January 20, 2018: Year Two of the Trump Administration Begins with Government Shut Down

 

1/20/18:  Trump begins the second year of his reign with  his government shuttered. Luckily, he still has a functioning iPhone. This means he can still issue his all-important tweets. 

____________________ 

“People have seen a year that’s incredible, that’s been filled with nothing but the best for our country, America…” 

Eric Trump

____________________ 

 

Mostly he tweets about how terrible Democrats are (ten posts since the witching hour shutdown on January 19). A second favorite topic is tweeting links to Fox News and praise of himself (seven). Two links to son Eric’s feed include effusive and unbiased praise for Dad.

“People have seen a year that’s incredible, that’s been filled with nothing but the best for our country, America…” Eric insists. 

Eric is happy because – so far – Special Counsel Mueller has not called on him to testify in the Russian investigation.

July 5, 2019: Trump Explains a Baffling Speech and Why He Hires Undocumented Workers

 

7/5/19: Reporters manage to stop Trump outside the White House and pose a few questions. Trump never holds real press conferences because he’d face tough queries and have to offer follow up. Then he’d get logic tangled in hopeless wads and have to start lying again. 

What happened with that speech, someone asks, the part where Washington “took over the airports” during the Battle of Yorktown? Well, the president admitted, rain knocked out his teleprompter. (See: 7/4/19.) 

(Trump and Fox News used to hate it when Obama used a teleprompter, and sounded articulate, and spoke in complete sentences.)

 

“That’s not a good feeling when you’re standing in front of millions and millions of people,” he added. 

Still, he said his memory was sharp as a bone saw, and his speech, it would live forever in the annals of presidential speech-making, like the Gettysburg Address, only way more creative. Luckily, he says, “I knew the speech very well so I was able to do it without a teleprompter. And it was actually hard to look at anyway because of the rain.” 

So, the part about Washington taking over the airports was in the original speech? Meaning whoever wrote the speech was a blithering idiot? 

And the person delivering it was too dense to realize immediately, that that couldn’t be right?

 

* 

ANOTHER REPORTER manages to ask the president if he realizes the Trump Organization has been employing undocumented workers for years? 

 

A way that people did business. 

“I don’t know, because I don’t run it,” the president said. “But I would say this: Probably every club in the United States has that because it seems to be, from what I understand, a way that people did business.” 

Ironically, Trump was about to board a helicopter for another trip to his Bedminster, N.J. club, where many of the undocumented worked as recently as 2018. Once the free press started interviewing workers who admitted they were in this country illegally – workers who said their employer knew they had phony papers and even helped them get those phony papers – the Trump Organization leaped into action. As the president explained, again in Gibberish, his preferred language, his clubs were now following tougher standards. “But we’ve ended – whatever they did, we have a very strict rule that, those rules are very strict [emphasis added, for fun].” 

 

* 

IT TURNS OUT, the president isn’t the only Trump who speaks the Gibberish tongue. Last January, Eric, who, along with Don Jr., now runs the Trump Organization, claimed the fact that all Trump properties seemed to have hired undocumented workers and employed them for years – well, that was a sign that the U.S. immigration system, not the Organization, was messed up. 

Eric did want to make clear. He had a heart. True, it was a Trump heart, but a heart with valves and chambers. “I must say, for me personally, this whole thing is truly heartbreaking. Our employees are like family, but when presented with fake documents, an employer has little choice.” 

Wait! 

Did he just admit there are good people who sneak into this country and don’t want to rape and kill? 

What about the monsters of right-wing fever dreams, the drug mules “with calves like cantaloupes?” What about the “animals” crossing illegally so they can join MS-13 and disembowel Americans in MAGA hats? What about the “invaders” his dad always describes: “A lot of young men, strong men. And a lot of men that maybe we don’t want in our country.” 

Was Eric admitting there were actual human beings who came across the border, people who were like “family” to him?

 

Let’s give the final word to Victoria Morales, an undocumented worker from Guatemala. She worked for the Trump Organization for years, both before the president turned over control to his sons, and after. “How can the president profess to not know we were undocumented workers if we have all [now] been fired?” she said recently. “I cleaned his house. I cleaned Ivanka’s house. He saw me all the time. I’m sure he figured I didn’t have papers.”

July 17, 2019: Trump's Border Wall Can't Keep Us Safe from Native-Born Haters, Big Pharma

 

7/17/19: Eric Trump washes up on Fox & Friends this morning. He’s there to defend his father, who is taking heat again for sounding like a racist. Young Mr. Trump insists that nearly every man, woman and child in America agrees with every word his dad says. 

“My father is in there,” Eric insists, “and he’s fighting every single day. And he has to fight against the media. He has to fight against these lunatics. And guys, I’m telling you, 95% of this country is behind him [emphasis added] in this message. I mean, people love this nation.” 

None of the hosts blink at Eric’s math. This is Fox News where no claim damaging to foes of the president is questioned. If young Trump had said Obama was known to have been a cannibal the entire time he lived in the White House, Steve Doocy’ sappy grin wouldn’t even have flickered.

 

* 

“I’m thinking two automatics with extendo clips.” 

ON THE TOPIC OF LUNATICS: Nicholas Zuckerman, 25, is one of those “95% of Americans” who agree with the president that dark-skinned people should leave the country if they don’t like everything about it. 

Mr. Zuckerman is sentenced to 15 months in prison for sending threats, via Instagram, to blow up a Harvard graduation ceremony honoring African American students. “If the blacks only ceremony happens,” he wrote in 2017, “then I encourage violence and death at it. I’m thinking two automatics with extendo clips.”  

Later that day, the young white man posted under the username “russian_goalkeeper94” This time he went with a kind of Unabomber vibe: “#bombharvard and end their pro-black agenda.”

 

As Reuters noted, “Cara McNamara, his attorney, in court said that Zuckerman had a history of mental illness. She sought to frame his threats in broader context, saying he was “operating in an environment where people every day are pushing the limits.” 

Cough, cough. 

Trump.

 

* 

ONCE ZUCKERMAN gets out of jail he should make a beeline for the First Baptist Church in Appomattox, Virginia, where he may find welcome. 

After Trump says the four dark-skinned Democratic women should go back where they came from, Pastor E. W. Lucas decides to capture the message of Jesus on the billboard in front of his church. “I thought I was going to make some remarks regarding the situation in Washington,” he told ABC News. “It just came to me … America, I love it. If you don’t love it, leave it.” 

“People that feel hard about our president and want to down the president, and down the country and everything,” he continued, “they ought to go over there and live in these other countries for a little while.” 

As one of the five percent (according to Trump Family Math) who disagree with the president and his attacks, and who believe the First Amendment always matters, I might suggest – tongue in cheek – that Pastor Lucas and Eric Trump and the three hosts of Fox & Friends go live in North Korea “for a little while.” Let them test the joys of surviving in a country where critics of the Great Leader are dispatched with flamethrowers, nerve agents and anti-aircraft guns. 

Screw it. Thrown in Howard Kurtz, too. (See: 7/13/19.)

I guess the Pharaoh could have said this, too.

 

* 

AS FOR KEEPING AMERICA SAFE, it would appear the gravest danger to our country comes not from dark-skinned, female members of Congress or dark-skinned asylum seekers arriving on our southern border. 

The real threat is from within – from drug cartels – namely the manufacturers of legal opioids, Big Pharma. 

A newly released report from the Drug Enforcement Agency finds that between 2006 and 2012, the big drug manufacturers flooded the streets of this nation with 76 billion pain pills like oxycodone and hydrocodone. That would equal 234 pills for every man, woman, and child.

August 24, 2020: "Twelve More Years!" Chant Breaks Out at GOP Convention

 

8/24/20: Miles Taylor and Elizabeth Neumann, both of whom served in the Department of Homeland Security, as gears in the machine of the Trump administration, have started a new group. The Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform (REPAIR) “will include people who work or have worked for Trump but want to elect Biden and reform the Republican Party.” How much traction they can gain remains to be seen; but at least two other veterans of this dysfunctional administration are signed on, anonymously, including one still working inside, and who expects to be fired as soon as he or she reveals support for REPAIR. 

Taylor and Neumann hope to get 20 to 40 others to join.

 

____________________ 

“The chair behind the Resolute Desk has always been bigger than any political party.” 

Michael Steele, former chair of the RNC

____________________

  

A group of 27 former GOP members of Congress, of similar mind, has announced plans to fight reelection of the president. They cite Trump’s “corruption, destruction of democracy, blatant disregard for moral decency, and [an] urgent need to get the country back on course.” 

Members of the Lincoln Project, another renegade Republican group, have a similar goal. Former RNC chair Michael Steele joined today. Steele explained his decision in words that echo Taylor and others. “The chair behind the Resolute Desk has always been bigger than any political party,” he said. “Sadly, we have witnessed its occupant devolve into preying upon fears and resentments with narcissism that nurtures only chaos and confusion.” 

Trump, of course, will play these protesters off as supporters of some “Deep State.” If we use our judgment, we might see them more accurately as men and women of integrity, still guided by love of country, rooted in principled conservatism and respect for the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.

 

* 

IN ANOTHER SAD DEVELOPMENT, for the president, another staunch supporter went down in flames this week. Jerry Falwell Jr., head of Liberty University, a most excellent Christian school, was caught in a salacious sex scandal. It was revealed that Falwell’s wife, Becki, had been having an affair with a much younger pool boy, and that while they engaged in coitus, Jerry liked to watch. 

Not a good look for the leader of a university based on faith.

Mr. and Mrs. Falwell Jr., with a pal.

 

* 

IN OTHER NEWS, the Republican National Convention is off to a rousing start. Speaking on the first night – and planning to speak four nights in a row – President Trump kicked off the celebration exactly the way you might have expected. “If you really want to drive them crazy, you say ‘12 more years,’” Trump began, as the audience chanted “12 more years!” in response. “Because we caught them doing some really bad things in 2016. Let’s see what happens.” 

He also made it clear to his rabid supporters that they had nothing to fear but the icy touch of reality. The Democrats couldn’t possibly beat him. “The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election. We’re gonna win this election,” Trump claimed. He added that he had never seen such record levels of enthusiasm for his presidency. 

On August 23, according to RealClearPolitics, the president had an average approval rating in all polls of 43.9%.

*

LAWYERS for Eric Trump are fighting a subpoena from the New York State attorney general, involving questions about the valuation of four Trump-owned properties. Like any Trump, facing investigation, Eric has called this demand for testimony a witch hunt. “This,” he whined, “is the highest level of prosecutorial misconduct – purposely dropped on the eve of the Republican convention for political points.” 

The attorney general’s office begs to differ. What investigators want to know, is did Businessman Trump, now President Trump, cheat the state on taxes, or did he cheat the banks? Maybe, both! In 1995 he bought a property called Seven Springs, north of New York City. Trump paid $7.5 million. By 2014, when seeking a bank loan with which he hoped to buy the Buffalo Bills, his company placed a value on Seven Springs of $291 million. Four years later, on an ethics form required of the president under federal law, the property was valued at $50 million. 

Lower value, lower taxes.

February 14, 2021: GOP Senators Explain Impeachment Vote

 

2/14/21: Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump spend Valentine’s Day tweet-celebrating their dad’s “great win” in his second impeachment trial. 

A few of the senators who voted to acquit make clear. They did so while pinching their nostrils, or on the lame pretense that Trump could no longer be impeached once he was out of office.

 

____________________ 

“The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president.” 

Sen. Mitch McConnell

____________________

  

Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is strongest in condemnation, weakest in performance: 

There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking. No question about it. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president. And having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting [emphasis added unless otherwise noted] into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.”

 

This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories orchestrated by the outgoing president, who seemed determined to either overturn the voters’ decision or else torch our institutions on the way out.

 

Sen. Shelly Moore Capito emphasized that her vote was “solely” on the constitutional question, while adding: “The actions and reactions of President Trump were disgraceful, and history will judge him harshly.” 

My own Ohio senator, Rob Portman, explained: “I have said that what President Trump did that day was inexcusable because in his speech he encouraged the mob, and that he bears some responsibility for the tragic violence that occurred.” 

Sen. Dan Sullivan: “I condemn former president Trump’s poor judgment in calling a rally on that day, and his actions and inactions when it turned into a riot. His blatant disregard for his own Vice President, Mike Pence, who was fulfilling his constitutional duty at the Capitol, infuriates me.” 

John Thune: “My vote to acquit should not be viewed as exoneration for his conduct on January 6, 2021, or in the days and weeks leading up to it. What former president Trump did to undermine faith in our election system and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power is inexcusable.” 

You could argue that those five Republican senators could easily have, and should have voted to convict.

 

A second group of Republicans also found fault with Trump’s behavior in the wake of the November 3 election: 

Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota admitted, “The Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol were appalling, and President Trump’s remarks were reckless, but based on the evidence presented in the trial, he did not commit an impeachable offense.” 

He voted to acquit. 

Sen. Charles E. Grassley said House managers failed to prove Trump incited the riot. Still, “This does not excuse President Trump’s conduct on and around January 6 of this year.” 

(So, Trump did incite the riot? Or he didn’t?) 

 

Sen. Tom Cotton is a wimp. 

Sen. Tom Cotton, who dreams nightly about running for president in 2024, offered a notably wimpy response: “It was ill-advised to have a large rally on the day that Congress was meeting to certify electors after so much contentious litigation and controversy about the election results.” 

Yes, I think the family of Officer Sicknick who was killed will agree that it was “ill-advised” to stir up thousands to storm the Capitol Building.

 

(Disgusted by the comments of people like Rep. Greene, that the rioters on January 6 were really not Trump supporters, I began looking up the records of the people who have faced arrest. As of March 2022, I have examined information on 615 cases. As anyone with a brain might have guessed, these people were Trump supporters and proud to say.)