It Felt Wrong to Remain Quiet in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

I imagine that the majority of what I write in here today could easily and with no loss to anyone be ignored or skipped. But my silence (or lack of excessive words, I guess) as to the historical moment in the united states seemed somehow… wrong… despite the obviousness that no matter what ANYONE says, nobody will change their minds. Which is proof positive that The Great Experiment is over… and if it isn’t, it damned well should be.

I’ll say what I’ve continued to say as a “soundbite recap” and then go into various other things.
Whether you believe Trump should be impeached, impeached and removed, or believe Trump did nothing wrong… our government has failed. The purpose of a government, at its core, is to promulgate laws and enforce those laws. The impeachment process to this point, and what is expected to take place in the Senate, proves to ALL persuasions that the American Government no longer believes itself to be bound by the rule of law. That is something that should be met with passionate and extreme resistance by an educated and aware electorate. As it is, the American Voters will likely continue to ignore the cinder in their own eye while shrieking about the dust mote in others’.

For what it is worth, my own personal opinion, I believe that Donald Trump has committed so many violations of our ethics code, so many violations of our legal code, and so many violations of competent statesmanship that he has proven resoundingly that he should be removed from office. The fact of the matter is that he has confessed on live television to his wrong doing. He has doubled down on his wrong doing and encouraged enemy factions to interfere in the governance of the United States. The incredibly painful truth is that up to and including William Jefferson Clinton… seeking Foreign Aid for Personal Political Purposes was considered scandalous. Maybe not to the level of removal but are we seriously saying that nobody in this country remembers Iran/Contra (Reagan) or The Lincoln Bedroom Scandal (Clinton)?? Those were huge deals that were considered massive scandals for the particular president at the time. If Bill Clinton receiving money from a hostile foreign power was considered a scandalous ethics violation; how much worse should we judge actively encouraging hackers, hostile government agents, and foreign attacks?! Not to mention taking the additional and extremely illegal step of withholding congressionally approved money from an ally until they “do your bidding” for your own personal gain?? This is where I come up baffled. For the people in the government to say Trump did nothing wrong? That is for each and every one of them to actively, willfully, and intentionally ignore the laws of this country and the SECURITY of this country. ESPECIALLY when you consider that they are doing so for a president who (1) ignored a Congressional Mandate to censor Russia; (2) ignored a Congressional Mandate to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia; and (3) ignored a Congressional Mandate to send aid to Ukraine in their defense against Russia. In short… this President has routinely ignored Congress, even when they had an unstoppable Republican Majority (his own party), for his own ends to benefit countries where he has (or has attempted) to profit through his private enterprises. I am telling you this now and with great conviction :: Even if Donald Trump were the best president of all time… securing peace in the middle east, fixing the American Economy, ending all hostilities with all countries… no matter his presidential performance… I would be in favor of conviction and removal because his actions in regards to our national security and the laws of our nation have been so significantly in the range of “high crimes and misdemeanors” as originally proposed by the framers of the Constitution that to not remove him from office would be to declare the Constitution meaningless.

For those who have actively been upset about the process? I understand. I do understand. The way in which this impeachment process has been handled is atrocious. The changes to the legal procedures are ridiculous. BUT (and ffs, I can’t believe the willful ignorance of the American Public)… those changes were put into place BY the Republicans under President Barack Obama. So… while the process is bullshit… it is a bullshit of the Republicans own making. And for them to have spent so much time bitching about the process at this point? Since the GOP is currently acting like school-aged children, I’ll use that as the analogy.
For the GOP to complain so much about the process at this point is the same thing as for Little Timmy to get upset about a game of basketball, puncture the basketball in anger, and then complain for the rest of the game that it isn’t fair that he has to use a deflated basketball. Bitching about something YOU CAUSED and trying to make it about how the situation is unfair to YOU is so intellectually inept as to be maddening.

Purely from a legal perspective: Donald Trump should be impeached, convicted, and removed.
Purely from a political perspective: The smartest thing the Republicans could do at this point to keep the White House would be to make the impeachment process stretch out, then convict in March or April, making Pence the President. It would absolutely disrupt the Democratic Strategy at a point where their nominee would be cemented; royally fucking the Democratic Party’s Strategic Attempts.

What is actually going to happen? Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham have acted as the torchbearers and they have tarnished this nation in appalling ways. Lindsay Graham has all but said that there is NO evidence that can change his mind. Mitch McConnell has stated that he will coordinate the legal processes with the White House. In any other court setting? This would be considered unacceptable. Graham is acting in the place of a jury member. If any jury member stated before trial that they had made up their mind and no evidence would sway them; they would be removed from the jury instantly. As to “Moscow Mitch’s” bullshit? Here’s what it would be like: Me, as a prosecutor, approaching the Defendant (before trial) and asking the Defendant how he’d like me to prosecute him. That’s… ridiculous to the point of absurd. And that is where the GOP Government is right now in regards to how they are handling Donald Trump. And I honestly don’t get it.

BUT before you state “clear liberal propaganda” I am willing to say the following:
I felt this way about Democrats and Obama, too. Not to this extreme. But I did. Everything Obama did was heralded with applause and support and joy. Bullshit. Obama made a shit ton of political mistakes that he should have been called out for. He wasn’t; because Obama was supported on a Cult of Personality. So… take that concept and crank it to 11 and that s what we have here. Almost everything that Trump does is unnecessary unforced error. Yet, the GOP and his supporters still herald him with applause, support, joy, and actual worship. (STOP comparing Trump to Jesus; it just proves you’ve never read your fucking Bible!) Trump is the epitome of the “Cult of Personality” Candidate and the fact that the Cult of Personality is still all that is required to keep the GOP in his corner is sickening.

THAT is all I’m going to say about the Impeachment itself.

Now… as to reactions? More face palm.

It shouldn’t surprise me. It should, in no way, come as a shock to me. But it did. Which means that perhaps I am too hopeful… too optimistic. You see, my Extreme Trump Supporting Cousin (you know, the one that thinks non-whites are subhuman and that women exist only for the pleasure of men)… he still managed to surprise me yesterday.
DESPITE how obvious it is that the Senate won’t do their jobs… the fact that Trump was impeached rippled through the country with whispers of how historic the moment was. My cousin, appreciating that Trump was impeached in his own way… decided to go on a meme spamming adventure with one simple message. And that message?
Civil War 2.0, Let’s Go!

SERIOUSLY?! SERIOUSLY?! A president gets an official “you did the wrong thing” notice that everyone KNOWS isn’t going to go anywhere.... but the suggestion of Donald Trump being held accountable for his actions… and you’re ready to start promoting a CIVIL WAR?! What. the fuck. is wrong with these people?!?! He’s a crass, inept, offensive, orange millionaire… and you’re willing to take up arms against your fellow Americans… your friends and family… because he got impeached?!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO MY COUNTRY?!?!

Now, I know the shock and face palm and horror about Donald Trump’s fucking rallies is nothing new. Even if it were not so common as to be annoying to mention Hitler… even if it were not so true as to be frustrating that Trump is passionately supported by Neo-Nazis… his rallies would be noting more than Public Therapy where he spouts his most hateful, self-aggrandizing, and make believe statements at people. His rallies often prove (1) that Trump has some form of mental condition for which he needs help; and (2) apparently, there are a LOT of people in America that are operating on either low levels of mental functionality or low levels of mental stability.

His Michigan Rally last night was further proof of this. I cannot and will not cover every moment of hard evidence. You can probably find more professional places that are doing that as we speak. Counting the dozens or hundreds of false statements; the repeated bully tactics and aggressive cruelty shouted with glee from the dais, or the batshit crazy things that came tumbling out of the void are all being obsessed over by at least a dozen professional analysts right now. I just want to focus on the two elements that seem to be… most pervasive to this particular president.

(1) Never stop attacking for any reason.
This was Donald Trump’s business strategy and for anyone who did ANY of their homework (so few did) you’ll see it as part of the ever day life of Trump as far back as the 1980s. Every time a reporter would ask him about all of his bankruptcies… he’d never (a) take responsibility; (b) apologize; or (c) act in any way like it could possibly reflect poorly. No, he would use the moment to clarify two things. First, he would clarify how stupid the American Government was for letting someone as powerful and wealthy as him declare bankruptcy. Then, he would clarify that his investors were all “wealthy, wealthy men. Not the kinds of guys who’d mind.” So… forget the companies and workers that were now screwed out of the pay they needed to keep their businesses going, their families fed. Forget the fact that NOT all investors are billionaires who don’t care about money (though what billionaire doesn’t care about money?!) All that matters is (a) Trump attacks; (b) Trump is great. That is all he does.

Well, as President.. we’ve seen that continue. But worse? We know that even DEATH doesn’t stop his insensitive needless must attack someone lizard brain. Whether it is a kid who died for his country (mocked after death, parents attacked verbally at a rally); or a Senator with a long history of service to his country (John McCain)… Trump thinks “So what if they’re dead? That just means I win!” He did the same last night. A congressman had died; his wife had taken his seat. It was a hometown Michigan congressman being mentioned at a hometown Michigan Trump Rally. The wife of the congressman, Trump was saying, had complimented Trump and said that her husband would be looking down on him. At this point, Trump stopped and said, “Or maybe looking up at me, we don’t know.”

I get it. Trumpists get SO butthurt when I point out comments like this. They are quick to say, “He was joking! God, you lib-cuck-tards are policing jokes so hard. What, PC baby? You fucking snowflakes can’t understand humor?!”

To which I would say… if that is your sense of humor… I’d like to buy you a drink and take you to the Funny Bone every weekend to hear actual humor. Humor can be offensive and challenging and subversive. That’s okay. To interrupt yourself telling a story about someone complimenting you to insert a joke saying “But that guy is probably in hell!”… that isn’t a joke so much as it is a potential sign of Tourette’s. Being a dick for no reason isn’t so much humor as it is trying desperately to let people know that you are, in fact, a dick.

(2) Anything Unflattering Should Be Destroyed Violently
Donald Trump’s behavior has proved time and again that he has neither an understanding of the Constitution nor any respect for it. He has stated repeatedly that “Article 2 gives me the power to do anything I want!” HERE is Article 2. It does not do that. At all.

But nothing so offends the 45th President like the First Amendment’s guarantee to the right of peaceful public protest. Now, it is true that is not expressly what the Constitution says. The first amendment in its entirety is: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” And that law has been repeatedly found to protect the right of the people to peaceful protest.

We know how Trump feels about that. He has openly stated during a campaign rally that he would pay the legal bills of people arrested for attacking protesters. He has actively encouraged physical force to be used against those who protest against him. And his recent rallies have doubled down on this in a way I believe Trump is too stupid to understand. You see, if protesters are acting like violent assholes.... the President does not have any direct liability for violence. But if STAFF are acting like violent assholes… the President and his administration DOES have direct liability for violence.

In Michigan yesterday, the President of the United States complained. Nothing new. Protesters had simply unfurled a banner mentioning the impeachment. I mean… things could have been a LOT more dicey!! Yet… the thin skinned “wanna be tough guy” in chief actually complained that security wasn’t rougher with the protesters. Security came over to them, asked them to leave, and escorted them out of the building. At which point, Trump (the President of the United States!) starts to discuss how the security force is “too PC” because they didn’t “Grab her by the wrist. They weren’t rough enough!” And then took the opportunity to complain about the same thing from a previous rally where his security had professionally handled a group of protesters but that he “wasn’t happy” because the security guards “weren’t rough enough.” You psychotic idiotic fucking child! AS President, it is your responsibility and OATH OF OFFICE to make sure that the Constitution and Laws of the United States are followed and enforced. And yet… when protesters (protected by the Constitution) are being peacefully and professionally escorted out of a building (the way we want law enforcement and authority to behave) Trump takes the opportunity to bitch about how these people’s rights weren’t violated and that they left the building safely and without being manhandled.

Holy fuck. I keep saying it. I never thought I’d be this guy but I have to be:
It no longer matters to me who the Democrat Candidate is. Trump has consistently, repeatedly, brazenly demonstrated that he has no interest in the United States as a place of laws, as a place of safety and security for others, or as a country with its own freaking sovereignty. The only thing that matters to him is him. And if he wins a second term; may God help us all.