Time to Impeach!, Watching FoxNews, Our Backward State, the Democratic Aspirants and a Letter to Washington

Impeach Now!

Nancy Pelosi may be waiting for the right moment, but I now agree with those who say we can wait no longer.  Doing so just protracts the delaying of actions against him which is part of the President’s 2020 campaign for re-election.

Robert Mueller’s report documented the willingness of the 2016 Republican campaign to accept Russian interference as helpful in their efforts to elect Trump to the presidency.  They did not have to “collude” nor conspire with them to accomplish this; they just had to sit by and watch it happen.  None of them thought of calling the FBI.  It also documents many incidents of obstruction of justice on the part of the President.  It makes clear that taking action on these things was not the Special Counsel’s job, but the task of others.  Specifically, that means the impeachment function assigned to the Congress.  That is where we must now go. 

It is the responsibility of the House of Representatives to consider a Bill of Impeachment right now.  Not doing so would be neglecting and avoiding their responsibility, and buying time for the President.  What the Senate will do with such a Bill, if the House approves it, does not matter.  Conviction of the President may legally be a Senate function, but in reality, the court in which he will be tried is the ‘Court of Public Opinion’ which will vote on Election Day in 2020, if the Senate does not confirm his impeachment before then.

Adding to this is the unmistaken linkage between the racist agenda of subversive white nationalist groups, which have murdered many over the past few years, and the rhetoric of the President whose base of support includes those who harbor such bigoted ideas.  As this blog has pointed out, he is their enabler, their “dog whistler” and the one they look to for both inspiration and justification.  We cannot tolerate an un-American President.  And that’s what Donald J. Trump is.  His words are those of a white nationalist.  Ask any of his supporters who attend his rallies.

(And the nation will not much longer tolerate those in Congress who, while knowing better, cower before him in order to have access to his base of supporters.)

Two Words:  Impeach Now!

Jack Lippman

Watch Fox News, Please!

Figures vary, depending on their date and the source, but it is clear that Fox News is the nation’s leading cable news network.  Its average daily viewership easily exceeds that of MSNBC as CNN fades into the background. 

Hannity

Hannity, Carlson, Ingraham and Fox and Friends significantly top their competition on MSNBC and CNN in viewership and total viewing numbers for the day continue to reflect this. That’s where most of America gets its news and forms its opinions.

If you agree with some of the ideas and thoughts on this blog, you must not forget that they are basically the opposite of the continuing support for the President and the attacking of Democrats constantly seen and heard on Fox.  What are clearly lies to many Americans, including this one, are presented as truths on Fox.  That is a problem which cannot be ignored by Democrats, Republicans and independents in these controversial times. 

I continue to urge those who usually get their news from MSNBC, CNN, PBS, the Washington Post or the New York Times to spend some time every day watching Fox News.  It can be an enlightening, often frightening and hopefully a motivating  experience, more valuable than sticking to those sources with which one agrees.

Goldberg

And while on the subject of such comforting “preaching to the choir,” check out Michelle Goldberg’s recent New York Times column on right wing terrorism by CLICKING RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.    (If you have trouble with the link, try registering with the New York Times, to access it.  That should be initially free.)  The column also appeared in Thursday’s Palm Beach Post.

And then as an antidote, watch Fox for an hour or so to get you back to the dangers we all face in the real world. 

JL

 

Why Florida is a Backward State

(Couldn't find a "backward" map but
 here's and "upside-down" one.)

The President, in addressing a rally in Pensacola recently, when talking about immigrants, was greeted by a voice from the audience shouting “Shoot ‘em.”  The crowd took up the chant and the President smiled, commenting, “Only in the Panhandle.” 

Well, it’s not just in the Panhandle that bigoted, narrow-minded Floridians live.  There are fewer of them in the parts of the State where folks originally from other more enlightened parts of the country live, but don’t be fooled, there are many all over the place...                                                     

•          who still question evolution,
•         who fight to prevent felons who have paid their debt to society from voting (despite passage of a ballot question approving that),
•          who refuse to pay teachers realistic salaries,
•          who try to re-segregate schools by offering non-public school options,
•          who don’t believe in climate change, even as waters creep up upon them,
•          who refuse Federal dollars to support Medicaid,
•          who believe carrying a weapon is a good method of reducing gun violence and
•          who support “stand your ground” laws which tell them to shoot first and ask questions later. 

Most of these folks are Republicans.  And they manage to control the governorship and both houses of the State Legislature.

Others, satisfied with enjoying the weather, the beaches, boating, fishing, golf, tennis, the lack of an income tax, the good restaurants and theatre … aren't moved to do much to change things in this backward state.  When they start hurting, they might.

JL

The Democrats

Joe Biden continues to lead in the polls trying to predict who will be the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.  Because of Donald Trump's long history of racial rhetoric, which the President finds almost impossible to disentangle from white nationalist violence, all twenty of those seeking that nomination have been united in their opposition to him.  They all agree Trump must be defeated and that has taken primacy over their differences on specific issues.

Biden’s strong speech in Iowa on Wednesday was but one of the many powerful expressions of anti-Trump feeling which the Democrats have voiced. Beto O’Rourke’s words in El Paso were particularly moving as were Cory Booker’s in Charleston.  But unless something unexpected happens, and is reflected in the polls, the race among Democrats will subtly turn into one for the Vice-Presidential nomination over the next few months.

JL

Register to Vote Online

Know any Floridians one who are NOT registered voters?   Refer them to a web site where they can complete the registration process online!    Every vote counts.  https://registertovoteflorida.gov/en/Registration/Index   

ALSO, YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO GET THERE.

Letter to Senators

Here’s a letter I’ve just Emailed to my two Republican Senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.  I will let you know if they reply.  (I doubt that they will, beyond a simple acknowledgement.)

Our Senators: A former Medicare plunderer and a now-humbled recipient
of Trump's insults, both 'toilet paper' for the P.O.S. in the White House.

It is clear to me that the acts of violence, including murders, committed by white nationalists and those who follow their philosophical lead are to some extent legitimatized by the remarks made by the President of the United States.  They speak the same language that he uses at rallies.

Laughing at a suggestion from an audience member that immigrants seeking asylum should be shot, and tolerating his audience cheering ‘shoot ‘em’ is reprehensible.  The late John McCain when confronted with insulting comments from an audience member about Barack Obama, chastised the person and defended Obama.  “Only in the Panhandle” was not an adequate response.  The President should have corrected his audience, not tolerated their chant, even momentarily.

Last year in Charlottesville, he gave credibility to the carefully orchestrated white nationalist demonstration by saying “there were good and bad people on both sides,” implying there were “good white nationalist racists,” because they were the only ones on that side.

Other comments he has made concerning an “invasion” of Mexican “rapists and murderers” only serve to reinforce those who see violence as a weapon to use to further their agenda.   Calling African nations “sh-t holes” and demeaning inner-city squalor as a political weapon further emboldens them.   Telling four Congresswomen, who were not white, “to go back where you came from” repeats a line racists have screamed at newcomers over the years.  Irish, Jews, Italians, Chinese, Latinos, Indians, etc. are all well aware of this, yet the President inspires and legitimizes racism when he speaks these words.  This can be attributed to either sheer stupidity or innate racism on his part.  Neither is an acceptable quality in a President.

Some thinking Republican Senators chose not to run in 2018.  A surprising number of Republican Representatives are now choosing to retire rather than run for re-election.  Why?  They are appalled by the actions of the Republican President of the United States.

In view of the above, I ask you two questions: (1) do you still consider yourself a supporter of the President of the United States, and (2) should the House pass a Bill of Impeachment, would you be comfortable in voting not to convict the President, assuming the House clearly documented his committing high crimes and misdemeanors as suggested in the Mueller Report and elsewhere?

JL

Answer to Riddle:   

A few  postings ago, we asked what CNN has in common with the third and fourth hitters in the Miami Marlins batting order.   The answer is Brian Anderson and Garrett Cooper.