Month: December 2018

It is interesting  to analyze what commonly happens with shocking information  for people over time. Months go by, the reality of the shock begins to wear off and a kind of normality sets in. The erosion of the initial shock makes its management easier to live with.

To some extent this is what has happened over the last two years with Trump and the speculation surrounding the charge of his collusion with the Russians. Americans have become over time used to the speculation that an American presidential candidate  may have actively worked with the Kremlin to gain the Presidency and make hundreds of millions of dollars to boot. People became caught in the details and spent less time focusing on the core piece – the actual collusion of a sitting President with Russian, enemy number One. The blatant criminality of this original sin got lost in the weeds a tad as Trump covered up and Mueller kept investigating.

Think back to those days in January 2017 when the media first began reporting  that Michael Flynn, newly appointed National Security Advisor, appeared to have lied about his calls with the U.S. Russian Ambassador.  When he finally resigned over his duplicity, some people began to think the unthinkable. Was it remotely even possible that Trump and his aides were up to some funny business with the Russians?  Do you remember the feeling when this notion dawned on you? No, impossible! is what most Americans said to themselves. Such actions are too dastardly to even consider.

But as time went on, and the Mueller probe was launched, the reality of such a conspiracy became more and more real. And now as of yesterday, according to the article in the Daily Beast below, Mueller has the evidence which proves that -Oh yes, Trump and his aides did in fact try to pull off an ignominious first. A sitting President and his cronies conspired with the Russians to win the election and then as a result the President became a pawn in the Russian game of undermining  the dominance of the U.S.. as a world power..

As has become now obvious, once  the cover-up began in earnest, and Trump tried to cover up the sins, he fell under the complete control of Putin. He was forced to dance to their tune or risk having them reveal his unprecedented betrayals. Overall, Trump twisted U.S. foreign policy decisions to match up with what the Russians demanded and lied to the Congress, the American people and the world to cover up his compromised position.

Lets then go back to those first days in January 2017 when Flynn blundered into allowing the first crumbs of evidence  to come dribbling out. Hang on to your original shock as you muse about Trump’s  unprecedented act of betrayal to the country and to sabotaging the election. His actions easily blast Watergate and Nixon out of first place as the most criminal administration and president in U.S. history. The vise is clamping down on Trump and no amount of wriggling, subterfuge or Twitter rants is going to free him from Mueller’s grip. Justice will prevail, finally and Americans can then face the daunting task of repairing the political and cultural wreckage Trump has wrought.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-is-telling-us-hes-got-trump-on-collusion?ref=wrap

Here’s an article from The Nation which almost makes one forget about the unprecedented level of government dysfunction that the country has been experiencing for the last two years. The focus of the article is what reforms the Dems  might bring to the fore in January and beyond for House members to chew on and most importantly bring to the attention of the American people. 

Obviously, with the Senate still in the hands of the GOP, these bills will not have a chance of becoming law. That’s not the point.  The point is to have both the Congress and presidential candidates on both sides debating the merits of these ideas.  And finally and most importantly, introducing these reforms into the national conversation will add a spark pro and con to the presidential campaigns and to the candidates. 

It is the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) which is bringing this exciting level of energy to the new Democrat 2019 assemblage. These  House members are percolating with reforms which will be considered too risky for some more centrist Dems and just perfect by the Progressive crowd.  The CPC  wants to promote such ideas as  Medicare for All, Green New Deal, a raise in the federal minimum wage and the goal of  pulling the U.S. military out of its current  engagements among other options.

Revel in the discussion of these progressive ideas as laid out in this article.  Enjoy the vision of the House majority directing the nation’s gaze to programs which would make huge improvements in the lives of millions of Americans. These program ideas will.energize the  presidential debates, which believe it or not, are planned to start in in the next couple of months.

Like  taking deep yoga type breaths which calm the nervous system. thinking of substantive Congressional reforms initiated by the Dems will erase some of the fear and frustrations connected with living in the time of the Trump presidency.

Enjoy the article.
https://www.thenation.com/article/democrats-congress-fundamental-reforms/

The Sierra Club has done a masterful job in putting together the eleven bills that the Lame Duck GOP have just  thrown together  which showcase to the state as well as to the nation their reprehensible partisan politics. In these bills, they are doing their level best to strip the powers of the incoming executive officials, thwart the the will of the of the majority of voters in the recent election, keep the straits of Mackinac at risk with line 5 and destroy precious wetlands. The enormity of this power grab shakes one’s faith in the belief that Michigan Republican Party is fundamentally a fair and honest. political enterprise. 

These anti-democratic measures are capturing the nation’s interest because their frantic efforts to enact  bills make these lawmakers look reckless and desperate. Along with Wisconsin’s lame duck assault on their incoming Dems, both sets of GOP lawmakers appear guided by a last ditch effort to hold on to power. 

The notion that the  Michigan lawmakers had a full eight years of total control to do a lot of this work and give the public a chance to provide feedback seems to elude them. It appears that they have just realized that they lost the election fair and square and like little kids who don’t want to share their toys are creating a dismaying and public tantrum. 

The Resistance needs to respond forcefully with phone calls to lawmakers and Governor Snyder, registering  dismay at this outright power grab. The Sierra Club article is the best place to start  It is both succinct and provides action steps and easy links to respond..They have put the bills in the order that they likely will be voted on. This approach allows those who plan to take action to respond to the most vulnerable bills right away. Phone numbers and email addresses are also provided below.

Please consider forwarding the Sierra Club article to all you know who likely would be interested.Encourage them to take action. Let  Rep.Vanderwall, Sen. Booher and  Gov.Snyder all understand that to Michigan voters and now to the nation their machinations make them look like political hacks with no interest in the principles of democracy  (If you reside in Michigan but outside  northwest lower Michigan, please call your own Michigan state senator and representatives).  

Michigan citizens and judges will give them the smack- down they deserve for this craziness either through lawsuits or definitely in 2020. (But consider the mayhem in the meantime.) So our lawmakers need to hear from you today.  Please let our them know that their you are not willing to stand by and let the dismantling of  principled governance go unchallenged.

https://www.sierraclub.org/michigan/lame-duck-priorities-and-action-guide

Gov. Snyder – 517-373-3400 [email protected].
Sen. Booher -517-373-1725 [email protected]
Rep. Vanderwall -517 -373-0825 [email protected]

Perhaps it is just human nature to at first be sorry to learn that Michael Flynn is not going to get jail time for his lies. After all he had the temerity to yell “lock her up” to campaign crowds regarding Hillary’s emails. As far as we know. her mistakes never put the nation’s security at risk while the same cannot be said about Flynn’s lies. He denied having any contacts with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. And with that denial the Russians had him in a compromised position.  Flynn became the marionette, and the Russians had control of the strings. Now THAT is an example of a huge security risk.

On further reflection, Flynn’s hypocrisy notwithstanding, it is important to align one’s thinking with Mueller. After all, according to Mueller, Flynn’s testimony was extremely significant and apparently launched the Mueller probe in extremely important ways. Flynn provided seventy hours of testimony over nineteen different sessions -giving Mueller and his team  an enormous amount of facts and leads to follow up on. So if  Mueller thinks Flynn deserves a get out of jail free card, then the Resistance can certainly agree with his decision..

This article from The Atlantic gives readers an excellent comeback to the argument that the Trump accomplices are guilty of only process crimes. Process crimes are lies which cover up other more questionable behaviors. GOP defenders like Guiliani infer by using that term that somehow lying does not rise to the level of substantive malfeasance – that these lies are just trifling misstatements mentioned after long hours under the heat of Mueller’s investigators’ questions.

Writer Harry Litman in this article does a beautiful job  puncturing a hole in the notion that Trump’s cohorts are guilty of mere lies.  Litman suggests that these people are genuine fraudsters who participated in a huge scam to fool the  American people. These are not trifling lies – they are intimations of repugnant  cover-ups with attendant victims.

It doesn’t take long to find an example of victims based on the work of a Trump fraudster.  Just look at the low life Attorney General,  Matthew Whitaker who was  involved in a fraudulent business which left thousands of victims, many of whom lost their life savings.  Those who voted for Trump, but wouldn’t have if they had known that he was still doing business with the Russians are victims. All of the Trump supporters today, who believe his lies are victims of Trumps subterfuge. Let the Trump attorneys call the guilty as having committed mere process crimes. All of us in the Resistance know better.

Enjoy the article.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/muellers-charges-arent-process-crimes/577351/

The hyper- partisan schemes being displayed in the past week by the Republican Legislators in both Michigan and Wisconsin has hit the national news.. . The  national media  has now become focused because these two states will play an integral role in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. These  Midwest states  went for Trump in 2016 and now have newly elected Dem Governors in place. The media is  pointing out that current flurry of bills in both states appear to be legal but are still  anti-democratic and unquestionably sabotage the will of the people in both states..  

The Washington Post reported on the GOP’s  efforts to strip the powers of the incoming Dem Governor, Attorney General and Secretary State in Michigan.  Chris Matthew and Rachel Maddow on their MSNBC programs also reported on the controversies  last evening as well. And today Vox has an article on these  same Lame Duck power moves  and is provided in the link below.. 

This display of partisanship run amok should be taken seriously by every Michigan citizen.  A bill currently under consideration would allow the GOP controlled Michigan Legislature to take a role in state laws that the new Attorney General may decline to consider. Their involvement in such matters would be considered unprecedented  interference and is likely unconstitutional.  The GOP also wants to cancel environmental restrictions on wetlands in the state to open up some of them for development. Keep in mind that one-third of the current GOP Michigan legislators are term limited or have been voted out of office.

Furious voters in Wisconsin are reacting to their Lame Duck  GOP’s efforts to emasculate the powers of the executive branch by clogging the halls of the capitol last night in protest. So far in Michigan there does not seem to be much public awareness of what is going on.  It makes sense for Gretchen Whitmer to call a press conference to highlight these partisan maneuvers so that the public can start weighing in.  

The majority of Michigan voters stated with their votes on Nov. 6 that they want the minimum wage to start in 2020. They expect paid sick leave. They are tired of  gerrymandered districts and expect relief with the passage of Proposal 2. They in addition expect it to be much easier to vote because they voted to pass Proposal 3. And finally, they want executive officials  to have exactly the same powers which Snyder and his administration have enjoyed for the last eight years. Anything less than that will elicit a firestorm among the Dems that will not be forgotten by voters in 2020.  

If the GOP in Michigan manages to enact these bills into law the Dems only recourse will be to sue that the laws are unconstitutional.. What that will do unfortunately will tie the hands of the executive branch  because their powers will have been put into question. The suits may drag along  and significantly limit the efforts of the Whitmer Administration to enact their agenda.

Right now all eyes will be focused on Gov. Snyder. None of these laws can become laws unless he signs them. Snyder is term limited and will be leaving Lansing in a few weeks. He must now determine what he wants his legacy to be. He already is tarnished with his mishandling of the Flint water scandal. Flint citizens still do not have their universally safe  water system completely restored. If he wants to burnish his legacy he will refuse to sign these bills. 

If he does sign any of them, he will put his legacy in the trash heap of history. And Snyder is still not totally free of the arm of federal law with  his mis-handling of Flint’s water crisis.. He likely will be called to testify by the federal Oversight Committee  and if he shows up with the baggage of lame duck laws that he signed, he may run into some unhappy Committee Dems..
Get involved. Don’t pass up the chance of contacting Snyder’s office.. Let Snyder know that the Michigan GOP is in a precarious position. Voters have long memories especially when their expectations are upended by miserably dirty politics. Snyder will be much better served if he leaves office with his integrity intact, and his legacy perhaps still salvageable.
 His contact info is below.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/4/18123784/gop-legislature-wisconsin-michigan-power-grab-lame-duck
Gov, Snyder – 517-373-3400[email protected].

Big news!  A three judge federal panel just ruled that the GOP in Michigan have been drawing legislative district lines which demonstrated “profound bias” in favor of their party. They also ruled that as a result, despite the fact that the Republican Party has never gained more than 50.5% of the state wide vote, they have controlled both state houses in the last three elections. The trial is scheduled for this February in federal court. This ruling is a huge win for the Michigan Dems and all Michigan citizens who believe in the importance of an even playing field. 

When a party engages in gerrymandering they have determined how to draw the lines to keep the majority of districts on their side of the ledger and thus how to retain control of both houses. With the absence of a willingness to compromise, this means the legislative wins will always be on their side. To flip such districts requires incredible work and  money for the off party candidates to prevail. And most often, the party in power has tilted the playing field so drastically that flipping rarely occurs..

As a consequence, the Michigan Dem candidates running in lopsided pro GOP districts are considered sacrificial lambs with not a whisper of a chance of winning.   With this federal ruling all that will change maybe even in time for the 2020 election. For the League in their suit have indicated that if they win the case, they want the district lines to be redrawn by the time the 2020 election rolls around. 

If this plan comes to fruition, it would mean that all the districts in both the state house and the state senate would be “in play”.  Either party would be given a 50-50 chance of winning which would automatically inject a vibrant and exciting  atmosphere into all the districts. None would be considered a “lost cause” at the start of a race and each party would be on the lookout for their very best candidates to run in each and every district. It would elicit a whole new slate of  more qualified candidates for both sides who will happily step forward to run now that the playing field has been evened out in their respective districts..

Kudos to the Michigan League of Women Voters for bringing this suit forward and suing the state.  As plaintiffs, they present a neutral position with no partisan ulterior motive or  skin in the game. Their goal is to force the state of Michigan to to provide the most fair and democratic  election environment  for every Michigan citizen.

And if you still have not weighed in on the shameful flurry of bills that the Michigan GOP is throwing together in the past week  which subverts the will of the people in the last election -PLEASE  do so today. They need to be stopped in their tracks. Gov. Snyder may be stepping down from his post but he still will be called to testify in front of the Federal Oversight Committee regarding his role in the Flint water fiasco. Remind Gov. Snyder in your message, that if he SIGNS  any of these Lame Duck egregious bills, Elijah Cummings, Chair of the Oversight Committee will know about it well before he comes to testify. Cummings will consider Snyder’s support for these anti-democratic measures  as another example of his putting party over the people. 

Finally, if you are searching for good political causes for your end of year giving – please consider the Michigan League (you can see in this post all the important work they do) or Bridge Magazine. Bridge Magazine earns top honors as the best news source in the state year after year and limps along on donations. Here is Bridge Magazine’s take of the federal ruling below as well as Leelanau’s state lawmakers and Snyder’s contact information.
https://www.bridgemi.com/public-sector/michigan-gerrymandering-trial-february-court-cites-profound-bias

Gov, Snyder – 517-373-3400[email protected].
Sen. Booher -517-373-1725[email protected]
Rep. Vanderwall -517 -373-0825[email protected]

Brian Dickerson, in his article today today in the Detroit Free Press makes an excellent case why the Michigan  Lame Duck session, since the enactment of term limits, has become a reckless, anti-democratic dark period. Instead of respecting the will of the people as demonstrated in the most recent mid-term election results, the defeated party, especially those office holders who are term limited or were defeated, feel emboldened to snub their noses at the voters and strive to thwart their wishes.  The reason is of course because they are no longer accountable to the electorate.

Under cover of night, GOP legislators have been busy coming up with bills that will effectively subvert the Dems proposed agenda.  If passed,  the bills would strip much of the power of the incoming Dem executive office holders, muck up current legislation relating to the minimum wage, make 500,000 acres of Michigan wetlands vulnerable to potential destruction and make if impossible for incoming Gretchen Whitmer to close line 5.

Now that should be enough for most  sensible voters who believe in the sanctity of majority rule, to start looking at ways to make the Lame Duck session less powerful.  For example, the Michigan Legislature could pass a law prohibiting  the ability of either the state house or state senate to pass laws during the Lame Duck session. 

Dickerson is totally on board for such a measure. He believes it is essential to take the legislative powers out of the hands of lawmakers whose party was defeated in the previous election and many of whom are heading out the door. Of course, in Michigan such steps must wait until the Dems control the majorities in both the state house and the state senate.

Sure, the outgoing legislators may make their get away unscathed. However, those members planning to run again in two years may regret getting involved in these  ill-conceived under-handed efforts. Dems and Independents will not be happy about what the GOP set out to do during the Lame Duck session of 2018.

For now, our actions steps are obvious. Our state senator, Darwin Booher and our state representative Curt Vanderwall need to hear from us re our outrage at the GOP’s covert efforts to undermine the will of the majority of voters. These renegade efforts to throw a grenade into the Dems plans by the Michigan GOP lawmakers will not be forgotten by voters in 2020. 

And now for Gov. Snyder. He is a term limited lame duck as well. If any of this dirty work by the GOP is to be enacted, it will have to be with approval of Snyder. He absolutely needs to hear from each one of us. 

We must appeal to him on the grounds that if he signs any of Snyder these bills into law his legacy goes into the dumpster. He already is being eyed by the new Dem Chairman, Elijah Cummings,  of the House Oversight Committee.  Cummings stated “I am not done with Flint”.  meaning that Snyder will definitely be called to Washington.   If Snyder  approves these bills which undermine democracy in his state he will be heading to Washington  to testify with an even bigger cloud hanging over his head. We can only hope that he will see the light and refuse to sign any of these measures.

Please let him know your thoughts. Emailing is an easy peasy way to state your opinion – but calling works too.

Enjoy the article – it is excellent..
https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/brian-dickerson/2018/12/02/kill-lame-duck/2161241002/

Gov, Snyder – 517-373-3400 [email protected].
Sen. Booher -517-373-1725 [email protected]
Rep. Vanderwall -517 -373-0825 [email protected]

The Michigan Legislature under the leadership of the gerrymandered majority of Republicans are working overtime to undue the will of the people during this current lame duck session.  They have generated 130 bills since the Nov. 6 election which if passed –   gut or seriously compromise  the power given to the Dems as a result of the Mid-Term election. 

Their efforts are anti-democratic, bald -faced power grabs in the last few weeks before the Dems take over the executive branch. If this doesn’t set the majority of Michigan voters’ hair on fire, nothing else will. And if you personally are shocked at the depth of this last gasp GOP backlash, join the state Democrat party officials who themselves are reeling from the GOP’s efforts to sabotage the Dem agenda.  

GOP Representatives and Senators have written bills which would limit Governor. Whitmer’s plans to close line 5. They have bills which would  peel away the powers of the incoming Attorney General and Secretary of State. They have decided to go after one-half of the wetlands in the state and strip them  from the environmental protections they currently have. And finally they are interfering with the rules regarding the minimum wage plans by moving the date it would go into effect to 2030.  

If any of these bills make it through the legislative process, they will land on Gov. Snyder’s desk to await his signature.  Michigan citizens will will have to wait and see what Snyder will do. Will he embrace the bills and sign them into law?   Or will he his last acts as Governor show that he does have an ounce of statesmanship and integrity to burnish his compromised?.  All of this is covered in the article by columnist  Brian Dickerson, in the Detroit Free Press in the link below.  Dickerson coins the term “Smash and Grab” to describe what the Michigan GOP is up to.  

This flurry of impediments to the incoming  Dem  agenda should prompt Michigan citizens to act. They cannot let the GOP get away with this underhanded effort to subvert what the majority of voters expected would happen in 2019..  Let Gov. Snyder know your opinion about this hyper-partisan power play. 

Gov, Snyder – 517-373-3400governo…@michigan.gov.

Likewise consider letting our state representative.Curt Vanderwall and state senator, Darwin Booher that there are many Independents and even Republicans in their districts who will vote against this kind of  dirty politics.  Engaging in such overt  partisan machinations will cost them votes the next time they are up for re-election.

Sen. Booher -517-373-1725sendb…@senate.michigan.gov
Rep. Vanderwall -517 -373-0825curtvan…@house.mi.gov

https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/brian-dickerson/2018/11/30/michigan-legislature-lame-duck/2139147002/