Climate change protests, an impeachment
inquiry and a court ruling judging a Prime Minister's actions
illegal. All events unfolding in the past few weeks that may seem to
be unrelated, but on closer inspection they are all bringing to a
head issues that will have an enormous impact on the world's future.
Greta Thunberg, whom I never tire
listening to, at an awards acceptance speech again points out the
need for our action. She has been pivotal in inspiring the many
climate change protests that have taken place over the past few
Fridays.
As Greta said the solution to climate
change will not be found in today's politics. Because today's
politics, at least in the United States, is about furthering the
influence, power and monetary advantages of a few select groups of
people who have rallied behind a man who uses his office to enrich
them and himself. But perhaps the people have had enough, we will
see.
When a snatch and grab for power by a
would be strongman was upended by the rule of law, a court ruling in
the UK may remind us all what a true balance of power means.
Perhaps Michael said it best so many
years ago.
Climate change is real. It is the words and actions of some politicians that are the hoax.
42 comments:
"Climate change is real. It is the actions of some politicians
that are the hoax."
Research (polling) consistently shows that the failure to acknowledge the coming environmental crisis drives much of the Republicans' loss of allegiance among the younger voters.
I watched the testimony before Congress of the student activists in which Greta Thunberg participated. There was a conservative activist from the United States there as well. It was interesting to see him balancing between Republican talking points and his view on Trump's position. He stressed that we can't regulate our way to a solution, which is obviously a Republican position, but at the same time called out Trump on his position that it was all a hoax, stating bluntly that it was not. It made me wonder what choice he will make in 2020. Will he place more weight on climate change or his Republican party roots?
There is some some pushback by at least one Republican. Flake is calling for GOP members not to support Trump's reelection.
We should remember that this ‛one Republican’ resigned in 2018 because he couldn't win a contested Republican primary in Arizona. (And perhaps also remember that Arizona is up for grabs in this next election primarily because the Arizona Republican Party has gone all-in on the Trump Train. The country may be waking up to the meaning of Trump; the Republican Party generally is not.)
News items up today…
NewYorkTimes: Trump pressed the Australian Prime Minister to assist Attorney General William Barr in an investigation of the origins of the FBI probe into the Russian outreach to the Trump 2016 campaign.
WallStreetJournal: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was a participant in Trump's July call to the President of the Ukraine. I.e. Pompeo was on the line, listening in. He didn't actually do any of the asking.
Appears that folks inside the White House are lining up to leak things to the press these days. This could get interesting before it's all over.
More leaks: WashingtonPost: An ‛investigate the investigators’ project supposedly being handled by a fairly well respected prosecutor, John Durham, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, is actually being personally worked by Attorney General William Barr instead.
(They gotta be wonderin' who's gonna roll on them next over at the White House.)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was a participant in Trump's July call to the President of the Ukraine.
Well now, wouldn't that be interesting if he were the whistleblower?
This could get interesting before it's all over.
I second that.
Politico: The Mueller Report may have whitewashed perjury committed by President Trump during the course of the Mueller Investigation:
"Lawyers for the House of Representatives revealed on
Monday that they have reason to believe that the grand-jury
redactions in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report show
that President Donald Trump lied about his knowledge of his
campaign’s contacts with WikiLeaks.
"The attorneys made the stunning suggestion in a court filing
as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s bid for Mueller’s
grand-jury materials, which have remained secret by law.
"'Not only could those materials demonstrate the president’s
motives for obstructing the special counsel’s investigation,
they also could reveal that Trump was aware of his campaign’s
contacts with WikiLeaks,' the lawyers wrote in the filing, which
was in response to the Justice Department’s opposition to the
disclosure of the grand-jury information."
An ‛investigate the investigators’ project supposedly being handled by a fairly well respected prosecutor, John Durham, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, is actually being personally worked by Attorney General William Barr instead.
Just another example of Trump using the power of the Oval Office to try to hinder anyone who may act as a check on his actions.
It is a further example of the Attorney General being involved in concealed skulduggery on behalf of this president.
Lawyers for the House of Representatives revealed on
Monday that they have reason to believe that the grand-jury
redactions in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report show
that President Donald Trump lied about his knowledge of his
campaign’s contacts with WikiLeaks.
I can't imagine anyone doing anything without Trump's okay. This wouldn't surprise me.
It is a further example of the Attorney General being involved in concealed skulduggery on behalf of this president.
Sold his soul to the devil real quick.
There are, by the way, other incriminating documents which were either never produced to Mueller, and he just decided to not bother with them, (wussed out, as it were), or which were produced but were then buried by the Mueller investigation rather than pursued.
It looks like the foot dragging has started with Pompeo refusing to honor the deposition request, accusing the Democrats of bullying. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
"It looks like the foot dragging has started…"
Had to be expected. The Trump administration had already announced its strategy of resistance across the board. That's not going to change now.
It is, therefore, imperative that the Democrats don't let their legislative initiatives get subsumed in impeachment. They need to go about their regular business and relegate impeachment to the "below the fold" headlines so far as they can pull that off.
Dare I say that this time it feels different? There appear to be some cracks in Republican support for Donald Trump. Are they finally starting to realize that the swamp is the President and his followers?
Perhaps it's things coming out of the woodwork, like this:
"The State Department’s inspector general is expected to give
an 'urgent' briefing to staffers from several House and Senate
committees on Wednesday afternoon about documents
obtained from the department’s Office of the Legal Adviser
related to the State Department and Ukraine, sources familiar
with the planned briefing told ABC News.
"Details of the briefing, requested by Steve Linick, the
inspector general at State, remain unknown. Linick is expected
to meet with congressional staff in a secure location on Capitol
Hill.
"The unusual nature and timing of the briefing – during a
congressional recess – suggests it may be connected to a
recent intelligence community whistleblower allegation which
describes, in part, the State Department’s role in coordinating
interactions between Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal
attorney, and Ukrainian officials.
"The inspector general is the department's internal
investigator and watchdog, and the office generally operates
independently of the department's political leadership."
ABCNews
Be worthwhile keepin' an eye on that one tomorrow.
The Inspector General's presentation to committee staff has ended, and it's being described as ‛a rather shoddy hit piece’ intended to resurrect previously debunked conspiracy theories and outright lies regarding Biden and his work in getting the Ukrainian AG dismissed some years ago. (No indication whether the State Department IG was put up to this by his superiors at the State Department, or whether he was acting on his own initiative here.)
(I've also seen another analysis which describes the IG's presentation as an attempt to get the committee interested in an internal State Department ‛hit’ against the recently recalled Ambassador to Ukraine, Masha Yovanovitch.)
Judging from Trump's rather hysterical reaction to this impeachment inquiry I suspect if he were to lose the election next year (assuming he's still in office) he will probably have to be pried out of the Oval office.
Btw, I met one of those rabid Trump followers today. I knew as soon as she started talking that I couldn't possibly get her to listen to a word I had to say.
"I couldn't possibly get her to listen to a word I had to say."
Probably just as well. They can get really, really pissed when confronted with reality. You're probably not prepared for that. (You need to have a plan, just in case.)
WashingtonPost is suggesting that the "transcript" released of the July 25th Trump/Zelensky phone call is a bowdlerized version of the real transcript.
And, Trump has decided this morning to publicly request foreign campaign assistance from both Ukraine and China in the form of official foreign investigations of Joe Biden. He's evidently decided to get out in front of the impeachment drive here.
This will put pressure on Republican Senators to position themselves in support of his efforts to elicit foreign assistance. I think the idea is get his dedicated Trumpkins to rise up and force their Senators to publicly approve of Trump's actions, before the Senators have the opportunity to slip away one-by-one.
So, Trump gets impeached in the House, and the Senators decline to convict, and Trump has his victory over those he perceives of as his most dangerous enemies (that would be American democrats, both BIG "D" and small "d" Democrats).
Rep Doug Collins (R-GA) is telling a federal judge that the Democrats impeachment inquiry has no legal basis.
In a proposed amicus brief filed Thursday with a federal judge in Washington, Collins says the court should reject a request by the Democratic-led Judiciary Committee to see information from the secret grand jury used in former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
And, Trump has decided this morning to publicly request foreign campaign assistance from both Ukraine and China in the form of official foreign investigations of Joe Biden.
He's doubling down like he always does.
"He's doubling down like he always does."
And, it appears to be working for him, as it usually does. I've yet to hear of a single Republican Senator expressing any outrage that the President of the United States would publicly request campaign assistance from a hostile foreign power. So, the fated outcome is pretty much locked in. Trump will be impeached, hardly any doubt about that now. And he will be set free by the Senate, even less doubt about that now (I'd not be surprised to see the impeachment charges "dismissed" by the Senate on a straight party-line vote and a trial before the Senate thereby avoided).
I got to wondering, so I looked it up. Congress is scheduled to be out of legislative session until the 14th of this month. We'll know more about how well his new offensive is working mid-month when they get back from their own districts with the words of their very own Trumpkins ringing in their ears.
If they discern a fall-off in support for Trump, in spite of his initiatives, then Trump could be in trouble (not getting convicted in the Senate kind of trouble, not over a little thing like calling for election assistance from hostile foreign powers), but he could be looking at the sort of fall-off in support that should inspire him to greater efforts.
Meantime, back at the ranch… Sean Hannity is doing a long piece today, maybe all three hours from what I can tell so far, on all the evils that are Biden and how William Barr and John Durham are soon gonna expose all the evils of Biden (in what Hannity is now calling the Barr/Durham report--coming soon to a theater near you).
This is interspersed with guests who're explaining all the faults in the Democratic efforts to impeach Trump--none of Trump's doings are illegal etc.
So the FoxNews machine is doin' its duty today.
Problem is reachin' out further than the dedicated Trumpkins though--can Trump somehow muddy up the water with the larger electorate? That's not clear here--the Ukraine caper is so easy to understand, and rather more difficult to obfuscate than was the Russian connection.
Couple of weeks we will know, when the Senators come back from listening in at home, and, more importantly, when the polls will have settled down after the initial shock of Trump being Trump, but out in public in full public view this time.
Meantime, down at the sheriff's office… The Chief Legal Counsel at the CIA was trying to make a criminal referral to the Department of Justice, but they kept saying that they couldn't make out what the lawyer was sayin' (something 'bout a bad connection or some such thing). NBCNews
Couple of weeks we will know, when the Senators come back from listening in at home, and, more importantly, when the polls will have settled down after the initial shock of Trump being Trump, but out in public in full public view this time.
Somehow I don't think it will take a couple of weeks to find out what people are thinking. At one town hall an Iowa voter bluntly asked her Republican Senator why she wasn't standing up against Trump's behavior. As some CNN anchors are wondering, what will history say of those Republican elected officials who went along with Trump?
Also it appears that polls are showing more Americans in favor of impeaching and removing Trump from office than during the same period of the process for impeaching Clinton or Nixon.
I don't think Trump's calling for China to investigate Biden or all of the negative adds that have started, one even referred to the inquiry as an attempted coup, will help him, either.
Btw, Marcus, if you're out there, I don't think it's looking good for Bernie. That heart attack just reminded people of his age. If he can't handle the campaign trail how can he handle the office? Physically, I mean.
Now, after Trump concentrated all of his negative efforts on Joe Biden, wouldn't it be something if it is really one of the dark horses he should have been worrying about?
Bernie's only got two years on Biden and five years on Trump. Ain't none of them spring chickens.
It looks to me like Elizabeth Warren is situated to move into the leader's spot if Biden falters. Also not a spring chicken.
The WashingtonPost notices that FoxNews is running with the idea that the impeachment investigation is an attempted "coup" on the right-wingers' government.
Gotta get them good ol' white folk wing-nuts riled up (maybe even stimulate a little violence to intimidate the liberals might be good).
The IG IC (Inspector General for the Intelligence Community--for real, that's a real title), Michael Atkinson, has said that there's a second complaining "whistleblower" who's contacted him with an eye towards ratting out Trump for his attempts to pressure the Ukrainian government into investigating Joe Biden. Apparently the new guy has "first hand" knowledge of some particulars which would back up the original complaint and he's willing to share. He's coming forward because the Republicans are rallying around the FoxNews' version of "nothin' to see here", and he thinks he's got stuff folks oughta see. NewYorkTimes
Drip, drip, drip, of truths ain't gonna be a particularly good climate for the FoxNews version of events to prosper.
It looks to me like Elizabeth Warren is situated to move into the leader's spot if Biden falters. Also not a spring chicken.
Yes, she does appear to be well situated.
I would have preferred someone younger though. And a little more middle of the road.
Well, if Biden falters, especially if he falters early enough, there's a fairly decent chance one of the other 'moderate' candidates could start a surge. Buttigieg, or even Klobuchar, or maybe even Booker (he's a longer shot; his "love thine enemy" campaign is a poor fit for an angry Democratic voter this round).
I think Kamala Harris has hurt herself by being all over the board looking for a place to be. (She should have decided that part before she took the debate stage.) O'Rourk has marked himself as too much flash and too little substance, and Castro just ain't inspiring anybody; he seems to have little to distinguish himself from "generic Democrat".
Or, maybe one of the real dark horses could move on up. There's still Bennet and Bullock who're more middle-of-the road. (Yang just doesn't seem to me to be a good fit to pick up on the once-Biden voter.)
I like Buttigieg. I still don't know if America will elect a woman, even against Trump. Of course, the same could be said of someone who is gay.
There's a reason Biden is at the top of the heap. Trump is probably right to target him as his primary opponent. Probably the worst thing that could happen is for Trump to be impeached, convicted and removed from office, and we are left with Pence who could run in 2020. Some Republican voters who are anti-Trump may be just fine with Pence.
538 blog says that Trump's numbers are stable among the dedicated Trumpkins, no movement away from Trump. There seems to be some minor deterioration in his overall favorable job rates as some non-dedicated Trumpkins begin to decide that the good economy doesn't make up for him being Trump (at least, not out in public like he's done recently).
There is increased support for impeachment, but that's mostly coming from Democrats who were thinking it wasn't worth it before, but are changing their minds. No significant movement on that question among Republicans or even independents (maybe a little movement among independents, but it may just be statistical "noise").
And, on somewhat more momentous matters… The North Koreans have said that the nuclear talks going on in Sweden have "broken down". The American State Department says that they have not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The American side has accepted an invitation to attend further talks in two weeks. Significantly perhaps, the invitation has come from the Swedes, and not from the North Koreans.
538 blog says that Trump's numbers are stable among the dedicated Trumpkins, no movement away from Trump.
There are none so blind as those who will not see. I think you are right, there is nothing that will move them. It's sad to see people who are so intent on their own agendas that they don't let any light into their thinking.
The American State Department says that they have not.
Idiots. They're starting to sound just like Trump, immersed in their own reality.
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