“The quaint notion that the job of the judge is to follow the law”

It should come as no surprise that political party viewpoint is paramount to both Democrats and Republicans. Thus it should come as no surprise that Mitch McConnell, the head of the Republican controlled Senate now says he would fill a potential Supreme Court vacancy in 2020.

Furthermore he said, “What can’t be undone is a life time appointment to a young man or woman who believes in the quaint notion that the job of the judge is to follow the law. That’s the most important thing we’ve done in the country, which cannot be undone.”

I’m speechless. We should all be horrified. The sad reality is that two of the current Supreme Court justices who are “liberals” and their likelihood of dying in the next two to six years is significant. Mitch McConnell will have the opportunity to change the Supreme Court for a generation and there is not a damn thing we can do to stop that change.

Donald Trump is likely to win a Second Term

There is no doubt that Donald Trump is the chaos president. His executive privilege refusal to cooperate with congress, his white supremacist views, and his treatment of our most valued allies are just three of his actions and words that most people find unacceptable.

There are currently 22 people running for the Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States. That is a staggering number. The Chicago Tribune listed all of them and tried in vain to tell readers why each was running. Instead the paper provided links to the candidate’s web sites.

It is difficult to deny a president a second term in office. In my life time the list of one term president’s is very short.

Jimmy Carter

There were three causes that denied him a second term. Carter served during a struggling U.S. economy that was suffering through high interest rates and inflation. The most important thing was his an unsuccessful freeing of hostages from Iran that began in November 1979 and lasted for the remaining days of his term in office.

Gerald Ford

Like Carter, he served during a period of difficult domestic economic circumstances that included stagflation, or minimal economic growth during a period of high inflation. The country also encountered energy shortages during his tenure. In 1974, Ford granted a pardon to Nixon and this is a reason cited for his failure to win re-election.

George Bush Sr.

A struggling U.S. economy was attributed to Bush’s unseating. James Carville’s “it’s the economy stupid” was the winning campaign slogan that enabled Bill Clinton to win.

Each of these one term presidents faced the same issue. The economy! If unemployment continues to be at a historic low rate (currently 3.6 % not seen since 1969) and the economy is flourishing in November 2020 Donald Trump will be a “shoe-in” to win a second term even if his behavior and words are appalling to many people.

Collusion and Obstruction of Justice

Is the joke on us?

Merriam-Webster definition: secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose.

Donald Trump’s actions meet that definition!

Does the evidence add up to a case for obstruction, even though the Mueller Report chose not to make a decision on that? Yes. “Our investigation found multiple acts by the president that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian-interference and obstruction investigations.”

President Donald Trump is saying he did not know in advance about a Trump Tower meeting between his campaign associates and important Russian officials after a CNN report said Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen claims the President knew in advance.

Robert Mueller’s investigation was obviously flawed. His entire investigation was the result of Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), after Trump asked him to “go easy” on investigating Michael Flynn. That was obstruction of justice.

Trump insisted he never had any business dealing in Moscow but the Washington Post reported The report said “While Donald Trump was running for president in late 2015 and early 2016, his company was pursuing a plan to develop a massive Trump Tower in Moscow, according to several people familiar with the proposal and new records reviewed by Trump Organization lawyers.”

President Trump says the Mueller Report was a “complete and total exoneration” — “no collusion, no obstruction.”
No. “While the report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.

Trump in 2016: ‘I love WikiLeaks,’ Trump now: ‘I know nothing about WikiLeaks’

Trump’s cozy relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin has all the earmarks of traitorous behavior.

Will Donald Trump be impeached? Probably not. Nancy Pelosi sees no purpose if the Senate will not find him guilty. His removal from office will have to be the result of the 2020 election.

Mystery of the Bully

U.S. president Donald Trump is a Bully!

From Psychology Today:
Bullying is a distinctive pattern of harming and humiliating others, specifically those who are in some way smaller, weaker, younger or in any way more vulnerable than the bully. Bullying is not garden-variety aggression; it is a deliberate and repeated attempt to cause harm to others of lesser power. It’s a very durable behavioral style, largely because bullies get what they want—at least at first. Bullies are made, not born, and it happens at an early age, if the normal aggression of 2-year-olds isn’t handled with consistency.

Studies show that bullies lack prosocial behavior, are untroubled by anxiety, and do not understand others’ feelings. They misread the intentions of others, often imputing hostility in neutral situations. They typically see themselves quite positively. Those who chronically bully have strained relationships with parents and peers. Bullies couldn’t exist without victims, and they don’t pick on just anyone; those singled out lack assertiveness even in nonthreatening situations and radiate fear long before they ever encounter a bully. Increasingly, children are growing up without the kinds of play experiences in which children develop social skills and learn how to solve social problems.

Trump’s methods to obtain the results he wants all can be connected to the behavior described in the Psychology Today answer to the question What is bullying?

Threats of closing the border to Mexico, threat of withdrawing from NATO, threat of tariffs applied to Chinese exports, threat of withdrawing from NAFTA, threatening the firing of the Federal Reserve Chairman, and so many other threats The weak cower and submit to his demands but those standing up to Trump cause him to back down.

While I do not agree with everyone who stands up to Trump, they have proven to the rest that you don’t have to surrender to his threats. Standing up are Nancy Pelosi (No, we won’t budget the money you want to build a wall), Mexico (No we won’t pay for a wall), China (We will respond with tariffs on the goods you want to ship to our country, North Korea (No, we want sanctions ended before we will negotiate), Europe (No to all of your demands), and then there is GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell who told him there will be no replacement to the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) until after the 2020 election.

Trump, in his style of never backing down always tells us that it was his decision to reach an agreement on trade with China and his decision to postpone a new health plan until after he is re-elected. Trump’s USMCA treaty with Mexico and Canada is remarkably similar to NAFTA but is a great replacement.

The question today is will the GOP grow a backbone to say NO to Trump ideas?

In just six days New Zealand banned military-style semiautomatic weapons” and assault rifles

This all happened after the killing of 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand. New Zealand is a country that holds the right to bear arms a very important freedom.

Compare that action with the United States which has the right to bear arms included in its constitution.

The following chart from the Los Angeles Times.

There has been no ban on ownership of assault weapons in the United States.

Twelve Republican Senators who honored Their Pledge

The issue is do you support the United States Constitution, as you swore to do when you became a senator, or do you support a president who believes he has the power to do as he wishes?

Meet the 12 GOP senators who honor their allegiance to the Constitution and voted to terminate Trump’s national emergency:

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
The retiring Tennessee lawmaker said that he supports the president on border security but that the emergency declaration sets a dangerous precedent. “His declaration to take an additional $3.6 billion that Congress has appropriated for military hospitals, barracks and schools is inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution that I swore an oath to support and defend,” Alexander said in a statement Thursday ahead of the vote.

The three-term senator, who is also a member of the Appropriations Committee, announced last December that he would not run for re-election in 2020.

Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri
Blunt is a senior Appropriations member and the only one in Senate GOP leadership to support the termination measure. He has previously raised concern about the precedent it would set. Blunt was re-elected to a second Senate term in 2016. (He served several terms in the House before running for Senate in 2010.)

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine
Collins co-sponsored the resolution out of concern for the precedent an emergency declaration would set for the powers of executive branch. She’s known for bucking her party, splitting with leadership on efforts to repeal the 2010 health care law in 2017. That independent streak has become part of Collins’ brand in Maine, where she remains popular.

But the four-term senator is likely to face her toughest re-election next year, with Democrats raising millions of dollars for a yet-to-be-determined challenger after she voted for Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. Collins is a top target in a state Hillary Clinton won in 2016, and Democrats will be arguing that she’s voted with her party much more often than not. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates her re-election Tilts Republican.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah
The senior senator from Utah, first elected in 2010, announced his support for the resolution Wednesday. The announcement came after Trump rejected his last-ditch effort to curtail future national emergency declarations, which could have provided cover for GOP senators to support Trump’s declaration.

Lee is among the most conservative senators in the chamber who has been focused on restoring Congress’ power. “For decades, Congress has been giving far too much legislative power to the executive branch,” he said in a statement announcing his decision. Lee is up for re-election in 2022.

Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas
The two-term senator announced on Twitter shortly before Thursday’s vote that he would support the resolution. “I share President Trump’s goal of securing our borders, but expanding the powers of the presidency beyond its constitutional limits is something I cannot support,” he tweeted. Moran also attached photos of his handwritten notes outlining his position. He’s up for re-election in 2022.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Murkowski, who is not up for re-election until 2022, is among the more moderate senators and has proved that she is not afraid to break with her party and Trump. She explained her support for the resolution on the Senate floor earlier this month, saying, “Congress is a co-equal branch of government and as such Congress should stand up for itself.”

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky
Paul announced at a GOP Lincoln Day dinner earlier this month that he would support the resolution, noting that Congress did not appropriate the funds Trump was looking to use for the border wall. “If we take away those checks and balances, it’s a dangerous thing,” the two-term senator said.

Paul has described his political views as libertarian, and has been known to break with his party on foreign policy and surveillance issues. He was re-elected to the Senate in 2016 after a failed White House bid, and he will not face voters again until 2022.

Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio
The two-term senator announced in a floor speech Thursday that he would support the resolution. He had been working with Lee on legislation relating to national emergency powers, which hit a roadblock when Trump rejected the deal. Portman said Thursday that he supported Trump’s request for border wall funding, but that an emergency declaration was not necessary to secure those funds. Portman said the declaration would set a “dangerous precedent” and “opens the door for future presidents to implement just about any policy they want.”

Portman won re-election by more than 20 points in 2016 and won’t face voters again until 2022.

Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah
Although Romney is a freshman senator, he entered the chamber with a high profile as his party’s 2012 presidential nominee and the former governor of Massachusetts. Romney has been critical of Trump in the past, and said before Thursday’s vote that he would support the resolution.

Before Trump officially made his move, Romney said that he did not believe declaring a national emergency was the right approach, and that he “would also expect the president stay within statutory and constitutional limits.”

Romney won the open Utah Senate race in 2018 by 32 points, and he is not up for re-election again until 2024

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida
Like many others, Rubio warned of the precedent set by Trump’s national emergency. He said in a February statement that while he agreed there was a crisis at the southern border, “a future president may use this exact same tactic to impose the Green New Deal.” Rubio won re-election by 8 points in 2016 after an unsuccessful run for the GOP nomination for president. Trump carried Florida by just 1 point that year.

Sen. Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania
The conservative Pennsylvania Republican has occasionally broken with the president in the past, particularly on Trump’s use of tariffs. Toomey told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday that he supports Trump’s effort to build a border wall, but the declaration of a national emergency was “a very important separation of powers issue.”

Toomey narrowly won re-election in 2016 when Trump won Pennsylvania by less than a point.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi
The two-term senator, who’s the chairman of the Commerce Committee and the second-highest-ranked Republican on the Armed Services panel, had “serious reservations” about what an emergency declaration would do to the separation of powers. “The precedent we set this year might empower a future liberal President to declare emergencies to enact gun control or to address ‘climate emergencies,’ or even to tear down the wall we are building today,” he said in a statement earlier this week.

The Power to Pardon

Paul Manafort is what I call a “smart ass” who thinks he can do as he pleases. His imprisonment was something he did not see coming.

Donald Trump has the power to pardon anyone for a crime. Article 2 Section 2 “The President … shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”.

The likelihood that Paul Manafort will spend the next 7½ years in prison is small.

Manafort, “I accept responsibility for the actions that led me to be here today, and I want to apologize for all I contributed to the effects on people and institutions.”

“I stand here today to assure the court that I am a different person who stood before you in October of 2017,” he said.

Judge Jackson listened to Manafort and then imbued, “Saying ‘I’m sorry I got caught is not an inspiring plea for leniency,” and reminded him that the court “is one of those places where facts still matter.”

Pleas for a pardon will not be public but I am betting that they are already being prepared and will be made very soon.

The Trump pardon will happen quietly while other news events will the focus of most of the media.

Teen party with Nazi salutes but the anti-Semitism is far more pervasive than those parties

A series of photos featuring a group of teenagers crowded around a swastika made of red plastic cups – laughing, toasting and Sieg Heiling over the Nazi symbol – is shaking swaths of predominantly white and affluent communities across Orange County, Calif., where at least some of the teens are enrolled in high school.

Freshman Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar is once again facing criticism and charges of anti-Semitism from her own party’s leadership for comments about the political influence of Israel. She is supported by another Muslim, Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). Ocasio-Cortez together with fellow Democrats Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, have called themselves a “squad” in social media posts and have publicly come to each other’s defense.

Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren each came to the defense of Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday for remarks that critics have called anti-Semitic.

Meghan McCain gets emotional on ‘The View’ “With the rise of anti-Semitism in this country, is it more important to defend party politics, or is it more important to defend anti-Semitism?” she asked the rest of the panel, referring to Omar, a Democrat.

From USA Today “The now trendy Democratic Socialists of America have even called for Israel to be eliminated.”

Hate is in the air!

Jewish people are major contributors to the Democratic Party but maybe not any more.