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.

- - -

Conspiracy -

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

- - - 

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.

- - - - - -

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.

- - -

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.

- - -

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.

- - -

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. 

- - -

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.

- - -

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! 

- - - - - -

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.

- - - - - -

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....

- - - - - -

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.

- - - - - -

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.  

So long mom, I'm off to drop the bomb....

Tom Lehrer - A man who was way ahead of his time in many ways. I only wish he would (and could) write and perform some new tunes for today's absurd reality. But I can't stop thinking of his song written in advance for World War 3: "So long mom (A song for World War 3)."

North Korea is taking advantage of the weakness it sees in the West to become even more belligerent. Trump is the critical weak point in the West's resolve to keep the peace, a peace which allows South Korea to prosper. And I can only see war in the future, with the likely possibility that nuclear weapons will be used as they may be the only tools which will stop North Korea from becoming a threat to the entire Western world.

- - - - - -

The problem dates back to the 1950's, when China decided to fight with North Korea against America and its allies to keep the American forces from coming too close to their border. China got stuck with protecting the Kim family's dysfunctional regime. We were at the beginning of the Cold War with Communist states, and the fighting in Korea was an anomaly. The Kims saw that they could become miniature emperors as long as they tied their wagons to Communist horses.

After almost 70 years since the uneasy peace was declared, the Kim family is still in power. They have used an elegant form of ransom to extract money from the West - holding Seoul as an effective hostage. Since South Korea has become a wealthy nation, the West would lose even more wealth if war were to break out again. So it decided to pay the ransom and kick the can down the road to future leaders to deal with. This was a big mistake.

The Kims made a big mistake too. They decided on building both ICMS and nuclear weapons, with the goal of being able to hold any nation on the planet hostage to their aims. The USA can not afford to lose any of its major cities. (Insert cynical joke here, based on your politics.) So we will likely be forced to act, even though the West will lose South Korea's economy and wealth in the process.

Strangely, as much as I hate Trump the man, I'm glad that he will let the military make the decisions needed to fight North Korea when the time comes. The military knows he is not competent enough to make decisions required of a commander in chief. So they will act responsibly, but give him enough cover to look presidential.

But what happens after the war? Ay, there's the rub. In order to limit the damage, South Korea will need to be protected from reunification. Since the North Korean people have been brainwashed to worship the Kim family, it will be a great effort and risk to absorb this useless population into a South Korea that will be trying to rebuild a country after a major war. They will want (but never saying this) as many primates as possible exterminated between the DMZ and the Yalu river (the Chinese Border). This means that South Korea has an interest in America to test and use as many of its military toys as possible in that war. And our military will only be too glad to oblige.,

Am I being overly cynical and pessimistic? Maybe. But I haven't thought of any other possible solution that could occur with less bloodshed and suffering....

Refusing to question authority is tantamount to treason!

"I was only following orders...."  We've heard that line before. And we're in danger of the same thing that happened to the Germans. People refused to stand up and question authority out of peer pressure, and later out of fear. And as the Nuremberg trials showed, this was inexcusable and was a betrayal of a great nation.

We now have a corrupt leader in Washington, DC who is not being openly challenged by his own political party.  They are only interested in being in power, and not the purpose of being in power - to govern.  Gradually, we're seeing the state houses pass laws which are meant to restrict the right to peaceably assembly and protest wrongful actions by government.

The most egregious offenses may yet come from the Federal Government.  We're seeing provisions meant to protect whistle blowers being repealed by executive order. We're seeing an attack on a health care plan, that in spite of its many flaws, has succeeded in bringing health care to millions who were not able to afford health care before. We're seeing an attack on Women's rights by extremists who want to limit a woman's access to birth control AND prohibit her from having the choice of having an abortion if that birth control method fails. We're seeing attacks on the LGBT community, by attempts to ignore the community's existence AND remove protections established by both the courts and executive orders. We're seeing a rollback of environmental safeguards, as well as ceasing to collect data which helps to prove that global warming is real.

Yet, what offends me most is not what one might expect from a "far right" shift in government. Instead, it is that "far right" government has been enabling a president to betray his country. Our president is tainted by his direct and indirect connections to the Russian oligarchy. The GOP fears betraying the man who would betray us all. They still act as if he is a leader who should be respected - even though he shows no loyalty to those below him. 

Several times over the past couple of years, my friends and I have discussed the alarming signs that America is about to have a Fascist government. Most of these friends are on the left, and never would have voted for a Republican candidate. However, today I had a similar discussion with a friend who never likes anything coming from the left - and even she is seeing the signs of Fascism coming from the right. If this doesn't make a person think, I don't know what does....

Hopefully, I am wrong. And I hope that the midterm elections make it possible for the left to check and balance the current unchecked power of the right. Only time will tell....

By now, we're a little over a week into the new season.

Nothing signals that Spring has come like the baseball season opener. There is a predictability in baseball that is unlike that of Mother Nature. When opening day comes, the games will be played unless rain or snow makes it impossible to do so. The birds and the bees do not have that kind of predictability.

Baseball may no longer be "America's Pastime", but it is America's sport. There is something about baseball that is timeless, and I'm not just referring to the lack of a clock to govern the duration of a game. If you look at the above picture, very little gives it away as an image taken almost 100 years ago, save for the graininess of the picture, the watercolor like colorization, and the two baseball players in the picture. 

For the most part, today's baseball game is played mostly by the same rules as it was 100 years ago, save for the introduction of the designated hitter. However, the game has evolved in ways no one could have foreseen even 50 years ago. No longer do pitchers throw complete games, nor do they hit in the American League. In a normal game, one sees a starting pitcher, a middle relief pitcher, and a closer. (Could you imagine Babe Ruth's career had he started playing today?  I'd bet that he'd have never hit 714 home runs, as he'd have earned a Hall of Fame slot on his pitching record alone.) 

Of course, much of the game's evolution has been propelled by statistical analysis. There are so many names for specific types of stats, that the mind starts to boggle. And Billy Beane's work with the Athletics was made popular with the book "Moneyball" and the movie of the same name. No longer is "gut instinct" a valid way to manage a team. Instead, a good manager has to understand all the statistics that apply to his players at the current moment in a game, and manage the team based on statistical probabilities.  This is not easy, and I doubt it is as much fun for a manager as it was 100 years ago.

Yet, baseball is eternal.  Children still dream of being a "Big League" baseball player. However, these children often come from third world countries such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic or Panama. The game is much more international than before, and we are seeing a better class of baseball than was available 100 years ago. Would Babe Ruth or "Shoeless" Joe Jackson be able to make it in today's game?  I don't know, but they were the greatest players of their time, and they set benchmarks that still stand almost 100 years later.

They seem like the Three Stooges. And they make Moe look like a good leader.

This week's entry will be relatively short.

As I write this, the AHCA act has yet to be brought to a vote before the full House. And it doesn't have that great a chance of passing. Then, if it does, it still doesn't have a ghost of a chance in the Senate.  What does this say about the GOP as a political party?

- - - - - -

For the past several years, the GOP has been stirring up its base, saying that the Affordable Care Act (A.K.A. "Obamacare") is bad for the American people and would be repealed on the first day that the GOP had control of government.  So far, it has been a little over 2 months since the GOP got its wish, and they were unprepared to do what they promised.

The key features of Obamacare (I use the word as a compliment to the man) are:

1. A mandated definition of what basic health care coverage is, so that people buying this care on exchanges could make "apples to apples" comparisons.
2. A mandated participation in the health care market (with subsidies, if needed) to insure that both the poor are covered, and that the insurance pool is large enough to absorb the expenses of the old and infirm who were unable to get affordable insurance.
3. A mandate that insurers accept people with pre-existing conditions and cover those conditions in their policies.
4. An establishment of government sponsored (state or federal governments) health care exchanges, so that people could easily buy insurance from a marketplace.

There are more features, such as the expansion of medicaid that could be mentioned here. But they only serve to make the discussion a little more complex than needed.

- - - - - -

The problem with health care is that many things dovetail with each other.  Take away mandatory participation in a health care market, and the insurance pools do not cover enough young and healthy people to absorb the expenses of the old and infirm. Isolate the old and infirm into assigned risk pools, and they will not be able to afford health care without subsidies. Take away coverage of pre-existing conditions, and the people who need coverage will not be able to get it.  Take away the public exchanges and mandated definitions of "coverage", and the public will not be able to make informed choices. In short, one has to address many requirements in order to maximize coverage across as many people as possible in a nation's population.

The GOP attacks the first two elements in the above list in all their proposals to repeal the ACA. They do not care that less people will be covered by insurance.  They do not care that insurance will become unaffordable to the old and infirm.  They only care about restoring a dysfunctional prior status quo.  The GOP has had several years to design a better health care plan than the ACA, and yet had not done so.  Instead they kept making noises about the free market being better than the ACA's "solution" - even when the other major industrialized nations have shown that "socialized medicine" has resulted in more available health care at a lower price to society.  In fact, one staunch GOP loyalist made the claim that if Stephen Hawking had to use Britain's National Health Service (NHS), that Hawking would be dead today.  Well, Hawking uses the NHS and is still alive as I write this.

- - - - - -

The GOP is now in charge of the Executive branch of government, as well as both legislative branches of government. And the three stooges in the above photo have yet do produce a health care reform that would be better than what we now have.  It should be the duty of any opposition party, that when it comes to power, that it has well thought out policies and actions ready to go.  This was not the case when the GOP gained power this year.

I don't need to say much about Trump, except that he is a malignant narcissistic sociopath who has no loyalty to anyone but himself, who has no taste, and who has no empathy with other people. In short, he is a social cancer that can cause damage when left unchecked. Paul Ryan is an idealog who can be very dangerous as he gets more power, as he does not believe that the fortunate in society have any duty to those less well off. And Mitch McConnell may not be an ideolog, as he has no ethics to guide him except a loyalty to his party.

- - - - - -

The public is enraged - and that includes many in the "Red States" who are seeing how the party they voted into power is about to betray them.  The GOP had no Obamacare replacement, so they slapped something together and called it reform. The public knows better, as they can see how they will lose their ACA benefits when what they derisevely called "Obamacare" is repealed. They see that giving away park lands in places like Montana will hurt their local economy. They see that polluting the water with mining waste will take away their clean drinking water. In short, they are willing to the Democrats if the Democrats have leaders who will address the needs of the people in "Fly Over Territory".

Luckily, we're seeing the Democrats get energized, as they are getting ready for the 2018 elections. But do they have enough of the right people in place for the future?  I doubt it. Their leadership is getting long in the tooth, and they don't have enough young leaders who can energize the public. The one person who can lead them, Bernie Sanders, is an older man who has captured the imagination of youth. He is the same man, when in a forum of Trump supporters received the ultimate compliment from a person in mining country. This compliment took the form of being told that Sanders, from the Northeast, is doing more for people in Coal Country than Mitch McConnell next door. 

My question is: Will the Democrats be ready in time to topple "Larry" and "Curly" in 2018, and take care of "Moe" in 2020?

- - - - - -

PS: After I wrote this, the GOP Bill went down in flames.  As expected, Trump had to find someone else to blame the failure on, and he blamed the Democrats for not working with him.  Hmmmm.  The GOP refused to help when Obamacare was passed 7 years ago. So why should the Democrats respond any differently.  Trump claims that Obamacare will implode, and it may yet in some states. But if it fails in 2018, it will be an election year, and I doubt that Trump will be able to stop the upcoming disaster that an honest attempt to repair what was in place could have prevented.

There are 3 kinds of lies about Healthcare

Mark Twain once said that "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics." And in the case of Obamacare, Trumpcare and the Healthcare debate, all three kinds of lies are in play.

When the Affordable Care Act was enacted, it had no support from the GOP, even though the design came out of a GOP think tank. The GOP was so focused on making Obama a one term president, that it became an extremely polarized opposition to anything supported by Obama. And this included the beginnings of a national health care system based on free market principles, yet tempered by the realities of unequal wealth distribution and unequal health across subgroups of our nation's population.

I was surprised to find that a president and party would have spent so much political capital oh health care. And in retrospect, I am reminded of LBJ who noted that by standing up for civil rights, he was giving the "Old South" to the GOP. It seems like healthcare reform may symbolize something similar for Democrats, as the GOP has used Obamacare as a tool to rally the base.

Over the past few years, the Democratic party has been losing seats in both the House and the Senate. In 2016, the Democrats finally lost the presidency, which gave the GOP a chance to remake healthcare in ways that may reflect either an ideological purity or a pragmatic recognition of reality. Unfortunately, the first important draft at a reform bill will only serve to double the number of uninsured people, and give excessive tax cuts to the rich.

Designing reforms to a health insurance system is not something that can be done in days. It took the Democrats months to flesh out a plan, and then they had to pull out all stops (including bringing in a sickly Ted Kennedy to help break a filibuster) to get the bill passed. Even then, the bill was far from perfect - and was signed into law with known problems. The Obama administration figured that Healthcare reform was now in play, but repeal would be political suicide once the average citizen started to receive the benefits of this new entitlement.

President Trump promised that he would sign a repeal of Obamacare the day he took office. It's been roughly two months since he took office, and no repeal or replacement bill has been signed into law at the time I'm writing this entry. The GOP never thought that they would be in a position to fulfill its promises to repeal Obamacare, and now they are caught between keeping this promise and doing the right thing.

The GOP is saying lies of varying magnitudes in regard to the ACA. What they are not saying is that their lack of cooperation in congress and in their statehouses helped to cause major problems in the "Red States". Obamacare is in trouble in many of the Red States, as quite a few did not accept federal monies for Medicaid expansion.  As a result, many people who could have gotten medical care were caught in a gap - between Medicaid eligibility and being able to afford healthcare. So they got screwed by their own leaders, just because of a political game that was being played.

In the "Blue States", we see a system that is relatively successful. Yes, there are problems. But people are accessing healthcare who could never have afforded it in the past. So, what's going to happen to them now that the GOP is in charge? Trump and the rest of the GOP do not want to look at the statistics regarding Obamacare. The Congressional Budget Office did predict a $370+ million savings due to the GOP's most recent health care reform bill. But it said that the number of uninsured would more than double. This means that the GOP will need to tell big lies to mollify its base - a base which is finally coming to terms with the Affordable Care Act, not realizing that it is one and the same as the dreaded "Obamacare".

There are Senators warning GOP house members that the current bill will be DOA if it reaches the Senate. Both the President and the Speaker of the House are saying that this bill is the only one that might pass muster in the House. Yet something more may be going on here.  Could a bad bill be written up, making it possible for purists to say they voted for an acceptable bill that will never come to law - and please their constituents?  Could a future bill be designed to "repeal" the ACA, but merely be a set of tweaks to make the existing law more palatable?

What is most telling is that TRUMP, a man who puts his name on everything, boils red when he hears the phrase "Trumpcare". He doesn't want his name associated with a GOP suicide pact. And yet, that's what seems to be happening right now - GOP Congressmen and Senators are avoiding their constituents in order not to address their fears of losing affordable health care.  Does this mean that because of ideological concerns that the GOP may commit political suicide?  Who knows?

The other night, Bernie Sanders held a town hall in "Trump Territory". And it is amazing how he addressed the concerns of West Virginia voters better than that of their own leaders.  In fact, one person there said that he was amazed that Sanders was looking out for retired coal miners more than Mitch McConnell, a Senator from a nearby coal mining state. What does this say about our 2 party system? To me, it says that if a party ignores the concerns of people who are minorities in the party, it will lose the votes to the other party - even if the only things given are lip service and lies, as the GOP has done for years.

Even in a state that bleeds red, the ACA has shown to be useful. It made sure that coal miners suffering from Black Lung disease got the benefit of the doubt when claiming benefits - something that would be lost in an ACA repeal.  People in Trump Country see this, and do not want the ACA repealed - they want it fixed.  Even so, our VP went to Kentucky and talked about all of Obamacare's failures - even when the little guy is starting to see the benefits of the law.  I can only imagine what would happen to the GOP if more people started seeing the lies for what they are - mistaken tribal and ideological opposition to a "lesser of evils" law.

In the major Western nations, there is no country which has free market health care - not even us.  In a free market, people would die if they were taken to the hospital without money or insurance coverage. Out of humanity, we require hospitals to treat all people regardless of ability to pay, and then those hospitals shift their unreimbursed costs to those least able to pay "rack rate" for medical care. And yet, the GOP keeps arguing that a free market can work with health care when there are no examples in the world of a free market working for health care.  What lies will they tell to bamboozle their base to convince them that a return to healthcare's past is what is needed in a "reform" effort?

Luckily, there are a few GOP Congressmen and Senators willing to buck party ideology and demand that a replacement bill actually be better than the system we have now. It's not important that they dress up their verbiage in fantasy talk or pragmatic statements. Instead, it's important that they are realizing that if the GOP breaks Obamacare without having a better Trumpcare ready to roll, then the GOP could lose both houses in the next election, and possibly start losing the statehouses as well.

I predict that we will hear a lot of misinformation spouted over the next few weeks while ACA repeal is being discussed. Luckily, the Democrats still have the ability to filibuster many bills that come through the Senate, and have an effective veto that can be used for most half-assed attempts to repeal the ACA. Hopefully, the Democrats will use what little power they have left in both a wise and effective manner.  And I hope that in the middle of this political game being played, that people lose the ability to purchase healthcare that they once enjoyed under the ACA.

How deep is the Russia Connection?

As I write this, a TV reporter was discussing with a guest asserting that there was a FISA court warrant on two data servers connected to Russian Banks at Trump Tower.  I have not yet been able to find evidence of this in internet searches, but things have gotten "Curiouser and Curiouser".

A while back, I was concerned when I read that there was a data connection between Trump's campaign and Russia.  We now know that Wikileaks has been feeding one sided information in sync with Trump's campaign, bolstering him when his campaign was flagging. Now, we're finding out that many in Trump's staff have strong ties to Russia - more than I ever thought when I started paying attention to this connection.

Could Trump's now silence on the issue of being bugged be related to violating the law in relation to a FISA court warrant by making things public?  Who knows?  Only time will tell.

- - - - - -

Strangely enough, even though I do not consider Russia to be a friendly country, I do believe that we can have a rapprochement with them. But this is not because of Donald Trump. Instead it is because I see a way to profitably knit them together with the West, in spite of the regime now in power.

Russia has a more sophisticated set spy masters than we have.  America has shifted away from "Boots on the Ground" in many areas, including spying.  We have gotten caught up in electronic surveillance, and have forgotten the art of culturing people who will eventually betray their countries' interests.  Potentially, with the Trump crew, Russia has scored the ultimate success.  Again, only honest news reporting will show this to be true or not.

- - - - - -

I am far from happy with this administration.  Virtually all of its civilian department heads are there to preside over the dismantling of those departments.  Executive orders are being used to strip away protections given to individuals, and shift protections to the corporate state. Even if we ignore the alarms being sounded by the left, radical change in big government is dangerous. There are good reasons that change in big government come slowly - it gives people and businesses time to adjust to the new reality.  The changes being proposed by this administration do not allow for this adjustment, and could turn out to be a great disaster.

Another report that I've read says that Russia's interest is to disrupt developing nations' interest in Western models of democracy and economic development. By making the West (as a Whole) look bad, Russia can look good by comparison.  Could Trump's victory be the ultimate victory for Russia?  I have no idea, but it's an interesting idea to pursue.