It's hard to decide what to blog about on any given day or even at any given hour. Trump's mushroom appendage? Brett Kavanaugh's drunken high school hi-jinks (ultra-right code word for sex crimes)? The midterm elections? The crumbling #RussiaGate franchise?
There's certainly a glut of simultaneously detailed and fuzzy Kavanaugh drama all over the nooze without my adding to it here. But to summarize - so far, his predatory escapades have taken us only up to his freshman year at Yale. So the next installment, if there is one, will probably progress to law school. What I'm really hoping for is his ignominious withdrawal from Supreme Court consideration before this Thursday's grilling of his chief accuser, in which Republicans plan to live up to their bullying reputation, and Democrats plan to live up to their grandstanding reputation. Two presidential contenders - Cory Booker and Kamala Harris - are on the inquisition squad, so look for lots of maudlin speechifying and little substantive information-gathering. Will the cam pan to Kam more than the story becoming all about Cory? Stay tuned, or not.
And then there's what increasingly looks like the latest chess move by the Democratic-Neocon-CIA coalition. They appear desperate to checkmate Trump once and for all: the "leakage" to the New York Times of Deputy Atty. Gen. and RussiaGate overseer Rod Rosenstein's suggestion, flippant or serious, that he wear a wire to catch Trump saying something 25th Amendment-worthy.
Here's my speculation: Robert Mueller has zero evidence of TrumPutin collusion, and any criminal evidence he does have on Trump would likely implicate other Ruling Class Racketeers who are too valuable to be sacrificed. Therefore, let's forget about the chess gambit. Maybe Rosenstein is the designated pinch hitter to win the Series for the D team by a sacrifice high fly right into extreme centrist field. If the Dems can just get Trump to fire him and shut down the Mueller investigation in the process, the Mueller team will save face, and Trump can be declared guilty in the court of liberal public opinion. The RussiaGate plot will live on in American mythology as it becomes the campaign issue to end all other campaign issues. Couple it with the drip-drip-drip of the Kavanaugh allegations, and the donor dollars for #Resistance Dems will come flooding in.
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All this annoyingly progressive talk of Medicare for All, and debt-free college, and all this unwanted attention on the class war and record wealth inequality, and people realizing that this country is now ruled by an oligarchy, is just so damned divisive. If the Dems can only goad Trump into firing Rosenstein, Mueller, and Jeff Sessions, it will be a perfect trifecta, a manufactured victory to get the whole country united under one big mouldering gilded tent! (There I go again, mixing my sports metaphors.)
As of this writing, though, Trump has refused to play ball. Rosenstein was reported to be on his way to the White House for hours on end this morning, either to be fired or to resign. Word had it that his resignation, if any, was yet to be accepted. The high sacrifice fly has turned out to be nothing but a series of failed bunts.
So far.
But wait, there's an update! Rosenstein and Trump are now scheduled to meet Thursday to "discuss his future in the Justice Department." The timing is a pure coincidence and absolutely made for split-screen images of reporters staked out on the White House lawn to see whether Rosenstein sacrifices or Trump beans him with a wild pitch, juxtaposed with the Supreme Court/horserace spectacle over in the Senate.
The long series of propaganda distractions, produced by both right wings of the Uniparty, is designed to keep the public's eye off the real ball: that democracy is a sham, and so are the midterm elections, despite Michelle Obama's get-out-the-vote guilt-tripping tour, a sort of free admission pre-game teaser for her paid book tour, which gets underway only once we have freely cast our votes in dwindling hopes of finally settling the score.
8 comments:
Trump is once again getting his direction straight from Fox News -- Hannity and Carlson are telling Trump not to fire Rosenstein. Here's another clue: Trump can't fire people face to face, so it won't happen in their meeting on Thursday.
Oh, for the good old days when bold gentlemen, accompanied by their seconds, could stroll over to Rock Creek Park and settle the matter at 20 paces.
Rod gave it his best shot months ago and missed by a mile. That was his first chance to resign with a statement to the world, not in camera. Since then Don has only toyed with his pistol while eyeing Rod with a smile, all so Rod can sweat the sweat of the tortured. Don is so good at playing cat to the mice of DC.
Why the hell didn't Rod slam his resignation on Trump's desk this morning when he had a second chance to bail out, but only after first telling the President face to face in low, slow tones what he thinks of him? That would have been an exit to remember, while providing an example to others in the bureaucracy. How we miss you, Elliot Richardson, William Ruckelshaus.
What's to gain for Rod to hang around a few more days till Trump chooses the right moment to blow him away? A few pennies more in Rod's government pension? Rod has had his chances to be free to say and do what he thinks, but something else must be more important than to exercise that freedom.
When Trump gives the nod like a crime boss does, another lawyer fink at the so-called Department of Justice will gladly take Rosenstein's place in a corner office. As for Mueller down the hall, I doubt anyone dares stop him before he finishes squeezing all of Trump's lemons.
Regarding the Rosenstein matter, I came across this comment by "BridgeWatcherNYC" to an article in the "Washington Post" that offers a clue to what's going on:
There's one common denominator which explains both the selection of Kavanaugh and the curious sense of urgency of the Republicans towards his confirmation hearings.
Next month, SCOTUS will address the case of Gamble vs. United States, which will address the question of whether filing state charges in a case where Federal charges has been fired comprises double jeopardy.
http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/gamble-v-united-states/
If SCOTUS rules that it does, Trump will be able to pardon his co-conspirators without the looming threat of state charges.
This is very, very important to him (obviously). It explains why he wanted Kavanaugh, instead of a more qualified conservative. And it explains why Kavanaugh absolutely, positively, must be seated on SCOTUS before the case is heard.
Orrin Hatch just filed an Amicus brief arguing in support of the "double jeopardy" idea. So it's not possible to argue that he's "unaware" of the stakes.
This is extremely important to Trump, but not because he's also a sexual predator.
It's important because this case could keep him out of jail, by enabling him to wield his pardon power to keep people from flipping on him.
Pure chance that I tuned in to Sen. Leahy questioning Ms Ford live on C-SPAN this morning. Kavanaugh is now toast. After her persuasive and moving testimony, I don't see how he will ever be able to UN-toast himself.
Kavanaugh shares the same weepiness that afflicts those other famous lushes, John Boehner and George W. Bush.
After watching Kavanaugh's emotional, teary opening statement to the committee and most of his responses and nonresponses to questioning by the senators, I believe we have to count Kavanaugh as a witness against himself as Supreme Court material and, unexpectly for Ford, at least before the bar of public opinion.
Forget about bringing in the FBI at this point to sort out the unknowns, which could lift the inquiry beyond he-said-she-said. But that would delay things for a week or more. Thank Senator Feinstein for that. The Republicans are bound to a timetable for confirmation. They have the votes to ram through Kavanaugh's appointment now and that's probably what they'll do before the weekend is over.
Democrats are such a bunch of useless losers. They let Kavanaugh obfuscate, evade, and otherwise waste their 5 minute allotments for questions. Pathetic.
Not once did they challenge Kavanaugh's contention that "all the people at the party said it never happened" when what those people actually wrote was that they had no memory of it happening. That's a huge difference that Democrats should have picked up on. The ONLY person who actually got it right was Ted Cruz, but of course didn't use it to make that point.
The Demwits also didn't challenge Kavanaugh's repeated assertions that the FBI investigation is useless because they don't make conclusions, just gather information, and quoted Biden as did most of the Republicans. But if an FBI investigation is such a nothingburger, then why brag about Kavanaugh's passing it 6 times.
And the biggest joke? Senator Richard "I Served in Vietnam" Blumenthal reminding Kavanaugh of the legal concept of 'Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus' which is a Latin phrase meaning 'false in one thing, false in everything'. In law it means a witness who testifies falsely about one matter is not credible to testify about any matter. There is just no self-awareness among these politicians.
Karen, I hope you're working on a post about Brat K. I can't wait to read your take.
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