To Impeach, Or Not To Impeach?

Tags

Donald Trump, Impeachment

You all may have noticed that Washington D.C. since late last week, has been rocked by #Whistleblowergate. If you haven’t been following me long and wonder what my feelings are, the above graphic might provide a hint. You may be surprised that until now I actually have been resistant to calls for impeachment. Although I personally think the Mueller Report provided ample evidence of obstruction of justice, for me it wasn’t worth tearing this country further apart. Now however, things have changed. As evidenced from the summary of Mr. Trump’s phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, it’s obvious that he was dangling the release of foreign aid in return for reopening the investigation into Joe Biden and his son. This. Is. Not Normal. You do not extort a foreign government’s aid in digging up dirt on a potential presidential rival. And it’s obvious that officials who were privy to the conversation know this as well given how hard they’ve worked to cover it up. In my humble opinion, Nancy Pelosi had no option but to start an impeachment inquiry. But don’t take my word for it. If you haven’t already, please read the rough transcript and the whistleblower’s complaint.

Transcript:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/25/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-transcript-call/index.html

Whistleblower Complaint: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/26/us/politics/whistle-blower-complaint.html

 

Mr. Smith, er, Comey Goes To Washington

Tags

Congressional Hearing, Donald Trump, James Comey

There were so many great quotes from former FBI Director James Comey today during his much anticipated Congressional hearing, but here are a few of my favorites.

In regards to why he began keeping a written record of his meetings with Mr. Trump, Comey responded,

I was honestly concerned he might lie about the meetings.

Addressing Mr. Trumps repeated defamation of the FBI,

Those were lies. Plain and simple.

…I am so sorry that the FBI workforce had to hear them and I’m so sorry that the American people were told them.

When asked if he had any doubts about Russian interference in the election,

There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever. The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle.

Telling Congress that he shared a memo with a friend describing a meeting with Trump in hoping it would be shared with the press, he explained he didn’t directly leak it because,

I was worried it was like feeding seagulls at the beach.

 

Revealing that he was forced to cancel a date night with his wife, to attend the infamous “loyalty” dinner with Trump, Comey added regretfully,

In retrospect I love my wife I would rather have been at dinner with her.

When Comey was asked how he interpreted Mr. Trump’s  comments about letting Michael Flynn go during their private dinner in February, Comey replied,

…It kind of rings in my ears as, ‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?’

And here’s my absolute favorite. In response to Mr. Trump’s threatening tweet that Comey better hope there are no “tapes” of their conversations,

Lordy, I hope there are tapes.

Yes, I’ll be getting the t-shirt!

This Isn’t America

Tags

Donald Trump, Immigration, Religious Freedom

Emma Lazarus: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free…

Donald Trump ~ Unless you’re Muslim.

Trump’s Views On Heroes

Tags

Donald Trump, Heroes, J.K. Rowling

I’m trying to refrain from doing too many posts about Trump, because let’s face it, we’re stuck with him for at least four years. When I saw the interview he gave to Michael Gove of the Times of London over the weekend though, I knew I had to share this part of it. 

Wait…What? I immediately wanted to go to the nearest wall and start banging my head against it.  How do you even form a rational response to this? Well thankfully, J.K. Rowling tweeted out a perfect one this morning.

J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling)

Heroes? Me. Because I’m innately awesome, and you can’t learn this, but a bit my dad, who must have been kinda okay, cos he made me.

Fake Outrage In The Time Of Trump

Tags

Donald Trump

And here we are again. Another “bombshell” moment featuring Trump, only this time the damning words are right out of his mouth. I’m not going to repeat any of the disgusting, obscene, and vile things about women which were picked up off a “hot mic” eleven years ago. Hell, I’m not even using any pictures or gifs of him (Oops! There is that last gif, but it’s from Saturday Night Live so I couldn’t resist) because I’m planning on watching the debate in a few hours and there’s only so much of “His Orangeness” I can stomach. There are two issues here though, that I feel like I have to address. 

1. As horrible as his comments were, this was not just “locker room/boys will be boys” talk. This was a 59 year-old man chuckling about how he uses his fame and fortune to get away with sexually assaulting women. I’m sorry Trump surrogates and supporters. As hard as you may try, there is NO way to spin this. It’s because of men like this, and their enablers that there is a rape culture in this country. And trying to turn the focus from him to the Clintons isn’t going to work either. Bill Clinton isn’t running for President. And, even when you drag up his questionable sexual history, it’s a reminder, at least to me, that do we really want another Commander-In-Chief with not only a similar “problem”, but one that’s probably even worse?

2. My second issue is regarding the fake shock and dismay from people, especially those within the Republican Party and the media. I mean, honestly! Is this latest really such a surprise? Does anyone remember that on Friday he also insisted that the Central Park Five were guilty and should have been executed despite having been exonerated by DNA evidence, and being completely cleared by the justice system? It’s been perfectly clear for months, if not years, that Trump is a racist, bigoted, misogynistic, xenophobic, lying… I’m going to stop there. I’m not a psychiatrist, I’m not going to hazard a guess as to what exactly is wrong with his mental state *cough, cough, Narcissistic God Complex*, but one thing should be obvious to all of us: he will never, ever acknowledge his mistakes or misbehavior.

 

I think I’ve already said, I’m not a huge fan of Hillary’s, but for me, there’s no choice. Look, for anyone who’s reading this and is still undecided. The question is: can we survive four years of Hillary? Call me optimistic, but I give a resounding YES! Now honestly ask yourself that same question regarding Trump.

While I don’t see all voters uniting against Trump and his hateful ideology and dangerous policy ideas, I refuse to give up hope.

Stop The Presses!

Tags

Donald Trump, Humor, The Birther Movement

Holy Cow! After spending the last several years fanning the flames of the racist “Birther” movement, Donald J. Trump conceded today that President Obama was indeed born in the United States! Of course he made the statement in his own unique Donaldesque way.

 Now, not to mention her in the same breath, but Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it. You know what I mean. President Barack Obama was born in the United States–period. Now we can all go back to making America strong and great again. Thank you. Thank you very much.

I see. So, except for that little mistake about Hillary Clinton first raising the question about President Obama’s birthplace (she did not) The Donald is reassuring us that he’s actually been trying to help the President all these years. Hmm. Do you think the stage collapsing shortly before he was set to deliver his speech may have been some sort of sign from Above?

Well, regardless, now that Donald has made his pronouncement, Huzzah! We can rejoice!

The earth can keep spinning.

The sun can keep shining.

And babies can, er, smile once again.

Wait! What’s that you say? What about all his other hateful, racist, bigoted, and misogynistic ideology? Oh yeah. 

Um. Never mind!

Enough! #countrybeforeparty

Tags

Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Inflammatory Rhetoric

Y’all know I seldom wade into politics on this blog. I try instead to focus on what I know best, books. But sometimes something happens that is so beyond the pale that I feel compelled to speak out. This is one of those times. Yesterday, Donald Trump, while speaking at a rally, appeared to suggest to his supporters that they could stop Hillary Clinton by exercising their gun rights. Here’s what he said:

Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. But the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.

Now his supporters and handlers are saying he meant that they could “unify” and get out and vote. But here’s why that just doesn’t wash. As he made this comment, he was talking about what could happen if Clinton were elected, at which point the election would already be over. I don’t believe he consciously meant to encourage any of his followers to go out and shoot Secretary Clinton. The problem is, as with his “sarcastic” comment urging Russia to find Clinton’s missing emails, he doesn’t think before he speaks. While most of his supporters are perfectly sane, rational people who are just fed up with Washington politicians, there are people out there who aren’t, and could view his remarks as a call to arms. Especially when he’s also called her “a monster”, “a devil”, and most recently along with President Obama “a founder of ISIS.” And, he has commented repeatedly that if she wins it means the election was “rigged”.  In addition two politicians associated with his campaign have said Clinton is guilty of treason and should be executed. They’re playing a dangerous game that could have tragic consequences. I think most of the American people are sick and tired of partisan and corrupt politics. Most politicians realize they hold great sway over their constituents and take this responsibility seriously, but Trump and his surrogates seem to take great delight in encouraging a mob mentality. Can anyone who tuned into the Replicant Convention forget Chris Christie putting Clinton on trial accompanied by chants of “Lock her up!” by the delegates. As I watched absolutely horrified, all I could picture were the thousands of participants holding torches and pitchforks. I completely understand why Trump supporters are so eager to have an “outsider” win the presidency. But honestly, Donald Trump is not the right person. He has absolutely no self-control, and his ideas and rhetoric are dangerous to the extreme. While there have already been many prominent Republicans disavowing Trump, at some point the Republican Party as a whole needs to make a decision whether country or party is more important. 

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Donald”

Tags

Donald Trump, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Social Effect of Reading

A new study written by Professor Diana Mutz reports that American fans of the Harry Potter series not only have a lower opinion of Trump, but also finds that the books the participants read, the greater the effect. Even when factoring in political party affiliation, gender, education level, religion, and social class–all factors that are known to predict how Americans view the Republican nominee–the Harry Potter effect remained the same. When you think about it, it’s not really shocking, as Trump’s values and political views are the the antithesis of the themes of love, tolerance, and opposition to authoritarianism that are so prevalent in the books. Sadly, despite this fascinating study, in the end it’s doubtful that getting Trump supporters to read Rowling’s series would miraculously change their minds and convince them to vote for Hillary Clinton, but one can always dream!

Words of Wisdom

Tags

Donald Trump, Freedom of Speech, Humor, J.K. Rowling, Quotations

 While almost every day brings some new, cringe-worthy utterance from He Who Must Not Be Named, I thought J.K. Rowling said something that bears worth repeating during her speech last night at the 2016 PEN Literary Award Gala in NYC. Making a plea for tolerance she said: 

His freedom to speak protects my freedom to call him a bigot. His freedom guarantees mine.

So, while many of us find his words repugnant and morally reprehensible, it’s important that he continues to have the right to say them. That said, we have the right not to listen.

On The Lighter Side

Tags

Donald Trump, Hulk, Humor, Politics

C’mon. Admit it. A lot of you would pay to see this!