A lifetime of being ignorant and corrupt has shown Trump he can get away with anything because no civic institution - the courts, banks, Congress, election law, media, etc. - has stood up to him. That America is depending on a handful of prosecutors to stop him reveals how morally decrepit our country really is. Even NPR indulges in false equivalences - perhaps they're afraid of losing Congressional funding or GOP donors? Shameful. How can Americans ignore the lessons of Hitler's Germany and Stalin's USSR, let alone contemporary China and North Korea?
Also news for uninformed Republicans., law enforcement and our federal criminal justice system and courts do not shut down when there is a government shutdown. The prosecution of Trump and his fellow conspirators will continue without interruption.
As Lawrence pointed out tonight, when Menendez's first case was dropped due to a hung jury, Senator Cory Booker was the first to congratulate him as if he had been found innocent. That was followed by Senator Schumer and Senator Durbin and nearly every Democratic Senator in office.
When Al Franken was accused in an ethics case, Schumer and Durbin and Booker were among the MANY Democratic senators to call for Franken to resign before the ethics committee even met. Let's remember Franken was the victim of a Republican scam - the woman who accused him was a Republican operative. And the Republicans were assisted in their scam by New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who saw Franken as a threat to her oh-so-sucessful campaign for President.
Interestingly, when Republican Senator Robert Packwood was indicted in 1995, the head of the Senate Ethics Committee, one Mitch McConnell, immediately called for Packwood's resignation, and his expulsion if he did not resign. And the Republicans lost the election with Ron Wyden taking Packwood's seat. (How nice it would be if McConnell had maintained some integrity and consistency in later years).
And today, Menendez said the reason he had half a million in cash in his home was because he had learned from his parents in Cuba not to trust the government since their accounts were confiscated in Cuba. Menendez's family emigrated from Cuba in 1953, and Menendez was born in the US in 1954. What gall! The man then says that he is being "targeted" as the "son of immigrants and a successful Latino." I don't know if it is possible to be more disgusted with this worthless piece of shit - who was known in Union City before he was elected Senator as "hinky." Two indictments for bribery and there's nothing going on and he's someone his fellow Senators should stand behind and support? DISGUSTING!!
Interestingly, in 200+ years there have been 2,000 US Senators. 112 have been indicted in all that time. The only state to have more than one Senator ever indicted is New Jersey, with three.
“The media has an important role in protecting democracy. If it can’t rouse itself to condemn threats against freedom of the press, it will deserve what happens if Trump is elected.”
And we, the people, will suffer by what happens, also. In addition, by logical extension, if we allow Mr. Trump to get back into the Oval Office, we will deserve what happens to our country. We cannot allow that to happen to our children, our fellow citizens, nor the nation.
So at what point will we say that the collective press is complicit in Trump’s continued ability to basically say whatever he wants with impunity? They are enablers at best, and co-conspirators at worst.
At least CNN did just interview former director of National Intelligence about his views on Trump's statement about the General and did he think Trump would attempt to take revenge on all his critics. Clapper said he had no doubt that he would. But Robert is right, the media should take every opportunity to replay Trump's threats and should ask their viewers is this the kind of president you want - one that while swearing under oath the last time and again this time if he is reelected,, to uphold the Constitution of the United? Or will, as he has already done, continue to throw the Constitution in the face of the founding fathers and do everything in his power to replace all cabinet positions and department heads with his lackeys willing to do whatever he tells them including creating trumped up charges in the manner of Putin's "justice" system. The problem is mainstream media is largely preaching to the choir, Biden should be saying these things. He should also be talking about false accusations such as that he got the chief investigator in Ukraine fired in order to protect Hunter.\This from The Republic, today: "Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday completely—and hilariously—destroyed one of Republicans’ main arguments to prove that Joe Biden is corrupt.
Republicans launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden, after months of insisting that the president is guilty of criminal wrongdoing. The GOP has yet to produce any actual evidence of their claims. But one of their main talking points is that Poroshenko fired former Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin after Biden pressured him to do so.
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade played Poroshenko a clip of Shokin saying Biden wanted him fired because he had been investigating the oil company Burisma Holdings while Hunter Biden served on the board.
“First of all, this is [a] completely crazy person,” Poroshenko replied without hesitation, referring to Shokin. “This is something wrong with him. Second, there is not one single word of truth.”
“Please do not use such a person like Shokin to undermine the trust we feel” from both U.S. parties, he continued."
Poroshenko added that Shokin was fired because “he played very dirty games.”
Shokin was fired in 2016 for corruption. Three years later, Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani started a conspiracy theory that the Biden family accepted a $10 million bribe to remove Shokin to stop a probe into Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma. This claim has been repeatedly debunked by the owner of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, as well as Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas. And now, the former Ukrainian president himself.
Yes, yes and yes! As a psychiatrist, I have no qualms in making a diagnosis of Trump - which I have done repeatedly.
I did call Judge Chutkan yesterday and respectfully suggested that Trump may not have an AK-15 (or whatever number it is) in his hands, but with his encouraging such violence, he really has. I suggested further that he is a psychopath and the only way to deal with such a person who refuses to obey her instructions is to jail him. He is a dangerous criminal and his venomous pronouncements constitute a danger to all of us. He should be silenced in jail. Oh - and the 'uprisings' if that were the case don't frighten me. We have all the means to shut them down or even prevent them from occurring. To be intimidated by his insanity is, by omission, to allow it.
After all the angst contained in the newsletter, the photograph Moonrise at Sunset reminds us of the natural beauty surrounding us that provides peace and spiritual renewal. Thank you, Robert, for this momentary reprieve.
This may sound foolish and naive, but if the media covered President Biden and all he has accomplished and is doing every day, and started ignoring Trump and his lunatic ravings, they would at least be covering the forthcoming election fairly and not giving validation to him. Even the liberal stations that I used to listen to all the time have made it difficult for me to want to tune in....I’m choosing to read Substack blogs for my information. They keep me “saner” and much less anxious. I would be interested to see if the number of viewers has fallen off for MSNBC....
I think the American Public can only take so much.
There is a line that cannot be crossed...and Trump will find it? He has crossed so many lines that absolutely could not be crossed that I have totally lost track. He hasn't shot anyone in broad daylight on 5th Avenue ....yet. He did apparently just "get" (been given?) a gun in SC. Hmmmn. Cause for concern?
Trump has death on the brain. I couldn't get to the TV to mute it, so I was forced to listen, somewhat. It was an ad touting Trump, blah blah I wasn't listening, until they said something about how Trump will use the death penalty against human trafficking. He'll finish that wall Mexico never paid for, too.
What does trump have on these networks that they're staying silent? Are they afraid they'll specifically be his target? They have a platform. Why not use it to their benefit? One would think that anyone with more than a couple brain cells would be so tired of trumps rants. I know I am.
Trump is going next level: the Big Crazy Lie. Say the most outrageous things you can think of, and certain people, and the media, will just blow it off, "Trump saying crazy things... what else is new... he'll never actually get elected... crackpot." But you're correct - ignoring it normalizes this kind of super-inflammatory rhetoric. That should not be allowed by any decent person.
BTW, requesting addresses from Abby by email is super easy! I got some tonight for Ohio! Write on!!
Your magnificent photo of moonrise at sunset is so beautiful, and the contrast within it, the rising of one as the other sets creating beautiful light gives me hope.
Just don't know. I am not around him. Still, he is followed by people who believe in personal responsibility, and are less likely to seek medical help. What I know is that he does not sound lucid when I hear what he says, and it can be mental illness or beginnings of dementia that could be contributing to this. This is what Trump's soul probably looks like at this point. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/93798/picture-of-dorian-gray
A lifetime of being ignorant and corrupt has shown Trump he can get away with anything because no civic institution - the courts, banks, Congress, election law, media, etc. - has stood up to him. That America is depending on a handful of prosecutors to stop him reveals how morally decrepit our country really is. Even NPR indulges in false equivalences - perhaps they're afraid of losing Congressional funding or GOP donors? Shameful. How can Americans ignore the lessons of Hitler's Germany and Stalin's USSR, let alone contemporary China and North Korea?
Also news for uninformed Republicans., law enforcement and our federal criminal justice system and courts do not shut down when there is a government shutdown. The prosecution of Trump and his fellow conspirators will continue without interruption.
As Lawrence pointed out tonight, when Menendez's first case was dropped due to a hung jury, Senator Cory Booker was the first to congratulate him as if he had been found innocent. That was followed by Senator Schumer and Senator Durbin and nearly every Democratic Senator in office.
When Al Franken was accused in an ethics case, Schumer and Durbin and Booker were among the MANY Democratic senators to call for Franken to resign before the ethics committee even met. Let's remember Franken was the victim of a Republican scam - the woman who accused him was a Republican operative. And the Republicans were assisted in their scam by New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who saw Franken as a threat to her oh-so-sucessful campaign for President.
Interestingly, when Republican Senator Robert Packwood was indicted in 1995, the head of the Senate Ethics Committee, one Mitch McConnell, immediately called for Packwood's resignation, and his expulsion if he did not resign. And the Republicans lost the election with Ron Wyden taking Packwood's seat. (How nice it would be if McConnell had maintained some integrity and consistency in later years).
And today, Menendez said the reason he had half a million in cash in his home was because he had learned from his parents in Cuba not to trust the government since their accounts were confiscated in Cuba. Menendez's family emigrated from Cuba in 1953, and Menendez was born in the US in 1954. What gall! The man then says that he is being "targeted" as the "son of immigrants and a successful Latino." I don't know if it is possible to be more disgusted with this worthless piece of shit - who was known in Union City before he was elected Senator as "hinky." Two indictments for bribery and there's nothing going on and he's someone his fellow Senators should stand behind and support? DISGUSTING!!
Interestingly, in 200+ years there have been 2,000 US Senators. 112 have been indicted in all that time. The only state to have more than one Senator ever indicted is New Jersey, with three.
“The media has an important role in protecting democracy. If it can’t rouse itself to condemn threats against freedom of the press, it will deserve what happens if Trump is elected.”
And we, the people, will suffer by what happens, also. In addition, by logical extension, if we allow Mr. Trump to get back into the Oval Office, we will deserve what happens to our country. We cannot allow that to happen to our children, our fellow citizens, nor the nation.
So at what point will we say that the collective press is complicit in Trump’s continued ability to basically say whatever he wants with impunity? They are enablers at best, and co-conspirators at worst.
At least CNN did just interview former director of National Intelligence about his views on Trump's statement about the General and did he think Trump would attempt to take revenge on all his critics. Clapper said he had no doubt that he would. But Robert is right, the media should take every opportunity to replay Trump's threats and should ask their viewers is this the kind of president you want - one that while swearing under oath the last time and again this time if he is reelected,, to uphold the Constitution of the United? Or will, as he has already done, continue to throw the Constitution in the face of the founding fathers and do everything in his power to replace all cabinet positions and department heads with his lackeys willing to do whatever he tells them including creating trumped up charges in the manner of Putin's "justice" system. The problem is mainstream media is largely preaching to the choir, Biden should be saying these things. He should also be talking about false accusations such as that he got the chief investigator in Ukraine fired in order to protect Hunter.\This from The Republic, today: "Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday completely—and hilariously—destroyed one of Republicans’ main arguments to prove that Joe Biden is corrupt.
Republicans launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden, after months of insisting that the president is guilty of criminal wrongdoing. The GOP has yet to produce any actual evidence of their claims. But one of their main talking points is that Poroshenko fired former Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin after Biden pressured him to do so.
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade played Poroshenko a clip of Shokin saying Biden wanted him fired because he had been investigating the oil company Burisma Holdings while Hunter Biden served on the board.
“First of all, this is [a] completely crazy person,” Poroshenko replied without hesitation, referring to Shokin. “This is something wrong with him. Second, there is not one single word of truth.”
“Please do not use such a person like Shokin to undermine the trust we feel” from both U.S. parties, he continued."
Poroshenko added that Shokin was fired because “he played very dirty games.”
Shokin was fired in 2016 for corruption. Three years later, Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani started a conspiracy theory that the Biden family accepted a $10 million bribe to remove Shokin to stop a probe into Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma. This claim has been repeatedly debunked by the owner of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, as well as Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas. And now, the former Ukrainian president himself.
Yes, yes and yes! As a psychiatrist, I have no qualms in making a diagnosis of Trump - which I have done repeatedly.
I did call Judge Chutkan yesterday and respectfully suggested that Trump may not have an AK-15 (or whatever number it is) in his hands, but with his encouraging such violence, he really has. I suggested further that he is a psychopath and the only way to deal with such a person who refuses to obey her instructions is to jail him. He is a dangerous criminal and his venomous pronouncements constitute a danger to all of us. He should be silenced in jail. Oh - and the 'uprisings' if that were the case don't frighten me. We have all the means to shut them down or even prevent them from occurring. To be intimidated by his insanity is, by omission, to allow it.
Beautiful picture.. Thanks for posting
After all the angst contained in the newsletter, the photograph Moonrise at Sunset reminds us of the natural beauty surrounding us that provides peace and spiritual renewal. Thank you, Robert, for this momentary reprieve.
As for Judge Cannon's ruling w/r/t the defense attorney conflict of interest in the Mar-A-Ego case, I suggest those interested read Joyce Vance's analysis at https://joycevance.substack.com/p/judge-cannon-enters-a-minute-order.
This may sound foolish and naive, but if the media covered President Biden and all he has accomplished and is doing every day, and started ignoring Trump and his lunatic ravings, they would at least be covering the forthcoming election fairly and not giving validation to him. Even the liberal stations that I used to listen to all the time have made it difficult for me to want to tune in....I’m choosing to read Substack blogs for my information. They keep me “saner” and much less anxious. I would be interested to see if the number of viewers has fallen off for MSNBC....
I think the American Public can only take so much.
There is a line that cannot be crossed...and Trump will find it? He has crossed so many lines that absolutely could not be crossed that I have totally lost track. He hasn't shot anyone in broad daylight on 5th Avenue ....yet. He did apparently just "get" (been given?) a gun in SC. Hmmmn. Cause for concern?
Trump has death on the brain. I couldn't get to the TV to mute it, so I was forced to listen, somewhat. It was an ad touting Trump, blah blah I wasn't listening, until they said something about how Trump will use the death penalty against human trafficking. He'll finish that wall Mexico never paid for, too.
What does trump have on these networks that they're staying silent? Are they afraid they'll specifically be his target? They have a platform. Why not use it to their benefit? One would think that anyone with more than a couple brain cells would be so tired of trumps rants. I know I am.
Trump is going next level: the Big Crazy Lie. Say the most outrageous things you can think of, and certain people, and the media, will just blow it off, "Trump saying crazy things... what else is new... he'll never actually get elected... crackpot." But you're correct - ignoring it normalizes this kind of super-inflammatory rhetoric. That should not be allowed by any decent person.
BTW, requesting addresses from Abby by email is super easy! I got some tonight for Ohio! Write on!!
Beautiful photo!
Your magnificent photo of moonrise at sunset is so beautiful, and the contrast within it, the rising of one as the other sets creating beautiful light gives me hope.
I for one have been wondering about dementia in Trump from the things I read. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dementia/symptoms-causes/syc-20352013
Just don't know. I am not around him. Still, he is followed by people who believe in personal responsibility, and are less likely to seek medical help. What I know is that he does not sound lucid when I hear what he says, and it can be mental illness or beginnings of dementia that could be contributing to this. This is what Trump's soul probably looks like at this point. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/93798/picture-of-dorian-gray