Reality Check!

I've asked Billy Joel to set the stage for this post. Is that true? Is that real?

At least the music is real, and it does capture the sense of what I'm trying to communicate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cih0btgJw8s

I think we're in the advanced stages of a fascism. If you read my posts, you could justifiably conclude the thought of that is freaking me out.

On the other hand, if you simply read, listen to and watch major news sources, you could justifiably conclude that we're just coming into another election cycle.

I'll let the major news sources speak for themselves. They're available 24/7 and you should have no trouble getting their take on things. They even supply pundits and talking heads to help you sort through things.

Here's my take on Barr. Barr is fully engaged in undoing everything Mueller has done - indictments, convictions, reports, spinoff investigations.

Barr is doing this because Manaforte, Flynn, Stone, Giuliani and others have information on Trump that is legally damning. The only way to insure their silence is to prevent them from going to prison.

Manafort and Cohen are already in prison. So far, Manafort is staying silent, but Cohen has started unloading on Trump.

Oh yeah, there's also Parnas and Fruman. Parnas hasn't even been to trial and he's been releasing all kinds of things including videotape. Fruman is sitting tight. If either of these boys starts opening up about Firtash, shits really gonna fly, and it won't just hit Trump.

Once an insider starts talking about the Russian connections, the entire Republican Party is gonna' get splattered.

Lest I forget, there are some people who are considered too dangerous to our political elite. For instance, someone who may be charged in a criminal trial that has nothing to do with Trump. Someone who might offer up Trump and others to save his ass. Someone not beyond Barr's reach.

So Barr can undo and erase things having to do with both criminal and civil matters. He can stop things from going forward. He's Trump's true fixer.

Here's my take on the Democratic Party primaries. I see this process as having 4 distinct parts. First, there are those who want to insure that Trump and the coup are stopped. This is their highest priority.

Second, there are those who want to insure that their particular candidate is the Democratic Party nominee. I refer to these folks as partisans. Their choices are dwindling.

Third, there are those who want to cause chaos within the Democratic Party ranks and the country in general.

Finally, there are what I call the ultimate pragmatists. I fancy myself as a member of this group. I would love to see a Warren/Klobuchar ticket, but in the end I will ...

I believe Trump is a Russian asset. He has managed to contaminate the entire Executive Branch and almost every Republican member of the House and Senate - notable exceptions being Amash and Romney.

I believe the Republican Party has become an international crime syndicated. I believe Barr is the syndicate's Consiglieri.

I believe Putin is Trump's Godfather.

Here's my take on Putin/Russia. Russia is no longer a political state. Russia is a criminal state. It's a kleptocracy.

Putin wants to weaken and destroy Western Democracies. He wants to neutralize/eliminate NATO.

Here's my take on just about everything else. Our political process has been taken over and contaminated by large corporations - particularly those comprising the oil, financial and healthcare industries. Greed is our official national economic policy. Our politicians have been corrupted. 

Simple conclusion - Bloomberg is not hurting any Democrat. Neither is Steyer. Our billionaire candidates are pouring money into advertising campaigns that are hurting Trump.

Partisan Democrats who attack other Democratic candidates are helping those who want to spread chaos. This will help insure Trump's reelection.

My advice is to leave our billionaire candidates alone, support your candidates without attacking others and Vote Blue No Matter Who in November. The alternative is this.

We can't do nothin' about healthcare, education, the economy or anything else if we become a fascist state.

Holy Moly!

Sweet Nothin's

My baby whispers in my ear … 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWgyum5fjJc

What's an acceptable gift for Valentine's Day?

Nah, what about something a little less sugary?

Let's just get real.

Here's the skinny. We haven't a clue what's really going on. That's right, we clueless baby.

In his closing argument at Trump's Impeachment trial in the Senate, Adam Shiff said, "If right doesn't matter …, it doesn't matter how good the Constitution is … If right doesn't matter, we're lost. If the truth doesn't matter, we're lost. The framers couldn't protect us from ourselves if right and truth don't matter."

He went on, "And you know, you can't trust this president to do what's right for this country ... This is why, if you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed, ... because right matters and truth matters. Otherwise, we are lost."

Yeah baby, we lost. Sad thing is nobody really knows what the truth is. It's depressing. Check out Rashomon.

We rely on politicians, clergy, educators, reporters, etc. The worse things get, the more we want to believe in something other than chaos and corruption. Our need to believe turns into blind faith.

We be insane. Blind faith got us to where we are today. Seems like we can't afford no mo blind faith. We need to start dealing in facts and holding people accountable.

I'm no longer sure that what I'm experiencing is real. I could be having a long hallucination while in a comatose state.

I may have died and moved onto The Good Place.

I may be a 74 year old man, who was born in Brooklyn, is married to Kathy, has 3 grandchildren and is currently living in Delaware.

I'm gonna' assume I'm the old guy in Delaware. Proceeding from that assumption, here's what I believe:

1. The Republican Party is an international crime organization.
2. Donald Trump is a Russia Asset.
3. The United States has been taken over by a coup.
4. Donald Trump has been installed as a dictator by the Republican Party and is currently being kept in that position by Republican Senators and the Attorney General.
5. The House is the last of our government organizations that remains free and operates independent of the coup.
6. The House is free because we turned out in large numbers and voted for Democrats in 2018.
7. If we turn out in large numbers and vote for Democrats in 2020 we may be able to stop the coup, take back our country and start rebuilding our government.

There are plenty of headlines to distract us each and every day. There are plenty of things that we could argue over. We could allow ourselves to become divided in our opposition to the coup. We could let our own preferences and partisan concerns blind us. Or, we could do the one thing that could bring an end to this coup.

I'm gonna' go with number 7 on my list. I got nothin' better. I hope you will join me in this.

Stay together.

Holy Moly!

My Latest, Latest Reading List

Time to update my reading list. These are the "political" books I've read since Trump was elected. They are all excellent.

A Higher Loyalty by James Comey
American Carnage by Tim Alberta
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Blowout by Rachel Maddow
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 Mueller Report  by The Washington Post
The Only Game In Town by Mohamed A. El-Erian
The Threat by Andrew McCabe

This Fight Is Our Fight by Elizabeth Warren

Holy Moly!