Month: January 2019

In surfing around for more news about McConnell’s connection to Russian money, I reported yesterday that it was curious that the mainstream media appeared to be laying low on the issue. There WERE stories out  there on the internet but they were from websites that I had never heard of before. e.g. Palmer Report. Then this article popped up from The Atlantic.  
It discusses how fake news written for the eyes of the  American Left had begun to appear on the internet. in 2017. Some of these sites were fairly innocuous taking fact-based news and tinkering with the gist of the story just a bit to make it slightly more sensational. Then there were other sites which  edged closer to outright propaganda. 
Like a whack on the side of the head, this article below has chastened me. It had never occurred to me that there was fake news out there to entice the Left. (naive, right?) Just like the Right was vulnerable to the Russian messaging about Hillary in 2016, we Lefties are vulnerable too. Most of us maintain a voracious appetite for any evidence or tell tale piece of news which will help bring Trump and his cronies down. And because I am sending out news to all of you, I bear an even bigger responsibility to make sure that the news sent out passes the legitimacy test.
So no more scrounging for mini- smoking guns on the internet. If the five star journalists who do this for a living don’t think there is enough evidence yet to out McConnell, then we can just remain patient. It will come out in due time. McConnell, the mostly unflappable Majority Leaders seems to have lost at least a touch of his composure these days. And rightly so. McConnell is compromised. His greediness evident. His integrity shot. The voters in Kentucky will have the final word in 2020  whether his greediness outweighs his worthiness to sit in the United States Senate.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/viva-la-resistance-content/515532/

Are you a Dem Lefty  Dem Tactical Centrist or Dem Centrist?Kevin Drum, in one of his short commentaries in Mother Jones  today, discusses how quickly the Lefties has taken over the Democratic Party. He gives readers a brief historical perspective on the topic and parses out the sub-groups residing  within the Party. He points out that the universal health care derided and mocked in the .90’s as unworkable has morphed into a popular campaign plank for first tier Dem candidates.  It is an interesting read. Enjoy.
https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/01/how-did-lefties-take-over-the-democratic-party-so-quickly/

In dribbles and drabs, the information about McConnell’s Russian connections keeps popping  up in the press -not yet in the mainstream media but out there nevertheless. And the fact that there has been so little reporting on such a big story remains curious until this morning when PBS jumped into the fray
The facts are indisputable. Len Blavatnik, a Russian national  contributed 3.5 million dollars in 2016 to a Republican PAC associated with Mitch McConnell..  McConnell led the GOP fight to lift the Russian sanctions and won despite the fact that all the Dems and some Republican Senators voted against the bill.
  It has just been reported, from Daily Kos, which is not a mainstream news source. that the lifting of those sanctions not only benefited oligarch Oleg Derepaska who has ties to Putin but  Blavatnik as well.  One does not have to be a forensic accountant to smell a rat.
 Obvious questions about  McConnell’s coziness with these Russian oligarchs now become even more urgent. Why would McConnell risk leading the fight to lift sanctions when his links to huge contributions from Blavatnik sit there in plain sight?  Is he. too. walking an uneasy tightrope with Russian billionaires to somehow parlay his Senate Leadership status into private millions?  Or do the Russians have leverage over McConnell as well?
 There is nothing illegal about accepting millions of dollars of political contributions to legal PAC’s. But to turn around and blatantly lead the fight to allow Derepaska, who Paul Manafort at one point owed 20 million dollars, to get his hands on his assets again looks particularly questionable. It gets too close to the Mueller investigation and the deadly serious business of Russian interference in the 2016 election.. McConnell should have stayed miles away from these links.  Was the money simply too tempting or the pressure too great?
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/28/1830431/-Mitch-McConnell-now-tied-to-Putin-Oleg-Deripaska-and-Russian-companies-after-lifting-sanctions
Dems fighting backAnd the Dems, after a couple of days of mulling over the  fact that the GOP lifted the sanctions  are fighting back.  Check out this article in the link below from PBS.  Dem Senators Adam Schiff. Maxine Waters and Eliot Engel have demanded  all the documents related to the lifting of sanctions from Sec. of Treasury Mnuchin and others  In the lifting of sanctions, Derepaska’s influence in his company Rusal was supposed to be curtailed. However, it now appears that he will continue to maintain the levers of power.  
Just follow the money is the old tried but true adage. The millions donated to McConnell, Rubio and Graham and their subsequent vote to lift the sanctions now puta a stain on all three Senators. Americans deserve an explanation.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/house-democrats-want-records-on-decision-to-lift-russian-sanctions

*Correction:

Did a little fact checking on my post sent this morning and YIKES discovered I had maligned Sen. Marco Rubio. He did NOT vote for the lifting of sanctions as I had reported. He voted against the lifting -despite receiving a huge political donation from Russian national  Len Blavatnik. Sorry about the error.  Rolling Stone link below covers the story.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/deripaska-trump-782332/

The Texas Observer has just published a vivid portrayal from two Texas sheriffs of the status at the southwest border which is in stark contrast to the mayhem described by Trump. These sheriffs, with enforcement responsibilities for hundreds of miles of border,  concur that the Trump wall is not needed and if built would be a huge waste of tax dollars.
They describe life in their jurisdictions as very safe. Murders and violent crime remain rare. Immigrants who come to the border seeking asylum are described as  primarily families fleeing violence and dysfunction in their home countries. And most importantly these desperate  people do not pose threats to the citizens living along the border.
These descriptions contrast sharply with the propaganda about the border coming from Trump. Trump insists that the border is a hotbed of  drug and sex traffickers pouring into the country as well as violent gang members intent on raping and robbing Americans once they have made it into the country.

Hmmmm……..whom to believe?  These sheriffs simply report the facts as they perceive them  They certainly would push for a wall if deep down they felt it would somehow be useful. Trump, however. is another story. He hit  the campaign stage already planning on making border security a chief rallying cry. whether it reflected reality or not.  
He captured immediate headlines by calling Mexicans rapists and got huge cheers from his supporters when claiming that he would build a fancy, expensive wall and that the Mexicans would pay for it. These voters already predisposed to resent immigrants and begrudge the illegal migrants here were overjoyed at Trump’s words. More than overjoyed, they were rapturous. Here was a candidate who spoke their language and was the opposite of PC. Trump built enthusiasm for his candidacy on the backs of the immigrants. 
It would be valuable if all of the major publications would run this article in their papers. The truth about the actual status at the border needs to be widely circulated as described by people with credibility. Here are two law enforcement  officers with commentary completely contradicting the words of the President.  They have no skin in the game.  Trump however has promises to keep.
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-border-sheriffs-there-is-no-crisis-and-we-dont-want-trumps-wall/

In the midst of the mayhem called Trumpworld comes this interesting article from  The New York Times about a  successful woman governor who also happens to be a moderate Democrat.  Raimondo, a Rhodes Scholar, Harvard educated governor of tiny Rhode Island parlayed her centrist Democrat positions to a second term in the governor’s chair. She finds herself a tad lonely  due to the flight of moderate Dems to the more energized progressive left-
It comes as no surprise that the Resistance currently favors the left. After two years of frenetic activism, Resistance voters are prepared to grab the reins of power and erase as much as possible all traces of Trump corruption and campaign dirty money avenues which helped to contort the outcome of the 2016 election. Likewise they want to obliterate  government policy which contributes to bigotry and income inequality. This zeal makes these voters ready to slay any and all  Trump/GOP dragons. Even moderate policy may be smacked down by the Resistance once they have achieved the levers of power. 
 What Raimondo suggests is that Dems should not get too far out ahead of their skis. (a phrase which means leaning too far forward in the moment  may elicit a face plant.) She worries that the Dems in their haste to undo the wrongs committed by Trump and  the GOP might alienate forces necessary to win the election. She believes that Winning the election  should take precedence  over all other priorities.
November, 2020 is a long way off.  Plenty of events may occur which easily could  change the political landscape from what it is today. And despite all polls to the contrary,  the election is not a slam dunk for the Dems. Raimondo, reminds us that moderation may be the best strategy. The Resistance, despite the raw open wound which Trumpworld  represents,  must remember the lessons of the Treaty of Versailles which was written at the end World War I in 1919.. 

The viciousness of the terms against the defeated Germans in the Treaty of Versailles created hate and bitterness for the defeated Germans. This botched effort to engender peace ultimately helped force Worled War II.  The historical lessons are:  Be mature enough to create policy which promotes a better world but not at the expense of the defeated. . Treat the defeated with respect and stop thinking of them as the enemy. Look for ways to build bridges rather than to exact retribution. And don’t gloat – it elicits deep seated animosity.  
Can the Resistance comply?  For those of us in the Resistance, who are  mad enough to wrestle a bear, this is a tough set of rules to follow. Let’s turn out attention to candidates who will bring our maturity level up to the task. Lets select candidates  who can –  turn  antipathy into positive, strategic  energy,  attract voters from the middle and thus can win. 
There have to be candidates who, among  the 20 plus  running, have the political acumen to pull it off. 
Enjoy the article.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/opinion/sunday/gina-raimondo-2020.html

Some observations since the HUGE CAVE – IN by Trump yesterday:
If the country gets to the deadline date and no compromise has been reached, anti- wall Americans should be primed and ready to march!  Non violent  marching can make people feeling solidarity with other fair minded citizens who believe such a preposterous strategy as a shutdown with so many innocent victims cannot be allowed to happen again. In addition, as  shutdowns become more frequent, recruiting qualified, high caliber applicants for government  service becomes becomes more challenging.- with a chilling impact on overall government efficiency. Shutdown are simply bad policy and must stop.
Also – lets urge House Dems to initiate a  bill that any future shutdown must include a hold on the slalaries of all members of Congress until. of course. the shutdown comes to an end. Call the bill the Share the Pain of a Shutdown bill.The bill would have no chance of passing but it would serve as a great way to remind Americans that lawmakers might not embrace  a government shutdown so readily if they actually had skin in the game.
The only good news to come out of the shutdown might be that it has now dawned on millions of Trump voters that their Art of the Deal  President displayed no deal-making skills whatsoever. He was out dueled by Nancy Pelosi and left looking doleful and clueless.  And Pelosi’s skill in staring down  Trump augurs well for the women candidates running for President in  2020. However there is no time to gloat. 
Trump foisted this suffering on innocent Americans  for a vanity wall that most Americans  don’t want or believe is worth the cost.. This malevolent, ego-driven rogue President now stands guilty of an impulsive, foolish decision aided and abetted by a bunch of amoral. self-interested GOP Senators – especially Mitch McConnell. 
 What Trump overlooked in initiating the shutdown was that the House no longer belonged to the Republicans. The Dems showed almost total unity in the voting on the two Senate bills to reopen the government. It was the GOP who showed cracks in their pro-shutdown position – six GOP Senators voted with the Dems to reopen the givernment. .
In the end, all it took was air traffic at two major airports to become  too congested  – causing safety delays and cancellations for Trump to throw in the towel. The GOP could tolerate punishing government workers to give Trump his wall. But they certainly could not abide a horrific mid-air collision or business travelers and corporate donors becoming riled up about business deals going down the drain due to flight delays.
Here is a good article from Daily Kos discussing how poorly Trump is managing  Day 2 of the 21 day interim before a compromise has to be reached. If you haven’t called Mcconnell  please do so. He has to make a good faith effort to help the bi-partisan Conference Committee reach a compromise or he too will have his favor ability polls start taking a hit – in Kentucky. Mitch is up for re-election in 2020 and Kentuckians may be getting tired of his poor leadership. 
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/26/1829829/-Donald-Trump-Just-Made-a-Fantastic-Argument-AGAINST-Building-His-Idiotic-Border-Wall

McConnell’s contact info:https//www.numbersusa.com/content/my/congress/328/contact

LPW member Helene Rabinowitz sent the message in the attachment below about her participation in an effort to bring food and other  supplies to government workers  gathered in a parking lot in Palm Beach County, Florida. Helene reported how grateful these workers  were for the support. She urged us all to keep the pressure on McConnell  today as the Senate actually takes a vote on two separate bills which, if passed, would reopen the government..
The media is reporting that negotiations are going on behind the scenes and even if the bills go down to defeat vote (as they reportedly will)  a breakthrough deal may be reached.  The Dems realize despite the fact that Trump’s polling numbers keep slipping with this shutdown, a settlement which reopens the government has to be nailed down if possible TODAY.  It would be OK with me if the Dems throw  an item or two which allows Trump to save face as long as he doesn’t get the his wall..Thr priority has to be to reopen the government.
Yesterday, the national flight attendant’s union announced it was considering a strike due to the fact flight safety had become more precarious.And the pressure with the shutdown keeps building with more grave risks to the nation. 
What an irony. Trump’s tantrum and obstinacy re his demand for a wall to increase national security has put the nation in a bona fide national security meltdown. Security at our borders has become more shaky, airport screening comprimosed, as has actual flight and food safety. The normal work of the FBI has been hamstrung, as has the ability of the Coast Guard to do its job.The Internal Revenue now predicts that tax returns will be delayed and the economy is beginning to show the effects. And of course the obvious victims, government workers contractors, Native American tribes report that people are reeling at their loss of incomes, food distribution networks for the tribes. They are beginning to show up at homeless shelters for food. They are desperate. 
Who would have thought after the Trump win in November, 2016 that the hate mongers on conservative talk radio would hold such sway over him?. Who would have believed at the time that at their urging, Trump would bring our nation to its knees over his impetuous promise to build a wall on our border? Well, it happened. And we have a job to do. Here is McConnell’s contact info. Try calling one of his satellite offices in Kentucky to talk to a real person.

Mitch McConnell has been named the worst Senate Majority Leader since the  early 1920’s when the era of electing a Senate Majority Leader began. This appraisal comes from Norm Ornstein, a political science scholar and lauded expert on the U.S. Congress who is a registered Dem but considers himself a centrist. He shared his evaluation of MCConnell and included McConnell’s  submissiveness to Trump, his total lack of leadership re the shutdown. and damaging changes to the Senate rules as reasons for placing him at the bottom of Majority Leader rankings.  Ornstein shared this assessment on MSNBC last evening with Lawrence O’Donnell. 
This ranking for McConnell seems appropriate especially today when his enabling of Trump has fostered this record-breaking government shutdown. Pressure must continue to be put on McConnell to place a bill on the floor that will reopen the government. Any more delays on his part will simply foster more suffering and fuel the speculation that he is hiding something as well.
Unlike other Senators, McConnell as Senate Majority Leader must listen to the voices of all Americans. Call, email, fax or snail mail McConnell demanding that the government be reopened.  Consider sending your message all four ways to make sure that MCConnell gets the message. 
McConnell’s Contact Info:  This link provides phone numbers for his satellite offices as well as phone number in Washington D.C., his fax #, snail mail address and email address.  https//www.numbersusa.com/content/my/congress/328/contactHere is this week’s Americans of Conscience checklist. 
https://americansofconscience.com/1-20-2019/

The Checklist, as it does every week, warms the heart. It provides news about people all over the country, doing what they can to make things better to counter Trump’s cruel policies.. Just reading the list makes one feel solidarity with activists who refuse to remain passive in the face of great need. 
Celebrities and ordinary citizens alike, believe that the suffering of the innocent victims – government workers, contractors and ancillary victims like Native Americans rest squarely at the feet of Trump and McConnell. They also believe that this bald face cruelty, so glaring and obvious, demands action. And so in small ways and large, groups and individuals are stepping up to do what they can to aid the victims Click on any one of them to give yourself a boost  

According to this article from The Hill, some voters in the Trump base appear to be experiencing a change of heart in their allegiance  to Trump. Many of these people are describing this transformation with the question What were we thinking by voting for him?. Their original intent they report, in voting for the inexperienced, bullying, billionnaire candidate was to shake things up in Washington.  
This desire for a shake-up emanated from a a growing sense of resentment and disgruntlement with the status quo. Throughout Obama’s two terms, voters from a certain demographic group began to believed that the federal government now catered to the minorities in the country more than to their group of non -college educated whites. They felt a loss of status and respect and the idea of voting for this guy Trump who offered to go to Washington and trash the establishment seemed like a good idea at the time. 

Now inexorably, Trump’s shiny veneer has worn thin for a small segment of the Trump base. Trump’s numbers are beginning to slide. Not a lot but enough to take note.. From the Resistance perspective, this news comes with the automatic follow-up question, What took them so long to see the light?
But the anti-Trump crowd must be patient and remember that the typical Trump devotee was looking for a way to lash out at  the elites and the establishment in Washington.. These feelings went deep in 2016 and were compounded by the slow wage growth and the down-turn in manufacturing in the rust belt states over recent years. Trump deftly exploited their fears and growing animosity. 
For Trump supporters to come to the realization that he used them for his own self interest and not to serve their needs is a bitter pill to swallow. It is easier on the ego to stick with Trump and disbelieve all the evidence piling up that he has been a con man in business and remains one in the Presidency. Imagine how difficult it can be for a Trump voter to accept that  he is a criminal and maybe even an asset to the Russians as well.. That enough Trump voters have become disillusioned to show up in the polls, can be viewed as good news. 
And who knows?  This slight ticking down of Trump’s favorability numbers may not last. As the author of The Hill article suggests, the enlightenment may only be temporary and those newly dissatisfied Trump people may, alas, return to the fold.
The Resistance, however, for the time being anyway. can take heart with the recent polls. Taking the optimistic view, this tiny crack of disillusionment in Trump’s base,may foretell a gaping break – with Michael Cohen’s testimony only days away. In the meantime lets breathe a happy sigh that a few Trumpies have for now, had their epiphanies.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/426057-trumps-base-shows-signs-of-eroding-ahead-of-re-election-bid

Traverse City’s 3rd Annual Women’s March

Hope you are planning on attending the Women’s March in Traverse City or one close to wherever you happen to be.  Women made considerable political strides in 2018 – especially by winning seats   in the House and in state government positions all over the country. And talented woman plan to run for President in 2020. 
 This will be an exciting year to watch more women politicians than ever make their mark in government. Please consider starting it off with a bang.  It is hard to beat the camaraderie, signs and chants which have become core parts of the women’s marches.
Traverse City –  January 19, Saturday, 1:00 p.m. The link below gives the details.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#search/victoria+++gutowski/FMfcgxwBVDHXXGwSmgBzqrbvrxFhlqKq

From Leelanau Indivisibles:
Save the date for this upcoming event. 
American Promise is a non-partisan group committed to getting a Constitutional Amendment that overturns Citizens United and to get money out of politics once and for all.  According to American Promise, they are already getting bi-partisan Congressional support for this idea.  One of their founders has spoken to Jack Bergman who indicates he thinks this is a good idea—although he has not given a firm commitment yet.  
Let’s show up and show strong support for the Northwestern (lower) Michigan launch of this initiative.
Here’s a petition for Mitch McConnell to place the open the government bill  up for a vote in the Senate.  Please consider signing.– https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/FMfcgxwBVDGPCkPcKGxvrjhQpSRmbSvd

Sen. Gary Peters speaks in Suttons Bay
Michigan Senator Gary Peters will be speaking at the VI Grill on Sat. Jan 26, at 10:00 a.m. in Suttons Bay.   This event is a great opportunity to meet with the other Senator from Michigan.  (We seem to hear much more from Sen. Debbie Stabenow than Peters.)  He will explain what he has been up to and how he feels about Mitch McConnell’s actions.
And think of all the good questions that should be asked. Hope you can attend.. 

Nancy Pelosi’s brilliant move
 In her postponement of Trump’s State of the Union Address in the House to Congress on Jan. 29, 2019, Nancy Pelosi  craftily took away from Trump, for now anyway,  an event he loves.. The State of the Union Address has all the elements of pomp and circumstance in which the President is totally in the limelight -all Congress members in attendance – half of whom are partisan  bound to applaud everything a President  says and stand up when he/she puts forth a really big idea.  All of the networks are on hand along with the foreign press plus Supreme Court members, military brass and a  huge crowd in the balcony filled with supporters and important people.  What a joy  the Address offers Trump – the chance to read by teleprompter his propaganda to the nation and bask in the warm spotlight and faked adulation.
And yesterday Pelosi yanked the event right out from under him. She stated the reason was simple – that due to the shutdown Homeland Security could not adequately guarantee the security of Trump and all the VIPs attending the event.  
 Kirstjen Nielsen, Homeland Security Secretary, quickly tried to push back saying oh no, there would be enough security personnel to handle the event – even though they would all be working without a salary.. But alas (for Trump), last year Nielsen had  released a federal policy that the State of the Union event would require the highest level of security. This level could obviously NOT be met during a shutdown . So Nielsen’s last minute effort to bring the Address back to life failed due to her own policy. Pelosi, of course, knew about the policy in advance and knew that it would curtail Nielsen from coming to the rescue. .
Here is the Washington Post article on Pelosi’s “brilliant” (Post’s word choice) maneuver.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/16/pelosi-asking-trump-postpone-his-state-union-is-her-latest-power-play-this-shutdown-impasse/?utm_term=.ff1b3b8221d6
Trump’s pettiness on full displayAnd after a 24 hour delay from Trump about the postponement, he finally sent a letter to Pelosi.  In the letter he told Pelosi that she could not travel with the Congressional Delegation in a military plane to Afghanistan, Brussels and Egypt.  Sadly, this trip had not been publicized due to security concerns so the letter from Trump effectively outed the trip to the world. The trip for now was canceled. Here is Daily Kos article on Trump’s response to Pelosi.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/17/1827112/-In-fit-of-rage-Trump-cancels-Pelosi-trip-to-Afghanistan-endangering-her-and-national-security

to ask him is why it is that McConnell’s connections to Russian oligarchs and Chinese officials has received such little media attention.  Do the Dem Senators talk amongst themselves about his conflicts of interests?  What is their opinion about McConnell’s connections?