Michael Cohen says Trump is not joking about staying in office for more than 2 terms

This is serious and frightening. I have been writing about this repeatedly. By Paul LeBlanc, CNN Updated 12:44 AM ET, Thu September 10, 2020 (CNN) President Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen said Wednesday evening that Trump isn’t joking when he floats the notion of attempting to stay in the White House beyond two terms. “Donald Trump believes that he should be the ruler — the dictator of the United States of America. He actually is looking to change the Constitution. When Donald Trump jokes about 12 more years … he is not joking. Donald Trump does not have a sense of humor,” Cohen told CNN’s Don Lemon on “CNN Tonight.” “So I want you to understand that when he says 12 more years, if he wins he is going to automatically day number one start thinking how he can change the Constitution for a third term, and then a fourth term, like what he said to President XI and like what he said to so many other people. It’s why he admires the Kim Jong Uns of the world.” Even during an uphill reelection campaign, the President has repeatedly advanced the idea of a third term while also looking to sow doubt in the integrity of November’s election. “We are going to win four more years,” Trump said at a rally in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, last month. “And then after that, we’ll go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years.” Expanding on his warning against reelecting Trump on Wednesday, Cohen went on to describe the White House as “like a cult” with a culture that forbids anyone from challenging the President. “Not only is the Trump Organization like a cult, but so is the White House,” he said. “Anybody that wants to work there, God forbid you say something wrong. God forbid you do something wrong. You’re fired. That’s exactly why there have been so many people coming in and out of the administration. I think he set all sorts of records. He likes records. Well, he certainly set the record for the most people in and out of the administration.” Pressed on how Trump has been able to command loyalty within the Republican Party, Cohen offered: “Because he is a cult leader.” “And people somehow follow him. Why? I don’t know why. I did it when I had my daughter, my wife, my son continuously telling me, ‘Stop, we don’t want you to work for him. Quit, you don’t need to work for him. What are you doing? The things that you are doing are morally wrong. You lost your moral compass, wake up.” His comments come one day after the release of his book where he unleashes on the President as “a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man.” Cohen had been a vocal surrogate for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign before he pleaded guilty in 2018 to tax fraud, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations for facilitating hush money payments to two women who alleged past affairs with the President. Trump has denied having affairs with the women. When pleading guilty, he implicated the President, telling a federal judge that he had made the payments “in coordination with and at the direction of” Trump, who prosecutors identified in court filings as “Individual 1.” “If you look at the end of the book it’s really a call. It’s a warning call to anybody who is reading the book. Put the Visine in your eyes, clean your eyes out and see that Donald Trump cares for no one or anything other than himself. So he doesn’t care if your family member dies as long as it’s not him. He doesn’t care about anything other than himself and this election,” Cohen said Wednesday. “And he is willing to sacrifice your life so he has four more years.”

Is there a Reason to Vote for Joe Biden?

“Mr. Trump, you want to talk about fear?” Biden asked last Monday.

“Do you know what people are afraid of in America? They’re afraid they’re going to get Covid. They’re afraid they’re going to get sick and die, and that is in no small part, it’s because of you.”

Joe Biden’s only chance of winning the election on November 3 is to convince voters that Trump’s mismanagement of the virus spread and the collapse of the economy is reason enough to deny him another four year term.

The collapse of the economy is a consequence of the spread of the disease. If there had been no virus Trump would be repeating over and over the claim that the low unemployment and the high stock market is the result of his management of the economy.

Joe Biden would be left with only two campaign issues. Donald Trump is a racist and social justice for all Americans.

On this Labor Day Biden accurately bemoans the loss of jobs in Pennsylvania and other rust belt states but that is not an issue caused by the Trump presidency. Factory job losses are an issue that is decades old. Businesses have been moving jobs overseas to save money. There is no way Joe Biden or Donald Trump can bring those jobs back to America.

I recently bought a new computer, printer, and a webcam. The computer was assembled in Mexico from parts made elsewhere. The printer was made in Thailand. The webcam was made in China. My new undershorts were made in Honduras.

Do you actually believe any of those items will ever be made in the United States in a future time?

Trump’s loss of the election will likely be the result of his own ineptitude and a set of beliefs and ideas that are not in tune with most Americans. His lack of respect for the military and his support of right wing conspiracy groups are his biggest Achilles heels. His push for a vaccine before election day will only bring cheers for his loyal supporters.

Biden’s loss of the election will likely be the result of his lack of specific ideas on how to help the economy recover and White fear of a minority invasion.

On the subject of social justice Joe Biden was one of 95 senators who voted for the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. From FactCheck.org “Biden, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, largely wrote and shepherded through the legislative process. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 received bipartisan support at the time but has been criticized for some of its provisions, such as mandatory minimum sentencing, and its impact on mass incarceration.”

That law “grants to increase police presence, to expand and improve cooperative efforts between law enforcement agencies and members of the community to address crime and disorder problems, and otherwise to enhance public safety.” That law put people in jail for drug use rather than rehabilitation.

It was none other than Kamala Harris, in the first primary debate, who pointed out that Biden opposed school bussing as a way of encouraging integration.

Social justice, better paying jobs, a racially integrated society. Great ideas but I would not count on Joe Biden to make those goals a reality.

Biden’s campaign says he is doing just what a candidate should — pushing broad ideas while leaving room to negotiate the details.

This is troubling for me. What does Joe Biden stand for?

I am voting against Trump because he stands for hate, division, and destruction of the republic.

CNN Poll: Biden’s lead persists post-conventions

After two political conventions unlike any the United States had seen before (conducted with little live participation), Joe Biden maintains an advantage over Donald Trump in the race for the presidency, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.

Among registered voters, 51% back Biden, 43% Trump. The difference in each candidate’s support when compared with a CNN poll conducted pre-conventions is within the poll’s margin of sampling error.

Both candidates boosted the share of their supporters who say they are voting more for their chosen candidate than against his opponent, though that figure is still higher for Trump than it is for Biden. For Biden, it’s up to 45%, from 38% pre-conventions, and for Trump, it’s now at 77%, up from 67% before the conventions.

Other polling organizations have shown similar results. The Economist/YouGov Poll also completed September 1 shows a 51% to 40% Biden lead. The IBD/TIPP also completed September 1 indicated a Biden lead 49% to Trump’s 41%.

Of course things can change between now and November 3. An October announcement of a COVID-19 vaccine could be a game changer. Even higher numbers of COVID-19 deaths could also be a game changer. Or perhaps something else that is not on anyone’s radar.

The Buck Stops…. Nowhere

I remember well when I had my first full time job as a youth, working in the hardware department of Sears. On the store manager’s desk was a prominent sign that read, “The Buck Stops Here.” He meant it. President Truman fostered the idea years before with the famous sign on his desk and it stuck with a lot of Americans. Like many of my generation, I embraced this philosophy as a very young man and it has guided my personal and professional life ever since. Personal responsibility is a necessity, not an option. It is what built America into a great country. However, things have become a tad different.

That was then and now is now. Today it is always about the blame game. When did this country slip on its ass and fail to get back up?

– A man kills a lion but pleads it was his guide’s fault.

– A man kills another man and says it was the Twinkie’s fault.

– A man gets lung cancer and claims it was Marlboro’s fault.

– One mass killing after another and it’s always the gun manufacturer’s fault.

– A woman burns herself with hot coffee and it was McDonald’s fault.

– A teenager gets fat and claims it was Coca Cola’s fault.

– (You can fill in the list yourself from here.)

It took the U.S. government decades to finally acknowledge its responsibility for the many health problems suffered by U.S. service personnel because of Agent Orange. Even then, they tried to shove the blame off to chemical companies who made the stuff. Through the years, personal responsibility has fully given way to blame gaming and has transformed our once proud humanity into a listless mob seeking to foist our personal responsibility onto others.

In basketball, when a player makes a foul, he raises his hand to acknowledge responsibility. It’s one of the few examples left in which responsibility is openly accepted. When something goes wrong in the rest of America, the government and its people tend to just shrug and say, “The buck stops…. nowhere.” The very concept of responsibility seems to have vanished in America. Maybe we need more basketball players in government and in our society as a whole.

Responsibility cannot and should not be passed to someone or something else.

If you have an opinion on this subject, please share it here. As for my opinions, “The Buck Stops Here!”

author Allen E. Rizzi

My response:

Sadly in Trump’s world someone else is to blame. The Chinese are to be blamed for the corona virus. Past presidents are blamed for everything that is wrong in America. The media is blamed for reporting information that puts Trump in a bad light. The political polls are all formatted to report he, Trump, is behind. Loss in the November election will be blamed on millions of fraudulent ballots.

Kristen Welker of NBC asks Trump whether he takes responsibility for the lag in making test kits available.

Trump’s reply:

No.

I don’t take responsibility at all.

Hubris and the Wizard of Oz

The word is a noun meaning Excessive pride or self-confidence. Used in a sentence: Hubris leads to the downfall of many celebrities and politicians.

That is what we saw at the RNC displayed by Donald Trump. His words four years ago, “I alone can fix it” is still his opinion of himself.

His supporters are blindly supporting his view of himself.

“Empires always have the hubris to think they are indestructible, when in fact they are always unsustainable.” Marianne Williamson, former presidential candidate

“The silent killer of all great men and women of achievement – particularly men, I don’t know why, maybe it’s the testosterone – I think it’s narcissism. Even more than hubris. And for women, too. Narcissism is the killer.” Conservative James Woods, actor, producer of both movie and television programs

“Incumbent White House parties have won 10 of the last 18 presidential elections; the odds are tight, but they favor Obama in 2012. And so gloomy Democrats, check your despair; gleeful Republicans, watch the hubris.” Jon Meacham, author and former Newsweek editor

“We live in a world in which data convey authority. But authority has a way of descending to certitude, and certitude begets hubris.” Bret Stephens, Pulitzer Prize winning American conservative journalist, editor, and columnist.

The Wizard of Oz was not all powerful nor is Donald Trump. Trump has not fixed violent rioters in Portland, Oregon or Kenosha, Wisconsin. The corona virus continues to spread with about 900 new deaths daily. The economy is in shambles with 1 million new unemployment claims weekly. “Justice for all” has become a slogan not a reality.

The president is a blustering bully similar to the Wizard.

The five dumbest Republican arguments for Trump

Summary of Jennifer Rubin’s opinion piece in today’s Washington Post.

None of Republicans’ commonly deployed arguments for reelecting President Trump are tethered to reality. The paucity of logic and factual support for their rationales suggests many on the right, even “respectable” columnists and elected officials, actually support him for reasons they’re loath to admit, whether it’s because they share his apocalyptic view of crime encroaching on the suburbs or are eager to see a country purged of immigrants.

He will give us law and order: No wonder Trump loves to highlight any domestic scene of disorder, mayhem and looting he can to frighten White Americans, arguing that if law enforcement “dominates the streets,” we will have public order. This is preposterous. We cannot go to war with millions of demonstrators.

He has vanquished the pandemic: The level of delusion necessary to sustain the fiction that Trump has handled the pandemic well is unfathomable. We have more deaths due to the disease than any other country on the planet, many more deaths per capita than many advanced countries and no national testing-and-tracing program. We remain cloistered at home and children cannot attend school in person in most places after weeks of shutdowns, largely because Trumped egged officials into reopening prematurely. He has hawked dangerous and unproven remedies and pressured government health experts to weaken or change guidelines to minimize dangers and restrictions on activities. As he did Thursday night, he gathers large crowds without masks and social distancing, creating his very own potential superspreading events.

He has been great for the economy: Multiple fact-checkers have repeatedly demonstrated that the economy under President Barack Obama’s was stronger by multiple measures than the economy under Trump. (GDP growth under Obama was 2.4% and 2.5% under Trump). This disparity was due in part to tariffs Trump imposed, which amount to a tax hike for U.S. consumers. If Trump falsely thinks he inherited a rotten economy, it’s inarguable that it got worse even before he crashed it by attempting to ignore a pandemic.

Joe Biden is a socialist: Not even the Republicans have the nerve to make that argument. Instead, they argue that Biden will be tricked or led around by the nose by forces on the left. This is entirely speculative and ignores Biden’s decades-long record in office (remember the 1994 crime bill?) and policy choices during the campaign, among them his opposition to Medicare-for-all.

“Life”: One can respect those deeply opposed to abortion in evaluating the candidates, but by the same token, a president who prioritizes the economy over preventing a pandemic, rips children from the arms of their mothers, refuses to denounce killings of unarmed Black Americans and willfully declines to protect the lives of our troops on whose heads Russia placed bounties is not respectful of human life in any meaningful sense.