Updated Book List

Since Trump won the election, I have been reading books to educate myself as to what happened and what went wrong.

All of these books are excellent. They cover a wide range of topics. Together they have helped me put things in perspective.

Here is an alphabetical list of the books I've read:

A Higher Loyalty by James Comey
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Collusion by Luke Harding
Dark Money by Jane Mayer
Democracy In Chains by Nancy MacLean
Facts And Fears by James R. Clapper
Fascism - A Warning by Madeline Albright
Fear by Bob Woodward
Fire And Fury by Michael Wolff
Friendly Fascism by Bertram Gross
House Of Trump – House Of Putin by Craig Unger
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Kushner Inc. - Greed. Ambition. Corruption. By Vicky Ward
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Plutocrats by Chrystia Freeland
Proof Of Collusion by Seth Abramson
Red Notice by Bill Browder
Russian Roulette by Michael Isikoff and David Corn
The Case For Impeaching Trump by Elizabeth Holtzman
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
The Only Game In Town by Mohamed A. El-Erian
The Threat by Andrew McCabe

We are in grave danger of losing our country to criminals and traitors. At the moment, our country is being controlled by criminals and traitors. We are in a battle to take it back. If we lose, it's over.

Here are a few words worth knowing: Autocracy; Idiocracy; Kleptocracy; and Oligarchy.

Holy Moly!

Holograms And Hollow Men

Donald Trump's time is at hand. He has gone way too far for far too long. He has ruined the lives of countless millions. He has made the world a worse place. He has absolutely no redeeming social value.

You can't say this about everybody, but then Donald Trump is not everybody. He is literally nobody. He's a man without a country. A man who has sold his birthright. He's a hologram, a brand, a Cardiff Giant.

Not familiar with the Cardiff Giant? Well, it was quite the quite in 1869.

It turned out to be a bigly hoax. The man behind the hoax was George Hull. George wasn't alone, he had help.

Remember when Donald Trump asked people in the news media to refer to him as "The Donald"? Grandiose right? I mean give me a break. Yet, amazingly, pathetically, they all went along with it. This phenomenon is known as Lemming Journalism (LJ). 

LJ is the polar opposite of Investigative Journalism (IJ). IJ actually has social value. IJ educates us. Having knowledge helps us to protect ourselves. It's a good thing.

Some politicians are nothing more than Cardiff Giants. They are media creations. They are chimeras and illusions.

That's why it's so important to know who the George Hull is that's funding them. Who is that guy behind the curtain?

Vladimir Putin was the man behind the curtain in 2016. He was the man who, more than anyone else, created Trump.

Putin will continue to back Trump in 2020. Whether or not Trump is on the ticket, Putin will also back at least one of the candidates running as a Democrat. Putin wants a repeat. We all know this, right?

Putin wants to cause mayhem within the Democratic Party. It's his MO. Vlad wants to split the Democrats and dilute their votes. He's done it before. He's in the process of doing it again.

The Koch brothers were Vlad's main competitors for controlling the Republican Party in 2016. The Kochs are innovators. They are the Mad Hatters of the Tea Party. They are the guys behind that curtain.

The Tea Party is a "grassroots" organization built completely from the top down. The Tea Party subsumed the Republican Party.

Over decades the Kochs bought up every Republican seat they could get their tentacles on. By 2016, the Kochs owned the Republican Party at every level - local, state and federal.

George Hull, was an atheist. Were he alive today, he would no doubt be heading up a major evangelical Christian church or TV ministry or maybe the NRA.

Funny/sad thing - even after the Cardiff Giant was exposed as a total hoax, people kept coming and paying good money to see it.

In reality, the giant was just a worthless, soulless piece of poorly sculptured stone. It wasn't worth a moment of anyone's attention. 

How many times do you figure we will have to learn this lesson? Regardless of who's behind the curtain, Republican candidates have nothing to offer us.

Holy Moly!

And In This Corner - Finding The Way To The Douche's Cottage

What do you figure Elizabeth Holtzman weighs? She's 77 years old, but she's no lightweight. At an age most people would be happy just to reach, Liz entered the legal expert ring like Apollo Creed.

Yes indeed, Liz has once again shown us what intelligence and competence looks like. In her corner, weighing all of 11 ounces and containing 162 pages, we have "The Case For Impeaching Trump".

In the opposite corner there are a long line of mostly male, mostly old, mostly white, punch drunk flunkies. Prominent among them are Alan Dershowitz and Rudy Giuliani.

Both appear constipated and disoriented. Spittle and saliva accompany their tirades as they lash out everywhere at once. Liz seems eager to go as she sits smiling - calm, cool and collected - not a hint of sweat.

Rod Rosenstein originally sanctioned this match up in his official capacity as Deputy Attorney General of the United States.

Rod hired Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Mueller has the credentials. He's a former FBI Director and a war hero. He's a well respected professional with unquestionable ethics. 

Earlier in his career, U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Robert Mueller established his bona fides by taking down the Gambino crime family which was run by John Gotti and Sammy "The Bull" Gravano.

Donny "The Douche" Trump tried to prevent any investigation of any kind. When that failed he tried to "rig" the investigation. When that failed he committed a series of truly stupid blunders. It's what he does.

The Douche attempted to buy off then FBI Director James Comey. Comey was not for sale, so Donny fired him. It was Comey's subsequent testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee that underscored the need for a Special Counsel, which led to the appointment of Robert Mueller in that role.

After Mueller was appointed, The Douche became apoplectic - bigly apoplectic.

The Douche began portraying himself as a victim and referring to the investigation as a "witch hunt".

The Douche always refers to himself as the "greatest" in all things. He continues to decry Mueller and declare himself the winner in the Russia Investigation.

We all know, there is/was only one "Greatest". Unlike Ali, Donny has never stepped into a ring to actually face off with any opponent. The Douche is a coward. He can't even take questions at a press conference.

Alan Dershowitz, an accused pedophile, is a former Harvard law professor. He excels in "double speak". He often appears on the news circuit as the leading Trump apologist.

Rudy Giuliani is a former NYC Mayor. Rudy is a current attorney for Donald Trump. Rudy also has a number of "foreign" clients who pay him really bigly bucks. A lot of Rudy's clients are allied with Vladimir Putin, the main antagonist in the Russia Investigation.

Elizabeth Holtzman is a former Congresswoman from New York (1973 to 1981). She served on the House Judiciary Committee which handed down three Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon. She was also involved with deporting Nazi war criminals. Check her out, she has an outstanding history. Her integrity is beyond reproach.

https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/holtzman-elizabeth

https://sfi.usc.edu/news/2018/07/22576-former-congresswoman-who-expelled-nazis-gave-testimony-institute-quits-homeland

"The Case For Impeaching Trump" is a master class on impeaching a president. Along with a thorough review of Nixon's impeachment, Elizabeth does a complete analysis of Trump's "high crimes and misdemeanors" which rise to the level of impeachable offenses.

Don't confuse legal analysis with bullshit. Most of what passes for legal analysis of whether or not Trump should be impeached is pure bullshit.

First and foremost is the idea that the president of the United States has to have broken the law in order to be impeached. This is not the case. I believe Alan gets special credit for propagating this line of  bullshit.

Then there's the "you can't indict a president" bullshit. This is a highly questionable and controversial Justice Department policy. It is not a matter of law. Rudy steadfastly pumps out this particular line of bullshit.

In addition to Alan and Rudy, there is Ken Starr. Starr was the Independent Counsel who helped to get Bill Clinton impeached for getting a "blow job". An impeachment which failed to produce a guilty verdict in the Senate.

Starr was also a defense attorney for Donny's friend Jeffrey Epstein, the guy behind a notorious child prostitution ring patronized by the rich and famous. Obviously not everyone can claim Mr. Starr's particular experience and expertise.

Starr defends Trump on TV. That defense includes advocating for "scrubbing" embarrassing information on Trump from the Mueller Report.

Finally, there is the rather puerile position that the House should not impeach Trump because the Senate Republicans will never vote to convict him. This is often attributed to Nancy Pelosi, but this is not what Pelosi actually said. Pelosi said something quite different.

"Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path."

Members of the House are the only members of Congress who have been given the authority to impeach a president under Article 1, Section2 , Clause 5 of the Constitution. It reads:

"The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."

Every member of Congress has a sworn duty to uphold and defend our Constitution and our country. There is no provision for House members to sit idly by while foreign enemies attack our elections and corrupt politicians attempt to conspire and collude with them while thwarting any investigation into those attacks.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia Investigation on March 2, 2017. That's why Rod Rosenstein was put in charge of the investigation and that's why Rosenstein both hired and supervised Mueller.

Donny was furious with Sessions over his recusal. We are just now learning that The Douche initially responded by saying, "I'm fucked."

The Douche wanted to fire Mueller. He wanted Sessions to un-recuse himself. He wanted the Russia Investigation to end. He even ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller while he was publicly saying he had no plans to fire Mueller.

McGahn repeatedly refused to fire Mueller. He literally packed his bags and threatened to quit.

Oh my, what's The Douche to do? If Mueller finished and turned in his report, it would go to Rosenstein and then Rosenstein would turn the whole report over to Congress. The Douche was stymied and shaken.

On March 16, 2018, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired by Jeff Sessions just one day before he was scheduled to retire. A clear message was being sent to others involved in the investigation.

McCabe, an outspoken defender of both the FBI and the Mueller Investigation, referred to The Douche's continued statements as "the relentless attack" on the FBI. After his firing, he, like James Comey before him, wrote a book detailing what was really going on.

On November 7, 2018, The Douche fired Sessions. It was inevitable.

The Douche had been publicly flogging Sessions ever since he recused himself. Apparently Donny could not humiliate Sessions enough. Jeff did not resign. He hung on for dear life.

The Douche needed a flunky in the Attorney General position. He needed someone who would take the Russia Investigation back from Rosenstein - someone without a stitch of pride - someone who would do his bidding - someone unrestrained by ethical considerations. So, Matthew Whitaker was hired as the Interim Attorney General.

Matthew had previously distinguished himself by being a harsh public critic of Mueller. Matthew also served on the advisory board of World Patent Marketing, a criminal scamming operation that was shut down by the Federal Trade Commission. He was also involved in proving Big Foot existed and patenting and promoting a masculine toilet bowl.

While all the focus was on Whitaker, The Douche nominated William Barr for the Attorney General position.

On February 14th, The Douche's nomination of William Barr was confirmed in the Senate and Barr became Attorney General.

Barr had a previous history of covering up crimes when he was Attorney General (1991-1993). He helped secure pardons for several of the men involved in the Iran-Contra Scandal.

Barr had basically auditioned for the role of Attorney General in June, 2018, when he submitted a memo on his own volition to senior Justice Department officials. In the memo he referred to the Mueller Investigation as "fatally misconceived".

When he nominated Barr, The Douche said, "He was my first choice since day 1."

On March 22nd, Mueller handed over the Russia Investigation's  official report directly to Attorney General Barr. Rosenstein was no longer supervising Mueller. Sessions was long gone. Barr, who had refused to recuse himself during his Senate confirmation hearings, had complete control of the Justice Department's Russia probe.

Wow, it's exhausting just trying to keep track of the gyrations, contortions and maneuvers that were used to make sure a Donny loyalist was in charge when Mueller finally handed in his report.

When William Barr got the report, he did not arrange for it to be turned over to Congress. Instead, he decided to preempt Congress and rule on it as if he was the final "judge" in this matter.

In a letter of less than 4 pages Barr summarized over 400 pages of Mueller's official report and declared that The Douche was not guilty of any and all wrongdoings. Sadly, Rosenstein signed off on Barr's letter. The investigation was officially over. Everybody could go home and move on to other things.

This is not the first time we've seen a bogus clean bill of health issued for The Douche.

Barr's clean bill of health had all the credibility of those submitted in the past by The Douche's attending physicians. Dr. Harold Bornstein submitted a one page letter that said The Douche was the "healthiest individual". Harold later claimed that The Douche had actually dictated the letter. He went on to say that his office was illegally "raided" by The Douche's henchmen and all The Douche's medical records were seized.

A year later, Dr. Ronny Jackson, told us The Douche was in "excellent" physical and cognitive health. Shortly after that Donny tried to appoint Ronny as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

When that failed because of allegations that Ronny was "abusive" toward colleagues, loosely handled prescription pain medications and was periodically intoxicated, Donny tried to get Ronny promoted in rank.

It should be noted that Ronny really drew attention to his medical evaluation of The Douche when he listed The Douche's weight as 239 pounds. Ronny obviously was evaluating The Douche by a different standard - possibly what The Douche's weight was equivalent to on the Moon.

The Douche clearly has no problem finding people willing to lie and debase themselves for him. After Barr tried to pass off an obviously bogus copy of the Mueller report, people, even Republican people, came out of the woodwork demanding to see the actual report that Mueller had handed in.

Confronting what could result in his own impeachment, Barr promised to make a redacted copy of Mueller's report available for public scrutiny. On April 18th, Barr finally got around to publicly issuing the redacted copy. Hours before actually doing that Barr held a press conference flanked by Rod Rosenstein and a strange bearded man who nobody seems to know.

Rosenstein distinguished himself at the press conference by not moving or blinking or possibly even breathing. He may have been in a catatonic state.

For his part, Barr managed to disgrace himself even further by assuming the role of a defense attorney acting on behalf of The Douche. House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler accused Barr of "waging a media campaign on behalf of President Trump".

Barr also let slip that he gave The Douche a full copy of the report at least a week before giving a redacted copy to Congress. Barr has no intention of giving Congress the full, unredacted report.

As previously mentioned, on March 12th Nancy Pelosi had gone on record with a "qualified" statement regarding impeachment. Within hours of Barr's press conference she and Chuck Schumer issued the following joint statement:

“What we’ve learned today is that Attorney General Barr deliberately distorted significant portions of Special Counsel Mueller’s report. Special Counsel Mueller’s report paints a disturbing picture of a president who has been weaving a web of deceit, lies and improper behavior and acting as if the law doesn’t apply to him. But if you hadn’t read the report and listened only to Mr. Barr, you wouldn’t have known any of that because Mr. Barr has been so misleading."

It seems as if The Douche's first choice for Attorney General has simply gone too far. Barr may just be the proverbial last straw.

Personally, I am exhausted. I've been exhausted for months. The Douche is chaos personified. The various political hacks and stooges and lackeys and imbeciles surrounding him have addled my brain.

There's been a battle brewin' for over 2 years and I think it's about to come to a head. For her part, Elizabeth Holtzman has left a trail of easily digestible, legal breadcrumbs that lead us right to the witch's cottage.

The "witch hunt" is over. I'm seeing impeachment rising out of the fog. This is clearly the time to redouble our efforts and demand Congressional action. The Case has been made. The House must begin the process of Impeaching Trump.

It's Karma baby! It's Mueller Time! Bring it on home! 

Thank you Elizabeth Holtzman. I hope everyone will make an effort to read your book. It would truly elevate the public discussion/debate.

Holy Moly!