Wow, Look at the Cobwebs

 I'm surprised Google hasn't deleted my blog by now. Maybe they never do that. Anyway LTTE that Post Star didn't see fit to print for whatever reason and rather than see my efforts go totally to waste. 

I want to thank James Hart for the Sunday fact-check. Officer Brian Sicknick was sprayed in the face with bear mace. It was determined, horrible as that must’ve been, not to be the cause of his death. Ashli Babbitt was killed by, to use a polite term, nonsense. She’d been fed two months of lies about the election by the world’s sorest loser. This propaganda came from Donald Trump, his lawyers, rightwing media and his minions in Congress, including ours. The families of Babbitt and Sicknick and the 140 injured officers deserve our sympathy and our support for investigation. The January 6th Committee began last Tuesday with four officers testifying. They’ve been mocked by rightwing media with garbage not worth repeating. Seeing videos of the attack, I’m astonished there weren’t more deaths. The feat they accomplished was a miracle. Rep. Stefanik provided an expected distraction. She knows Speaker Pelosi isn’t responsible for the attack. Who were the targets of the mob? Obviously Pence, since they had a gallows constructed and were chanting about using it. They were calling for Pelosi. It’s not a stretch to think any Democrat would’ve been in danger, along with Sen. Romney. How much danger were Republicans in, especially if they were the face of Trump’s first impeachment defense? Testimony, under oath, will go on the historical record unlike cheap attempts to gaslight. Sen. Sasse says people in the White House told him Trump was “delighted” on January 6th. Historians will be delighted to know what did the president do and when did he do it. Rep. Kinzinger asks, “Did the president make calls? If he didn’t, why?” Did Trump’s actions match what would be expected of a Commander in Chief when the US Capitol was under attack?

iPhone LTTE

I’m writing about Rep. Stefanik’s support of the president’s defunding of World Health Organization. This has been criticized by other world leaders who don’t feel their efforts have been harmed by the organization. The rock-ribbed conservative Chamber of Commerce released a statement, “Cutting the WHO’s funding during the COVID-19 pandemic is not in the U.S. interests.” Why is it the U.S. has over 31% of the cases in the world and the most deaths? South Korea had their first reported case the same day we did and has 234 deaths to our nearly 41,000 as I write this. Is this the fault of the WHO or are they a convenient scapegoat?

Once the crisis subsides a bit there’s much to investigate: WHO, China, the president’s actions and lack there of. Four deaths in Benghazi drew 8 investigations and 33 hearings in Congress. I’d suggest a look at rightwing media as well. How long did Fox News proclaim the virus a hoax? Currently, they’re urging people to ignore and protest the efforts of governors to protect public health. Along those same lines, I wonder if our congresswomen finds the president’s “Liberate” tweets aimed at states with Democratic governors helpful. Inciting insurrection some have called it. At the very least, it doesn’t seem helpful. 

Stay Home, Submit On Your IPhone

I read that Rep. Stefanik says “ President Trump should take action under the Defense Production Act to meet our nation’s needs during this national emergency.” He’s not, though. Reps Katko, Slotkin and Ryan have sponsored the Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act. This would force President Trump to use the Defense Production Act to require companies to begin emergency production of medical ventilators, respirators, face shields, exam gloves and surgical gowns. Thirty Democrats and zero Republicans have signed on the last I saw.

This seems like a better focus for her energy right now than the investigation of what China knew when. That can be done once we survive the current crisis. And Democrats can investigate why Trump has done or not done whatever.

A word of praise for all the medical professionals serving us now. Governor Cuomo said, “We are going to fight every way we can to save every life we can.” Stay strong, stay home. Don’t make their jobs harder by following bad advice.

Defending Tedra

Link to McGrath Letter

I'm responding to Corey McGrath's criticism of Tedra Cobb. Ms. Cobb's statement was, "Our actions have long-term ramifications that have escalated tensions in the region ... Congress, and Elise Stefanik in particular, must ensure this Administration puts together a coalition of allies and exhausts all diplomatic efforts before moving forward. The lives of American troops, diplomats and innocent civilians are on the line." Sounds reasonable to me.

Mr. McGrath writes in North Country Now, "She only urged Trump to 'exhaust all diplomatic options' before 'moving forward' with the war." First, does exhausting all diplomatic options really rate an "only?" That sounds like the kind of thorough and comprehensive step that, done properly, prevents war. Second, he overlooks the call for a coalition of allies. Perhaps, it would be a group similar to the one that put together the Iran nuclear agreement that was keeping them from working toward those weapons before being abandoned. The final touch is his dishonest extraction of "moving forward" from the statement and attaching "with the war" to the end of it. There's a term I use for that: Hannitization. It's the sort of thing Sean, and his ilk, frequently does.

Mr. McGrath constructs a strawman by altering Ms. Cobb's release. He then spends the rest of his letter painting her as a warmonger. That's as dishonest as anyone who has lied us into the wars he's against. I hope he finds someone sufficiently virtuous to vote for. Meanwhile, the rest of us who are against unnecessarily going to war, and are aware that the perfect is the enemy of the good, will work to elect Tedra Cobb.

Finally Submitting This Letter

This is kind of an amalgam of two letters. Maybe two are better than one?

I'm writing about Rep. Stefanik and other conspiracy theory friendly folks in the GOP. I realize she's been all up in Rep. Schiff's grill over having to follow House rules. As far as I know she hasn't said a word about Rep. Nunes pushing Russian disinformation at the hearings. That's what the "DNC server in Ukraine" fairy tale is. She herself said, "Whether Ukraine had any part in 2016, I think we still haven't gotten to the bottom fully of the complexity of the meddling in our election in 2016." As far as that country goes, we have. Tom Bossert, President Trump's former national security adviser, says the idea Ukraine was involved in the hack, "Has no validity" and "It's not only a conspiracy theory, its' completely debunked." Senate Intelligence says the same.

Is it worth remaining silent to Russian backed propaganda in order to be a star in Trump's Republican Party? Fiona Hill testified, "I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests." That didn't slow Rep. Nunes or cause Rep. Stefanik to push back on it. The people driving the "Ukraine interfered" story are Vladimir Putin, corrupt former Ukrainian government officials, President Trump and Rudy Guiliani, a portion of the Republican Party including Nunes and Senator Kennedy, and most of Fox News. Rep. Stefanik has appeared on Sean Hannity. Hannity has met few rightwing conspiracy theories he didn't push. He tormented Seth Rich's family with nonsense about their son until forced to desist.

Trump publicly asked for Russia's help in 2016. They were listening. He's asking for foreign help for another fraudulent win in 2020. Sadly, the writers of the Constitution didn't realize that if you're a star they let you get away with it.

Couple of Great Letters

Agata Stanford

Elise Stefanik has voted to strike down the Affordable Care Act and defund Planned Parenthood. Her disregard for protecting our environment, or the deception she engaged in when she was allowed to vote against Trump’s Tax cuts in exchange for whipping the votes for its passing, a bill that benefited corporations and the 1%, her donors, not her constituents, or her numerous other assaults against labor, education and our financial and investment protections are available for anyone with a bit of curiosity to see by visiting the “Tracking the United States Congress” website. For her fans, the truth may be painful.

I really love this line.

Since when has corruption been quantified in acceptable amounts?

...

Tanya Goldstein

Perhaps an analogy will persuade those who are so blind they will not see. One day I look and see my neighbor (for the sake of argument say we don't get along) digging in his backyard and burying a large heavy object. Also, his wife has gone missing. I call the police because something seems fishy. (I am the whistleblower.) Two police detectives begin to investigate my tip. One is my friend, one my neighbor's. (That is the congressional inquiry.) They talk to my neighbor. He says his wife is visiting relatives, and he was doing some gardening. (Trump and his "perfect" phone call.)

...

Catherine Fay Roberts

...

"Elise is paying a smirking misogynist slime-ball to stalk Tedra Cobb!," she tells Pinocchio. "I've seen the creep's Twitter feed. He's very pleased with himself. He never removes his sunshades. Is the law after him? What is he hiding? No woman feels safe with a guy like that following her."

...

In Defense of Marie Yovanovich, God Bless Her

I'm writing to recommend the "Opening Statement of Marie Yovanovitch." She started in Foreign Service in 1986 under Ronald Reagan. That's four Republican and two Democratic presidents. She was fired by President Trump to serve the interests of Rudy Guiliani's two recently indicted associates. From her statement, "Individuals who have been named in the press as contacts of Mr. Guiliani may well have believed that their personal financial ambitions were stymied by our anti-corruption policy." She was stymieing the ambitions of Russia in Ukraine, as well. It's a disgrace she isn't still.

Russia is run by Vladimir Putin. He has robbed, with his partners, that economy blind. Elections are a sham. There's no succession and Putin will serve as long as he lives. We hear Trump talking of not stepping down at the end of his presidency, so he seems openly envious of the situation extant in a failed state like Russia. The media there exists only to spread lies and propaganda approved by the government. Mr. Trump says he welcomes the help of foreigners in his campaigns. From Ms. Yovanovitch, "The harm will come when bad actors in countries beyond Ukraine see how easy it is to use fiction and innuendo to manipulate our system. In such circumstances, the only interests that will be served are those of our strategic adversaries, like Russia, that spread chaos and attack the institutions and norms that the U.S. helped create and which we have benefited from." Yovanovitch, George Kent, Fiona Hill and Michael McKinley are all patriots and defenders of democracy. They care deeply about this country and Ukraine both of which continue to be under attack from Russia.  

In Defense of Chairman Schiff, God Bless Him

Responding to Rep. Stefanik's campaign to get Rep. Schiff replaced as chair of the Intelligence Committee. Regarding the whistleblower complaint she says, "(Schiff) manipulated this information and played partisan political games." What exactly does that mean? Does it mean he helped write it, as the president claims? There's a word he used recently that I probably can't repeat in this forum. Concerning the paraphrase of the president's call, Schiff's first sentence reads: "Shorn of its rambling character and in not so many words, this is the essence of what the president communicates." Clearly he wasn't quoting. Another question for our congresswoman, given the opportunity, would be if there was anything in the chairman's statement that was inaccurate. It seemed to properly convey the gist of the call.

Ukraine is in a war against Russian revanchism with over 13,000 killed. President Trump needs a more believable explanation than "concern over corruption" for holding up aid to them. His campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, helped install that corruption. Despite the cyber disinformation efforts of Russia there, they have elected a president dedicated to "draining the swamp," for real. Electorally, their resistance may have been better than ours. It's recently come to light that the president told the two Russian officials he met, the day after firing James Comey, that he was unconcerned about their interference in our elections. Has Rep. Stefanik commented on that? I know she says she's committed to protecting our elections. That seems more important than Rep. Schiff's attempts at parody.

I See You've Got a Brand-New Leopard-Skin Tinfoil Hat

We could've seen our congresswoman was going full Trump with the juvenile nickname she defamed Tedra Cobb with. Wednesday, she retweeted Kevin McCarthy's comment, "Chairman Schiff just got caught orchestrating with the whistleblower before the complaint was ever filed. Democrats have rigged this process from the start," in response to a NY Times article. Ms. Stefanik's tweet read, "I'm glad that the question I asked last week has been answered. As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I'm extremely concerned with our Chairman's increasingly reckless behavior." We recently learned the president told two Russian officials, in the Oval Office, he didn't care about their interference in our election. That something a Republican politician would've at least called "reckless behavior" in the past. Not today.

The president's comment on the NYT article was, "(Schiff) knew long before and helped write it, too." So, he's accusing Mr. Schiff of helping write the complaint. From the NYT, "The CIA officer approached a House Intelligence Committee aide with his concerns about Mr. Trump only after he had had a colleague first convey them to the CIA's top lawyer. Concerned about how that initial avenue was unfolding, the officer then approached the House aide." Quoting Mr. Schiff's spokesman, "At no point did the committee review or receive the complaint in advance."

Schiff's parody of the president's call was wrong, but it was clearly parody. The scurrilous charges against him are not and display the same conspiratorial thinking and dishonesty that led the president to send Rudy Guiliani to Ukraine in the first place.

Another Deplorable Letter

Saturday, I took a walk down Warren Street to experience the Trump Followers. I only imbibed a short while. Regular readers know my politics, but if I was a Republican it wouldn't please me to have these folks as representative of my party. Speaking of representatives, that includes ours. I saw several Stefanik banners. One wonders if she's proud of this support. It's hard to say since we hear so little from her. In the brief time, I heard several profanities and some nonsense about Michelle Obama being a man projected from a bullhorn. Is this another case of we didn't think we needed a law against it? So much of that in the Trump era.  This likely makes Saratoga a more attractive destination on a sunny, late summer Saturday.

I've heard the response of the Followers and it's "what about the protesters arrested at our congresswoman's office." Agree with them or not, they were arrested at a taxpayer supported facility because they disagreed with our government's treatment of people fleeing economic hardship. "Petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances" and all. The folks that take pride in being deplorable are out there to praise Trump and trash the people on his enemies list. Such is the hollowness of the Republican Party. It now stands for Trump, the wall, ad hominem attacks on his opponents and nothing more. Like or loathe Liz Warren's and AOC's ideas, at least there's something to discuss. Spare me the socialist epithet unless you can explain how billions to Midwest farmers is not and how trade wars jibe with free market principles.  

Great Letters That Are Not Mine

I'd love to take credit for either of them, though.

John Busteed

Apparently he had the same reaction to Hunter Sartwell's line about Elise Stefanik representing the Republican Party that I did.

Earlier this week, Hunter Sartwell stated that Rep. Elise Stefanik represented Republican values. I agree that she does. I spoke with the congresswoman’s office on Thursday (July 25) and Friday (July 26) to see if they had a statement on President Trump’s “Send Her Back” racist chant. Her office said they had no opinion on that. Though they did point out that they vehemently opposed the “Squad.” So it would appear that she supports Trump’s overt racism, a Republican value.

Catherine Fay Roberts 

Thank you, Ms. Roberts for the fractured fairy tale about Elise's brother.

Pinocchio writes to Congresswoman Stefanik, his secret sister, from an Adirondack safe-house. He is safe in the north. She will never sell him for pulpwood. She doesn't like to go there. People ask her questions. They put her on the spot. She prefers to lecture empty seats in the House of Representatives. She can read her script, look important, and be on C-Span!

Northern NY is about as rightwing as Alabama and Elise Stefanik will likely be re-elected. No sense in her being too comfortable, though. 

If It Walks Like A Racist...

Link

I'd encourage everyone to read Rep. Malinowski's resolution: "Condemning President Trump's racist comments directed at members of Congress." He wrote on Twitter, "Do we embrace President Reagan's vision of an America made stronger by immigrants and refugees, or President Trump's message of fear?" Rep. Stefanik has aligned with the current president in voting against the resolution and has smeared her fellow congresswomen as "far-left socialists." Handing out billions to farmers hurt by ill-advised tariffs seems socialist to me. The four-woman "Squad" is working to confront climate change, income inequality and inhumanity towards people who are simply seeking a better life. It's possible to disagree with their solutions without taunts. If Ms. Stefanik likes labels, she should try out demagogue wherever appropriate. Mr. Trump has lied about Rep. Omar's statements on al-Qaeda whom she has actually called evil and heinous. His followers are now chanting "send her back." Is there any concern about her safety in the GOP?

It's risible that the president presents himself as a champion for the Jewish people in this episode. Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL writes of the slurs against the four congresswomen that they are "ripped straight from a white supremacist manifesto" and "the charge that one can't possibly be accepted as a full-fledged member of society because of who you are is one that is all too familiar to Jews." Andrew Anglin of Daily Stormer writes of the tweets, "This is the kind of WHITE NATIONALISM we elected him for." For a non-racist, racists like him a lot. Oh, and despite this, no one has forgotten that he's trying to take away our health insurance. 

Greenblatt Link

Whistling Past the Concentration Camp

Link

Elise Stefanik took issue with fellow U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez referring to migrant detention camps on the country’s southern border as “concentration camps” last week.

Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, responded by tweeting about a Holocaust education act she co-introduced and saying the congresswoman from the Bronx needs to learn the history.

“I think that she needs to educate herself,” Stefanik said in a phone interview on Thursday. “That was something that I learned in school. I vividly remember reading Anne Frank’s diary in sixth grade. As we see these numbers moving globally with lack of education on the Holocaust … frankly it’s disappointing that clearly in this case the members of Congress themselves needs to be educated.”

Apparently AOC has "educated" herself. Pick up a dictionary, Elise!

While the most common use of “concentration camp” is in reference to the Nazi Germany-era camps where many people were executed, concentration camp is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as any place where “large numbers of people, especially political prisoners or members of persecuted minorities, are deliberately imprisoned in a relatively small area with inadequate facilities, sometimes to provide forced labor or to await mass execution.”

Many nations before and after Nazi Germany have run concentration camps.

Mea Culpa

My bad. Rep. Stefanik did come out with a statement critical of the president's notice that he is open to information from foreign sources. It is nearly identical to the FEC chair's. What is remarkable is that anyone has to point out the chief executive that it's illegal. So we can only hope ignorance of the law is not an excuse in 2020. It's reassuring to see our rep working to protect the sanctity of American elections.

No such sanctity for congressional oversight. Due to my inexperience with law, I didn't realize obeying subpoenas was optional. Failure to comply doesn't mean jail? The same article said our rep "voted against a procedure that would allow the Judiciary Committee to initiate or intervene in judicial proceedings to enforce subpoenas." Her rationale is "this resolution does little to strengthen congressional oversight." Enforcing subpoenas doesn't strengthen it?

She also says it "only furthers House Democrat’s pro-impeachment agenda." There is a minority of Democrats in the House calling for impeachment and Speaker Pelosi has continually tamped it down. I saw recently that Rep. Stefanik has read the Mueller report. She's not curious why the president put forth so much effort into obstructing the investigation into Russian interference in the election? Mr. Trump stated in the Stephanopoulos interview that Don McGahn lied to the grand jury. He resorted to insulting the interviewer when it was pointed out he did not answer Mueller's obstruction questions in his written responses. Seems like enough reason to compel Mr. McGahn to testify. Still time for Republican congress folks to get on the right side of history.

In Defense of Government Employees

I'm responding to Carl Thomas' entreaty to "forget Russia" and focus on the supposed treachery of Barack Obama who apparently spent 8 years trying to destroy the country. That's when he wasn't busy rescuing it from the Great Recession and giving access to healthcare to over 20 million Americans. And "collusion investigators were complicit including Mr. Mueller" in the treachery. Read the report. They didn't investigate collusion. So, who should I trust: Mueller or Trump? Robert Mueller rehabbed his knee in order to serve in Vietnam, directed the FBI after 9/11 and has been married to his wife for 53 years. One wife, same as Obama. Trump? The less said on all of these and more, the better.

In a recent interview, the president said "there's nothing wrong with listening" if the Russians offer help. His cleanup efforts say you still have to look at it. That's after the chair of the Federal Elections Commission released a statement, "It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election." It's illegal to look at it. The FBI director concurs.

Rep. Stefanik has legislation targeting Putin and his minions. Great! But, Trump is inviting all comers to the table and Sen. McConnell is killing any legislation in the Senate designed to protect elections. In addition, there are a large number of people trotting out Deep State conspiracy nonsense about government employees, including former heads of FBI and CIA. I'd gladly match the patriotism and dedication of any of them against our president. Let's extend that to journalists, as well. Your silence implies agreement, congresswoman.

Stefanik on Barr

Because my rep values my opinion so much. 

Link

Awhile back, Rep. Stefanik signed off on a letter to Rep. Schiff that, "your actions ... are incompatible with your duty of Chairman of this committee" and "we have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman."

More recently, she released a statement on the Mueller report, "AG Barr was clear that the process was completed with a high degree of transparency, no executive privilege, limited redactions and resulted in a report of no collusion." Read the report. Collusion is a cliche, not a crime.

During AG Barr's testimony to the Senate, he told Sen. Harris that he'd made the call of no obstruction without looking at underlying evidence and based on the Mueller report which didn't make a determination one way or the other. He also couldn't say whether the White House had suggested investigations for the DOJ to engage in because he was "grappling" with the meaning of the word "suggest." He also couldn't say if campaigns should report foreign interference when they see it. The cherry on top is that, in his opinion, a president can shut down an investigation into himself if he feels he's being falsely accused.

In late March, Mueller wrote to Barr that his summary letter "did not capture the context, nature and substance of this office's work and conclusions." And that it "threatens to undermine ... full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations." Yet, on April 10 Barr told Sen. Van Hollen, "I don't know whether Bob Mueller supported my conclusion." I'm curious if our congresswoman has faith in William Barr discharging his duties in a manner consistent with the Constitution.

She's such a hack. She was in the paper today, too.

“I have read the report which found that there was no conspiracy or collusion. However, the report is extremely clear that Russia did attempt to meddle in our elections and that cannot be ignored,” she said in a follow-up email.

And

When asked to comment about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s’ comment that Barr had lied during his testimony to Congress, she said she did not see the testimony because she had committee hearings that day.

Stefanik said she did not reach any conclusions from the report different from what Barr said in his summary letter.

Link

Crying Wolfe Over Trump

Link

 This is in response to John Wolfe who seems upset about alleged criminals being investigated. I appreciate his concern over former President Clinton. His impeachment was for perjury and obstruction of justice, not dalliances, though. Can anyone imagine our current president testifying without perjuring himself?

The Mueller investigation hasn't cost "nearly $40 million." That's a Trump number. The roughly $27 million it has cost is being recouped from penalties on Paul Manafort due to his plea bargain. And he's not going to prison for lying or looking at Mueller "cross-eyed." He was convicted of tax and bank fraud, failure to report foreign bank accounts, conspiracy and obstruction. I wonder if Trump supporters believe that, along with lying to the FBI, those shouldn't be crimes either. Likely when the state of New York finishes, many of those charges will also be applied to Mr. Trump.

As far as congressmen pontificating about impeachment, Speaker Pelosi said the president "wasn't worth it." I await his tweet, "I am too worth impeaching!" It would be easy to speculate over "collusion" when every person in the campaign was engaged with Russians. Junior, Kushner and Manafort meeting them in Trump Tower. Kushner's back channel with them secure from American intelligence. Manafort sending polling data to the Kremlin. No, not everyone in Washington is under investigation for lying. There are good reasons for those who are, though.

Do truth, justice and the American way mean anything anymore? The president has over 9,000 "false statements." His supporters attack the American system of justice. Russian and North Korean dictators are our pals and Canada and Europe our enemies. Reagan's shining city on a hill is now just a shuttered Trump casino in Atlantic City.    

Response to Carlton Tucker

Who I keep wanting to refer to as Tucker Carlson.

Link

I'm replying to Carlton Tucker who notes that, "some...on the left, want to blame the president for the interruption in government services." I would think that's all of us on the left. And we call it a shutdown. So does the president. He said he would "shut down the government" if he didn't get money for his wall, a rare episode of honesty. In addition to quotes, the internet has videos of campaign rallies with Mr. Trump asking, "Who's paying for the wall?" The crowds would call back, "Mexico!" There's not much argument over who's supposed to be paying.

The president's latest argument for the monument to Trumpism is that it's going to stop all the drugs from coming in. It won't. The Coast Guard makes over half the seizures. Here's a quote from Rep. DeFazio (D- Oregon), "If the president really wants to talk about intercepting drugs, and he wants to talk about real border security, he should be talking about giving more resources to the United States Coast Guard, and not stiffing them on their paychecks, and not making them fly ancient helicopters and use 50-year-old cutters." The president could at least stand up to Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh and end the shutdown so that branch of the military could get paid.

The $5 billion he wants for the shrine to his presidency would go a long way toward supporting drug interdiction at sea and providing customs agents to stop them at legal points of entry where most of the bulk of them come in. Democrats know that. The president's new chief of staff does, too. He called the border wall "simplistic" and "absurd and almost childish."

Siebrecht Letter

In response to:

Link

I'm writing in response to John Siebrecht's letter, mostly out of curiosity why the Democratic Party would be quaking in its boots. After flipping 40 seats and the House in November most of us still have our dancing shoes on. Republicans seem to be the ones that remain frightened of the "caravan" that President Trump terrorized them with before the election, and hasn't mentioned since. Democrats know that immigrants commit far fewer crimes than the native-born because we believe in journalism. I see George Soros is responsible for sending asylum seekers here. There isn't anything that can't be blamed on him. He's amazingly energetic for an 88 year old man. 

But, Donald Trump isn't the first president to stoke the fears of the right. Richard Nixon ran on a promise to restore law and order. Pause to allow the irony to sink in. Ronald Reagan had a "plan" to build a space defense that would've taken more money than there was on Earth. George W. Bush threatened them with imaginary WMDs in Iraq because the "smoking gun could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." You'd think they would be relieved when we have the peace and prosperity of a Democratic president. 

I'd encourage Speaker Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to give the president money for a wall around his golf club. Apparently some undocumented workers have made their way in there and are making Mr. Trump's bed along with other jobs Americans won't do. The Bedminster personnel department must be unaware of what horrible criminals they are. The preceding sentence is sarcasm, the following one is not. You can probably get away with not paying them, though.

A Pen Pal for Cesar Sayoc

Good timing getting this letter printed on the same day that the MAGA terrorist bomber's arrest hits the papers.

Link

We are in the middle of a serious insurrection and it is growing daily. It must be stopped immediately. If the election goes to the Democratic (insurrection) Party next month, then there will be a very short period to declare martial law. This is the only way justice can be done and our way of life preserved.

Yes, that's how it starts, and no, it doesn't get better.