I am so freakin’ exhausted by this shit-show of a presidency. I am tired of the constant drama. I am sick of the negativity and hatred. I am done with the uncertainty and constant low (and sometimes high) levels of stress.
In some ways, this reminds of being a parent of a newborn. Every day feels like a month. You are exhausted and worried. You wonder if you will make it through.
But just like that time of life, although the days and weeks last FOREVER, time does march along. Before you know it, we will find ourselves at the end of this.
If there is one thing we can be certain of it is that this asshole will NOT be our president forever.
We have already made it through over 2 years! We are more than halfway there and we got ourselves a Democratic House now and way more local Democrats along the way. We have a movement filled with hardworking and awesome people. And we are awake and not going ANYWHERE until we save this country we love.
I know it is exhausting. I know it sucks. But we are the majority. We are on the right side of history. AND WE ARE WINNING. To keep us all motivated, here are ten reasons why we are on the winning side of this shit-show presidency:
1. This “Russia Stuff” is going to bring down much of team Trump
The stories of the trump team have changed A LOT in the last two years. this article contains more than these 9 areas of lies, and it has lots of details on each, but here is just a little feel on some of the ways they have been caught lying throughout this investigation →
How Team Trump keeps changing its story in the Russia investigation
- Did any Trump campaign aides have contacts with Russia?
- Did anyone on the Trump campaign collude with Russia?
- What was the purpose of the Trump Tower meeting?
- Did Trump draft the misleading Trump Tower meeting statement?
- Why did Trump fire Comey?
- Did Trump tell Comey to go easy on Flynn?
- Does Trump have any business ties to Russia?
- When did discussions end for Trump Tower Moscow?
- Did Trump sign a letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow?
Why is it good news that they have been caught lying so much about this? Because people with nothing to hide, hide nothing. These lies have no purpose but to try to protect people who have done wrong. And the truth is coming. Mueller has a LOT of info (most of it we don’t know).
Has He Proved a Conspiracy Between Trump and Russia?
we can’t know for sure, but just looking at what WE know sure suggests it:
If the relevant news reports and special counsel filings are accurate, we know:
• That the Trump Organization pursued a Moscow real estate deal during the 2016 presidential campaign.
• That while this pursuit was ongoing, a well-connected Russian individual successfully scheduled a meeting with Trump campaign officials by offering “incriminating” material about Hillary Clinton, then lobbied those Trump officials for sanctions relief despite not being registered as an agent of the Russian government.
• That the Trump campaign (and everyone else) then learned that Russian operatives may have hacked Democrats and distributed the hacked material with the intent of damaging the Clinton campaign.
• That Trump advisers subsequently discussed sanctions relief with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. and met with an individual with connections to the Russian government to discuss sanctions relief and pass on proprietary polling data.
• That Trump campaign officials attempted to use surreptitious back channels to learn more about the Clinton-related material that they knew had possibly been stolen by Russia.
• That Trump’s campaign and Trump himself celebrated the existence of the stolen material and called for more of it to be stolen.
According to Rocah, the former prosecutor, “either there are a lot of coincidences here all happening at once, or people around Trump were part of this conspiracy.” She cites Manafort’s willingness to meet with Kilimnik and Trump Jr./Manafort/Kushner’s willingness to meet with Veselnitskaya as particularly tangible signs of conspiratorial agreement.
and Stone sure is giving us reasons to think that he was a part of this conspiracy AND that he looped in Trump →
Jeffrey Toobin said the wisest thing ever uttered on cable news
For a person who is usually categorical in his statements, Stone is cautious when describing Trump’s involvement in the quest for WikiLeaks’ documents during the campaign. “I have no memory of ever talking about WikiLeaks with him,” Stone told me in Fort Lauderdale. Responding to persistent rumors that Mueller has a witness who says he heard Trump and Stone on a speakerphone discussing WikiLeaks, Stone said, “Prove it.” Stone’s indictment speaks of an unnamed person, possibly Trump himself, who “directed” a senior campaign official to tell Stone to find out what was coming from WikiLeaks. In public comments, Trump has denied ever speaking to Stone about the organization. It would not necessarily have been illegal for Trump and Stone to have discussed WikiLeaks in the summer of 2016, but, if it were established that they had, that would prove that the President has been lying to the public about his role.
So not just when they lie is an important clue, but also when they are careful with their words and won’t categorically deny stuff.
Oh, not that Stone hasn’t also lied plenty. Some new news came out last night:
New filing from Mueller's office says, in the Russian hacker case, investigators executed search warrants on accounts used to "facilitate the transfer of stolen documents for release" and found interactions with Roger Stone and Guccifer 2.0 and WikiLeaks
Got that? They got info that Stone was talking to wikileaks and Guccifer 2.0 FROM THE RUSSIAN HACKER INVESTIGATION.
Back to lying:
Mueller just caught a fourth Trump aide lying about contact with the Russians
for the fourth time, he has proved a Trump aide lied about contacts with Russians.
Other Trump aides have admitted to lying in Mueller’s investigation, too, but not involving specific contacts with Russians. Trump’s longtime political adviser Roger Stone has also been accused of lying about seeking information from WikiLeaks, which the U.S. government says served as a front for Russia’s election interference in 2016.
And Mueller has also now snagged a lie from the man who appears to be an increasingly central figure in the collusion probe. The question has long been why these Trump aides would lie about such contacts, and that intrigue only grew on Wednesday.
Manafort is knee deep in this BS →
Manafort bombshell deepens mystery in Russia probe
The ruling partly relates to a meeting between Manafort and Kilimnik at a Manhattan cigar bar on August 2, 2016. Thanks to a botched legal filing last month by Manafort's lawyers, it has emerged that Mueller believes Manafort shared polling data and spoke about Russia-Ukraine policy with Kilimnik.
In a sealed hearing last week, one Mueller prosecutor, Andrew Weissman, told Jackson that Manafort's meetings with Kilimnik go "very much to the heart of what the special counsel's office is investigating."
Got that? the meeting in which Manafort gave recent and very secret polling data from Trump’s camp TO the Russians is something he felt he had to lie about AND something that is "very much to the heart of what the special counsel's office is investigating."
A meeting in which pro-russia policy was also discussed and which was so secretive that the people there all left through separate doors. Know who else was there? Rick Gates. Know where he lives now? Mueller’s pocket.
That sure seems like conspiracy, folks. And Weissman also said in those hearings that he thinks Manafort lied because he thought Trump would be more likely to pardon him if he lied.
Which brings up two very interesting questions. First, why would Trump want Manafort to lie about this? Second, how does Mueller KNOW that trump would want him to lie with enough certainty to bring it up in court?
I think we all know the answers to those questions.
and late breaking news! Manafort is royally F-ed for breaking his agreement with Mueller →
Mueller's office seeks prison sentence of 20 years or more for ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort
Manafort acted for more than a decade as if he were above the law, and deprived the federal government and various financial institutions of millions of dollars," Mueller's prosecutors wrote. "The sentence here should reflect the seriousness of these crimes.
In Paul Manafort's EDVA case, Mueller's prosecutors are asking for a jail sentence of 235 to 293 months (approx 19-24 years) in prison, a fine range of $50,000 to $24+ million, restitution of $24+ million, and forfeiture in the amount of $4+ million.
What is that you say, Paulie?
Mueller knows A LOT.
This, in short, was collusion — Trump’s top campaign official giving material to a suspected agent of a hostile foreign government that the campaign had already been warned was attempting to interfere with our election. Whatever you call it — direct or indirect evidence — this now is one link proven in court between the campaign and the Russians. We know of others, of course, including the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 designed to get dirt on Hillary Clinton, Trump’s public call for Russia to go after Clinton’s emails, and more than 100 contactsbetween Russian figures and members of the Trump circle.
Former prosecutor Mimi Rocah observes, “It isn’t surprising to me that the judge found that Manafort lied because prosecutors don’t try to void cooperation agreements lightly. But it’s still shocking." She notes that "Manafort chose to lie about his dealings with a Russian intelligence officer and spend years more in prison than he would have if he had told the truth. So the looming question that remains in my mind is — why? "
yah WHY???? <narrator: it is obvious why>
Worried about the Mueller report being buried? Neal Katyal says not to worry:
The news that Burr said that there is no direct evidence of collusion should also not worry you:
and this:
an example:
Why has trump being quoting the Burr stuff nonstop?
Let’s give the amazing Asha Rangappa the last word:
2. This “National Security” BS is going to blow up in Trump’s Face
Yes, it is awful that Trump has so little regard for our constitution that he would do this national security BS. But Trump’s disregard for our institutions is not news. Nor is the Republican power players’ tendency to let him do this stuff. What WILL be news will be when our institutions prove strong despite this.
Trump’s national emergency will only underscore his raging, delusional impotence
First, there will be court challenges to the national emergency itself
What’s more, by agreeing to allow conference negotiations to proceed to a deal, Trump may have further undermined his political and possibly his legal case.
On top of that, even if Trump does prevail in the courts, he will then face still more litigation from landowners
And even if he were to win on all those fronts, it’s still not clear how much money Trump could round up.
National emergency will be blocked by courts temporarily, DOJ warns White House
The Justice Department has warned the White House a national emergency declaration is nearly certain to be blocked by the courts on, at least, a temporary basis, preventing the immediate implementation of the president's plan to circumvent Congress and build the wall using his executives powers, ABC News has learned.
An emergency declaration by Trump will lead to lawsuits. Lots of them.
If President Trump declares a national emergency to construct a wall on the southern border, only one thing is certain: There will be lawsuits. Lots of them. From California to Congress, the litigants will multiply.
They will file suit in numerous jurisdictions — certainly within the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on the West Coast, in U.S. District Court in Washington and maybe even in New York. That’s been the pattern in the hundreds of lawsuits, many of them successful, brought against the Trump administration, the idea being that some judge somewhere will block the wall.
indeed:
and this:
CREW is suing the Justice Department after it failed to produce documents on the legality of Trump's decision to invoke emergency powers to build his border wall.
and the entire state of California:
'Donald Trump, We'll See You In Court': California To Sue Over Emergency Declaration
and I know some people are arguing that the courts will give this to Trump, but there are plenty of smart people who know the law who think he will lose in court. Like this guy:
plus, the idiot’s own words make this less likely to stand up in court:
This move is not popular with America
And even some of his base:
Keep in mind too that even if this doesn’t get overturned in the Legislative branch or in the courts, this order doesn’t make him the king of the world:
It gives him access to specific authorities contained within 123 laws that Congress has passed over several decades. In this case, the president is relying on laws that allow the secretary of defense, during a national emergency, to move money around within Pentagon’s budget for certain purposes. As multiple legal experts have already pointed out, it’s at best questionable whether these laws would authorize the building of the wall.
How do you think people in the military are going to like it when money that was supposed to be used for their housing goes toward this? Not great.
and although the way he is using it is BS, he isn’t the first president to declare one of these to get what he wants:
Presidents have declared national emergencies since World War II. As The Washington Post reported, President Bill Clinton declared emergencies 17 times, George W. Bush 12 and Barack Obama 13.
So try not to freak out about this — it was a desperate move by a cornered man.
3. Trump May Very Well Be Primaried
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld exploring primary challenge against Trump
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld said on Friday that he is exploring a challenge to President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020.
“Our president is simply too unstable to carry out the duties of the highest executive office in the land,” Weld said as he announced the launch of an exploratory committee at Politics & Eggs in Bedford, N.H. The breakfast program is considered a must for 2020 hopefuls in the early voting state.
“I'm here because I think our country is in grave peril, and I cannot sit any longer quietly on the sidelines,” Weld added. “We have a president who openly praises and encourages despotic and authoritarian leaders abroad while going out of his way seemingly to insult and even humiliate our Democratic allies.”
4. Intersectionality is hard but it makes us stronger
It would be easier, in many ways, to have a monolithic party like the Republicans. But our diversity is what makes our party great. That diversity means learning, sometimes slowly and sometimes painfully, how our words mean different things to different ears. But the great thing about us is we are willing to learn and grow and get better ❤️ Here is one example:
Ilhan Omar’s tweets were appalling. What happened next was inspiring.
What happened next, though, was as inspiring as Omar’s initial action was appalling. Denunciations rained, not just from Jews and opportunistic Republicans but from Democrats, almost as furiously as they did after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) acknowledged wearing blackface.
Monday, the Democratic House leadership issued a joint demand for an apology, saying “Omar’s use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters is deeply offensive.”
Ninety minutes later, Omar issued an “unequivocal” apology, saying “anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.”
Schumer recruits famed fighter pilot to challenge McConnell in 2020
Chuck Schumer is actively recruiting a high-profile fighter pilot to take on Mitch McConnell in 2020 — a calculated act of aggression against a leading Republican foe.
Schumer met with Amy McGrath, a Marine veteran-turned 2018 congressional candidate, at Democratic Party headquarters last month to pitch her on running against McConnell. McGrath listened and didn’t rule it out. The Democratic leader first contacted McGrath in December.
O’Rourke meets with Schumer to discuss 2020 Senate bid
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke last week to discuss a possible 2020 Senate campaign against GOP Sen. John Cornyn, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
The Republican Senate’s 2020 problem
Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report writes, “So far, the 34 Senate contests on the ballot in 2020 feature 12 Democratic incumbents and 20 Republican incumbents: GOP U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts of Kansas and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee have announced that they will not seek reelection" She adds, "Only one incumbent — GOP U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas — has a war chest over $5 million.”
And it is very possible Cornyn might draw a very competitive challenger, one with 100 percent name recognition in the state.
Meanwhile, there are a batch of other Senate pickup opportunities for Democrats. The most vulnerable Republicans would be Susan Collins (Maine), who is under renewed heat for her support for Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and the misbegotten notion that he would defend Roe v. Wade; Cory Gardner of Colorado, which has become a reliably blue state in presidential years; and Martha McSally (Ariz.), who lost her Senate race in 2018 and was then appointed to the late John McCain’s seat after John Kyl had briefly stepped in.
And speaking of Arizona, McSally got some bad news this week when Mark Kelly, the husband of gun-violence victim and former representative Gabrielle Giffords announced that he will run.
Also, don’t forget Georgia, where the Democratic Party’s new rock star, Stacey Abrams, may challenge Sen. David Perdue, a dependable Trump apologist whose claim to fame is his effort to reduce legal immigration. Throw in Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) — who will be running in a presidential swing state that was trending blue before Democrats’ 2016 debacle — and you can easily get to half a dozen possible Democratic pickups. The best shot for Republicans to pick off a Democratic seat is in Alabama but, beyond that, there are no hot prospects.
I love Schumer:
6. We Will Destroy Trump in 2020 If He Is the Candidate
I honestly don’t think he will be, but if he is, it is actually good news for us because NOTHING will make us unite more and work harder than having Trump to run against this monster. Really. All your worries about people sitting it out? Nope. Are YOU going to sit it out? Nope. Me neither. Millions and millions and millions of us will do all we can to beat Trump. And that kind of enthusiasm (plus his awful poll numbers) is what wins elections.
This won’t hurt either:
and this guy is seeming like less of a threat → 'I feel bad for him at this point': Democrats starting to dismiss Schultz
Here's how poorly Howard Schultz’s presidential campaign float is going: Democrats who initially reacted with terror that his potential independent bid for president might hand Donald Trump a second term are starting to shrug him off.
Can you spare a few dollars? Want to feel better? If so consider donating to the Unify or Die Campaign. It is genius. Check it out:
We're partnering with the people at Pod Save America to make sure our future Democratic nominee for president has the resources they’ll need to defeat Trump in 2020: https://www.swingleft.org/unify
No matter who wins the Democratic primary, the nominee will be dramatically behind Trump when it comes to fundraising. This fund is about making sure they have the resources needed to take on Trump and win.
Donate to the Unify or Die Fund, and we’ll send 100% of the money to the eventual Democratic nominee for president exactly when they’ll need it most—right after the convention in July 2020, as they start the general election.
a little humor to end this section:
7. Democrats Are Doing Awesome Things
These will not only get us great outcomes, but prove how great we are so we can win the senate, keep the house, and take the WH in 2020
Democrats propose high-capacity gun magazine ban
After a year without any significant gun legislation passed by Congress since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting in Parkland, Florida, Democrats introduced a bill banning high-capacity gun magazines Tuesday, as the one-year anniversary of the massacre nears.
Cummings: 2 Trump attorneys may have lied about Cohen payments
House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said on Friday that his panel received new documents showing that two attorneys for President Donald Trump may have lied to government ethics officials about Trump fixer Michael Cohen’s payments to women alleging affairs with the president ahead of the 2016 election.
Push for Medicare buy-in picks up with '50 and over' bill
House and Senate Democrats unveiled a plan Wednesday that would allow anyone over age 50 to buy into Medicare — an incremental step to expand health coverage beyond Obamacare's gains that offers an alternative to the ambitious restructuring progressives envision in their push for Medicare for All.
8. Adam Schiff Is Awesome and is Just Getting Started
House Democrats plan vast Russia probe
Mueller is just the beginning. House Democrats plan a vast probe of President Trump and Russia — with a heavy focus on money laundering — that will include multiple committees and dramatic public hearings, and could last into 2020.
The state of play: The aggressive plans were outlined yesterday by a Democratic member of Congress at a roundtable for Washington reporters. The member said Congress plans interviews with new witnesses, and may go back to earlier witnesses who "stonewalled" under the Republican majority.
Why it matters: The reporters, many of them steeped in the special counsel's investigation, came away realizing that House Dems don't plan to depend on Robert Mueller for the last word on interference in the 2016 election.
We’re entering a new phase of the Trump-Russia investigation
President Trump has been insisting for so long that any investigation of his personal finances would cross a “ red line ” that people may have overlooked the outrageousness of his claim. But this self-declared immunity is about to change.
We’re entering a new phase of the Trump-Russia investigation, in which the president’s efforts to contain the probe are failing. Information he tried to suppress about his business and political dealings is emerging — with more to come.
“There are no red lines except what’s necessary to protect the country,” Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said during an interview Monday. Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, told me he plans to request information, perhaps by subpoena, from Deutsche Bank, a major Trump lender, and that “our work on Trump’s finances has already begun.”
9. The Tea Party Is Suffering Huge Losses
Life is a living hell for conservatives in Pelosi’s Washington
The conservative bomb-throwers who were so effective at derailing bipartisan agreements like this one even just months ago now seem resigned in this latest battle with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They sound deflated — sad, even — as they brace themselves to watch Trump take a mere $1.375 billion in wall funding, a fraction of the $5.7 billion he'd been demanding.
Like Meadows, most conservatives oppose the new numbers that a bipartisan group of top appropriators have agreed to, but they’re basically conceding they’ve been checkmated. There’s just not much they can do to stop it.
“I think we’ve sort of passed the point where we had leverage,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a Republican with strong libertarian leanings, told VICE News while walking through the Capitol.
Trump privately gripes that GOP was outplayed by Democrats
t privately, Trump has cast the GOP's dealmaking efforts as inadequate and wondered why he, an experienced dealmaker, wasn't consulted at more regular intervals as the two sides haggled over an agreement. The White House acted largely on the sidelines while congressional negotiators struck a deal.
10. The Legal System is Flawed But Still Remains Strong
Court allows House Democrats to join Obamacare's defense
A federal appeals court is allowing House Democrats to defend Obamacare in a lawsuit threatening the future of the health care law.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals today granted the House’s petition to intervene in the case challenging Obamacare's constitutionality. The court will review a federal judge's December ruling that the entire health care law is invalid after Congress eliminated the penalty for not having health insurance.
and just for fun, before we go, some belated valentine’s from me to you:
Happy weekend everyone! Keep working hard for America and taking care of yourselves and of one another ❤️