Pelosi over border security, even though, I'm not sure what stance I have with the wall (having encountered feelings), for me was too obvious that, the democrats did not gave in just because they did not feel like it, like spoiled child being resented ... nor that Trump behave better at the end, threatening to shut down the goverment, buf! with the bunch of kids leading the country ...
https://www.rt.com/news/446325-migrants-demand-reparations-border/ said:
On the other hand,
I hope it turn out for the better to every country involved.https://es.sott.net/article/64019-Posible-acuerdo-migratorio-entre-EEUU-Canada-y-Mexico said:
---
Saw the video between President Trump and Democratic leaders Schumer and Pelosi over border security, even though, I'm not sure what stance I have with the wall (having encountered feelings), for me was too obvious that, the democrats did not gave in just because they did not feel like it, like spoiled child being resented ... nor that Trump behave better at the end, threatening to shut down the goverment, buf! with the bunch of kids leading the country ...
If someone wants to watch the House Oversight Subcommittee Hearing on the Clinton Foundation, here's the link to c-span's live coverage:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?455872-1/house-oversight-subcommittee-hearing-clinton-foundation
I believe it started half an hour ago, at 2pm (ET), Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton now making his opening statement.
Not holding my breath that this will lead to anything, but we'll see...
https://www.c-span.org/video/?455872-1/house-oversight-subcommittee-hearing-clinton-foundation
I believe it started half an hour ago, at 2pm (ET), Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton now making his opening statement.
Not holding my breath that this will lead to anything, but we'll see...
I caught the last half hour with the tax bounty hunter pair. It was rather entertaining. I'm going to watch the whole thing (speeded up) starting with our man Tom.
Bombard's Body Language did the Trump/Schumer/Pelosi presser. A very unhappy pair, especially since just before it started,Pelosi was bragging about how 'open and transparent' the current Congress is to the press. Then it was "Do we have to discuss this in front of the cameras?" I nearly snorted my coffee.
Body Language – Government Shutdown Trump, Pelosi & Schumer
Bombard's Body Language did the Trump/Schumer/Pelosi presser. A very unhappy pair, especially since just before it started,Pelosi was bragging about how 'open and transparent' the current Congress is to the press. Then it was "Do we have to discuss this in front of the cameras?" I nearly snorted my coffee.
Body Language – Government Shutdown Trump, Pelosi & Schumer
Judicial Watch: Hillary Clinton Files New Answers Under Oath about Email System – Used It for the ‘Purpose of Convenience’ - Judicial Watch
DECEMBER 14, 2018 Snip:
(Washington, DC) –Judicial Watch announced today Hillary Clinton submitted additional written answers under oath about her email system. Clinton testified that she used the controversial email system for the “purpose of convenience.” Clinton initially objected and refused to answer the questions but was ordered to do so last month by U.S. District Court Judge G Emmet Sullivan.
The court ordered Clinton to “[D]escribe the creation of the clintonemail.com domain name and the decision to set the domain up on the existing server, the date it was decided to create the domain and set it up on the existing server, who made those decisions, and when the domain became operational on the existing server.”
Clinton answered under oath:
Subject to and without waiving the forgoing objections, Secretary Clinton answers as follows: As Secretary Clinton prepared in late 2008/early 2009 to serve as Secretary of State, she was aware that President Clinton’s office had set up an e-mail system, but she had no role in this process. Secretary Clinton knew that President Clinton’s staff had recently upgraded that system. Secretary Clinton does not know what equipment that system used, how it was created, who decided that the system needed to be upgraded, or who else had accounts on the system. Secretary Clinton believes that one of the President’s aides, Justin Cooper, set up the system. Secretary Clinton decided to use a clintonemail.com account on the system for the purpose of convenience. Secretary Clinton recalls that the clintonemail.com account was created in early 2009. Although Secretary Clinton does not have specific knowledge of the details of the creation of the account, the “domain,” or the “domain name,” her best understanding is that Mr. Cooper set it up.
The Russia Investigations: A Case Still Unproven
December 15, 20187:01 AM ET
Editor's Note: This story has been edited to make it clear that it is analysis and that the allegations of the Trump campaign conspiring with the Russians remain unproven.
angelburst29
The Living Force
Speculation: MUCH ...
December 18, 2018 - Chris Matthews predicts Trump could Resign 'In The Coming Weeks'
Chris Matthews Predicts Trump Could Resign ‘In The Coming Weeks’
December 18, 2018 - How House Democrats can save democracy and the rule of law: Impeach Donald Trump ASAP
How House Democrats can save democracy and the rule of law: Impeach Donald Trump ASAP
But likely Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said multiple times that she opposes starting an immediate impeachment inquiry. “Impeachment doesn’t fit into the equation until we hear what Robert Mueller says,” she told The New Yorker. “If the evidence from Mueller is compelling, it should be compelling for Republicans as well, and that may be a moment of truth,” she said in a New York Times Magazine interview.
In other words, the country has to wait for the special counsel's Russia report and maybe even for the Republicans to concur with it before she’ll allow an impeachment inquiry.
This would be a mistake. Even the hard right expects impeachment proceedings now. As Steve Bannon put it, “It’s very simple, November 6, up or down vote on the impeachment of Donald Trump.” And there might not be much of a country left if we wait for Mueller’s Russia report.
Trump has committed innumerable impeachable offenses not involving Russia collusion, right out in public. He continues daily to launch impeachment-worthy broadsides that are chipping away at the country’s democratic institutions and the rule of law.
Trump’s offenses unrelated to Russia collusion include relentless obstruction of justice in the form of attacks on Mueller, the Justice Department, FBI, the media, former attorney general Jeff Sessions (fired), former FBI director James Comey (fired), and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein; dangling of pardons for former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former personal lawyer Michael Cohen; writing a false statement for Donald Trump Jr. about the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting; and promising a “warlike posture” in response to any House investigation, including using the Senate to retaliate.
“If we allow presidents to block, tamper with, and destroy the machinery of justice that is aimed at them, we do so at our peril," Elizabeth Holtzman, a member of the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate, wrote in Salon. The rule of law will "go up in smoke," she said, and "we will find ourselves on the road to tyranny.”
Stop Trump before democracy fades
We don't need proof of Russia collusion to hold Trump accountable for refusing to call Russia to account for its cyberattacks during the 2016 election and since then and his role in the illegal payment of hush money to two women in order to influence the 2016 election.
In Watergate, the House Judiciary Committee completed a comprehensive impeachment inquiry, drafted articles of impeachment and approved them — all before the special prosecutor completed his work.
Pelosi has said that impeachment proceedings would be divisive. We’re already divided, and destruction of our democracy would divide us irreparably. The House has to act before Trump finishes wrecking our democracy.
The presumptive speaker wants to focus on pursuing an ambitious legislative agenda. That won’t get far with block-everything Mitch McConnell running the Senate and a budding authoritarian in the White House. In any event, the House can do more than one thing at a time, and the top priority is the impeachment inquiry, which the House can pursue to conclusion regardless of McConnell.
Good reasons to impeach even if Senate resists
The House also needs to start an impeachment inquiry now so it can pick up the pieces if Mueller is fired, or take up the slack if Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker constricts Mueller.
Many suggest impeachment by the House would waste everybody’s time because the two-thirds majority necessary to convict in the Republican-controlled Senate will never be achieved. That’s putting the cart way before the horse. We can’t predict what the Senate will do after a thorough House impeachment inquiry (eventually including Mueller’s findings), which will play nonstop for months on national television. More than half the public disapproves of Trump's job performance and that will climb as the revelations mount. Republican senators at some point will have to take note.
But say for argument’s sake that the Senate doesn’t convict. What then? As incoming House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler said recently, even if Trump is not convicted, impeachment “may in fact be necessary and successful at saying, in effect, ‘You have violated the constitutional order, you are threatening the constitutional order, you will stop threatening the constitutional order. You will stop threatening the rule of law.’” In addition, the revelations that emerged in the impeachment inquiry would be of great interest to voters in deciding whether to remove him in 2020.
The House should initiate an impeachment inquiry as soon as the new Congress is sworn in.
December 18, 2018 - Mike Huckabee Says Donald Trump Tires His Staff Out Because He's Like A 32-Year-Old
Mike Huckabee Says Donald Trump Tires His Staff Out Because He's Like A 32-Year-Old
Mike Huckabee acknowledged Monday that the turnover of staff at President Donald Trump’s White House is likely “a little higher than normal.”
However, the former Arkansas governor and frequent Trump booster has put the staffing turmoil down in part to Trump’s “vigor of somebody who’s about 32 years old.”
“This is a tough president to work for, and not because he’s a difficult person individually, but he is very demanding and very few people can keep up with him,” Huckabee said on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria.”
Huckabee, whose daughter Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the White House press secretary, also attributed the revolving door of aides in Trump’s administration to it being “under siege.”
“It’s attacked by the Democratic Party, it’s attacked by virtually every political operative in the nation, and it’s especially attacked by members of the press,” Huckabee said. “So it makes doing a job very difficult because of all the distractions. And I think people just grow weary of it.”
December 18, 2018 - Former Trump adviser Flynn to be sentenced for lying to FBI
Former Trump adviser Flynn to be sentenced for lying to FBI | Reuters
A judge will decide on Tuesday whether former national security adviser Michael Flynn should be sent to prison for lying to the FBI in a case stemming from an investigation into possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s election campaign team and Russia in the run-up to the 2016 vote.
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn departs after a plea hearing at U.S. District Court, in Washington, U.S., December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
December 18, 2018 - Chris Matthews predicts Trump could Resign 'In The Coming Weeks'
Chris Matthews Predicts Trump Could Resign ‘In The Coming Weeks’
-
- MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said Monday that President Donald Trump could resign as part of a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller.
Matthews said Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump could be the “next dominoes to fall” in the investigation and could face prosecution and possible prison time.
Then, he speculated:
“But what if the prosecutor were to offer the president an alternative. What if he were to say he would let the children walk if the old man does the same? That would mean giving up the presidency in exchange for acquittals all around ― not just for himself, but for all his kids.”
He said Trump may have to take a page out of the book of former Vice President Spiro Agnew, who resigned in 1973 as part of a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison time in a tax evasion case.
“Leverage the office while you still have it,” Matthews advised.
“So let’s watch the probable events of the coming weeks bring all this to a breaking point,” he said. “It is going to be historic.”
December 18, 2018 - How House Democrats can save democracy and the rule of law: Impeach Donald Trump ASAP
How House Democrats can save democracy and the rule of law: Impeach Donald Trump ASAP
But likely Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said multiple times that she opposes starting an immediate impeachment inquiry. “Impeachment doesn’t fit into the equation until we hear what Robert Mueller says,” she told The New Yorker. “If the evidence from Mueller is compelling, it should be compelling for Republicans as well, and that may be a moment of truth,” she said in a New York Times Magazine interview.
In other words, the country has to wait for the special counsel's Russia report and maybe even for the Republicans to concur with it before she’ll allow an impeachment inquiry.
This would be a mistake. Even the hard right expects impeachment proceedings now. As Steve Bannon put it, “It’s very simple, November 6, up or down vote on the impeachment of Donald Trump.” And there might not be much of a country left if we wait for Mueller’s Russia report.
Trump has committed innumerable impeachable offenses not involving Russia collusion, right out in public. He continues daily to launch impeachment-worthy broadsides that are chipping away at the country’s democratic institutions and the rule of law.
Trump’s offenses unrelated to Russia collusion include relentless obstruction of justice in the form of attacks on Mueller, the Justice Department, FBI, the media, former attorney general Jeff Sessions (fired), former FBI director James Comey (fired), and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein; dangling of pardons for former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former personal lawyer Michael Cohen; writing a false statement for Donald Trump Jr. about the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting; and promising a “warlike posture” in response to any House investigation, including using the Senate to retaliate.
“If we allow presidents to block, tamper with, and destroy the machinery of justice that is aimed at them, we do so at our peril," Elizabeth Holtzman, a member of the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate, wrote in Salon. The rule of law will "go up in smoke," she said, and "we will find ourselves on the road to tyranny.”
Stop Trump before democracy fades
We don't need proof of Russia collusion to hold Trump accountable for refusing to call Russia to account for its cyberattacks during the 2016 election and since then and his role in the illegal payment of hush money to two women in order to influence the 2016 election.
In Watergate, the House Judiciary Committee completed a comprehensive impeachment inquiry, drafted articles of impeachment and approved them — all before the special prosecutor completed his work.
Pelosi has said that impeachment proceedings would be divisive. We’re already divided, and destruction of our democracy would divide us irreparably. The House has to act before Trump finishes wrecking our democracy.
The presumptive speaker wants to focus on pursuing an ambitious legislative agenda. That won’t get far with block-everything Mitch McConnell running the Senate and a budding authoritarian in the White House. In any event, the House can do more than one thing at a time, and the top priority is the impeachment inquiry, which the House can pursue to conclusion regardless of McConnell.
Good reasons to impeach even if Senate resists
The House also needs to start an impeachment inquiry now so it can pick up the pieces if Mueller is fired, or take up the slack if Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker constricts Mueller.
Many suggest impeachment by the House would waste everybody’s time because the two-thirds majority necessary to convict in the Republican-controlled Senate will never be achieved. That’s putting the cart way before the horse. We can’t predict what the Senate will do after a thorough House impeachment inquiry (eventually including Mueller’s findings), which will play nonstop for months on national television. More than half the public disapproves of Trump's job performance and that will climb as the revelations mount. Republican senators at some point will have to take note.
But say for argument’s sake that the Senate doesn’t convict. What then? As incoming House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler said recently, even if Trump is not convicted, impeachment “may in fact be necessary and successful at saying, in effect, ‘You have violated the constitutional order, you are threatening the constitutional order, you will stop threatening the constitutional order. You will stop threatening the rule of law.’” In addition, the revelations that emerged in the impeachment inquiry would be of great interest to voters in deciding whether to remove him in 2020.
The House should initiate an impeachment inquiry as soon as the new Congress is sworn in.
December 18, 2018 - Mike Huckabee Says Donald Trump Tires His Staff Out Because He's Like A 32-Year-Old
Mike Huckabee Says Donald Trump Tires His Staff Out Because He's Like A 32-Year-Old
Mike Huckabee acknowledged Monday that the turnover of staff at President Donald Trump’s White House is likely “a little higher than normal.”
However, the former Arkansas governor and frequent Trump booster has put the staffing turmoil down in part to Trump’s “vigor of somebody who’s about 32 years old.”
“This is a tough president to work for, and not because he’s a difficult person individually, but he is very demanding and very few people can keep up with him,” Huckabee said on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria.”
Huckabee, whose daughter Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the White House press secretary, also attributed the revolving door of aides in Trump’s administration to it being “under siege.”
“It’s attacked by the Democratic Party, it’s attacked by virtually every political operative in the nation, and it’s especially attacked by members of the press,” Huckabee said. “So it makes doing a job very difficult because of all the distractions. And I think people just grow weary of it.”
December 18, 2018 - Former Trump adviser Flynn to be sentenced for lying to FBI
Former Trump adviser Flynn to be sentenced for lying to FBI | Reuters
A judge will decide on Tuesday whether former national security adviser Michael Flynn should be sent to prison for lying to the FBI in a case stemming from an investigation into possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s election campaign team and Russia in the run-up to the 2016 vote.
angelburst29
The Living Force
Now, things are a little clearer ...
* Pelosi and Schumer's staged Oval Office drama to make Trump look like a fool ...
* Pressure exerted on Trump over a possible Government shutdown ... ... where Pelosi (again) made a total A$$ out of herself ...
* Dragging out the "Impeach Trump" slogan's - pressuring Trump - to step aside "to save Democracy" ...
* All the staged theatrics, hoping to pressure Trump in not exercising his plans (since Day One) of pulling US Troops out of the Middle East ... starting with Syria ...
December 19, 2018 - US politicians slam Trump’s decision to pull troops out of Syria
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...-trumps-decision-to-pull-troops-out-of-syria/
A Pentagon (unidentified) Official has acknowledge Troop withdrawal from Syria but no Press releases from General Mattis or top Pentagon Brass. VP Pence is silent - no word in backing up Trump's position? No official statements by John Bolton?
December 20, 2018 - US to also end Air War against Islamic State in Syria: officials
U.S. to also end air war against Islamic State in Syria: officials | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria also signifies an end to the U.S. air campaign against Islamic State there, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Trump’s surprise decision on Wednesday to completely withdraw U.S. troops from the country triggered criticism from some Republicans and concern from America’s allies.
An end to the U.S. air war will likely heighten fears that Islamic State, which has lost almost all of the territory it once controlled, could be given space to regroup.
The announcement of a withdrawal of troops on the ground had not necessarily meant an end to the air war since, unlike ground troops, major U.S. air assets are not based in Syria and instead fly into the country from nearby nations. The U.S. air operations center for the air war is located in Qatar.
The U.S.-led air war has been critical to rolling back Islamic State and keeping pressure on the militant group in Iraq and Syria, with more than 100,000 bombs and missiles fired at targets in the two countries since 2015, according to Air Force data.
U.S. officials told Reuters that the timing of the end of the air campaign would be linked to the withdrawal of the U.S. forces but declined to set a date for when that would happen.
U.S. air assets are essential not only for offensive strikes against militants but also to defend U.S. troops on the ground. That role, known as “force protection,” will be paramount to ensuring an orderly and safe exit by American forces from Syria.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans strongly criticized the move, saying they were not briefed ahead of time and that the move strengthened the hand of Russia and Iran, which both support Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told Reuters that U.S. commanders on the ground are also concerned about the impact of a quick withdrawal and were surprised by the decision.
Trump’s move also drew criticism from some U.S. allies, including Britain and France, which said Islamic State militants had not been defeated and that its troops would remain in Syria.
Trump defended his surprise decision to declare victory over Islamic State militants in Syria and completely withdraw. In early morning tweets, Trump said he was fulfilling a promise from his 2016 presidential campaign to leave Syria.
* Pelosi and Schumer's staged Oval Office drama to make Trump look like a fool ...
* Pressure exerted on Trump over a possible Government shutdown ... ... where Pelosi (again) made a total A$$ out of herself ...
* Dragging out the "Impeach Trump" slogan's - pressuring Trump - to step aside "to save Democracy" ...
* All the staged theatrics, hoping to pressure Trump in not exercising his plans (since Day One) of pulling US Troops out of the Middle East ... starting with Syria ...
December 19, 2018 - US politicians slam Trump’s decision to pull troops out of Syria
https://www.almasdarnews.com/articl...-trumps-decision-to-pull-troops-out-of-syria/
A Pentagon (unidentified) Official has acknowledge Troop withdrawal from Syria but no Press releases from General Mattis or top Pentagon Brass. VP Pence is silent - no word in backing up Trump's position? No official statements by John Bolton?
December 20, 2018 - US to also end Air War against Islamic State in Syria: officials
U.S. to also end air war against Islamic State in Syria: officials | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria also signifies an end to the U.S. air campaign against Islamic State there, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Trump’s surprise decision on Wednesday to completely withdraw U.S. troops from the country triggered criticism from some Republicans and concern from America’s allies.
An end to the U.S. air war will likely heighten fears that Islamic State, which has lost almost all of the territory it once controlled, could be given space to regroup.
The announcement of a withdrawal of troops on the ground had not necessarily meant an end to the air war since, unlike ground troops, major U.S. air assets are not based in Syria and instead fly into the country from nearby nations. The U.S. air operations center for the air war is located in Qatar.
The U.S.-led air war has been critical to rolling back Islamic State and keeping pressure on the militant group in Iraq and Syria, with more than 100,000 bombs and missiles fired at targets in the two countries since 2015, according to Air Force data.
U.S. officials told Reuters that the timing of the end of the air campaign would be linked to the withdrawal of the U.S. forces but declined to set a date for when that would happen.
U.S. air assets are essential not only for offensive strikes against militants but also to defend U.S. troops on the ground. That role, known as “force protection,” will be paramount to ensuring an orderly and safe exit by American forces from Syria.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans strongly criticized the move, saying they were not briefed ahead of time and that the move strengthened the hand of Russia and Iran, which both support Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told Reuters that U.S. commanders on the ground are also concerned about the impact of a quick withdrawal and were surprised by the decision.
Trump’s move also drew criticism from some U.S. allies, including Britain and France, which said Islamic State militants had not been defeated and that its troops would remain in Syria.
Trump defended his surprise decision to declare victory over Islamic State militants in Syria and completely withdraw. In early morning tweets, Trump said he was fulfilling a promise from his 2016 presidential campaign to leave Syria.
