Mitt And Nancy Derserve "Medal Of Freedom"

Well, that didn't take long -- to put Mitt Romney's head "on a pike."

Now, we know reportedly what a confidant of President Donald Trump meant when he warned Senators that Republicans voting to convict Trump, would end up with their "head on a pike."

CBS News reported just more than a week ago that a Trump confidant said that key senators were warned: "Vote against the president and your head will be on a pike."

Sneaky, black ops Trump operators must have had that attack ad all geared up and ready to roll after Romney was one of just two Republicans who voted to call for witnesses last week in Trump's Senate impeachment trial.

The Senate had barely acquitted Trump of impeachment for abuse of power and obstructing Congress, when Trump's TV ad slamming Romney as some kind of spy hit the airwaves.

Trump and his apologists are such a pathetic, petty, truth-twisting, justice-obstructing bunch. Romney deserves credit. 
It's not easy to be a lone dissenter among your party on such a monumental decision.

And credit also goes to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- who appropriately tore up Trump's hypocritical, exceedingly disingenuous, pandering State of The Union address moments after the President finished up Wednesday night. 

In fact, maybe Mitt and Nancy should both be awarded the "Medal of Freedom" for their courageous actions in defense of the American Republic.

Cover Up -- Or Flat Out Betrayal?

Republican Senators willful blindness to the glaring facts that demonstrate Trump's abuse of power and clear obstruction of Congress is not so much a cover-up, as it is a blatant betrayal.

To call the Republican Senators dismissal of the President's impeachable offenses a "cover-up" is really a misnomer.

Our elected Republican representatives - abetted by theatrical, deceptive White House counsel, obstructed justice by any disingenuous means available -- in the light of day and right in front of our face.

Our Founding Fathers obviously imagined a future President of the United States abusing his power to such a degree that it demand impeachment.

What the Founders didn't foresee, was an entire political party of legislators abandoning their oath to uphold The Constitution of the United States and selling their souls to protect a tyrannical cult leader posing as President.

"If you find that the House has proved its case and still find to acquit, your name will be tied to (Trump's) with chords of steel and for all of history," berated lead Democratic House manager Adam Schiff on Monday. 

So far a handful of Republican Senators -- Lamar Alexander (Tennessee), Marco Rubio, (Fla.) and Rob Portman, Ohio, have indicated that the House indeed had proved it's case -- that Trump pressured Ukraine to help him cheat in the 2020 elections by withholding nearly $400 million in vital, Congress-approved military aid.

But those Senators essentially have said "So, what?" Trump's offenses don't warrant impeachment.

Now that it's okay for the president of the United States to shake down a foreign government for political favors how much further will American democracy backslide?

"You may be asking, how much damage can (Trump) he really do in the next several months until the election? A lot. A lot of damage,” said Schiff in his mpeachment trial arguments. “This is why, if you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed. Because right matters. Because right matters and truth matters. Otherwise we are lost.”

Senate Republicans blocking witnesses in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, on their speedy way to acquitt the President come Wednesday, will have some explaining to do for some time to come.

How can a legislative body, charged with conducting a fair trial and purportedly following impeachment precedent, deny key witnesses -- like former National Security Advisor John Bolton and acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney -- who were figuratively begging to be heard from?

All 15 of the nation's past Senate impeachment trials since 1804 -- mostly judges and a few presidents -- heard from witnesses.

What's a trial without witnesses? A sham.

And exactly why is Chief Justice John Roberts presiding over the impeachment trial if he's going to play the role of a stuffed shirt while our Constitution, rule of law is eviscerated?

Democratic House managers did a masterful job presenting damning testimonial evidence interspersed with video clips of testimony from most of the 17 government witnesses who appeared before the House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings in December.

Many of the witnesses in the House proceedings were long- serving Republican U.S. government officials. Some were even Trump appointees.

But White House counsel, led by Pat Cippione, Jay Sekulow and Ken Starr didn't want to hear the damning evidence against Trump, which nailed down the incriminating details surrouding Trump's July 25, 2019 shakedown phone call with the Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelinsky.

They pathetically argued that House  Democrats impeached the President simply because they "don't like" Trump, reducing the President's trial to a mere popularity contest.

Hence, there's no grounds for impeachment here. It's a simplistic, child-like argument our thin-skinned, narcissistic President might make.

Cippione and Sekulow persistently sent up smoke screens, distracting from the facts and challenging the legitimacy of the House's impeachment procedures -- while fear mongering a "partisan impeachment."

But, who are they to accuse the other side of partisanship? That's so Trumpian.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in effect, declared the President "not guilty" through his professed allegiance to Trump, weeks before the Trump's Senate impeachment trial gaveled to order. 

"Everything I do during this, I’m coordinating with the White House counsel,” said McConnell in mid December, shortly after the House voted to impeach President Trump. “There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this to the extent that we can.”

Meanwhile, President Trump is emboldened to stretch the boundaries of decency, truth and justice that much further in the same way he does at his "Keep America Great" rallies.

Thousands flocked to the boardwalk town of Wildwood, NJ, in the dead of winter this past week to experience Trump's mind-numbing "Reality TV" schtick.

The 7,500-seat capacity Wildwood Convention Center Convention was packed and thousands gathered outside to watch the President on a Jumbotron TV. 

Wildwood is in my neck of the woods. So, I was among the rally goers outside the center to witness the spectacle.

Predictably, the President lied about crowd sizes, embellished job numbers and incited anger toward Democrats, The Press and anything he perceives as a threat to expose his swindling of the American Republic.

And the crowds loved it. Truth is fast becoming obsolete in the theatre of American Republican politics.

It seriously makes you wonder if in Trump's alternate universe, in which so many Americans seems to live, is there anything this brazen, crude and divisive President can do wrong?

Daddy Of All Boardwalk Hustles

So, how did I end up at the daddy of all boardwalk hustles in a boarded up boardwalk town in the dead of winter?

No, I hadn't drunk the snake oil or been reprogrammed by watching too much Fox News. For the record, I don't watch Fox News, period.

I arrived outside the Wildwood Convention Center just as the impunity-emboldened, impeached President took the stage to a sudden amusement park, roller coaster roar from thousands of adoring fans.

I came to join local protesters a block or so from the convention center. But, the protesters, a police officer munching on a sausage sandwich tells me, had packed up and gone already.

So, here I am amidst a sea of thousands of exhuberent Trump supporters in the parking lot outside the convention center watching their cult leader up on the jumbotron TV.

"While we are creating jobs and killing terrorists, congressional Democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunts.." decries Trump to loud cheers. "Which is worse? The impeachment hoax or the witch hunt from Russia?"

The crowds, inside and outside the convention center, roar again.

No evident damage caused by recent revelations from former National Security Advisor John Bolton's pending book that nails Trump on the Ukranian quid pro quo -- which led to the President's impeachment. 

And, certainly that's no surprise. 

Why should further unsettling truths about the President's brazen behavior -- relentlessly threatening the Democratic integrity and national security of the American Republic - put a damper on a rollicking "Reality TV" good time?

Predictably, Trump widely overestimates the crowd outside the center as "10's of thousands of people," prompting a cheer from his fans surrounding me.

Another bogus claim. I know. I'm there. The crowd's large, maybe a few thousand. Another few thousand reportedly are watching a second jumbotron at nearby Fox Park. But there's not at least 20,000, outside as the President suggests.

I'm reminded that the truth never matters at a Trump rally. Hey, it never matters in his tweets. It never matters during his rushed interactions with press pool reporters, shouting questions as he heads for the Air Force One helicopter. 

Why should it matter at his maniacal rallies?

In fact, I'm convinced for Trump lovers, Trump's "Keep America Great" rallies are just a chance to delude themselves that everything -- border security, jobs numbers and the economy is "great." 

Never mind an estimated 40 million Americans are living in poverty, largely due to wage inequality. And the income gap between the richest and the poor continues to widen.

Experiencing the unsettling, unbridled fanaticism of a Trump rally in person for the first time, it's more clear to me than ever, that his rallies are an alluring invitation to literally escape reality, be exhaustively entertained, to bash those hated Democrats, frown on "fake news" and target anything that threatens to burst your bubble, baby.

Donald Trump is Trumpers' collective pipe dream come true. They can attack anything or anyone they want. They can profess hate, sneer at justice and disparage the less fortunate. Trump gives them that permission. 

And that's an extremely dangerous state of affairs for the sovereignty of America.

Rabid Trump believers, in essence, have become everything crude, cruel and demeaning that Trump represents. 

Dr. Evil of Austin Power's fame had his cloned Mini Me; Trump has his millions of loyal, apologist Mini Trumps.

Jeffries' Description of Trump's "Perfect" Call was Perfect

The American people couldn't ask the Democratic House Managers in President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial to present a more thorough, expert case of Trump's abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

In particular, yesterday House Managers Adam Schiff,  Hakeem Jeffries and Val Demings employed a combination of written testimony and video footage to nail the President on his clear abuse of power and obstruction.

All Americans have a duty to pay attention to these hearings and not just see what they want to see or hear what they want to hear. There's so much to Trump's misdeeds and such power in watching the Democrats lay out the pure and simple truth of it all.

Jeffries wrapped up his time last evening inummerating all the ways in which Trump's July 25, Ukraine call wasn't "perfect."

"This was not a #perfect call," Jeffries summed up. "It is direct evidence that President Donald John Trump corruptly abused his power and soliticed foreign interference in the 2020 election."

Schiff wrapped asking the senators and viewers to remember the bravery of the numerous witnesses in the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees -- many Republican/Trump appointees, who rebuffed White House pressure to not testify and showed up to defend their own record and their country.

Republicans Have Sold Their Souls To Protect A Tyrant

Our Founding Fathers clearly imagined a United States President abusing his power and so provided for impeachment; what the Founders didn't foresee was an entire political party of Congress members abandoning their oath of office and selling their soul to protect a lawless, autocratic cult leader.

Restraint!

An impeached, morally bereft, brazen, impulsive thin-skin narcissist, exhaustively more consumed with shielding his own fragile ego than he is protecting Americans, has no business calling the shots on military strikes that could lead to a nuclear war.

Restraint.

Restraint.

Restraint.

Stand Up For Jesus; Twilight Zones Forbode

My hope and prayer this first day of the new year and new decade 2020 is that America finds a renewed sense of love and compassion. My fellow Christians, instrumental in electing Trump -- a not-so-cleverly-concealed wolf in sheep's clothing -- let's wake up, shake off the deception, get honest and defend truth and justice for all as Jesus Christ did.

My Fellow Christians, it's time to stand up for Jesus.

                                            ***

As The Twilight Zone marathon airs on Sci-Fi Channel as I write this New Year's Day 2020, I'm reminded of the many ways, through myriad episodes, the masterful Rod Serling's work speaks prophetically to Americans today.

Case in point, "The monsters are on Maple Street":

"..You're all set to crucify somebody. You're set to find some kind of a scapegoat. You're all desperate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor.

"Well believe me friends the only thing that's going to happen is that we're going to eat each other up alive."

Others include: "It's Good Life," "People Are Alike All Over," "The Masks."

Peace.