We are in a new world of politics. Trump actually stands a chance of being a 2024 contender. Even with the irreparable damage the Republican Party did itself, even with the march Trump invited to Washington going its own way, even with lost trust in the election systems—Trump actually stands a chance of being a 2024 contender. A new party or three will likely rise. Party coalitions may become necessary. Something severe will be required of the election system. But, Trump actually stands a chance of being a 2024 contender.
Biden will only embolden Conservative voters, as Democrats always do. Trump overstepped and lost some enthusiasm from his base. Though he didn’t lose much, to stand a chance he will need some diversity in his platform and a Conservative rejected by Republicans. Palin could make it a winning Republican ticket, if any third parties got behind hit. But, Trump actually stands a chance of being a 2024 contender.
Trump is not Jesus Christ. That’s a lesson his base learned the hard way. He can’t stop the problems that are bigger than America itself. He won’t stop the push for a police state nor will he regain trust in law enforcement. Biden may take care of that anyway, which could completely change the issue by 2024. But, the fact that Trump even stands a chance of being a 2024 contender tells us about the state of America itself.
Biden and Trump are both heavily disliked for their own reasons, but things haven’t completely fallen apart yet. The road ahead looks much bumpier than the road behind, but at least the road continues.
Whew! That was an intense week. We have no idea how close we came to martial law, which Trump did not declare because he is not the monster some think him to be. In the future, we may discover just how close we came, but those facts will hide from the history books for a little while longer.
Now, we see things much more important.
For all his flaws, Trump saved the world, and America itself, from America’s messiah complex, which compels us to “help” the rest of the world—even before helping ourselves survive—even when our so-called “help” only injures. Thanks to Trump alone, we stopped wasting so much money on so much uninvited meddling. But, Republicans and Democrats throughout government could not allow Trump to continue because saving the world meant saving the world from them.
Now, Trump faces a Senate trial to remove him from an office he no longer holds, as a shepherd brought before before a judge and jury of wolves.
So much for Washington hating witch hunts! His opposition criticized him for his tone—something they regard as more important than being the first president to get out of other countries’ business. But, when the so-called “moderates” don’t get their way, they become more angry than they blame Trump and everyone else of being. Frank Luntz gave us a perfect demonstration when he harshly scolded his own focus group. What would Luntz have said if Trump even once used half the critical tone Luntz did? These self-appointed ambassadors of bipartisanship can no longer lecture the nation about how to create peace which they themselves sabotage.
America is spiraling toward a long-awaited chaos. It’s well-deserved. Even if Trump had tried to handle the pneumonia virus as Taiwan did, his own base would have revolted. Everyone either over-reacted or acted like there was no outbreak at all. The Taiwanese did neither, yet Americans blame Trump for riding a pendulum Americans themselves won’t get off of.
Ending wars was nice while it lasted. But, just enough people found their excuse to get back to nasty business as usual.
No less than five state legislatures held all-day hearings, receiving evidence and testimony of voter fraud like we have never seen before. Elections don’t need to be proven fraudulent; they need to be proven trustworthy, and this one can’t be. Nonetheless, those same legislatures approved a more-than-reasonably doubtful election of their opposition, as did the US Senate. They constitutionally and lawfully ignored the people and according to rules installed a president statistically proven to be against the will of the people. We saw further evidence of this in the overwhelming dislikes on White House YouTube videos. Though he is the legitimate president under the Constitution, such a president cannot govern. And, such a feckless opposition party cannot remain solvent.
While martial law came close during Trump’s final days, it is a certainty under Biden. That is the only way he could remain in an office he legally and allowably stole with the aid of a treacherous Republican Party. While Republican loyalists would have tolerated martial law in Trump’s situation, Democratic loyalists already doubt both parties and refuse to vote, which is probably why Biden needed the election fraud network he boasted about on TV. The Democratic base quietly left their party before this election. The Republican base loudly left their party after.
If things go as planned—which they won’t—the shadow running the Democratic machine won’t seek to remove Biden until his third year. That way Obama’s vicar Harris can enjoy ten years as president through a political machine of future fake elections. Others may speculate an attempt to remove Biden within weeks. Either way, Biden may have to declare martial law sooner than planned. Then, both parties will have loudly lost solvency. Third party, here we come.
Democrats and Republicans are working in evil tandem. In a sense, Republicans have no choice. The attacks against Conservatives in America are so extreme and unfair that our laws might not be suited to defend us from them. Going easy on Roger Stone in his punishment for something that wasn't wrong seems like playing favorites, from more than one angle. It's okay when Democrats do it, but when Democratic Washington attacks men for less than John Brennan has done wrong it seems like those men must be unfair in order to receive justice.
We are in a spiral of decay.
Pure democracy is sheer tyranny of the masses, allowing the 51% to gang up on the 49%. But, a Democratic Republic, like the USA, doesn't—or shouldn't—allow the 99% to gang up on the 1% because every single person has rights that no one else can take away. But, in attempts to punish famous people for supporting a candidate in the "other political party", and in LGBTQ trying to change the rules of restrooms and use prison to punish people for grammar rules without classic literature, we are seeing the 1% try to gang up on the 99%. Some, not all, of the Left want an aristocracy that they steer.
But, it doesn't stop there. While a few in the Left try to gang up on the ever-less-so-silent majority, huge backlash is coming even against more moderate Liberals. The public-funding-driven Liberals, different from the social-driven Liberals, are getting a bad wrap from the Right. People are being hated for believing things they don't believe on both sides of the political spectrum. While the Right is rising up against the Far Left, another backlash is coming back against the Right in the more distant future. That will be when the nation's institutions are shaken, in the days when we all are forced to listen to each other—in the days when the nation's inner turmoil sees daylight and we find our hearts.
Trump's acquittal did not come because of party politics or friends in Washington. It came because he stood fast—he held his ground in a party that tried to denounce him early on. He had many good friends helping, but it was Trump himself that empowered their efforts and directed the flow.
The Republican Party is not what it seems. They hated Trump when he didn't do things in their failing manner, but now they acquit him and act like they have always been BFF from the beginning. Any disagreements in Trump's early days don't matter anymore, even though that's not the tone they used at the time, though a number of those Republicans are out of office.
It's typical. The Republicans held their noses while Reagan gave them success. They passed Democratic-oriented, anti-Conservative laws during the W. Bush years viz the Patriot Act. They objected to Conservative voices in media during the 2005 "Build a Fence" movement viz Senator Lott. Thanks to Trump's inability to be railroaded, they are being gifted more success and clout than they ever didn't earn before.
Senator McConnell stayed true to the colors he flew, which is more than can be said for the late Senator McCain or Senator Romney, who took his unofficial place as "Republican Senate maverick". Senator Romney's departure from the fold could make him a one-term Senator—and not from lack of RNC backing. Senator Graham and many others took their stand for law, order, facts, evidence, process, and truth. The Republican Party stood behind their president, this time. Had former House Republicans not been card-carrying members of the metaphorical "never Trumper" movement, Republicans might still hold the House and none of this ugly impeachment would have happened.
Justice came from Republicans this time; don't get used to it. While Democrats are the party of hate and failed "we wanna' help you" platitudes, the Republicans are the party of treachery. Democrats stand together while Republicans usually don't. It was a strange week in Washington. Things will be fine through the Trump years because they will depend on him. But after that, buckle up.
President Trump has decided to throw a massive “I Beat Impeachment” party at the White House, which is slated to kickoff around 6PM on Saturday, with plans to run until the early morning hours on Monday.
“This is going to be the biggest, and best event that the White House has ever seen,” said President Trump. “When you’re the best, you want to have the best parties, and invite the best celebrities, and it’s going to be huge. Just huge. I’m very excited to have people join me for this mega-rager.”
Trump went on to say that several celebrity guests were scheduled to appear, including Eli Manning, Rush Limbaugh, Ted Nugent, and a “variety of Playboy Playmates” from the last several years.
“Oh man, the amount of planning this has taken is immense,” said a White House staffer who preferred to stay anonymous. “When the President parties, it’s a big deal. We need to include a barrage of cocaine and alcohol to keep the guests happy, and I’ll tell you right now – if you think the impeachment was a waste of taxpayer money, the cost of this party is going to put that to shame.”
Musical guests scheduled to perform include Kanye West, Dire Straits, and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
President Trump has decided to throw a massive “I Beat Impeachment” party at the White House, which is slated to kickoff around 6PM on Saturday, with plans to run until the early morning hours on Monday.
“This is going to be the biggest, and best event that the White House has ever seen,” said President Trump. “When you’re the best, you want to have the best parties, and invite the best celebrities, and it’s going to be huge. Just huge. I’m very excited to have people join me for this mega-rager.”
Trump went on to say that several celebrity guests were scheduled to appear, including Eli Manning, Rush Limbaugh, Ted Nugent, and a “variety of Playboy Playmates” from the last several years.
“Oh man, the amount of planning this has taken is immense,” said a White House staffer who preferred to stay anonymous. “When the President parties, it’s a big deal. We need to include a barrage of cocaine and alcohol to keep the guests happy, and I’ll tell you right now – if you think the impeachment was a waste of taxpayer money, the cost of this party is going to put that to shame.”
Musical guests scheduled to perform include Kanye West, Dire Straits, and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
The concept of an ongoing impeachment process against every sitting president isn't that bad of an idea. In some governments, it's the fourth branch of government called the "Control". Perhaps Obama, Bush, and Clinton—all the way to FDR and Wilson—would have served the people better if they had an ongoing impeachment proceeding. It's tempting, but, for now anyway, it looks like a big waste of time.
The president's defense seems incredibly boring, but that won't matter. The Democratic prosecution omits key evidence, but that won't matter either. Every vote in the Senate has already been decided. These proceedings contain the platform for the other side to be added where there was only one side of what should be fair. Life isn't fair, but drama stops at the Senate floor. As with Clinton, there is neither basis to remove Trump from Office. Impeachment is a big deal, but usually falls to the popular opinion; voting citizens are the jury. Both times, all the energy from the House was spent on the Senate, which just let the House wear itself tired.
While one proceeding moves forward for show toward a pre-agreed verdict, another investigation continues against the faction that wanted this impeachment in the first place. A network of unhappy people from the opposite side of the political spectrum, largely in cahoots with the FBI and beyond, tried to prevent a president from being elected, then tried to remove him from office for something that didn't happen. In their view, justice is an illusion; they only do what suits them with whatever power they have. For them, might is morally right. Fortunately, democracies have systems in place to prevent power-defined morality touted by Leftist activists in America's legal justice system—whether judges or FBI.
The strongest evidence in this impeachment trial is the phone call read-out between Trump and Zelensky. It only seems inditing when heard in small snippets by people who hate Trump anyway. To everyone else, it is acquitting. Calling witnesses would stretch on and on and, for Republicans, would only serve the purpose of exposing the swamp that the FBI was a small part of. Democrats gamble that the Senate won't call witnesses, so House managers taunt the Senate about not calling witnesses. But, just how the president released the contents of the phone conversation by surprise, the Senate could decide to start the boring process of asking pre-written questions through the Chief Justice. The main purpose for Republicans would be to put accomplices on the stand. If that happens, expect at the top of the list the center of the phone call's discussion: Joe Biden.
Current events are forcing everyone into a deep state of soul-searching. Some Iranians were angry after Trump's drone strike, mourning the death of a leader they somehow admired. They didn't blame Americans, except that they did. Once the Iranian government admitted to shooting down the passenger jet from Ukraine, Iranians en masse took to the streets, protesting the current government.
As Symphony explained last week, some leaders have yet to "grow up" more than others. Those with more growing up to go tend to invite resentment from those they lead. Iran was no exception. Authoritarianism led to the mistake with the passenger jet, but it also allowed certain leaders to rise in the first place, one whom was killed by a drone strike approved by President Trump.
In America, the doomed impeachment articles from the House were so evidently unpopular that their true purpose went on parade: a parade. Yes, it was only ever for show. So, when House Democrats were forced to give the Republican Senate what they did not want, they continued the show for their supporters' own entertainment.
But, the show isn't done yet. Irritation and aggravation will only rise higher and higher as the nation sees what's really going on. That could be said for both Iranians and Americans.
Happy New Year! Free speech is threatened most when it is laid down freely. It is threatened more when public companies are allowed to threaten it. Prior to Hong Kong protests, the term “self-censorship” was tossed around like a fourth-grade sponge ball on a PhysEd parachute. Today, if Facebook doesn’t want someone’s name mentioned—even though the people not allowed to mention the name aren’t involved—then Facebook users won’t mention the name for fear of losing their connection to friends and family.
That is the usual blackmail, right?—friends and family?
Pacific Daily Times will not report the name of an ousted whistleblower unless it either becomes old news and is needed for discussion or there is litigation involving the whistleblower. But, that’s as far as things go. Should enough time pass or the whistleblower file private or civil action over being mentioned—or a disenfranchised social media user were to file private or civil action over being censored or banned—then the name becomes fair game for the Times. For the Times, it’s about being niche and newsworthy rather than alarmist and chasing the most recent fad. We want a name attached to a story that is unusual from what others will report.
But, Facebook, YouTube, and others in mainline media seem to have more in the game than just keeping things relevant and interesting. Banning users and removing content for naming a name already named seems to indicate that they are protecting the whistleblower because they support what the whistleblower did. That stacks up the best, anyway.
At the Times, others being banned for repeating the named name is far more interesting than the name itself. Banning or censoring users for mentioning an ousted whistleblower on publicly listed social media platforms is atrocious. We are headed for public utilitization of social media. The same could be argued for food, drug, and grocery giants, but that’s another editorial for another week.
This raises another question. What is a “whistleblower” anyway? Generally, the term is vernacular, referring to someone who sees foul play and “blows a whistle”. The problem is that whistleblowers wear special clothes to identify themselves, wave flags with bright colors, and make loud noises to draw the attention of an entire stadium. But, ever since Trump threatened an inbred political swamp in one of the most white-collar corrupt graft cities in the world, the term “whistleblower” seems to have been reassigned the definition “accuser in hiding who has a right to accuse without proof, then keep hiding”.
This “whistleblower” isn’t the actual whistleblower but a spectator in the stands. By the standard definition, the real whistleblowers were the Federal agents who acted upon the claims. Misapplying the term “whistleblower” to this anonymous, baseless coward of an accuser has only served to lionize the housecat.
After hearing from the house managers and then the Trump defense team, it sounds more like the one who may have committed "high crimes and misdemeanors" would be Joe Biden. Maxim Waters claimed that impeachment is not governed by law, only whatever whim Congress decides—a statement that simply isn't true.
This level of lawlessness expected of the government suggests a nation doomed. A growing portion of the electorate actually believe that government should take whatever drastic action it wants—because they feel comfortable with the current action proposed. But, they so quickly forget that the tables were only recently reversed, and being lawful in the very way they hold in contempt now was the only thing protecting them from the government doing likewise to them just a few years ago.
The biggest danger Trump always posed was that he would do too good of a job, that he would be too successful, and that the Republicans would thus earn great power that they neither deserved nor understood. These past few months, Republicans have announced that they would back a president they abhorred just a few years ago. They do this because they enjoy the success they didn't expect him to create because they had failed to create that success at anytime in their careers. Hateful yesterday, grateful today, what will tomorrow hold for Republicans?
Last week, as expected, Republicans turned down Democrats' call for more witnesses—after House Democrats could have called the same witnesses, but didn't. Though having Biden on record would have played well in Republican politics, the disgruntled, disenfranchised, dejected, and shamed former National Security Advisor John Bolton was never going to be given a soapbox. He is a war monger and a neo-Conservative, still angry that Trump pulled out of Syria and Afghanistan. Democrats wanted him as a witness, but Republicans knew he would only yield opinion and tainted facts at best, understandably contrary to the president who fired him. That was never going to happen and Democrats knew it; that's why Democrats asked for it. Getting rejected often rallies the voter base.
As Democrats push their case for impeachment because of "feelings rather than law", Republican voters are rallying around their president. Trump will likely win by an even greater margin in 2020 than he did in 2016, all thanks to the support for impeachment. This is not only because of Democrats on Capitol Hill. In coffee shops, offices, and homes, Republican voters are listening to Democrat voters give their reasons to support impeachment and that scares them just as much, if not more, than what Democrats in Washington say. Thus, in 2020, the Senate stands to gain even more seats, inching ever closer to a supermajority in the Senate. Once that happens, our liberties will be at the greatest risk since the founding because nothing is as dangerous as a party not held in check. Republicans in Washington pose a supermajority danger to all voters, and it was Democratic voters who helped it all happen—because their parents never taught them why government must not be lawless.
The Trump trials are exposing what is broken about our political culture. Politicians don't know how to talk to people. They can schmooze and beat around the bush. They can use a thousand hours and a hundred thousand words to do nothing in a way that appears like hard work. But, they don't know how to talk to people so that something actually happens.
To a business man, the phrase "I need your help" is a polite way of making a request easier to turn down. In politics, asking for "help" is code for bribery. The two aren't at all related. When Trump told the Ukrainian president he wanted "help", he was being polite. But, the swamp in Washington mistook Trump for speaking their evil language of bribery. In psychosemantics, the term is "projection".
Trump's impeachment is purely along party lines. Statistics and figures agree. If you're a Democrat, you think his call to Ukraine was wrong. If you're a Republican, you think his call to Ukraine was somewhere between necessary and excusable. Any exceptions are marginal. This is pure party politics, which means that we can't debate the ethics of Trump's phone call among fellow Americans with any more success than we can debate guns, abortion, and redistribution of wealth. Now, impeaching the incumbent president for whatever lame reason we can contrive has been added as one more topic in a party-politics worldview.
Most rules that Democratic politicians object to are rules that the same Democrats created to use against Republicans just a few years prior. This new precedent won't be any exception. It might even come in handy one day, one way or another.
Trump's popularity is soaring. The impeachment this week helped the popular president even more—well, if an "impeachment" that the House speaker chooses not to transfer to the Senate is an actual impeachment. In the words of Sen. Mitch McConnell, the House doesn't demonstrate much leverage by not, "sending us something we do not want." Not sending the Senate something the Senate does not want has made Trump even more "popularer".
Whether Democratic or Republican, everyone should think the House is an embarrassment to the country. Even Putin thinks the House is laughable. Smart Democratic voters won't want their politicians barking up trees, starting fights that help the other team. But, there is a danger—power corrupts and supermajority corrupts "superly". Democrats are handing the nation a supermajority Republican party by 2022, when the third round of Senate elections for Trump's tenure take place. That is when our freedom will be at more risk than it has ever been; when good people no longer have accountability they are no longer good.
Fortunately, while many Democratic voters don't value the Constitution that started the trend of ending slavery for the first time in human history, at least they know the power of gridlock. Democrats like checks and balances when they don't have power. That might be enough to save freedom.
Revelations about the Russianewsgategate scandal are beyond damning. Why would Comey and friends consciously fabricate a lie, just to scare the president for not meeting with the Intelligence community every day? Generally, the public thinks that they think that their attempted assault against the president would succeed, so they would never have to answer for what they did. Like a failed revolt against Caesar, now they must pay. They didn't think they would get caught, they outreached, then they got caught. That's what the public is generally led to believe.
However, given the levels of flagrant sloppiness, it is difficult to say that getting caught resulted from a mere miscalculation. More likely, they simply didn't think that far ahead because, if they had, they would have prepared contingencies. They had no contingencies and they left a highway of breadcrumbs.
What explains this?—Psychopath?—Ruling class corruption?—Drowning in their own swamp? A simple miscalculation or a belief that they would get away with it doesn't suffice. Somewhere, the Washington elite have gone off the deep end.
The impeachment campaign against Trump is a self-imploding, self-destructing, backfiring bombshell. The Democrats harm themselves with their impeachment proceedings so fast that news can't even keep up with the damage. Their resolve to bring their own demise goes beyond conspiracy—it's self-absorbed madness. No matter how much they can see how much they make themselves lose, they only turn up the temperature and lose more.
The moral of the story is that we should expect even more blunders as the swamp drains and the monsters who thrived there writhe in their last hours of miserable existence. Of course, that could last a few decades before it's all done with.
This week, we caught a closer glimpse of what the impeachment hearings in the House are truly about: election 2020. Democrats can't win and they know it. This impeachment is their best chance to lose less of the vote, but it may backfire.
The reason opposition news against Trump doesn't sway his base is because of what it reveals about actual, normal life. Usually, the president and Congress are portrayed as operating "above" everyone else, never having any problems, or at least that they only have problems that us normal people never have. But, every accusation and difference of opinion reported about Trump reveals that every president—not just he—deals with the same, constant, nonsensical heckling from people at the office that all the rest of us deal with.
Some friends always act like they have a better idea when they actually haven't a clue. Doing the only thing that can save a company or school always makes people mad—especially if those are the very people who drove problems to the brink of crisis. As movers and shakers shake and move to save the world from idiots who shouldn't have been put in charge, those idiots refuse to give us a moment's peace, even when they are close friends and family.
So, you see, Trump deals with the same kind of nonsense that every competent person deals with. We just didn't know until his adversaries told us so—as if we hadn't already seen it before.