Words, Meanings, and Spin

In regard to Trump's recent statement on "Getting Tough with Democrats"....

Recently, Trump mentioned sending Bikers after Democrats. In a nutshell, It all depends on whether the bikers are law abiding or not. But how would you feel if Obama had endorsed a biker group? I know many peaceful biker groups. Yet, the image of bikers leans to modern day outlaws.

Words have meanings and harmonics of meanings. Trump knows this, and ignores the harmonics when acknowledging them doesn't serve his purpose.

As for me, I've learned to recognize when he's speaking to his choir and when he's spouting BS that are blatant lies, but reinforce the falsehoods his followers believe.

For example: Whether or not one believes his wall is needed, one can see the falsehoods in his justifications. In a recent speech, he talked of "thousands, millions" coming to the Mexican border. Even in these caravans, we're talking in the LOW thousands, not the millions. He'll stretch a number without regard to reality, and people eat it up. His followers don't care whether the number implied is true or not. They care that it reinforces their beliefs that we're being invaded by hordes of foreigners.

Trump has violated the social and political norms which normally hold a leader in check. The GOP has been emasculated by the mob, as the primaries gave Trump a legitimacy that he never would have been given in normal times. The gate keeping function of the electoral college hasn't worked from the beginning of our republic. As a result, we were ripe for a corrupt president to be elected by the "unwashed masses" (social term, not a literal term) who speaks the meta language that they want to hear, but doesn't deliver the things the common people really need.

I suggest that one do two things before making your next support of Trump. First, watch the first 15 minutes of "Triumph of the Will" which explains the humiliation of a Central European people in few words, then presents the imagery of a false messiah who promises deliverance from suffering. Then read the first 50 pages of "How Democracies Die". And finally, ask one's self, do you recognize a pattern here? No matter what you believe in regard to Trump, and no matter whether you acknowledge what you really feel to others, if you don't see what is going on, acknowledging the truth to one's self, your opinions are meaningless drivel and part of the overall problem we all face.

Please note that everyone is entitled to his or her view. But if one can't acknowledge that the other side also has its points and discuss them fairly, one's voice is meaningless spin and can easily be ignored as it is only spouting useless propaganda....

Some impromptu thoughts on healthcare and the United States

I started writing this entry because of a post I read about Canadian health care....

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Let's strip away all the political rhetoric and look at the facts. For goods and services whose demand can be affected by external factors such as cost (i.e. elastic demand), markets are the best way to allocate resources. Health care (a product with inelastic demands) does not behave this way, as no one bleeding to death will ask how much does it cost for a doctor to fix me? For goods and services like health care, other, more efficient methods have to be devised to best allocate resources.

Let's take away from our argument the idea of charity hospitals and doctors practicing without regard to money. The number of these people and organizations is shrinking, as states have allowed medical organizations to be profit making organizations. This has led to markets being used to allocate resources where markets are not the best way to allocate resources.

In a society that values human life more than ours, people's lives are maintained without regard to market forces. The individual receiving health care is not part of the market. So, how is care allocated? In the US, we used to have organizations called HMO's. But even they were affected by markets, and limited care when care was needed.

Many developed nations, such as Canada provide health care services with a fixed amount of money allocated for care in each province's budget. People get to see their doctors by appointment (usually more often than in America). Care provided has been vetted against "best practices" and drugs/procedures which provide the most bang per buck are usually chosen to reduce costs. In areas where there might be inflexible demands, such as needing heart transplants, they prioritize recipients of care to those who would get the greatest statistical benefit from that care. This means that a 40 y/o man might be selected for a transplant over a 90 y/o man. This takes market forces out of the decision, and allows care to be provided without regard to a person's wealth or lack of it.

America has distorted the use of markets so much, that many of us fear what might happen if we move some goods and services out of market place allocation of these goods and services. The experiences we've seen in foreign lands shows us that costs can be reduced by taking things out of markets. In fact, we're now seeing medical "tourism" where many Americans are flying to Europe and Asia for non-emergency procedures. There are many procedures that cost half as much when done in Europe than when done in the States. In Asia, the costs are even lower. And, quality is similar (or better) than what one finds in the States.

The drawback - no one likes being a gate keeper. No one likes having gate keepers. And non-market systems require gate keepers. Who wants to hear that a $500,000 procedure won't be performed that could add another year to your 90 year old grandma's life, because society has chosen to fund a rural clinic that provides 10,000 people with essential health care?

Being a decent human being means making choices. Canada and most of the developed world have made good choices. America  doesn't yet make that many good ones....

Snake Oil for Sale

I find it amazing that so many people have been conned by this two-bit snake oil salesman who occupies the office of the President.  They have given their allegiance to someone who has no loyalty to any principles, shows loyalty only to family, and exhibits a strong affinity to authoritarian regimes, only because they wish to follow a bully from his demonic pulpit. 

Most politicians have to sell some "Snake Oil" in order to get elected. Pledging allegiance to a man with few (if any) principles wouldn't be too bad if he understood how power should be used, and that he was truly making America great again.   Instead, Trump is destroying the very things that helped keep America great in the economic world we shaped after World War 2.  

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In their effort to extract more wealth from the populace, our nation's elites have abandoned the most vulnerable in our society. Structural unemployment is damaging both rural and urban areas in America, as it is doing in the rest of the developed world.  And the populist insurrection that brought Trump to the White House is playing all over the world with "Yellow Vest" protests in Paris, Brexit in Britain, and the shift towards autocratic rule in Eastern Europe.  Trump is acting exactly as I'd want him to do if I were Vladimir Putin.  Every action Trump takes is geared to destabilize American political institutions, American social institutions, and American economic institutions.  It only makes sense for Trump to have done what he did, if he were a puppet of the Russians.

Sadly, in its leaders' lust for power, the GOP has lost its soul.  The base no longer cares about principles.  It is mostly a populist mob led by people who will deliver meager rations of bread and entertain them with meaningless political stump speeches geared to promote tribal identity.  The base has allowed its leaders to become irresponsible, enacting a so-called tax cut which is adding more billions to the budget deficit than if they left the tax code alone.  Even more important than this is their tolerance of a leader who shows them no loyalty as long as he is willing to pursue a retrograde social agenda.

Did the swamp get drained?  No, that was only a useful political slogan.  And yet, the base ignores the lack of progress in this area. I think this illustrates a greater social problem in our society. America has divided itself into haves and have-nots. It has also divided itself into well educated people and poorly educated people.  More importantly, it is divided into compassionate people and non-compassionate people. I feel sorry for those government employees not getting paid because of a pissing match between the House and Trump.  My Dad, however, has no compassion for them - he lived a hardscrabble life, and only has enough room in his soul to care only about himself and his immediate family.  Many of Trump's supporters are very much like my Dad - life has not allowed them the luxury of caring for others who are not doing well. 

Sadly, we have only ourselves to blame if this traitor is allowed to hold the office of the President much longer.  It is no longer a luxury to be well educated or compassionate.  The world has changed from a "Win-Lose" world into a "Win-Win / Lose-Lose" world, where education, communication, and compassion will be needed for future prosperity.  That means we have a choice: Continuing to let this traitor lead us astray, or to go in the opposite direction - where we can all work together to pursue common interests, making things better to pursue our individual interests as a result....

Politics will be the death of us yet.

As I write this entry, the partial US Government shutdown is in its second week.  This is an embarrassing shame for this country, as important government functions are not being performed, people are unable to earn a living, and those "essential personnel" which remain on the job are not getting paid for their work.

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Government shutdowns should be rare and short.  In the first 2 years of the Trump presidency, we have already experienced 3 shutdowns.  The first 2 shutdowns were relatively harmless, as they lasted less than a week.  However, this shutdown is going into its 3rd week, and shows no sign of ending.

The nation’s largest union representing federal employees filed a lawsuit Monday afternoon against the government, seeking damages for the roughly 400,000 federal employees forced to work without pay during the partial government shutdown. To me, having the government order me to work without pay is akin to slavery, and is illegal according to the United States Constitution.  But what would happen if a court were to tell these employees that they have the right to NOT work?

In the above case, the 2 plaintiffs work at high-security prisons owned by the government.  Could you imagine if all affected employees were to walk out, leaving prisoners locked up in their cells?  What would happen in a protracted mandated shutdown?  Would we leave the prisoners to starve?  But this gets even more interesting.  The Coast Guard is affected by the shutdown as well.  Could you imagine if they started selling drugs to pay their service members?  Being serious, I could imagine what could happen if the Coast Guard were to stop functioning, and this is not a pretty picture.  And what about TSA employees walking off their jobs? What about Air Traffic Controllers? Could you imagine what would happen to interstate travel and commerce if no one were able able to fly during the shutdown?

As usual, this shutdown hurts poor people the worst.  Many of us live from paycheck to paycheck, and are less than 3 paychecks away from total financial disaster.  The Federal Government has outsourced many of tasks once done by employees.  Unlike Federal employees, most contractor employees will not get back pay when the government is fully open for business.  How will they cope with the loss of 2 (or more) weeks of salary?  What would happen if this shutdown stretches into February?  We will likely see SNAP and WIC benefit funding stop.  What will happen to the affected families?

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I am not in favor of Trump getting any money for his so-called wall.  He is holding many Americans hostage against their will, pawns in the game of politics. He did this with DACA "Dreamers" and screwed them anyway.  What's to say that he will not do the same thing again?  Collateral damage is part of most wars, and this is a political war where government employees are needlessly being hurt.  I am hoping for a radical ruling in the above mentioned lawsuit, allowing ALL unpaid employees to walk off their jobs at will.

Maybe it's time for the people to fight back against a body politic that is out of control....



 

Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang.  Neither aspect of life can exist without the other, and aspects of both are needed in any organism for life to exist at all.

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I have followed a path in the opposite direction to that many have followed. When I was young, I lived in fear and tended to be much more conservative. As I got older, and learned more about, I lived in confidence and tended to be much more liberal in my thoughts.

There is nothing wrong about being a thoughtful conservative or a thoughtful liberal. It's when we follow others without thought, that being conservative or liberal becomes a problem. It becomes way too easy to follow leaders that do not have our own best interests at heart.

There is a natural yin and yang to life. When we close ourselves off to things we don't agree with or don't understand, we get into trouble. But we can cherish differences instead of forcing those differences out of existence.

I pose the two following videos as a way towards understanding the yin and yang of conservatism and liberalism in an abstract way, and then what happens when evil people try to get us to stop critical thought and to follow them into destruction....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SOQduoLgRw

https://www.pbs.org/…/the-story-of-fascism-in-europe-pthanf/

I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!:

Al Franken - Giant of the Senate, and the man who should be out next president.

In an age of political correctness on the left, Al Franken was one of its victims.  I will not focus on his resignation from the Senate, nor will I focus on this man's comedic past.  Instead, I will focus on a man who won the respect of people, and is more qualified than our present president to hold that office.

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When Al Franken decided to run for the Senate, many people didn't take him seriously. Because of his previous career in comedy, they thought he'd be making fun of the Senate and its institutions. Even though many people didn't take his candidacy seriously, he won his first election by 312 votes - forcing a recount before he was seated.

During his first term, he barely cracked a joke.  When he did, it was not in public.  He was spending all of his time earning the respect of both his fellow Senators and of his fellow Minnesotans.  By the time the votes were counted in his second election, he won with 53.8% of the ballots cast.

An avowed Liberal, Franken favors a single payer health care system.  He has also addressed conflicts of interest in the issuance of financial securities, by creating an independent board to choose which ratings firm would be used to rate a given security. I could go on and on, but it would sound more like a rehash of a Wikipedia entry than a detailed list of things this man had worked on during his tenure as a Senator.

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Sadly, Al Franken was forced out of office by the puritanical wing of the Democratic party. Although he has showed remorse for his actions (unlike our president), the "Me Too" movement needed sacrificial lambs, and he was chosen.  Yet, he still has the respect of more people in the Democratic party than those who would keep him from running for office again. 

Franken's sense of humor (as a politician) can be summed up by two jokes about Ted Cruz:

1. When an average American thinks of a bad cruise, they think of Carnival.
   When a Senator thinks of a bad Cruz, they think of Ted.
2. I'm Ted Cruz's closest friend in the Senate.
   And I Hate Ted.

Years ago, Charlie Chaplin said that if he knew how evil Adolf Hitler was when he filmed The Great Dictator, he'd never have made the film.  Mel Brooks takes the opposite tack. He tries to belittle and make fun of Hitler every chance he gets.  He feels that people that evil do not deserve respect.  As for me, I wish I could have told Chaplin to make the film, as all dictators need to be taken down, and the best way to do so is with humor.  Franken is the type of person who can and will use humor as a weapon if needed. And he is the only one who could burst Trump's bubble of invincibility with a well placed gag during a debate.

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Given the man who is POTUS now, we know that Franken is good enough to be president. We know that he is smart enough to be president. And he is still well liked by the majority of Americans.  Hopefully, he will throw his hat into the ring, and be elected our 46th president in 2020.

Al Franken for President - 2020

Regarding the possibility that Trump and the GOP Hierarchy are Traitors.

Regarding the possibility that Trump and the GOP Hierarchy are Traitors.


US Constitution: Article 3, Section  3 -

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

Note: This is the only crime mentioned in the constitution which requires the testimony of two witnesses for a conviction.  It is likely that Trump will be charged as a Conspirator if indicted.

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Conspiracy -

In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime at some time in the future.

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Aid and Abetting in Law -

Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets in the commission of a crime. It exists in a number of different countries and generally allows a court to pronounce someone guilty for aiding and abetting in a crime even if they are not the principal offender.

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Let's assume that the heads of all of the US intelligence agencies are correct in the assumption that Russia has been interfering with American elections, and that they are trying to sabotage the Western Alliance. How could we determine that Trump was committing acts of treason, even if we could not convict him for treason under the law?  In the case of Conspiring with Russia to harm the United States, I think we could make a good case of it.

First, let's take a look at some of Russia's goals:

1. The destruction of the Western Democracies' belief in both the rule of law and the elections which seat their leaders in positions of power.
2. The destruction of the Western Alliance, freeing Russia from checks and balances that limit its use of economic power.
3. The destruction of global/regional free trade policies and regulations, so that Russia's economic competition can be divided and conquered.
4. The destruction of the United States' economy, eliminating the one power which could check and balance Russia's military power.
5. The destruction of treaties and agreements geared to remedy the effects of climate change, thus allowing Russia to develop its frozen territory in Siberia.

You'll notice that each of Russia's goals involves destroying something of value to the rest of the world.

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Russia has been using both money and propaganda to influence people in the Western Democracies to support extremist leaders. They do not care if leftists or rightists win. They only care that our societies are divided and our leaders are corrupted and beholden to Russia.  

Russia has taken advantage of Structural Unemployment in the West to sow dissent, and cause people who have been left behind because of the incompetence of mainstream political leadership to become more agitated and violent in their protests. Look at the people who voted for Le Pen in France, for Brexit in the UK, and for Trump in the USA, and you'll see quite a few people who have lost out because of globalization.  Many of these people are what we'd call racists in America, as all too many of them would not have the skills to survive in a multi cultural workplace, and would place the blame for their failures at the feet of "the others" and not consider that their value systems could be the cause for their failures.

Quite often, it is the under/unemployed who are fired up by bombastic leaders, and this is true around the world.  In Germany, they understandably complain about Muslim immigration from Syria, as there is a limit to how many refugees any country can safely assimilate. In France, it is the Algerians.  And in many cities in Europe, the governments ignore the "no-go" zones where the unassimilated migrants now live.  In America, these same people point at anyone with dark skin, especially if they speak Spanish, and look down on them - as if they are all illegal aliens and must be deported.  Strangely enough, there is a net outflow of Mexicans back to Mexico these days, and that most illegals are coming in by air and over staying their visas, working in the cash economy.  No wonder why people don't trust their own governments - they do not do their jobs.

Trump has taken advantage of this undercurrent, and claimed that millions of illegals have voted in our elections.  I'll cede the word "Thousands" to him for sake of argument, but this does not explain why Trump lost the popular vote.  Yet, he makes this claim, and all too many people are ready to believe him - as this explanation is simple enough for them to understand.  Until Trump came along, I never heard of a "Sore Winner".  But the chip on his shoulder indicates that he is uncomfortable with anyone knowing that he does not have the support of the majority of the American public. And this attitude only helps to reinforce the doubt his followers have in both the rule of law and that of honest elections.

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Next we must consider what Trump has done to the Western military alliance.Our president has sowed doubt with our Western partners.  For example, he has said that NATO is obsolete - even after Russia annexed Crimea.  Of course, Trump has rarely said a bad thing against Russia and its leaders. He has claimed that America is paying the bulk of the price for European defense, America's contribution to NATO expenses is under 30%.  He does not acknowledge the underlying reasons for NATO's existence:

1. Keep America in Western Europe
2. Keep the Germans from needing a strong military and threatening its neighbors.
3. Keep the Russians out of Western Europe.

By inserting us as a Western European peacemaker, America got to control the degree of how militarized Western Europe would get. Preventing a war between the Western European countries has allowed everyone to prosper by preventing a third European war which would destroy all of their economies, as happened in the Second World War.

Russia gains from Western European instability.  In the past, it has controlled Eastern Europe.  Several of the former Warsaw Pact countries are now part of NATO, and that threatens Russia.  Any doubt it can sow in the minds of the leaders of the Baltic Republics (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania), Poland, or other former Warsaw Pact nations in regard to US commitments to NATO is an asset to Russia, as these nations are more likely to capitulate to Russia's demands instead of supporting Western interests.

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Trump keeps looking to cut trade deals with individual nations, instead of working with existing trade blocs.  He is against NAFTA, claiming we could have gotten better deals by negotiating separate deals with Canada and Mexico.  He wants to cut separate trade deals with European nations, even though Europe negotiates trade deals as a bloc. He has scuttled the TPP deal, a framework of rules and regulations geared to give America a greater say than China will have in Trans-Pacific Trade.  In short, he is out to dismantle many of the economic structures which have given America and its trading partners greater prosperity through fair trade.

Sadly, Trump lives in a world that sees Trade as a win-lose proposition.  To him, America can win only if someone else loses. However, the best statement to refute Trump's position comes from John Oliver (Last Week Tonight) who said in a recent show:

“The overwhelming consensus among economists is that trade between countries, generally speaking, can create jobs, lower costs, and be a net benefit to both nations. That makes it a lot like sex. If you’re doing it right, it can be good for both partners, though the odds of that happening plummet as soon as Donald Trump gets involved.”

But we have to ask: Who gains from Trump's position?  And the answer still is: RUSSIA!  An economically weakened America and a weakened set of trading partners are less likely willing to stand up against Russia's interests. 

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Now we get to the destruction of the United States economy. And this is where Trump has done the most long term damage. Most businesses object to the tariffs Trump has imposed on imported items. Certain tariffs, such as those on Aluminum and Steel, are in violation of certain treaties - NAFTA is one of those treaties. We are seeing businesses such as Harley-Davidson relocate production outside of the United States, in order to sell product at an affordable price in countries Trump has targeted with his tariffs.  Other businesses, such as one last American factory producing nails has had to shutter a newly built plant, as its products are no longer competitive because of Trump's tariffs.

Trump has scuttled (or has attempted to scuttle) deals such as the Hudson River Gateway project, where new tunnels were to be built to augment two 100+ year old tunnels carrying passenger rail traffic between New York and New Jersey.  These tunnels are at the end of their useful life, and need to be shut down, so that they can be renewed/overhauled for long term use. What would happen if these tunnels had to be shut down without replacements being available?  What would happen to the nation's economy if millions of people could not make it to work in the New York City area?  If one was looking to cripple America, this would be an easy target.  Trump did this shortly after taking office, and I'll bet that Putin is quietly chuckling at how soon America will be crippled by one of its own.

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Next, we must ask what Trump's cronies have been doing to the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Education.  Each person in charge of these agencies is dismantling the associated department, and making it impossible for the department to accomplish its purposes. For example, the Energy department has called for a stop in the retirement of unprofitable Coal fired electric plants, something that upsets environmentalists, energy companies, and consumer groups.  Why should unprofitable plants be kept open?  It certainly doesn't add to the bottom line of energy companies.  It certainly doesn't improve the environment left for future generations. And it certainly doesn't benefit the average consumer.  The additional pollution caused by keeping these plants open will be in the thousands. Yet, Trump prefers to pander to a small number of loyal, but gullible voters instead of America's long term interests.  We could look at HUD,and we would find that the department is de-emphasizing  one of its main functions - to insure that marginalized groups have reasonable access to housing. And when we get to Education, we see the dismantling of protections for the LGBT communities. But what may be worse, is this department may be considering shifting some funds to arming teachers in the classroom.

Trump's policies are widening the gap between a corrupt GOP elite and the average American.  And this does not bode well for our economy, our environment, or to the long term health of our country.  Again, only one nation gains from hurting America in the way that Trump's cronies want to do, and that's RUSSIA! 

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At the time I started this entry, Michael Cohen had pleaded guilty to 8 felonies, 2 of them directly involve the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. Assuming Cohen is telling the truth, Trump has violated Federal Election Laws.  It has been stated that Cohen was also in the room when Trump jr., and Russian Operatives discussed how to deliver dirt on the Hillary Clinton campaign that would be made public by Trump.  It was also claimed that Cohen had first hand knowledge that Trump knew about this meeting, making him guilty of another felony.

Paul Manafort was convicted of 8 felony charges at the same time Cohen was "singing his song" in New York.  Only one holdout jury member kept the jury from convicting him on all 18 counts.  Why is Manafort so important?  Well, he was a Russian operative who got paid to help a Russian Supported candidate win in a Ukraine election.  The Ukrainian was corrupt and was a puppet of Vladimir Putin.  It's very suspicious to see Manafort come to work on Trump's campaign (for free) just before the 2016 elections.  Where was he getting his money?  What was being delivered to Trump?

Of course, we must note the Alfa Bank connection in Trump Tower.  Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, was trying to establish a back channel to Russia, and it's amazing to see one of Alfa's servers in use to facilitate communication between Russia and Trump. Alfa bank has been sanctioned in the past for its nefarious doings, and the location of this server probably isn't coincidental in nature.

Do you remember Wikileaks?  I do.  And I wanted to see dirt on Hillary Clinton.  However, it never materialized.  Julian Assange and Wikileaks may be pawns of Russia, as Wikileaks rarely distributes any dirt on Russia.  Instead, it seems to get dirt from Russia to be redistributed when Putin's crew gives the word.

Recently, Trump scuttled a bi-partisan bill meant to fight election hacking by foreign operators. When both Democrats and Republicans support a bill, it's needed.  Yet, this White House wants to scuttle the bill for spurious reasons.  Why?  It's obvious that he wants to keep allowing Russia to have enough access to rig future American elections.  Again, this points to treason, but is it willing or coerced? The most important "tell" is that Trump rarely has anything bad to say about Russia.  Given that Russia likely has Kompromat on him (most of the Steele Dossier has been confirmed, save the "pee pee tape") since his Miss Universe and "Trump Tower, Moscow" days, it makes sense that Russia could groomed this man to do its bidding. And now that he is in office, he is reluctant to enforce even the most trivial of sanctions or other actions against Russian interests.

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Years ago, the GOP hierarchy ended up helping to force Richard Nixon out of power.  Today's GOP has seen much worse from Trump, but has done little to check and balance Trump.  The big question is why not?  Well, the answer is as simple as a desire to stay in office.

Trump has maintained a 40% approval rating since he took office.  Among Republicans, he has the highest approval ratings of any modern president. Among Democrats and Independents, no one approves of Trump.  Given that one can generally count on a 35% approval rate, no matter how bad you are, Trump isn't doing that well by normal standards. But these are not normal times.  America is extremely polarized, and the GOP has absorbed the racists who used to be Democrats due to a "Southern Strategy" introduced by Nixon in the late 1960's.

Leaders in the GOP are afraid of getting "primaried" off their tickets if they stray too far from supporting Trump and his crimes.  So they look the other way as Trump commits his crimes and do nothing to stop him.  The longer he stays in office, the more he harms this country. Yet, they do nothing.  They aid and abet by looking the other way.  They have an adequate Vice President (who I'd hate to see in office), but won't tell Trump to cut out all of his shit. When curious to find out why this happens, one only has to follow the money.

How many of you remember the name of Maria Butina.  She claimed to be a Russian Gun Rights advocate.  And much of the GOP elite were very friendly with this woman.  Russian money has been flowing through the NRA to GOP candidates, and any action to force Trump to behave might end up shutting off the spigot which funds many downstream candidates' campaigns.  This looks awfully suspicious....

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So we get back to the definition of Treason.  Do we have multiple witnesses? Probably. Has Trump aided an enemy of the US? Probably, given his actions. And when I factor in his refusal to acknowledge Russia's interference in our election, something that all of our intelligence agencies state as fact, I feel he is a traitor who will continue to betray this country while in office.

Next is conspiracy.  Do we have evidence of this?  Probably.  The Trump Tower meeting seems to tie this all together.  Throw in Manafort's involvement in the campaign, Trump's signaling to Russia to help expose Hillary's supposed misdeeds, and it is likely that the whole Trump family is involved.  (I'm not including Melania or Barron here.)

And then we get to aiding and abetting.  This is where things get very interesting.  Why is it that Devin Nunes has been trying to throw roadblocks into Mueller's work?  Why is it that Paul Ryan has not supported Mueller?  What about Mitch McConnell? Why hasn't he told the Senate committees to do an honest job in investigating Russian involvement in the election?  Again, when one is addicted to power, one does his best NOT to do the things that could get him voted out of office, or to land a good lobbyist job upon leaving office. Inaction in the case of the GOP held House and Senate may be properly described as aiding and abetting a crime. But I'll let lawyers discuss that in another forum.

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There are so many loose ends I've not bothered with in this thought piece. Could I have mentioned Carter Page?  Yes.  But his place in all of this seems immaterial right now. Could I mention the firing of James Comey?  Yes.  But he seems like the tip of the iceberg, and little needs to be said about him, save that his firing catalyzed the mobilization of a special prosecutor.

Johnathan Chait, in a New York magazine Daily Intelligencer article notes:

The only way to restrain Nunes’s anti-Mueller crusade, or to look at Trump’s tax return and see who was paid off by whom, is to replace the Republican majority with a Democratic majority, which will hold oversight hearings and use its subpoena power to probe the overflowing sewage spill of misconduct and lawbreaking surrounding Trump.

Chait's right about that.  The GOP has acted, almost in unison, to protect Trump while he continues to destroy the American polity for future generations. By aiding and abetting in Trump's continuing crimes, they no longer deserve the right to participate in the governing of this country.

I believe that Trump may survive until the 2020 election. But his presence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will continue to mobilize the Democratic Base and hurt the GOP for at least a generation.  The GOP by its inaction may please its base. But it poisons the GOP brand for future Americans. And the longer the GOP stays in power, the greater the damage will be. For America's sake, I hope they are voted out of power soon.


PS: You might be interested in this interview with Craig Unger that posits that Trump has been owned by the Russian Mob for 3 decades.

PPS: John McCain snubbed Trump when planning for his funeral.  Both Bush #43 and Obama were invited to speak.  Trump was deliberately excluded.