Trump is scared to death.
Why?
Because he knows what Robert Mueller knows.
375
@Katie I disagree. He knows he is guilty but doesn't have a clue what Mueller knows.
11
@Katie
Let's assume that he is bought and paid for by Putin's henchmen and that the reason the man is so deferential to Vladimir is because the Russians have all the goods on him and can easily blackmail him into handing over all sensitive U.S. secrets to them. Mitch and U.S. Senate Republicans who are supposed to impeach him at that point will do what you think? A) be true to their oath of office and impeach the man; (B) pretend that they are not privy to this news yet; (C) insist that it is no big deal and that Dems are only interested in embarrassing the most popular and most successful GOP leader ever; or (D) kiss his hand (ring?) and embrace him for being best friends with Vlad.
15
@John Lusk
I'd say he knows what Mueller could know, but can't be sure how much of it Mueller has. Word play here, but important none the less. Trump's a guilty man, of what we don't fully know. Not yet, but his behaviors give him away.
18
Three thoughts:
1. The Constitution should be amended to end the farce of recess appointments--this provision of the Constitution may have been necessary in an era in which travel times were slow, but is scarcely needed any longer.
2. The Des Moines Register has re-posted some of columnist Rekha Basu's essays about Matthew Whitaker's days as a politician and judge in Iowa. His views on religious liberty and LGBTQ issues are troubling, and are unacceptable in an Attorney General. Go to:
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/search/whitaker/
3. "cowed before the pig"?! What?
My dear Charles, or if that is too informal, esteemed Mr. Blow. Please keep doing whatever it is you are doing EXCEPT - please do not headline every column with a photo of Mr. Trump, the person a sizable minority in this country has chosen to put into the White House. We know how he looks - to these eyes ridiculous, venomous, vengeful and and smug. The photos are not needed to understand what you are saying.
(Attn. photo editor - this is on you)
5
Trump's only strategy is to create a sideshow. Through EOs, tweets, press conferences, firings, summits with world leaders -- the goal is to create news or deflect news to boost HIS ego or deflect. Firing Sessions was timed because he thought it could get quickly buried under the mid-term news. He timed this. Thanks NYT and Mr. Blow for keeping it front and center. Be relentless.
Also, in an absurd dose of cosmic luck this ignorant blowhard inherited Obama's hard won economic gains. Ironically, Trump touts those gains as his major accomplishment. He should be thanking Obama. Instead, at the press conference, he actually had the idiotic brass to claim the "Obama regime" responsible for Putin's annexation of Crimea. That is what we are dealing with -- a delusional, ignorant man with no clue. It would be comic if it weren't so tragic.
4
Chuck-
Your simple stories about the day's events are already well known and obvious to anyone with a pulse. Why the Times allows you to rant about Trump over and over is beyond me...
Maybe a new focus? He's our guy for at least two more years, and the Dems won't have the Senate till at least 2022. Life is short, you should appreciate the strong economy and standard of living we all enjoy. Look beyond his crass ways- we finally have a businessman running the USA.
Please, your articles are so narrowly focused I'm drowning every time I decide to give you one more try....
The firing of Jeff Sessions comes as no big surprise. That it happened on the day after the elections did catch up on me. Some are probably celebrating Sessions departure, but no matter who replaces him will most likely be just as racist and cold-hearted with the added feature that he can fire Mueller, thus causing a Constitutional crisis.
Donald Trump is a wholly nasty character and so are many of Republicans that have decided to follow him on a road of corruption and rampant racism. While it is heartening that so many diverse people and women won the House as Democrats, I fail to understand what the rest of the electorate sees in candidates like Steve King, a neo-nazi sympathizer. Our country let's States get away with voter suppression and gerrymandering. There ought to be laws against such dirty tricks, but with the Supreme Court that we have now it will be many years before real justice is seen.
Trump's playbook: Run run run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm a rich man.....
1
The Electoral College has to go, because votes are no longer democratically cast.
Yes, this is out-and-out war - let's not kid ourselves. But let's not abandon clear and critical thinking about how to proceed. If the American people think Trump has gotten a bad deal, or was, in his words, "unfairly treated," they will revolt enough at the polls to give him a second term: that's all it would take.
It's amazing, but a remarkably high percentage of the voters think he's decent, good, or even great as president. They confuse his calculating approach with sincerity, because he looks like he is telling the truth about something - even if not what he saying - due to his salesmanship skills. It was and is the most "in-your-face" and vicious renunciation of the coastals, pundits, and other elites by the rabid base. Let's no forget this is "war" but let's be careful about what to do.
21
@Srose: The electoral college is here to stay. It takes 3/4 of state legislatures to approve constitutional amendments. That means it takes only 13 states to block any change. More than 13 states benefit from the electoral college, therefore, unless state legislatures start voting against their own states' interests, there will be no change; case closed! Besides, be careful what you wish for, next time the electoral college might work for your candidates.
4
@Srose
You get it wrong, Trump supporters pretty much ignore what he says and focus on what he does. What he has done has been what he has promised, and that has been an overall benefit for all Americans. He will go down in history as a great president, unlike his mealy mouthed predecessor.
1
Trump's strategy -- survive at all costs -- runs head-on into America's strategy -- preserve democracy at all costs.
Historically, the smart money bets on America . . . .
17
Sessions was as conservative as they come. The main disagreement between Trump and Sessions was that Sessions believed that everybody should be subject to the rule of law. Trump is only interested in the rule of Trump.
78
@Schrodinger The main disagreement between trump & sessions was sessions recusal of himself in the investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Failure to recuse would have kept him in great standing with the Evil Dictator wannabe!
6
The Republican Party and 45 proved the basis of their electoral success on 6 November 2018: resorting to racial demagoguery, Jim Crow tactics, racial demonization, xenophobia, and anti immigrant intensity and persistently informing their now diminishing base that ‘they’ are better than ‘them’ due solely to their pale racial complexion. The tirade that Caucasian male privilege and Caucasian women were threatened if they didn’t vote is classic 1968 Southern Strategy. Gerrymandering, erecting roadblocks to prevent minorities from exercising their right to vote now is part and parcel of the GOP playbook to dilute the impact of their vote. 45's grandiose, pathetically choreographed press conference further substantiated this position, coupled with the vicious assault upon the media. The deplorable attack on CNN’s Jim Acosta because he pressed questions on the Mueller probe and potential federal indictments reveals the extreme desperation 45 feels. To add insult to injury, the cowering miscreant went out of his way to denigrate and malign Black American female CNN reporter April Ryan, and the PBS black female reporter, all for their penetrating questions he refused to answer, resorting to a hastily quick shallow defense before the press by lashing out that the PBS reporter’s questions were somehow ‘racist’ is indefensible. The racism spewing from the faucet of short handed chief executive was on full display. The racist in chief doesn't care. Words have meaning. Race matters.
3
From now on, spell Resistance with a small "r." What we saw on Tuesday was the high-water mark for Democrat achievement, because the electorate -- encouraged to no end by commentators like Mr. Blow -- has never been more riled up in opposition. It has been non-stop Resistance since Trump won that fateful night in 2016. Emotions were as high as they can be. So was the volume of anti-GOP press coverage. And all that happened was a ho-hum 30 seat House pickup, pretty much par for the course for the out-party two years after a presidential vote. Yes, the Democrats made progress, but so did the GOP.
How I wish the press would/could just stop putting Trump's name or photo/image in the news; it would drive him mad. He is the living embodiment of the old PR saw: "There's no such thing as bad PR." How I wish the press would refuse to attend any WH "press conference," since they are mere theatre. There is nothing more terrifying for him than....no audience.
Report on the actions of his administration. Call into account the evil results. List the tallies of damages committed. Be relentless in exposing the corruption and lies. But STOP uttering his name/image! Don't quote his babbling tweets and rants. How I wish.
9
Trump's words and behavior are becoming more questionable all the time. Even supporters noticed he sounded unhinged at his latest press conference. Instead of being afraid Trump might tweet something mean about them, it's time the Republicans came up with a personable, rational, reasonable, educated candidate who knows the Constitution. Someone needs to be stepping forward now to offer an alternative to Trump and his bizarre behavior.
Do the Republicans have somebody who is rational, educated, reasonable and knows the Constitution and isn't afraid of Trump's tweets?
5
The only thing more (ahem) shocking than Trump firing Sessions is that his successor, Whitaker, also works as a paid CNN legal contributor. The conflicts of interest in this American oligarchy, which still ridiculously poses as a republic, extend so far beyond the Trump gene pool, it isn't funny.
You'd think that Trump would disqualify Whitaker because of his connection to CNN. But the truth is that Trump loves the corporate media, and they love him right back. They give him all the free air time he requires, and then some. He, in turn, supplies them with record-breaking ad revenue and viewership.
The back-and-forth at the post-midterms press con between Trump and CNN star Jim Acosta appeared completely staged to me. These men are filling their required roles for "The Spectacle" (in lieu of gathering actual news or discussing the problems of ordinary people.)
Trump relishes this role because casting himself as a beleaguered victim-warrior endears him even more to his fans, who have been manipulated into channeling their very real grievances into the Trump "kampf." The Republicans owned by the wealthy stay silent because plutocrats and fascists have historically made very cozy bedfellows.
I think it's now safe to declare that fascism has arrived, blue wave or no. What if Trump held a rally or a press conference and nobody televised it? He'd immediately collapse like the over-inflated balloon of fetid hot air that he is. And the corporate sponsors would be very sad.
259
@Karen Garcia I'm not so sure I believe in the notion that the whole Acosta vs. Trump spectacle was staged between Trump and CNN as a network, (or worked out between Acosta and Trump, let's say in the interest of keeping the viewers watching the battle)--that borders a bit too much on conspiracy theory for me, but you do make many excellent points here. Thank you.
25
@Karen Garcia - Karen Garcia is back and unlike all too many of us, myself included, she carefully waits for the right opportunities to file a comment and then files a comment that almost every time shows that the Times should have given her a position as OpEd writer as they did fairly recently for Thomas Chatterton Williams.
I recently called attention to an interview of Salman Rushdie published in my Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter in which Rushdie stated unequivocally, we are just one step away from fascism.
Karen Garcia has got it right, "fascism has arrived, blue wave or no", that step has been taken.
She is also right, "What if Trump gave a party and nobody came, what if Trump gave a speech and only Fox televised it?"
Fantastic experiment if it could be brought of don't you think.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
26
@Karen Garcia, I think you're a bit premature. No, fascism is not here, nor was Trump's confrontation with Jim Acosta staged. CNN and Trump aren't in cahoots.
If you're truly concerned, you can attend one of the hundreds of rallies around the country tomorrow at 5 p.m. in support of the Mueller investigation. We can all do something.
20
I find Whitaker's opinion about Trump's finances obviously false. Trump is most likely compromised through his finances by the Russians. That makes them a prime target for the Mueller probe. Also, Whitaker not being approved by the senate allows him to fill the spot but I would ague does not give him more that a placeholder authority and thus he has no legals basis for taking actions other than simply keeping the lights on.
5
What is the strategy to stop him? I know what the problem is what is the solution? The country needs one fast.
10
@EJW. If Mueller is fired, can’t the newly Democratic House call him to testify about his findings?
2
Where is the Democratic candidate that can tumble Trump in 2020?
Thus, far with Moore's choice I will go.
Michele Obama can do it if she wants but may not want to.
4
I've got to believe that Mr. Mueller and his team have thought of every possible scenario that might unfold after the midterm elections and are as prepared as they can be for whatever Trump has planned to throw at them. This is where the chess match gets very interesting. As far as Trump's tax returns go, Mueller probably has already seen them and much more. Panic mode is beginning to kick in and it's only a matter of time before Trump will have to face his fellow republicans as they tell him he's run out of any other options.
I can see him slipping away under the cover of darkness and having someone else notify the country that he has resigned. This is his usual mode of operation when faced with adversity he can't lie his way out of. In the end this will play out with the bully really just being a coward.
10
Regarding Matthew Whitaker's article for CNN about the limits of the scope of Mueller's appointment:
Whitaker was lying.
Mueller is explicitly authorized to pursue evidence of *any* crime he discovers in the course of the Russian investigation even if such crime has nothing to do with a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Exhibit A: The prosecution of Paul Manafort. Found guilty of 8 counts of bank and tax fraud that little to do with the 2016 Trump campaign. Manafort's lawyers tried to argue that these charges were outside of Mueller's mandate - and they failed.
If Mueller found similar evidence against Trump in the course of the same investigation, he is permitted to dig deeper just as he was with Manafort.
6
The answer to Trump is not the Mueller investigation or impeachment or the impossible dream of changing the electoral college. Rather it is through election strategies turning red states, such as Florida, Arizona, and Texas, blue.
5
He also focused his 11th hour push on the Senate because he knew they'd lose the House.
7
I am impressed the democrats won back the house.
Trumps inflationary policies combined with protectionism is alluring poison in the short run. The FED will be forced to raise interest rates which risks sucking investment out of Asia and killing of the global recovery.
Trump has convinced people immigration, rather than the financial crises, debt and austerity, caused by greed, subprime sold as gold, which ultimately crippled banks and the global economy.
But let us all be clear, Obama never supported open borders. The fact is Trump is "not" building a wall, he is simply building tall fences, just as Obama did.
A policed wall is hideously expensive. The Great wall in China failed because it was too expensive, but more importantly that wall was to stop people getting out, not in. The Great wall could never stop people getting in. Too easy to breach. It was to make it harder to get out, so escaping armies would be trapped.
Trumps wall will never happen because it is incredibly stupid. Ignoring ladders, ropes and explosives; a person can simply go to the US on holiday and not leave. The problem is the black market.
Equally Trump would get illegals out of the US via a hideously expensive policing program, much like Nazi Germany. Again, will never happen, because it is far too expensive and infringes the rights of the average American. The US is not a police state.
5
"Trump will no doubt see this all as encouragement to continue his racism, his attacks on the truth and on the press, and to expand his corruption."
It is well established that Trump is an unfit, ignorant, degenerate, malignant narcissist. There is really no debating that. Even most conservatives (not in office) admit it.
So the issue is: Why does he continue to have so many supporters and enablers? Why are his lies acceptable? Why are his mean girl bully tweets acceptable? Why is his incompetence acceptable? Why is the corruption of his administration acceptable? Why is his assault on human decency acceptable?
We know what he is. Why does so much of the country accept him?
25
@Ann Why did so many in Germany support Hitler, and in Italy, Mussolini? One short answer - lies and organized propaganda.
2
@Ann
I don't know - but post war German history will tell you, when Hitler and his evil murderous movement were done and the entire continent in ruins that would take 40-50 years to rebuild, hardly a German could be found acknowledging that they had been followers and fans of the ogre.
2
What I want, demand, from my Democratic Party is payback. Yes, payback. No compromise whatsoever with this demagogic idiot-in-chief.
Starting January, I will accept nothing less from my Representatives than an all-out assault on this corrupt and treasonous administration. Trump and his mobbed-up family have been getting away with, if not murder, high crimes here in New York City for decades. And yet, Trump was stupid enough, egotistical enough, to run for public office. I and many of my fellow New Yorkers hope now that finally the Trumps get a full taste of the Justice they deserve. They've been a pox on our City for eons. As private citizens they got away with it. No more. We Dems must give them no quarter. The day of reckoning for Trump and Fam is long overdue.
DD
Manhattan
33
@Dennis D.
In my heart, I agree with you; seeing the whole corrupt Trump family in federal prison would give me an overdose of schadenfreude!!
However, I fear that "going after" him in a big way will backfire. As hard as it is for me to understand, about one-third of Americans like Trump. A substantial number in the middle are indifferent to him, but would accept the Fox Friends charge that the Dems were on a self-promoting "witch hunt," should an aggressive series of investigations gain traction.
Yes, the Democratic House should open investigations. Avoid grandstanding; move the way Mueller himself moves; quietly, relentlessly, but without fanfare.
By seeking naked revenge, I fear the Dems could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory; they need to be very careful. Remember, unlike the days of Watergate, virtually all the Reps in positions of power have already sold their souls. They will not support any investigations of Trump, even if he "shoots someone in the middle of 5th Ave."
PS We could avoid this ever happening again (if our democracy survives) by passing a simple law: no one may assume the Presidency without releasing their tax returns. Period. Ever. No on like Trump would ever run again.
6
@Dennis D. ----- I agree with you 100%. The demented, moronic, treasonous, corrupt, cruel beast that is donald trump and his den of reprehensible pups must all be de-fanged. The sooner the better. And Karen is absolutely correct: We are living under the "rule" of FASCISTS. And what gall! We pay them handsome salaries, give them the finest benefits, and huge pensions, and they "reward" us by lying to us every single day, and by trying to legislate away our freedoms, our social safety nets, and our very democracy. That is what I call the height of chutzpah!
1
Yes, the Republicans in the Senate are being cowed before the pig, but I yet have hope that Trump will engage in "the art of the squeal" when faced with the findings of the Mueller investigation.
By buckling to Trump's corrosive power, these senators are like sheep being blindly led over a cliff, or like Jim Jones' followers who obediently drank the poisoned Kool-Aid!
12
New Rule: everyone, can we call him Whining Donald Trump?
13
We need a new special council to investigate this election because it’s obvious that the Russians interfered again. That is why the so many democrats were elected, including some obvious socialists.
3
Whitaker comes across as both a partisan hack and dead wrong on the merits. Moreover, he even resorts to the same nutty phrases that Trump uses, e.g., "witch hunt." Trump's finances which are likely to be corrupt make him a prime candidate for Russian blackmail or control. End of story. Whitaker's comments have no basis in reality. Either Whitaker has not even read Mueller's letter of authorization or he is yet another dishonest Trump stooge? Is there anything Trump won't do to protect himself, or seize and retain power? No.
13
Please don't call the President, or anyone else, a pig. Such name calling lowers public discourse to the level of Trump, which is pretty low.
4
Trump will self destruct. It's only a matter of time but we must continue to fight against his regime of hatred until it's flames are safely put out.
21
"The incoming Democratic majority in the House would have absolutely no say in this."
Which is perfectly in line with the Constitution as it is the job of the Senate, not the House, to confirm appointees. Even if the House remained in Republican hands, it wouldn't matter. So the point of this statement is a little bit lost.
3
Mr. Blow, I think you give Trump and cronies too much credit for foresight in their actions during the midterms. Trump is doing what any cornered narcissist would do which is to double down and attack more fiercely. Sure, Trump can attempt to subvert the Justice Department, but he will meet fierce resistance both internally within the various branches of justice and with the House. I am confident that Mueller has a contingency plan and is safeguarding his findings. A simple leak to an enraged press will start the the impeachment ball rolling. Remember, it was the bravery of the press that called Nixon’s hand resulting in his resignation.
13
Trump is preparing for a war. Not with a foreign enemy but with Americans. He is constantly buttering up people with guns which would be; his base, the police and the military. Let's hope the police and military see right through his manipulation. His base will not.
8
Trump and surrogate Whitaker can do a lot in the short term to slow down Mueller's investigation, but because of the democracy-saving outcome of the midterms, there is no way they can break the law with impunity after January 1. Whitaker can be forced to testify in public before Congress, he can be indicted, he can go to jail. Unless Trump manages to pull off a full-blown coup with the aid of the Russians (which I wouldn't totally rule out,) I can't see how this revolting page in American history will be anything other than a couple-of-years long aberration. Thank God for the resistance! Even though a constitutional crisis is about to explode, I finally feel some hope, after two solid years of angst-ing over this budding dictatorship. Looking forward to the impeachment, and jailing of corrupt offspring.
17
They say schools should teach civics, but they do. I remember clearly 55 years ago, my 8th grade 'government' class, when I learned about the Senate and my heart fell. Democracy is a good idea whose time has never come to the United States. We are in a long period of minority rule. The Senate has us by the short hairs as was intended from the very beginning. I am afraid Garrison Keillor was right when he said about Lincoln's house divided, "I am ready for a duplex."
4
Says Mr. Whitaker, "It does not take a lawyer or even a former federal prosecutor like myself to conclude that investigating Donald Trump’s finances or his family’s finances falls completely outside of the realm of his 2016 campaign and allegations that the campaign coordinated with the Russian government or anyone else."
To which I say, "Oh, really?" If Trump is taking off-the-books loans or laundering money for Russian oligarchs, that's not of interest to the American people and their investigator, Mr. Mueller? Ridiculous.
15
@Lennerd
My thoughts exactly. And furthermore, unless Mr. Whitaker is a complete dolt, he fully realizes this as well.
He is nothing more than a boot-licker and an apologist for a felon.
1
It was frightening to watch Trump's performance yesterday on all levels although an observer I took it personally.
The disgust with the use of the word embrace, the deliberate humiliation of members of the legitimate Press Corp, Trump's refusal to answer questions but display his flagrant use of the undeserving power he yields.
Finally his diabolical last laugh, the firing of Sessions and appointing a Trump Patsy, while all of this is taking place in the White House briefing room.
As a citizen I took those acts personally and so should the rest of the nation. It was as frightening as watching James Cagney play the gangster in Enemy of the People in the 1950's late night with my brother. Yesterday the 2018 Enemy of the People stood behind the podium.
16
Obama had much higher loss in Congress and also lost Senate. Based on this, it appears, Charles analysis does not fit the realty.
2
He's the master of distraction. As soon as the press decided that the Dems won the mid terms, Trump does what Trump does brilliantly... he tosses a bomb and changes the conversation. Are we still talking about the Dem big night? Or are we talking about Sessions/Mueller?
7
United States House of Representatives.....thy name is oversight. Now someone has some power over Trump. Never forget that....I am sure that is what keeps Trump up at night.
5
Steve Schmidt talks of Trump plunging us into a cold civil war. This growing effort by Republicans to have power by minority rule may tip the scales further.
7
Mr. Blow's quotations from Whittaker go some distance toward explaining why Mueller's indictments, in the early stages of his team's investigations, focused on financial corruption, which critics have claimed is irrelevant to Mueller's mission. Mueller needed to establish this basis for further investigation before Trump's cohorts could stymy the team's work.
The newly appointed AG is wrong; covering up financial indiscretions, with coverups known to Putin, surely motivated cooperation by the Trump campaign with Russian intervention in the election. "Follow the money" was, and still is, good advice for investigators.
14
The only scrutiny that Trump fears is Putin scrutiny. Putin knows what Trump did when, where and why with Russian colloboration and conspiracy and cooperation. Putin knows what Trump is hiding from the American people in his personal and family income tax returns and business records. Putin knows that Trump can make Cabinet and judicial appointments without the advice and consent of the House.
15
@Blackmamba
After Trump's press conference performance we must recall that Putin also knows what Trump is hiding from us in his medical and health care records and treatment. The slurred speech along with the confused intemperate insecure narcissism may be evidence of deeper mental and physical problems.
4
Trump's real focus is on the federal courts, and eradicating the stain of progressivism, both left and right, from the bench.
A worthy and admirable goal.
4
@Objectivist Why would one think that worthy and admirable? It puts us on trajectory that would put us in the Middle Ages.
36
Thank you for your championship of regressivism, Objectivist.
See you in the Stone Age.
32
@Objectivist Well said. For starters, they need to take away women's right to vote. And they shouldn't be allowed to wear pants, either!
1
Grave situation, as the Senate remains in Trump's, however little, hands, and where freedom to follow the constitution and the rule of law are being trampled; this is called 'license', or worse, a prostituted power of self-serving politicians ubder Trump's thumb. Anti-democratic, right? Right. On the other hand, having recovered the 'House' may be just what the doctor ordered, a balmy nedicine to go from the current kleptocracy to a democracy, however weak, to hold our ugly American in-chief to account. Ah, and his tax returns, AWOL for now, shall return against his wish, to uncover his, as usual, corrupted ways in all it's 'glory'. And yet, we cannot fall asleep until this unhinged mean beast is fired; and, absent his essential feed of flattery and applause, may wither like a decaying flower, forgotten in the dump...where he belongs.
19
I propose a deal for Trump & Family. We drop all charges for all offences for Donald J., Donald J. Jr., Ivanka, Jared, Eric, Melania, Tiffany, et. al. in exchange for Exile to a country that will accept all of them, and banning any reentry into the United States and its territories, for their natural lives. This proposal recognizes that Trump acts like, and believes he actually is, Napoleon Bonaparte.
39
@JLM Say what you will about Napoleon, but he was actually a tactical and strategic genius. Donald Trump is neither of those things.
5
@JLM Not a bad idea, all in all, but I don't think that they should be exiled to another country that would give them shelter. I think that, when the dust settles, they should be sued by the US government for every cent of taxpayer money that they spent on themselves, their properties confiscated and sold to repay their debt, foreign bank accounts forfeited to repay the debt, and that they should be air-lifted to a small deserted island somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, dropped off and forgotten.
9
@JLM
Although I understand what you are saying, I say "No." This family has gotten away with too much for too long. Being "exiled" would, in my mind, still letting them live a life outside of jail.
2
The Democrats laid the first brick in the 2018 mid terms to topple Trump in 2020.
12
Existential war begins in earnest with the first House subpoenas! Is anyone above the law in the United States of America?
20
Liberals should move to "empty," but beautiful North and South Dakota;l it wouldn't take too many emigrants to eventually vote in 4 additional (liberal) Democratic senators.
8
@Pattpie I wonder how the oil boom has affected that. Are workers in oilfields and associated industries likely to vote at all?
2
@Pattpie really have to move there? Buy a few small apartment buildings, rent very tiny rooms on a sharing basis to 40 - 50,000 willing and patriotic democrats and register them to vote. Suggest that perhaps the pure red states are not the place though, but the states and districts that have close elections.
1
This Whitaker is another Trump crony who will kiss Trump's feet and try and obstruct justice. It shows the type of demagoguery that Trump is in to. Will the Republicans stand up against this abuse of power? I don't give them that amount of credit. They would rather put us into a constitutional crises than do the right thing and keep Mueller's investigation going. Just ask old Mitch.
20
This year most of the Senate seats up for -re-election were held by Dems. The opposite will be true in 2020. The turnouts this week were huge. Turnouts for presidential elections are even bigger. Trump's enablers in the Senate should be concerned about their fealty. Tuesday's results in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan are a harbinger of a restless electorate eager to reclaim decency and civility.
20
@JL The Dems will have to pick up 5 seats just to get a tie in the Senate, as they will lose their seat in Alabama gifted to them by Trump (through Roy Moore). That means winning every State that leans Democratic, plus a couple more, like Arizona and/or Texas. Doable but a challenge. Need Beto to run for Senator again and not the White House.
4
@JL
Yes, the Senate map for the GOP in 2020 may appear bleak, but when you look closer and see that all but 2 of those seats are in ruby-red states, it looks like they could fairly easily retain a majority, albeit s slim one.
Like Mr. Blow explained, the Senate has very little to do with one person-one vote. It's a Constitutional relic and enticement (along with the electoral college) to get the southern slave colonies to join the original union after the Revolutionary war.
1
Few things are more predictable than this president's behaviour after he has the feeling he's lost, which is exactly what happened last Tuesday when he discovered that the Congress wasn't his to rule exclusively anymore.
So after attacking the Democrats, the media (a CNN reporter in particular), and everyone else he thought had slighted him, he unleashed his fury on Jeff Sessions by sacking him; thereby declaring open war on Robert Mueller and his investigation.
None of this should surprise anyone, because it's all part of a well-rehearsed and oft-repeated script.
The only difference now is that we've finally been restored to the checks and balances system in our government which will ostensibly preserve us from the rantings of a president whose only interest never ventures further than himself.
For those who were anticipating a Blue Tsunami instead of a Blue Wave, take comfort. We, the PEOPLE are back in the House.
And after two years of hate, and "Sturm und Drang"-- that's a very big deal indeed.
18
Imagine what the election would have looked like without highly gerrymandered districts and voter suppression.
24
If Trump thinks his family and possibly he himself faces prison he will likely cut a deal and resign. This can only happen if the Democrats are relentless and a few Republicans show a spine. Mitt Romney for starters.
13
@AVIEL
Republicans are amoebas, no spine whatsoever.
1
Can I state the obvious....Russia and Trump's finances are NOT outside the scope of the investigation. They are very much central to it.
21
While the idea that "Trump's strategy is to survive at all costs" is scary enough, the truth is even worse.
The fact is, there is no strategy. A strategy is something someone conceives of, refines, and consciously chooses to impement, and therefore something that they could abandon if they chose to.
That is not the case with Trump. His personality construct is such that he is literally not capable of not doing anything and everything in his pursuit of "winning." There's no limits, there's no off-ramp. He has no concept of morality, no concern for ethics. There's no one he won't throw under the bus in a bid to avoid the feelings of humiliation and shame. Protecting him from that is his ego's only job, and it's got a single trick in it's toolbox: Make sure the guy keeps winning.
We see evidence of this every day courtesy of the constant stream of hatred, divisiveness, blame, lies and distraction the spews from Trump's mouth.
And now, if anything, having checks put on his ability to get legislation passed is only going to make him act out more in other ways.
When he is shown the door, whether by election, impeachment, or invocation of the 25th amendment, we are going to be subjected to what will probably be one of the ugliest times in American political history as he sinks his claws into the desk in the oval office and screams for his base to save him.
I want very much to be wrong about this, but every single day the headlines show me I'm probably right.
22
It is very telling that if Trump survives the totality of his four years all that time will have been spent in Trump trying to prop up Trump as the greatest gift ever to mankind. Lets face it the reality is that Trump could careless about policy itself. All that matters is that he get accolades for it, no matter its worth. Trump is all about Trump and everything else is insignificant in comparison. In his psychotic rant yesterday he claimed to love this country. Seriously? Trump clearly loves nothing but Trump.
14
With Whitaker's statements and writings on the Mueller investigation he must recuse himself from any dealings with Mueller. If he does not do this the American Bar Association should move to remove his license to practice. This is a screaming ethical matter.
12
@Karn Griffen If FBI agents can tweet and voice their displeasure about Trump as a president and still do their jobs, why can't Whitaker?
He merely offered an opinion.
With the Republican strength in the Senate this investigation will never result in an impeachment and the report might not even see the light of day.
So much for the Blue ripple
@Norville T Johnson The FBI agents that did that were removed from what they were doing. As for Mueller's "report," even if the investigation were shut down tomorrow there would be a report on progress so far. Everybody would love to see it.
7
@Norville T Johnson deny and deflect.
4
This election has proven that Trump didn't deceive his base. He came out as a bigot and they love him for it. Our problem is not with Trump as much as it is with the nearly half of the electorate that has given itself over to hatred.
12
@sedanchair It's got to be more complex than that. 42 percent or whatever approve of Trump, though it fluctuates. Many of Trump's biggest fans are racists. But all of that 42 percent isn't necessarily. Woke they may not be, but there are many people who voted for Obama and then voted for Trump. What is such a person like? They wanted us to have a black president so blacks could stop complaining and we could all pretend to be color blind. Such people aren't beyond redemption or persuasion.
Mitch McConnell is up for re-election in 2020. Now that he has achieved his decades-long goal of filling the Supreme Court with conservatives, he might well consider his job to be done and retire after this session of Congress.
8
@macduff15
Right. And Santa Claus isn't delivering presents this year.
9
@macduff15
Not likely. McConnell is too contentious. He is probably doing backward flips after hearing of Justice Ginsberg’s fall this morning. If he can get another conservative Justice on the Supreme Court, he won’t be going anywhere.
1
The House, though badly gerrymandered, district wise, in favor of Republicans, is more honest than the ridiculous two Senators per state, no matter the great population disparity between California and Montana, for example. Since the least populated states tend to be more rural, they tend to vote Republican. Hope the 2020 Senate election yields a more favorable result for Democrats, this gross inequality not withstanding.
14
@Sharon Salzberg Can't the counterpoint be made that most populated places tend to be liberal and vote Democratic? Why shouldn't that problem be addressed?
Maybe instead of continually having "one side" reduce the other so that it doesn't matter we need a different course of action.
How about some leaders that appeal to both?
2
@Norville T Johnson: about coastal urban centers with large populations, you ask "Why shouldn't that problem be addressed?" Why do you see that as a "problem" rather than the will of a significant proportion of the population?
3
@Mary C. It's a problem if it's trying to silence the will of the people outside the coastal urban areas.
3
Obstruction of justice shall remain the main concern, real fear, in Trump and Whitaker's little heads, should they try to interfere with Mueller's investigation. Foks, put your seatbelts on, it's going to be speedy and bumpy, one way or the other. Impeachment by a democratic controlled House may come to fruition if stupidity prevails on the republican side. Perhaps that is the only viable vehicle our bully in-chief may grasp. Justice may be slow but it comes around when criminal activity is shown. And loyalty to party won't save them.
11
Whitaker is a staffer. Junior could be nominated, or 'Vanka darling.
Hope Mueller and Rosenstein are meeting in an undisclosed location to finalize their timeline of death bomb drone drops nationwide.
Indict now!
13
Let’s give enormous gratitude for the Democrats taking the House. It’s an incredible victory. Good job Dems. ——Mr. Blow rants too much—he needs more grounding, and has a very hard time saying, “Thank you voters for turning the House Blue.”
7
"Didn't take the embrace", he repeated shouted at the gathered Fourth Estate.
Am I being overly dramatic here or does this sound exactly like the actions of a Mafia Don? Except in this case, a more accurate wording should have been "Kiss of Death", than embrace. But Mafia Dons are notoriously bad at tender kisses, and famous for their bear hugging of those they welcome into The Family.
21
@Entera
Actually, the first thing I thought of was a vampire. -- thegamesmenplay.com
1
I fear for the future of America.
I do not trust Donald Trump. I do not trust the Republican Party to put country before ideology. I do not trust Matthew Whitaker, the Roy Cohn whom the president has long sought, to recuse himself from the Robert Mueller investigation.
This palace intrigue is something that would never have occurred to Shakespeare. Jefferson Davis Beauregard Sessions III, the 20th-21st Century version of the president of the Confederate States of America, became the first Senator to publicly endorse Donald Trump for president.
The Alabama senator then thought it wise to speak with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States. Twice. Sessions lied when he said he "didn't remember" speaking to the Russian; then backtracked and said the conversations were "not important." He lied at his Senate confirmation hearings. He outed himself, then had to recuse himself from overseeing the Mueller probe. This recusal was the beginning of his humiliating end.
The president has dogged Sessions ever since with insults and contumely and vile names, "Mr. Magoo" being one of them. Whether the cartoon character's jug ears were the point of Trump's barb or the bewildered way in which he navigated his life, the president meant to emasculate his first supporter.
Such a low, foul and uncommonly mean-spirited turnabout can hardly be imagined. Yet here we are: a Southerner deeply disrespected by a Yankee.
So the unrepentant Confederate soldier slinks away. Sad.
22
Trump's strategy to survive at all costs means we will be subject to more of the Trumpian playbook: Demean your critics; attack the media as the enemy; incite the base against false threats; distort facts; lie obsessively; promote self as the savior and inflate self importance; threaten those who are not loyal; shamelessly bully the press; deflect inquiry into his business dealings with the Russians, Saudis and others; support hate groups; castigate and diminish those of color; surround himself with sycophants; alienate our allies; dominate the narrative; instigate daily chas and garner media coverage. We still have a unfit, narcissistic, dangerous demagogue in the Whitehouse. We have the House but hold on for another tumultuous two years.
19
From district gerrymandering and voter suppression to the firing of James Comey and Jeff Sessions to barring challenging reporters from the White House, everything in the Trump and Republican playbook is about coverup, obstruction and minimizing voter turnout. In other words, even those foisting their fascistic policies upon the American public have such little faith in them, they want as few people as possible to vote on them and/or investigate, study and learn about the shenanigans, skullduggery and subterfuge entailed in arriving at them. Funny how the Grotesque Odious Perpetrators never want to let the chips fall where they may, as all the while they claim to practice democracy, they are actually chipping away at it.
14
Why do pundits keep moaning and groaning about GOP gains in the Senate??
That is a NON-issue! Republicans had the majority before the mid-terms, and Democrats are no worse off in the Senate than before.
Democrats: forget the Senate, for now. Concentrate on slamming Trump in the House and stopping ridiculous legislation coming from Senate Republicans (aka, "Tax cuts", "ACA destruction", etc.).
11
They are worse off. It will be very hard to flip the Senate in 2020 which means any newly elected Democrat President is handcuffed.
3
@PeterC. "It will be very hard to flip the Senate in 2020" unless there is a plethora of retirements from Republicans who cannot stomach the new face of their party, which once opposed expansive executive power, bigotry, attacks upon first-amendment rights of the press. . . .
1
So Whitaker plays his part in this tragicomic farce and cans Mueller (who has no doubt cached the important results of his work safe from the barbarian hordes, e.g. with the NYS Attorney General's office). No problem! The House Judiciary Committee just hires Bobby 3-sticks and his elite team as committee staff, and the band plays on.
7
Trump, Under Pressure and Unhinged.
13
Trump finally showed his true inner self at yesterday's press conference. Weak, fearful, filled with anxiety, lashing out in hysterical rage, he completely lost his composure and became emotionally unstable.
Trump doesn't see this election as a political loss. He sees it as a threat to his very existence and is already acting like a cornered animal. For the first time in his life he will be held accountable and it terrifies him.
29
What happens if/when Mueller’s investigations result in indisputable evidence charging Trump
& his top administration officials with a variety of high crimes/misdemeanors and all efforts to fully prosecute those activities are thwarted by POTUS & the Republican majority?
Time to pack your bags.
6
The Americans fail to understand how serious and dangerous the situation is. So did the Germans during the 1930's.
27
@Ralph Sorbris
Yes--Serious and dangerous: Dangerous equals our Congress and those we elected to lead us.
America, our democracy is being challenged and country before party has been lost. Absolutely nothing is being done.
5
Rosenstein's appointment letter to Mueller lists the areas subject to investigation:
"(i) any links an or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and
(ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and
(iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4(a)."
(https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/967231/download)
It seems that Whitaker decided to ignore the text in this appointment letter, especially clause (ii).
If in the course of investigating Trump family ties with the Russians who commissioned the election hacking, Mueller uncovers evidence of prior financial crimes committed by Trump and Russians, wouldn't that come under the heading of (ii)? Evidence of such crimes would demonstrate the existence of a criminal relationship between the Trumps and the Russian government/oligarchs/organized crime. This evidence might also establish long-term intent on the part of Trump to enlist Russian hackers, especially if he was beholden to Russian interests.
I am not a lawyer, but this appointment letter seems pretty clear. Mueller is fully within his charter in investigating the Trump family financial history.
22
@Lew
I sure hope you're right! Let's all remember that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation began in 1994, tasked with looking into a Clinton land deal in Arkansas, & Starr ended up 5 years later investigating Clinton for having a consensual affair with a White House intern.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/1998/nov/18/clinton.usa
2
Trump actually loves the press. As he has previously said, every day he is in the news (good, bad, or ugly) is a good day. He just shunned CNN’s Acosta and, in effect, boycotted Acosta and CNN.
How about a reciprocal boycott of Trump news — including his “false treats” and Sarah Huckabee’s evasive retorts? Shut off Trump’s “water.” Boycott his “news” and lies for a day, a week, or a month. When the next reporter is kicked out of his press conference, or Huckabee calls the press “fake news,” or Trump utters another lie, let the journals who have a”spine” get up in mass and walk out of the press conference room. That is the mass demonstration we need more than demonstrators carrying signs of protest in the streets. Let the journalists and reporters make their own news with their own boycott.
25
To the nearly 60 percent of Americans with a brain this an admission by Trump and his sycophant supporters that he has a trail of financial crimes in his past that he is panicked will be discovered.
Republicans and Trump are betting that they can simply get away with this massive deflection of justice. Sadly I’m not so sure they don’t pull it off, I’m beginning to think that Mitch McConnell is actually Trumps brain.
6
Let us remember that Democratic Party lost the House but held the Senate in 2010, which was referred to as a "shellacking". Indeed they held the Senate for 3/4ths of Obama's tenure. Historically, the Senate is extremely difficult to force a change of hands. The 2018 midterm was an extraordinary rebuke, under the circumstances.
1
What more can happen in the 53 days that are left of 2018? Notwithstanding the heartbreak of several Democratic losses in Texas and Florida to Trump mini-mes, yes, it's a very big deal that the House changed hands in the Midterms. And a big deal that the president's vituperative attacks against the American press worsen daily.
How soon will the Democratic House investigate and subpoena? How long will Robert Mueller be allowed to be the Special Counsel, now that Jeff Sessions has been ashcanned by Trump? And how soon will the House start to legislate against guns -- re mass shooting -- 13 dead, many injured, early this morning by an armed man in a college hang-out bar and grill in Thousand Oaks, California?
11
To put things in to perspective, we have a crook for President, and some people support him. As for those that don't, the House now gives them the power to investigate.
Trump obviously feels threatened by the possibility that there might be an effort afoot to look in to his business dealings and political deals. He should feel threatened, but I don't think Mueller's investigation necessarily has to go that direction, if it hasn't already. The House "Oversight" and "Intelligence" committees are more than well equipped to do a big part of the work required. Personally, I would like to see Mr. Trump and some of his family in jail, so referring some matters for investigation to the FBI as a criminal investigation, and/or assigning out some of the assignments to local authorities in New York may be the trick that provides the treat. It will be a process, and if the Democrats remain focused, they will succeed.
8
Well, as far as the Senate there is natural attrition after all and many are in their 80's. Past retirement age and pushing the envelope as far as competency without dementia. I definitely think Trump would not pass a complete psychological exam or even come close to passing.
The diversity of the Dems in the House makes me so happy and proud of America! Congratulations and BOL to each and every one of them!
As far as Mr. Mueller, I think he may be ready to wrap up his investigation and finish off his indictments. Or, at least, I hope so in order to avoid unconstitutional interference into a DOJ official investigation for we, the people.
10
Trump is going to go ballistic on the Constitution.
He despises pushback of any kind.
7
Trump looked and acted even more unhinged than usual at his press conference today.
He's scared for good reason!
The house oversight committees are going to expose his corruption and malfeascance on levels way beyond what Mueller will expose about Russia.
Oh -and don't be so sure that all those new (and old) Republican Senators will bow down to trump when he crosses the line constitutionally -Which he surely will try when all the heat comes down.
Beyond issues of honor and respect for the institution there is the reality that they will be running for re-election before and/or after he's gone..
5
What is this strange enterprise passing as a Presidential term? Who is this man deciding no one should question or investigate him? Not that he should obey the law, but that he will punish the country if any one questions him. His assault on reporters daring to question him is appalling. Why do any press conferences with either Sarah Saunders alone or with the President? I am afraid for the safety of reporters going about their work.
9
in the ramping up to become a republic the founding fathers let Slaves be counted as 3/5ths of a person.
today the representation of the largest and thriving blue states is cowed by a particular portion of the country that gets better representation and more power in deciding the outcome of elections. the senate gives each state 2 senators. the population of a half dozen of these states added up does not even equal the Bay Area in population.
California New York Washington New Jersey and a couple others remit huge sums of revenues to the federal government with our had earned taxes. none of these blue states gets close to what we have remitted. the area known as flyover land gets sometimes twice what their remittance has been.
our votes may not even equal being 3/5ths of a voter. their is a problem here.
if twitterer thinks the next 2 years will even look like the last 2 he is truly the most ignorant president in our history.
9
I believe that hyperbole weakens...not strengthens...an argument. I try to avoid it.
So, the following is what I sincerely believe, not an exaggerated statement to win a debate.
I'm fatigued...exhausted...by the political war we've been having as the off-year elections approached. The returns are in...and, to me, they're not happy returns. We have now boldly underlined who we are.
As much as ever...maybe more...I believe that the media...all of it combined, and for all its strengths and shortcomings, is the eyes and ears of a free, informed people. Truly, what would any of us know without news sources? The flawed but brilliant founders of this nation
gave the press the premiere place of honor among all amendments.
And while no one element of the"press" may provide us with what we should know...need to know, collectively, it can lead us to what Carl Bernstein calls, "The best available version of the truth."
Frighteningly, our source of understanding, the free media, is under attack. The ad hoc press conference today removed any doubts from me.
We are drifting, not very slowly, into an autocratic state run by a strongman.
I never considered that it could happen here.
The people have spoken.
15
@Bruce Stasiuk
I am also exhausted by the news stream that never stops. Absolute Overload! And that’s the idea! I think the media should walk out on Trump, but he would probably like it because he could connive in private. On the other hand, his insatiable appetite for nonstop attention knows no bounds. I am affronted at his and Sarah Sanders’ abuse of Jim Acosta today. Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder still has not been solved nor his body returned to his family. Trump has no moral authority whatsoever to stand up to Saudi Arabia, as any prior U.S. president would have. He constantly berates and threatens journalists. Trump holds some accountability for what happened to the Washington Post opinion writer. Trump and Kushner must have big money tied up with the Saudis. Trump likes the attention, but if he can’t stand the heat, he should get out of the U.S. presidency.
Further, the people have spoken through their vote to turn the House Democratic. Trump and McConnell are already threatening Democrats months before they are even in the new House, not to investigate Trump, or their agenda to serve the people who voted them in will be met with obstruction. This is McConnell’s terrible legacy.
1
Priceless, Charles, as usual - "Republican representatives cowed before the pig." As my dad used to say, "don't back a rat into a corner" without expecting harsh results. Trump knows what the investigators know and he will do whatever he has to to shut them down. He also needs to shut down the free press - his relationship with CNN's Jim Acosta reminds me of Ronald Reagan and ABC's Sam Donaldson, only Reagan never threw Sam out. As for his rude reaction to April D. Ryan and Yamiche Alcindor at his "news" conference Wednesday, that was a blatant display of two of his most prevalent traits - racism and hatred of women. Like the rate in the corner, survival at all costs.
18
@Preserving America
I thought Trump’s treatment of Ms. Ryan and Ms. Alcindor was despicable.
1
Trump may possibly have Nixon Derangement Syndrome in which states it is not illegal if the President does it.
And when, not if, the third rate despot does commit offenses that fall within the bounds of impeachment, or at the minimum, an investigation, what will Trump do then?
Yes indeed. Making America great again one travesty at at time.
6
As a "glass half full" person, I believe Bob Mueller has virtually all of the information he needs on Trump etal. and I think he will soon release a report. That said, if Trump's puppet Whitaker tries to block anything in Mueller's report, remember that the House who will soon be under Democratic control has subpoena power. And as far as Trump's henchmen who may try to destroy any of the information Mueller has obtained, Trump should be reminded that the FBI will also have possession of said information.
9
Sadly, I have derived precious little solace from yesterday's results. Yes, I am happy that the Democrats took control of the House, but that just means another two years of bitter rancor between the two parties and another two years of not much getting done. Republicans controlling the Senate leaves me fearful of what kind of toadie-like appointments Trump will start making, beginning with the new Attorney General.
It would be nice to think that some bridge building will start between the Democrats and Republicans in the House, especially with some new faces, who maybe have new ideas, being elected. But I won't hold my breath.
And, as Trump signaled today with his right hand giveth/left hand taketh away admonition to the House, he is certainly not going to become any less truculent, antagonistic or combative. Nor will he become any less mendacious. He probably feels threatened, though, and since his instinct is to fight to protect himself with no thought of collateral damage, one can only guess at the carnage he will leave behind.
6
Democrats picked up a lot more Governorships than losses on the Senate seat side.
While somewhat "comforting," it is regrettable that success in one arena was not matched by success in the other. It does however show what may be or is possible.
But perhaps a Senate run by a ruthless lying schemer who doesn't give a hoot about his country, aka McConnell, makes losses there less relevant in the sense that Democrats would have had to get a majority to assuage the poison McConnell and his cohort sow the country with.
Nevertheless, I guess we have to stop and consider why a former Senator, who failed to get a judgeship because the Senate saw "racial insensitivity" in him, became our hope to retain a semblance of integrity to prevent a megalomaniacal president from derailing a Justice Department inquiry into the many, including possibly traitorous, misdeeds of his administration and those who helped him get elected. The Senate's opinion appears validated many times over in Sessions' gung ho rapture on Trump's racist immigration policies and rhetoric. So maybe at one time the Senate actually was the august chamber the Founders envisioned? Of course it was an august chamber that happily supported slavery, institutional racism and the like for decades. But nothing's perfect? Some more imperfect than others.
1
The question is, was candidate Trump subject to blackmail by Russians?
If he is a crook, e.g. a money-launderer serving wealthy Russians, as seems highly likely, then he was probably vulnerable to blackmail.
Thus the question of whether he is a crook is an important subject for Mueller -- among many others -- to look into.
This doesn't seem difficult.
6
With the House returning to Democratic control in January, I put my money on Adam Schiff to shine a spotlight on Trump administration corruption.
The Republican clown show that was staged by Devin Nunes is over. Donald Trump fears truth. He has great reason to fear it.
11
Charles, by firing Jeff Sessions and appointing a strong opponent of Muller's Russia investigation, Trump is on his way to go Scot-free even after committing a heinous crime against our nation : Treason.
Lot of Trump's acolytes will say he was not treasonous as he didn't pass any national secrets.
But Trump did receive our citizen's database from the Russians on June 9th,2016 in a Trump Tower meeting attended by top Russian politicians and oligarchs with very close connections to Putin including a female lawyer who had Hillary's hacked emails.
We also know that right before that meeting attended by top Trump campaign officials including his son Don Jr, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign Manager Paul Manafort, Trump asked Russia in a press conference to help his campaign by extracting 30,000 emails from Hillary's computers.
But for more than 2 years Trump is denying that there was any collusion between him,his family members or his campaign team with the Russians.
After hearing about his son's testimony he knows Mr. Mueller knows the truth.
That is the main reason why after ridiculing first and then pleading with his AG Jeff Sessions to take over the Russia inquiry in his hands just to scuttle it right away, Trump fired the man who wouldn't recuse himself from the Russia investigation and appointed Matthew Whitaker who was number 4 or 5 in the line of succession in the Justice Dept. but got the job by saying on CNN,"Russia inquiry should be scuttled."
Go figure !
6
Based on the election returns and the apparent "swing" towards a Democratic controlled Congress I would not be surprised if the current government impeached Mister Trump - today - now, especially if Mueller is "fired."
1
@James Thurber
The problem is while the House may impeach, the senate tries the case. You need 67 votes to convict and remove and that won't happen.
As much as I want this man gone, a trial in the senate would tear this country apart.
Remember the Clinton impeachment trial over lying about Monica Lewinsky? That was a spectacle. Can you imagine that Trump would not want to be there? That would be reality TV.
1
“Trump’s strategy is to survive at all costs.” Rather gain total power over his country. That goal reached, he will leave politics and do to another hobby.
1
There is no strategy here. Strategy is what Karl Rove used in 2002 when he banged the drums of war in order to seize control of the Senate as it was conducting Enron investigations. Rove also got Arnold installed as California governor, shutting down that state's Enron investigation. And he timed the invasion of Iraq for the day the report would be released confirming that Enron price gouged California with the support of the Bush administration. A lot of administration people--including Rove and Thomas White and others--could have gone to jail. Rove knew how to rig elections.
In contrast, Trump merely campaigned for Senators in red states. And now he faces the specter of Watergate style hearings in the House. Hearings that CNN will air. Remember that Nixon was never actually impeached. He was tried by the court of public opinion. And Trump's dirty laundry is much worse than Tricky Dick's.
Trump is scared. He should be scared. And he is surrounded by grifters and conmen who will give him all the wrong advice, and since he is a political novice, he will make all the wrong decisions. He will be lucky to get exile in Russia with a pence pardon.
5
@McCamy Taylor
One can hope!!!
2
Trump’s strategy is to survive at all costs-
By abusing Americans left and right. Witness the fate of journalists at the Prestigious Press Conference with worldwide coverage.
2
@S Ramanujam, sadly everyone will think all Americans behave that way. The media has been Trump's critic from day one, its job is to keep an eye and report on facts, but its been biased in its reporting because of the moral ethical financial baggage Trump carries with him, not to mention his hypocrisy when it comes to white nationalists and his treatment of women and people of color. The midterm did not reset the button.
2
Everyone's talking about 2020, but given the awesome destructiveness of this so-called president and his enablers, I fear very much that things will get much worse before they get better. I hope the country and the world make it to 2020 without being cut to ribbons.
3
Young impressionable diverse women are making their way into DC. Something happens to people who enter the beltway. They suddenly become transformed, its as though they shed their original humble roots and get used to the fawning, the attention, the celebrity endorsements and worse, the special interest lobbyists who promise them the moon if they would do what the lobbyists want done. Suddenly they are wearing more expensive attire, more make up, now they are congress-woman. It happens to men too but women are particularly vulnerable. They might notice how Liz Warren is always plainly dressed, no heavy jewelry on display or made up eye lashes, she is pure business, getting the job done for we the people. As a mom of a young daughter in her late 20s, I am hoping our women stay on course to get the job done, tasks they wanted to accomplish and less on peripheral looks and cosmetic lift ups.
We the people wish we are not woken up with news that 12 killed in a bar overnight, or hundreds shot at a concert, or so many died in a school shooting. We are sick in the stomach with that kind of news. Our impotent congress is more concerned about keeping the money coming from special interests and powerful lobbies than actually legislating. The media too is so distracted by omg trump said this today, seriously, he said that, how dare he? Than objective factual reporting.
2
President Trump does not need "encouragement to continue his racism, his attacks on the truth and on the press, and to expand his corruption."
He does that very effectively all by himself. We were less than 24 hours out from the midterm election results to see President Trump doing his remarkable impression of President Trump at the White House press conference.
4
I think it would really be the correct thing if Mueller concluded and reported now. This will feed the resistance and in a sense 'out Trump Trump' by driving the headlines into facts not the latest perverse diversion cooked up by the horrid POTUS.
1
When President Trump says "I run the country", could someone please remind him that he has only one role in the "running of the country", we all run the country, it is a democracy.
56
@jean birky
America is not a democracy. It is a divided limited power constitutional republic republic. And Trump reigns and rules over the Article II executive branch.
We do not all run the country. We elect and select those who do as our hired help.
3
Democrats should do all we can to protect the Russia investigation (like protesting at 5 PM today). That said, given the craven character of Republican Senators, it is critical the Democratic Party not waste its hard won political capital in a quixotic attempt to impeach and convict Donald Trump. Rather we need to show through hearings and legislation (albeit doomed bills), that we protect medicare, SS and the ACA; that we wish to raise the national minimum wage, reform the college loan system, help struggling young families with home ownership and build a 21st century infrastructure. This is a political war of the urban and suburban majority who support the founding principles of our country against an entrenched anti-democratic minority. It will require party discipline and a long term outlook: to 2022 and beyond. Democrats must identify a progressive presidential aspirant now (Beto?) and let him or her speak for the party (not just Schumer and Pelosi). Given Trump's regionalist red state approach and his vile race-baiting nativist strategies he will struggle to be re-elected if Dems put forth a competent progressive candidate. The Senate will still be a huge reach, however. Focus must be on state wide elections so that the electoral machinery will be controlled by a party that actually supports democracy - the only way to take back our country.
3
I expect that Trump will scatter a bunch of rabbits to run about; after all, that's Trump's modus operandi: sow chaos and confusion to distract from real issues and important policy changes.
The Democratic Representatives need to maintain only two things:
1. a focused investigation of the most salient of Trump's possible wrongdoings; and
2. a prioritized legislative agenda focused on matters that concern the majority of Americans (e.g., some rank-ordering of issues like healthcare, comprehensive immigration reform, living wages, etc.).
The last thing Democratic Representatives need to do is get knee-jerked distracted and start chasing Trump's bunnies down their chaos holes.
4
So far Trump's strategy is working. He is closer to getting rid of Mueller now an poof, there goes the investigation.
It is time to get rid of the Electoral College.
I am hoping that Charles will write a column on how the Electoral College can be put to rest. To me, I would love it on the next National election ballot, as I think the voters hate it. One person, one vote should be the Law of the Land, not the Electoral College
5
@Jean -- The Electoral College is an imperfect method, but of doing something important.
Democracy is not only about one person, one vote, 50% + 1 rules. It is also about avoiding a tyranny of the majority, and about representing diversity of interests.
In the US, that includes representing all regions, since interests here do differ by region. A Federal government controlled by large majorities of a few heavily populated places would be defective in important requirements of democracy.
If we discard the Electoral College, we must put in place some other protections for minority and diverse interests, including regional interests.
I say it is defective, because it certainly has not protected all minority interests, nor all diversity, nor even all regional interests.
However, I do not see any proposals for something that will provide that protection better, just for eliminating the limited protection we've got, to let the frustrated majority impose their will.
That would not be democracy, certainly not liberal democracy.
We must replace the Electoral College with something better, not discard the protections all together.
The Founders did see this problem. They knew they could not get the Constitution ratified without some such provision. This is not a random or chance effect, we know because we have the written discussions of it.
3
@Mark Thomason
Thanks for your explanation.... But....
Unfortunately I have never understood the EC's importance and the overruling of popular vote.
Why does one stand in line to vote if it can be overruled? Why isn't the majority vote counted?
Personally I don't see the point of two different entities making the decision- and selecting Trump when Americans voted for Hillary. Yes, my problem is I see it as a black and white issue-(not literally) it is what it is and having to bear Trump now certainly appears to be an extremely bad decision on the Electoral College behalf. The popular vote knew something the Electoral college did not. And it certainly wasn't about protecting our interests.....
3
Wonder if any Democratic senator can enter the Chamber, state their presence for the record and have this count for a session? If so, definitely look into this. Any state that has less population than say, the number of students in NYC Public Schools, should be consolidated, like they do in business. For example, North Dakota and South Dakota can merge as one Dakota. In the long run, such a move would save money. If this isn't plausible, then we need to reconsider the makeup of the Senate and have its composition changed based on population. That would require an amendment. A solution is needed because the majority should be heard and not silenced by the minority.
2
@Adam -- No, it must be called to order, to be in session. If officially out of session, a minority cannot defy that.
"Democrats will now investigate and subpoena, which is a necessary and powerful function of the legislature."
Yes, but they should not emulate their Republican colleagues, who seem to make it a full-time occupation of anything and everything related to Clinton. Email-gate, Benghazi and on and on.
The Democrats should focus on governing as well, and try to introduce and pass legislation that would help the common folks, and not the rich folks to whom the Republicans were beholden, as demonstrated by their zeal to give tax breaks to the wealthy, gut regulations and so on.
5
@RK, except the president's behavior suggests he has something serious to hide. This isn't a Benghazi investigation -- people have already gone to jail.
3
@RK -- "they should not emulate their Republican colleagues, who seem to make it a full-time occupation of anything and everything related to Clinton"
Notice the Republicans in all that utterly failed to get a Clinton. They couldn't convict Bill, and they couldn't lay a hand on Hillary.
That isn't because either Clinton was squeaky clean. It was Republican incompetence.
If Democrats do this, they must do it much more competently than anything the Republicans did.
2
@Mark Thomason
I seem to recall many from the Nixon Watergate trials going to jail. The republicans time and again demonstrate their incompetency. It appears that the Democrats might be a tad brighter. Just sayin'
1
The outcome of more concentrated power in this presidency could be a diluted presidency post Trump, after very litigious and legislative lawmakers in the House have their response to any overreaching power grabs by the impulsive executive branch. Trump has the potential to leave the country weakened.
1
@Zeek -- "could be a diluted presidency post Trump"
Good. I hope so.
We have had movement in one direction for far too long, toward the Imperial Presidency and a Congress that abdicated responsibility.
If Trump is the price of re-creating that balance of power we lost, then it is a price well paid.
2
Mr. Blow makes a mistake in using the word 'strategy' and 'Trump' in the same sentence. Our President has never had a strategy about anything because that would take, thought, analysis and planning. Trump worked the Senate races because they were high profile names, there were so few of them and the ones he did support were in states that weren't entirely antithetical to his Presidency. Can you imagine Trump campaigning throughout NY State in support of all the congressional candidates?
It wasn't strategy. It was simply another job he was incapable of doing.
14
If you at all care about democracy or fear trump's push towards autocracy, please attend a protest this evening to protect the Muller investigation. It is in deep jeopardy.
16
Yes, Trump apparently sees holding the Senate as protecting him from being convicted of impeachment. But does this mean that there are no Republicans in that no longer august body who wouldn't vote to convict if it were proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he was likely guilty?
17
@DBA, that's the million dollar question.
4
@DBA—yes, that is what it means. One assumes you were asking a rhetorical question?
3
@RMF All impeachment would do (and it will not happen) is get us Pence, which would be a pyrrhic victory indeed.
2
As heartening as the Democrat win in the House may be the midterms show just how badly our democracy is broken. For many red states the fact is one person many votes. Too many. We live in a society governed by an entrenched minority and this will be very difficult to fix in the near future.
27
Democracy, from the Greek root, literally means "rule by people". We now have two branches of the government that do not conform to the intent of democracy.
The Senate is land based, not people based, as Mr. Blow pointed out. What that means is that my NY value as a voter is worth far less than someone from Rhode Island or North Dakota. I am perhaps 1/10 of a person.
The electoral college system for the Presidency was conceived in bias and perpetuates bias. Compared to someone from Ohio, who is a full person, I am 1/5 of a person.
The Senate will be increasingly out of whack as people move to urban centers for work and rural areas are depopulated.
But. We can do something now to restore some balance to democracy. Abolish the electoral college. It can be done if there is the will to do it. And we must, if democracy is to survive.
40
@Judith Klinger
We are not ancient Greek democracy. Nor a modern British nor Canadian parliamentary democracy.
America was and still is a divided limited power constitutional republic of united states. After the Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate is the least democratic branch of our government. Followed by the President of the United States. The only representative who we were meant to directly vote for was in the House.
Abolition of the Electoral College requires a constitutional Amendment.
3
I was so heartened by this election. The Democrats fielded a roster of genuine, authentic people with real values and evident character. They talked to everyone, they invited everyone into the the tent. They proposed real, pragmatic solutions for real problems. They are the future. And that future is worth fighting for.
40
"Trump’s strategy is to survive at all costs." The cost will be our national safety, security, and reputation. The cost will be a nation left divided and less likely to work harmoniously for the common good. And the cost will become even more obvious to taxpayers as important federal programs, disrupted by Trump, are reinstated after he leaves office.
34
Trump is making promises he knows he can't deliver. But why? That answer is key. I suspect he has used his presidency to pay back debts. Many wealthy individuals tied to oil, including Putin, would see Iran sanctions as very profitable. Trumps tax breaks for the rich were sold using a short-term sweetener for the poor.
Given automation is going to be the number one cause of job loss; immigrating is absolute peanuts; taxes on business would be better used retraining people displaced by automation. That is good for business and good for workers. That was a Hilary policy. Cutting taxes on the rich is a Trump policy.
The democrats holding the house will help to stop Trump thinking he is above the law. A US President is there to serve the people, not use it for personal profit and spread corruption.
84
@ema
Excellent comment. I especially like the your last line. I would only add that it will be up to the press (as it most always is) to frame the things that you talk about, which will go a long way as to how it is processed by voters - and whether they translate to votes in 2020 ?
We shall see. Keep the faith.
42
Trump's base is the red states, which have an aversion to government and taxes. Uncle Sam has been forcing government and taxes on them, and they do not like it. Uncle Sam should do less and let the states do more if they want to. Agricultural aid to the states from Uncle Sam is inevitable, but it should be structured by the big players in the agricultural economy, which means that it will go to them and not to individual farmers.
If blue states really want to harm red states, as the red states want to harm the blue ones, the way to do this is to let the red states do what they want to. This will be very tough on some red state citizens -- but we are at war. We should encourage them to leave.
31
The removal of Trump is not a matter of political preference or simply preferring a democratic president.
The removal of Trump is a necessary bipartisan first step in restoring integrity to our American government so that all citizens can look forward with pride to the future.
Having Mike Pence as an interim president is a positive step in a transition to an honest government.
22
@michael kittle Mike Pence is a walking horror show, as well, swathed up to his eyeballs in dark money, but hides behind evangelism and a facade of moral purity. They are all corrupt, and though he might be "an improvement," his designs are as dark as any GOP member wishing to defend the oligarchy it has already entrenched. The notion that he might help create an "honest government" is absolutely ludicrous. He has been aiding and abetting the devil in chief for this long--why would honesty suddenly emerge with Pence's sudden rise to the presidential podium?
7
@michael kittle
Mike Pence sold his soul and truthfulness to a deal with the devil Trump long ago. I can only imagine what his confessions must be.
5
Candidates like Stacey Abrahms, Paulette Jordan, Sharice David, Ilhan Omar and many others are inspiring and give us hope. The near term may still be bleak but I believe that the future for the US is bright. There is no other country in the world who can match the diversity of the 2018 candidates. I am hopeful for the next generation.
However, now we need to dig back in and fight. Trump & Co had their play book ready to go. Do we? They have everything to loose and will fight until the end to hang onto their power and their overflowing bank accounts.
Our slide to authoritarianism isn't a product of Trump, he was the perfect vessel for Republicans who have been stealthily chipping away at Voter Rights and our democracy in general. Trump was the last piece they needed to pull it all together and ramp up their plan.
Democrats, don't blow it by fighting amongst each other. We have more important work to do. Let Bernie Sanders, who can rally the base like no other and has a crystal clear message about corruption, work along side Nancy Pelosi, who is the toughest fighter in the ring.
54
It doesn't matter during the midterms that Democrats got an aggregate 97.3 million votes while Republicans mustered 80.7 million votes.
But come 2020, the net 16.6 million Democratic votes will count, along with all Americans who come of voting age in the next two years.
I think there's a good chance that before 2020 Trump will resign from office -- not by impeachment in the House or conviction by the Senate -- but as an erstwhile plea bargain that lets Trump off the hook for the high crimes and misdemeanors he'll be facing when Mueller issues his final report.
Even within his own party, there's growing cognizance of Trump's sloppy and indulgent politics, which contributed to GOP losing the House and failing to capitalize on the large number of Senate Democrats facing voters last Tuesday. As of now, the Republicans have a Senate Majority of 1 having gained 2 additional Senate seats. Two Senate races are still pending a likely recount.
My takeaway from Tuesday is the 16 million more votes for Democrats than Republicans. If half of those votes show up come November 2020, it won't be a wave but a tsumani.
With every election the Democrat tide rises higher from political climate change directly caused by Trump. For Princeton Ted to scrape by Beto by just 2.6% of 8 million+ votes presages a future Texas that's already purple on its way to blue.
Demography is destiny. And destiny is Democrat.
There are at least 16 million reasons for that.
114
@Yuri Asian-Texas voters' overwhelming support for Beto was likely blocked with the usual GOP tactics: widespread gerrymandering, malfunctioning machines and machines flipping votes in favor of Cruz in over 30% of precincts, misleading information to voters about polling locations, language access problems, voter purging via restrictive IDs, and other punitive measures intended to intimidate minority voters, etc. The next elections will be decided by the courts, if concerned Americans don't push back--and fight hard for their rights.
U.S. appeals court lets Texas' revamped voter ID law take effect ...
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2018/04/27/appeals-court-upholds-texas-voter-law
https://www.aclutx.org/en/news/sorry-state-voting-rights-texas
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/28/661020113/ahead-of-the-2018-election-texas-ag-ramps-up-voter-fraud-prosecutions
56
@Ann Thank you, Ann! Very much wish the media covered more of these truths!
6
@Ann
It was a state-wide race. Gerrymandering didn't matter.
1
By my rough count, Republicans must defend 22 Senate seats in 2020, and the Democrat only 12. A Democratic takeover is in the cards.
25
Well, the Senate is a shinier prize than the House largely because the former confirms Supreme Court Justices. Kavanaugh won't be the last placement. And those lifetime appointments will be a horrible lasting legacy to a presidency that was not willed by a majority, and that we would have been much better off without.
43
@NM I totally agree with you. The Senate will be a stronghold. It is critical, however, that Dems have an exceptional candidate for POTUS in 2020 so that we might flip a few red states for POTUS & Senate.
2
One thing that does puzzle me about the 'beyond his brief' defense that is put up - how do the people who invoke it think the system is supposed to work?
If the police pull you over for a broken tail light and then discover a body in the trunk, they don't say they can't investigate the circumstances because they are only traffic cops.
Why can a potential crime can be ignored just because it was not initially identified in the authorization of the investigation?
59
It's a good thing Trump's hometown, his main businesses, etc., are in New York, and subject to NY state law. The state AG has already pursued Trump's charitable org for tax law violations. His state tax returns are subject to audit, and I'm confident that the NYS auditors will examine his returns closely.
45
@Tony-Trump and his morally unfit Republican enablers have a plan for that. "Some scholars worry that, if the court decides to overrule itself and forbid state and federal prosecutions for the same crime, a president could immunize allies from state law prosecution by pardoning them after they have been prosecuted for a federal crime.”
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/653492150/is-8-enough-the-consequences-of-the-supreme-court-starting-one-justice-down
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamble_v._United_States
7
When Trump warns us that his reaction to closer scrutiny will be 'warlike', let's hope invoking that particular metaphor doesn't mean the disclosure of his tax returns will trigger some massive military mobilization as a distraction. I wouldn't put it past him.
77
Neither do I. Or creating the reason for such action in the first place.
7
Blue wave my foot
It cannot be
for t'was a famous victory.
just count the crowds
The lock er ups
And maybe in this happy time
Some cheerful folk were in their cups.
The Donald won
All others lost
The Donld's campaign
Tempest tossed.
17
@Larry Eisenberg, Comical Ali is alive and well, in MA?
It was a massive blue wave that had to break over the seawall of egregious GOP'er gerrymandering - and let's be perfectly clear:
The Dems have not gained this many seats in a mid-term with a GOP'er POTUS since 1974 after Nixon had resigned that August; meaning no Dem who is less than 62 years old was an adult who could vote when Dems last posted such gains.
Again, that was back when the House districts weren't so egregiously gerrymandered as they are now.
Could not be prouder of the American electorate.
Oh, and Pelosi's standard answer regarding impeachment and investigations that Pres. Ig(noramus) 45* tried to bully her over should be: "We're going to do our jobs and drain the swamp".
103
@R. Law, I think she's not showing her cards and I agree with that strategy. Sometimes it's better to play cool and defensive while allowing your opponent to recklessly lash out.
3
The strategy of any responsible politician is to remove this criminal from office at all costs. Voters will have to enforce this, assuming a greater voice than we have so far. The demagogue MUST GO. He will not go quietly.
61
A few thoughts:
First, Trump has never been under the degree of scrutiny to which he is about to be subjected. First will be his tax returns, and then Adam Schiff will take over the House Intelligence Committee from the quisling Devin Nunes.
Next - no legislation will pass without the House going along with it. Trump has already told the world that if anything happens he doesn't like, he'll blame the Democratic House majority. Big deal; he blames the Democrats for everything already.
If Trump's strategy is reduced to survival, that's fine with me. He'll be so busy defending himself, perhaps he'll do less harm to the country.
173
@Vesuviano, I like your epithet for Nunes.
32
@Vesuviano agree 100 %. Trump may say or think he's won, but that's ignoring how he's already been undermined by the intense legal scrutiny he and his family have attracted. As you say, more unwelcome scrutiny is to come. Trump is on thin ice. I hope Mitch McConnell falls through the cracks with him.
35
@Vesuviano
The IRS has been auditing his tax returns for years and they seem to have found nothing egregious. Who is going to find anything different and how quickly? If they do, they should be the IRS...instead of the IRS being the IRS.
4
This is where things get extremely dangerous. Trump no longer has to answer to voters. He believes, probably correctly, that any attempt to impeach him will end without a conviction. He is going to go all out to protect himself and his family. A constitutional crisis is coming.
127
@B. Windrip
'coming'? It's HERE !!
5
Trump is scared, underneath it all. The House flip, during a good economy, was a direct verdict on him. A few thousand adoring goobers at one of his rallies won't change that.
As a result, he panicked, and chose someone from the deep right field bleachers to fire Archibald Cox, aka Jeff Sessions. It will be fun to see where that takes him, as well as to watch the tongue twisting spectacles from the likes of Mitch McConnell and Mike Pence.
Someone needs to tell Mueller to just go ahead and submit his evidence, which can only lead to indictments. We'll then watch the President try to call "witch hunt" on professional prosecutors from the Justice Department.
His base won't care, though they will shrink to about 28% of the American public. Let's watch them have to endure mockery and shame for a while. Not that they will notice. As for Trump, let's just give him a warlock's broom, where he can ride around and tweet to his heart's content, and will be so out of it that he won't even notice that nobody is listening.
108
@Mike Roddy There was speculation that Mueller has ALREADY subpoenaed Trump, and it's being fought in court (under seal). There are probably more indictments under seal, and interim AG Whitaker have ZERO ability to remove them/rescind them without court approval (good luck with that!).
Since Democrats now have control of the House, they have subpoena power over Whitaker if he plays the hatchet man and fires Mueller. Whitaker could HOPE for a Trump pardon if he is indicted for obstruction of justice; but ask Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort how THAT turned out.
56
@Mike Roddy
No one needs to tell Mueller anything. The man does not leave loose ends. He’s got a report ready to drop as soon as it is necessary, and not a moment before. This country is lucky to have such a patriot in our own time.
25
Considering the extreme gerrymandering by the republicans, it was a massive victory in the house. Can we be happy for a few days?
105
@runaway
only a little. the Dem's margin in total congressional votes is just 4%.
6
@gc
That 4% means millions of votes, millions of votes.
12
@runaway I'm more happy with the HIGH TURNOUT for these mid-term elections, with 2/3 of the voters polled expressing an explicit repudiation of Trumpism. Unfortunately, America is turning into an apartheid where old white man controls the country.
5
This is the first I've heard, in all the brouhaha of today, that Trump would actually make a formal recess appointment over Christmas, of just about anybody.
Hell, he could appoint me, as insane as that seems. Or, of course, he could make permanent the bald-headed judicial equivalent of Keith Schiller--a judicial heavy for the ages (the resemblance to Schiller is striking).
I thank Charles for this interesting tidbit, which already has worsened my mood, as if that were possible.
Trump is obstructing justice--no, make that obliterating justice--right in front of the entire country.
It sounds and seems impossible, and one wonders how he's getting away with it, and how this mess will end.
I wonder in the annals of history how many other examples of a declining government contained this many strange strings this elected mob boss came up with. And I also wonder how the cunning president actually figured out how to do this, who whispered it in his ear (Rudy uncharacteristically wouldn't comment).
It looks as if this man has the entire country over a barrel, but wiser than me have noted that nothing is really over until it's over.
67
Good People of America get ready to hit the streets tomorrow night, November 8, at 5 pm.
Many democratic organizations have been planning a massive demonstration across America if The Con Don fired Sessions. He did and Rachel Maddow (MSNBC 9 pm ET weeknights) reported just now that the demonstration is on for tomorrow night at 900 locations across America.
No One Is Above The Law. Every American citizen who values our democratic form of governance must hit the streets and voice our anger so even The Con Don can hear.
The link is below. This must not stand in OUR United States of America. Not now. Not ever.
https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/?from=@
86
One person asked me how to sign up with this group. Go to the website and look at "partner organizations" at the bottom and sign up with one of them if you want to be updated on their activity.
For tonight just find a place near you and show up.
See you there!
4
@njglea
Already there. Just need to decide which of the 44 events that tiny Massachusetts is hosting to attend.
4
@njglea Thanks for the info!
1
Even if Democrats manage to retake the presidency and control of Congress in 2020, the judiciary is likely lost for a generation. That tragedy will prove to be the greatest fallout from 2016.
111
Mr Blow: "Republican representatives cowed by a pig." Priceless.
203
Is it just me or does Jim Acosta have some steel in his spine?
46
@Warren
Yup. And now he's been banned from the WH with the lie from Sanders that he "put his hands" on an intern. Anyone who has watched the video from the press conference can see that that's a lie. Trump is an emotionally-weak man and I think even his supporters are beginning to see that.
3
Blow is misses the big issue of the 2018 midterms. For the GOP this is just a minor setback. I don't think even the most delusional Republican expected to keep the House. From the GOP's perspective losing the House is irrelevant. They've won the Senate ...increasing their majority. Control the Senate & you control the most important lever of power: the judiciary. That means the Republican's will continue to nominate more conservative justices. The courts are the source of the Republican's power in the cultural war that divides us. The GOP is not going to have to worry about confirmation battles anymore. They're not going to have to worry about appeasing moderates. They will put up whoever they want...the more to the right the better...and get them quickly confirmed. The GOP is playing a long game. Trump will be gone soon. They will still be here. The GOP will wait him out & achieve all of their objectives. Their goal is to nominate 3-4 very conservative Supreme Court justices. Trump has gotten two SCOTUS appointments, he may get more. He’s moved much faster on lower-court appointments than Obama did. The legal arm of the conservative movement is the best organized & most far-seeing sector of the Right. They truly are in it — and have been in it — for the long term goals. Control the Supreme Court, stack the judiciary, and you can stop the progressive movement, no matter how popular it is, no matter how much legislative power it has. Nothing will get in the way of that goal.
33
@Bill Brown
I'm not sure if Trump has moved faster than Obama on judicial appointments. We'd have to forget McConnell's obstructions to think that this was Obama moving slowly on federal court appointments.
9
@Bill Brown One thing to consider is that Democrats can launch an effort to change the number of justices who sit on the SCOTUS, and increase its makeup, and its balance. That would be a good way of undoing the damage that has already been done.
1
@Bill Brown Plus, where are these "conservative justices" coming from? The republicans have a farm system, financed through laws schools funded by the Kochs et al, and the Federalist Society. Same with their 'economists' they finance and employ in their multitude of 'Think Tanks', and right wing publications......Rupert Murdoch buys the WSJ, purchasing some respectability to continue to push further and further right in the MSM. ALEC is filled with lawyers to push the coordinated agenda through state house legislatures. This is the culmination of the slow moving coup, the corporate backed takeover of our government to have essentially a one party government. People like me have been called "paranoid" and "hyperbolic", but here we are, and most of the country is acting as if this is business as usual. POTUS and Congressional behavior is truly frightening, and they still have about 8 weeks to wreak havoc until the new legislators are seated.
3
"The Senate, on the other hand, is tied to land. Indeed, the fewer people in these states, many of them solidly Republican, the more weight each person’s vote carries. The Electoral College lives between the two equations."
Actually doing the math on this is enraging. As a New Yorker, I share my Senate votes with 20 million other people. A person in Wyoming shares her Senate votes with 600,000 other people. So she has 33 votes in the Senate -- and the Electoral College -- to my 1.
"The Senate is tied to the land." I'm waiting for a good explanation for square miles of dirt having a vote. Yes, I know the history. The Constitution ought to have been amended long ago. This has never been a democracy, and it needs to become one
263
@Hal Blackfin
There is a partial solution avaialble for this: doubling the size of the House of Representatives.
That's why they're called Representatives.
19
@Hal Blackfin - You are so right! This has been boiling in my mind for quite some time!
9 most populous states have half the population (165 million) with 2 Senators each = 18 Senators
32 have the other half of the population with 2 Senators each = 64 Senators.
What is fair about that? The tail is wagging the dog.
7
@Hal Blackfin
Of the states with less than average population, 15 swing red and 10 swing blue sometimes or always. The second and third biggest states are deep or at least tinged red.
"Trump will no doubt see this all as encouragement to continue his racism, his attacks on the truth and on the press, and to expand his corruption."
Why wouldn't he? It worked.
Some in the GOP wanted to Trump to emphasize a strong economy and just lie about the tax cuts for the wealthy and the GOP desire to cut the safety net.
Trump knew better. He understands his base. Economics was never the point. Cruelty and demonization of the other was always the point of Trump. Economics was just an excuse. The cheers and jeers at his rallies were not for corporate tax cuts and roll backs of environmental regulations. They were for the attacks, the hate.
Are "all Trump voters racists, idiots and bigots" as Kristof in today's NYT column accused the progressive wing of Democratic party of believing to the detriment of winning elections?
I don't believe they all are. But the ones who aren't are more than willing to condone it in the Oval Office and in Congress.
And I just don't see much of a difference. The saddest part of the election results is that so many Americans just don't care. And we have President happy to bring out the worst in us.
62
@LT To determine if Pres. Trump's base is racist depends on how you define racist. How many Trump supporters tell this sort of anecdote? "I hired two Hispanic guys to (fill in some repair job) after (fill in a natural disaster). They never showed up and never called me to cancel. I'll never make THAT mistake again." In the next sentence, they will swear on a stack of Bibles that they don't have a racist bone in their bodies. How many of them, however, have ever said this when given bad service by a European-American? "I hired two _white_ guys to (fill in some repair job) after (fill in a natural disaster). They never showed up and never called me to cancel. I'll never make THAT mistake again." Those who would insanely attack a synagogue or a traditionally African-American church, inflamed by what they hear from certain politicians, "news" sources and online ranters, are one problem. Are there not, however, also tens of millions of Trump supporters who have no idea they harbor racist, or ethnocentric approaches to dealing with their fellow Americans but believe that the statement above is completely logical, and not racist? It took decades of the Republican Party playing the blame game, when there was little to no evidence that those groups who were being blamed deserved it, to produce a president like Donald Trump. I fear it will take decades to move us back to more tolerance and unity. Pres. Trump wants us to be unified, but only if everyone believes as he does.
3
@LT That's why he "loves the uneducated" - they are his base, by and large.
3
@LT
Sadly I believe all of trump's supporters have a semblance of racism or bigotry. Sometimes it's overt, sometimes it's really subtle. The way they perceive young minority mothers as absolutely being on welfare where their white counterpart young mothers are not. That Hispanics/Latinos are not as hard working as their white counterparts. That African Americans cannot be trusted in a store, followed around by security when their white counterparts are not. The comments about hiring a "darky" in an all white company. That Blacks and other minorities cannot be as smart as white people. That spending on education for a large minority Hispanic town is a waste of money since they don't go to college and just grow up on welfare. I've heard it all as a child in my Democratic town and as an adult in my Republican town. We generally don't hear the overt racism, the appalling derogatory terms to describe people of minorities. We are too PC for that. But the deep seated racism and bigotry are alive and well in every Republican I have ever known. So yes, in my belief, all republicans have some sort of bigotry residing in their being.
5
If anyone had any doubts about whether Donald Trump had any regard for the rule of law, rest easy....he does not.
Matthew Whitaker was an aspiring Republican politician who couldn't win any elections, so he instead became a Republican operative, a George W. Bush appointee and a Rick Perry 2012 campaign manager.
After Whitaker's failed 2014 primary bid for Iowa Senate, Whitaker was a managing partner of Des Moines-based law firm where he represented as counsel and was an Advisory Board member for World Patent Marketing, a fraudulent business based in Florida that deceived inventors into thinking that the company had successfully commercialized other inventions.
World Patent Marketing was shut down in March 2017 by the Federal Trade Commission. Hopeful inventors and investors invested a total of $26 million with the fraudulent company, of which the FTC had only located $2 million as of May 2018.
Whitaker was also Executive Director of a conservative watchdog group The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), which was a dark-money, right-wing attack dog that spent most of its time filing frivolous FEC complaints against Hillary Clinton and other Democrats.
Welcome to the Trump-Whitaker United States Justice Department, where fraud and partisan conspiracists are welcome... and facts and justice and America's election integrity can go straight to hell.
Investigate
Impeach
Indict
Incarcerate
There's a crook in the White House and a massive Republican cover-up.
577
@Socrates
I guess we'll find out what Trump is planning in the next few weeks (days?) before the new Congress takes over. Obstruction comes to mind. And why does he keep drawing a red line with the Trump Organization finances?
Will the GOP help him get away with it or will the "I's" have it? Investigate, Impeach, Indict, and Incarcerate.
74
@Socrates
What an excellent and plain speaking last sentence!
30
thank you a billion times for letting us know about M Whitaker.
39
Government of the thugs, by the thugs and for the thugs.
192
Democrats will now have the opportunity to show the world they're capable of pushing their programs through the House. They will no longer have the excuse of being solely back benchers sighing and whining. See: no more spitwads.
6
Congratulations to Charles who has led the resistance since Trump’s election. Charles has been a powerful voice in defence of traditional American values and unstinting in his opposition to Trump. America has survived two years of Trump and fortunately a split Congress should be able to curb Trump’s excesses. The count down begins. Only two more years.
133
but Milton Lewis, countdown to 2020 still leaves us with the same problem--- finding a winning candidate not one of the also rans. Letting the Dem national party choose will be just more of the same or worse
8
@Milton Lewis I hope that the Dems find a real candidate BUT what we must do now is back the new congress and resist at every level.
5
Martin Luther King paid the price for his success with his Poor People's Campaign. He be came a threat when he got through to a very wide variety of people.
Democrats haven't expended the energy or time on educating voters and unifying them on its stated core principles. Instead, as the conservative tropes took root over the decades, Democrats ended up drifting further and further to the right, to the point where a portion of the party's elected officials sound no different than your average conservative. Many of that kind of Democrat lost their seats.
Even though the most exciting races we're by progressives, they didn't quite win. But we now know just how close a win is next time, with a concerted, concentrated effort at keeping voters engaged.
I'm not much for what ifs. We now know that what's missing from the left is a message and the passion of souls on fire.
--
Things Trump Did While You Weren’t Looking https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2ZW
27
@Rima Regas--cheer up Rima. You're hero, Bernie Sanders, easily won re-election to his Senate seat in Vermont.
2
In his press conference today Trump displayed a terrified man, afraid of the future, Mueller, the House and probably the American people. It's time for Republican leadership to talke steps to control or even impeach this man who is destroying democracy in this country.
183
@Karn Griffen
Hahaha. Was that sarcasm? The "Republican leadership" has been either walking in lockstep or hiding in the shadows of Trump since day one. Don't hold your breath, Karn.
36
@Karn Griffen the 'Republican leadership' sits not in DC but in the board rooms, banks, brokers and moneyed class of America. And they love this guy, he is even better than Reagan and the Bushes in getting them what they want. Grass roots resistance and less media on the fat. ugly man is what we need today.
8
The Democrats game plan of bread and butter issues won them the House. They seldom mentioned Trump, just healthcare and the like. If they're smart, and they are. they'll stick with that same game plan. Issues like infrastructure, healthcare, etc that resonate with the people.
Right now it's important that the Democrats come across as the grownups in the room, and that shouldn't be all that difficult, since they are anyway.
Trump is a loose cannon, and trying to contain him with just the House is a waste of time. Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats just need to focus on legislation, the rest will take care of itself.
46
"The Republican representatives were cowed before..." the Golden Calf. And still are.
27
"The doth protest too much, me thinks."
Every Democrat needs to repeat the same talking point, along the lines of 'He acts like he's hiding something. There is no other way to explain his behavior."
44
Can we get a big IT firm to open shop in Monatana or North Dakota, and attract a few tens of thousands of educated city folk from the coasts to settle down in the midst of great natural beauty?
That'll help the senate races.
173
@KS
How about Amazon?
14
@KS
It might not even take that; see what I wrote here, in response to Edsall's article today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/opinion/midterms-results-polarization-congress.html?comments#permid=29327409
1
@KS
I like your idea. We lonely Montana democrats can sure use the re-enforcement.
Can you test it in the Texas Panhandle first?
5
We live in a republic, not a democracy, where the only (half) branch of government that reflects the make up of the electorate is the House of Representatives. The Senate is wildly skewed toward low population states ( more so every decade as the country becomes more urban) and the presidential election is determined by the electoral college which also is weighted toward less populated states. Since the President and the Senate determine the make up of the Supreme Court, that has also become a partisan body. Rural America has now found their champion in DT and unfortunately the rest of us have to live with it.
53
@Will Rothfuss, we live in an imperfect democracy, but our framers did intend a democracy, as Jefferson said. Ours was the first republic (meaning a country run by citizens rather than a monarchy), but a republic is simply a form of democracy--representative democracy.
I say all this because there is so much confusion on the right about what a republic is. However, I agree with everything you say about the Electoral College and the Senate. We also need to expand the House so that it can be more representative. We need to move our democracy into the 21st century.
15
The dictator is making his move. If you thought he was brazen before, you ain't seen nothin yet. With Mueller and the loss of the House, Trump is backed into a corner. It's on now. Today was the first blow thrown by Trump.
You can forget about any legislative progress for the next two years. Today's peaceful coexistence lasted about an hour and a half. As soon as the new session starts, the pitched battle will begin. Trump's move today has virtually assured it. In the coming weeks, we should see additional similar moves to surround himself with protectors.
Trump is using division to acquire political power and the GOP is only too happy to go along with it. I fear that these divisions are so severe that our nation may have to be broken apart to relieve the stress and paralysis. I didn't say gridlock, I said paralysis.
The Senate has ceased to function as deliberative body. It may not be redeemable. Trump has only served to magnify that trend.
There is no turning back now. Trump must be taken down. He is truly a dictator in the making. Every avenue the courts allow must be pursued. The Senate will do nothing. He may not be impeachable because of the lack of votes, but he can be damaged beyond repair. This is our task. The battle has been joined. In Jan., let the battle commence. This is no longer about politics. It is about saving the country from a dictator.
492
Bruce, my only correction would be in your phrase, "dictator in the making." I'd rephrase to "dictator in fact."
82
@Bruce Rozenblit We have to wait until January before the new House can even begin. As for November and December, we're looking at a two-month-long Hail Mary pass.
37
@Maggi
I wonder how much damage 45 can do in two months and how much we could do to stop it until then?
20
Plain and simple electoral college and senate are the two most important aspects to this Democracy. Democrats may not have a clear path to both for a very long time.
7
"But there was also heartbreak, as Republicans increased their margin in the Senate and some acclaimed liberal hopefuls in the South came close but fell short."
The Senate is the least democratic of the three institutions that are filled by elections. As Paul Krugman pointed out, the race for a majority in the Senate is held in a whole different country - whiter and less educated than America at large. As for liberal hopefuls in the south falling short, the trend is heartening. Next time fewer of them will.
69
Precedent shows that the House has the power to subpoena Trump's tax returns and is likely to do so.
Both the federal and state prosecutors in NY are already looking at the Trump family finances and business dealings.
Mueller does not need to go specifically into Trump's finances any more, so his investigation need not be in conflict with the boundaries his new boas has argued should be placed on the scope of his work.
If Whittaker moves to limit funds for Mueller's efforts to look into Trump finances, then Mueller can drop those efforts at minimal cost to the process of investigation. Onc he does that, what will Whittaker's excuse be at that point?
66
I took (2) takeaways from last eve':
(1) Progressive candidates (especially the fearless ones) proved that they are not only the heart of the New Democratic party, but showed they can win anywhere. (even in the brightest red districts)
(2) This President will not care one iota about a Constitutional crisis, so long as he (and in particular his family) are not touched. This is endemic of republican mantra as a whole, to just push through whatever agenda, while not giving an inch. (regardless of how many lies there might be)
There is much more damage that the President and republicans can do, but at least now there is some semblance of oversight and a reigning in of the purse strings (even if the tax theft is already complete)
I am quite bullish for Progressives in 20' but it is going to take a whole lot of work and focus to get there - My sleeves are rolled up. Are yours ?
292
@FunkyIrishman You bet and there had better be a whole lot of us with our sleeves rolled up. This election was only a dress rehearsal. Bring it on.
78
@FunkyIrishman I agree. The Democrats have a lot of work to do. We need to be visible everywhere. We need to rebuild our party everywhere. We need a simple message and we need it quick.
30