Mitch has met his Match!
That "Mitch, I am"
That "Mitch, I am"
We have to find that "Mitch, I am."
We do not see Mitch on the floor
We see Mitch, not, behind his door
We do not see him in the hall
We do not see him on the mall
We do not see him drafting bills
We see him often schmoozing shills
His PAC's accounts now overflow
Where flacs and hacks dump dirty dough
We don't see Mitch under the dome
He counts his paychecks safe at home.
Mitch waits there for his calls from Kochs
Mitch won't respond to other folks
`Cept Vlad or Oleg if they phone
Then we will see the Mitch they own
We'll see Mitch ask "What can I do?"
To steal more crumbs from me and you
We'll see Mitch serve the oligarch
While hiding safely in the dark.
That "Mitch, I am"
That "Mitch, I am"
He's rich and doesn't give a damn.
~ Carl A. Varady
Reposted from end of previous thread:
ReplyDeleteQuote of the Day [Click] “If you’re a one-term Congress member, so what? You can make 10 years worth of change in one term if you’re not afraid.”
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), in a new video [Click] urging activists to run for office and challenge incumbent Democrats.
Paul Krugman: The Real Governments of Blue America [Click] In some states, politicians are actually trying to do their jobs.
ReplyDeleteMore Krugman: Donald Trump and His Team of Morons [Click] Nobody left besides those with no reputation to lose.
Is Ancient DNA Research Revealing New Truths — or Falling Into Old Traps? [Click] A very long read.
Oops, sorry. Meant to post this last evening when I saw it. A long read, but thoughtful and comprehensive .
ReplyDeleteHow will history judge President Trump? - Click
Putting these two opinions:
ReplyDeleteReading the Shutdown Tea Leaves [Click] “The hang ups: Democrats will need the government open to negotiate. Republicans don’t want government open to negotiate.”
Waiting for a Shutdown to End in Disaster [Click]
together reminds me of the Shimonoseki negotiations to end the First Sino-Japanese War. [Click] Li Hung-chang, the Chinese negotiator, requested an armistice during negotiations, which the Japanese negotiators refused. Then a Japanese fanatic attempted to assassinate Li, which shocked the world, the Japanese people, the Japanese Emperor, and the negotiators. The Emperor ordered the armistice to be granted immediately, and negotiations resumed after Li recovered from his wound.
I am also reminded of the way
Admiral Ding Ruchang exited his impossible situation at the Battle of Weihaiwei. [Click] Not that I think Donald Trump’s character equals that of Admiral Ding, or even that of Joseph Goebbels, [Click] for that matter; but there are ways out of the situation, which may be precipitated by unpredictable events.
I just wish something would happen...preferably something that precipitates Fart and Pence out of office. But if that were going to happen, I guess it would have happened already.
ReplyDeleteAlthough two at once does seem rather much to hope for, I must admit that "President Pelosi" has something to be said for it.
DeleteNot ideal, perhaps, but certainly preferable to the present occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. On the up side, she'd only have some two years. More importantly, a Democratic female incumbent come Election Day 2020 would be a powerful precedent.
DeleteTwo at one blow seems rather much to hope for; but a Presidential precipitation should leave Pence well chastened and with little time in office, I think.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I have rather liked the word "precipitate" ever since I I learned its etymology--pre(first, forward) capita (head) are(infinitive verb ending), so to [fall] head first.
Although two at one blow does seem rather much to hope for, I must admit that "President Pelosi" has a nice ring to it.
DeleteCan't be sure without checking, but seems to me that in Paradise Lost Lucifer, Satan as soon will be, is "precipitated" from Heaven, with the idea of being hurled head foremost clearly indicated.
DeleteYes, that was a good opinion piece from Auntie Beeb about how history will regard our Dear Leader; thanks, Cat.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteDang! Pour the bubbly back into the bottles, folks:
ReplyDeleteMueller Disputes Report on Cohen [Click]
Rats!
DeleteArrrggghhhhh!!!
DeleteCan't we please just get this disaster of an Administration over with?!!
Thanks for posting this, Alan. I admit my hopes got up a bit these last few hours.
Did anybody think to tell Mueller to HURRY UP ALREADY!!?
From the inbox:
ReplyDeleteDear Cat,
The momentum for Congress to begin an impeachment investigation of the President continues to build in the new year! We are thrilled to share with you the news that the Atlantic has become the first major media outlet to endorse impeachment proceedings. In an editorial for the March 2019 issue, Yoni Applebaum, Senior Editor for The Atlantic, details how the President has consistently failed to fulfill the oath of office and has compromised our democracy for personal gain and in opposition to the public interest.
The article echoes the grounds for impeachment we have identified since launching our campaign in January 2017 calling on Congress to take action and begin impeachment proceedings, such as the President’s failure to divest from his private business interests in violation of two anti-corruption clauses of the Constitution; directing law enforcement to investigate and prosecute political adversaries viewed as disloyal; obstruction of justice; and undermining constitutional protections of equal protection under the law.
As Applebaum notes, “These actions are, in sum, an attack on the very foundations of America’s constitutional democracy.”
The editorial explores the critical benefits of an impeachment investigation in restoring the fundamental principles of our democracy and ensuring the damage caused by this lawless administration does not continue to erode irreparably our democratic institutions. These benefits include educating the public on the President’s constitutional violations, restoring the balance of powers and challenging the President’s authoritarian propensity, uncovering further evidence in support of impeachment following the launch of an investigation, holding Congress accountable to its duty to protect democracy by conducting an impeachment investigation, and ensuring the President is not above the law.
As we have advocated, Congress must act now to hold the President accountable for his impeachable offenses, in parallel with the criminal investigation which Special Counsel Robert Mueller is conducting and which does not fully address the breadth of constitutional violations committed by the President. As the Atlantic concludes, “The gravest danger facing the country is not a Congress that seeks to measure the president against his oath -- it is a president who fails to measure up to that solemn promise.”
Click here to read the full article in the Atlantic.
Thank you for your support which makes this work possible. We are honored to stand with you at this critical moment for our democracy.
All the best,
John Bonifaz
President
Free Speech For People
Just got a fund raising e-mail from the Gillibrant 2020 exploratory committee. Must be because I donated to her senatorial campaign. I unsubscribed from the list and declined to contribute.
ReplyDeleteFrom the inbox:
ReplyDeleteDear Friends,
I am writing to bring you up to date on the latest developments in our efforts to expose the corruption in our election system.
Some weeks ago, I filed a lawsuit in Florida Circuit Court contesting the results of our November 6, 2018 election against Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Our lawyers then provided notice to the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives of our challenge and submitted a complaint requesting that the House not seat Wasserman Schultz.
Make no mistake, there are solid grounds for questioning our election results. For nearly 100,000 votes purportedly cast for Wasserman Schultz, there was no indication of where, when, or how the ballots were actually cast. According to computer programming experts, this is an indication that those votes could have been shifted from me or another candidate to Wasserman Schultz by hackers or insiders simply altering the software source code through the wireless cellular modems on the electronic scanning and tabulator machines used in Broward County. And that software is closed source, meaning it’s considered “proprietary” – the private property of the software vendors, and not subject to inspection by our experts or by anyone. We are literally asked to trust the results on blind faith.
There’s also compelling statistical evidence of election rigging. Our campaign was capped at an unlikely 5% of the vote. Moreover, we were capped at that level for every demographic group – something so unbelievable that a leading expert in computational science concluded it was as likely as winning the lottery every day for a year! Those who talk about the need to follow the science of climate change should follow the science of statistics and mathematics.
There’s also no reason to trust a recount of the purported ballots. The disgraced former Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes and other election officials failed to safeguard the chain of custody of the paper ballots, the electronic voting machines, and the digital scanned ballot images. That’s why we’re not seeking a recount, but rather asking the House to invalidate the election results and to order a re-vote.
To be continued
Concluded
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, when the new Congress convened last week, the House voted to seat Wasserman Schultz without any inquiry into our election results. This was déjà vu all over again! After a Florida court ruled last May that Brenda Snipes had illegally destroyed all the ballots cast in our 2016 Democratic primary against Wasserman Schultz, I wrote to every House and Senate member. The silence was deafening. Not one member of Congress even bothered to respond to our plea for a Congressional investigation.
The U.S. Constitution makes clear that the House is the final judge of the qualifications and elections of its members. Now that the House has seated Wasserman Schultz, our lawsuit is effectively moot as a procedural matter and we expect the Florida Circuit Court to dismiss the case any day now on narrow procedural grounds. And since the lawsuit is mooted by the House action, we will not be appealing the court’s expected dismissal.
The good news is that even though Wasserman Schultz has been seated, there’s nothing stopping the House Committee for Administration from conducting hearings on our rigged election, invalidating the election, and ordering a re-vote.
PLEASE JOIN US in calling for the House to act now by clicking here and donating whatever you can to help fund our re-vote efforts. [Click]
There’s much more at stake here than one congressional district. This system of “black box voting” undermines public faith and confidence in our election results. If the electronic voting machines were rigged in Broward County, they can be rigged almost anywhere. If we fail to clean up this corrupt election system now, electronic voting machines may well be rigged in some of the 2020 presidential primaries and general election -- and perhaps not by the Russians or Chinese.
That’s why I’ve been calling for banning these inherently vulnerable electronic voting machines and replacing them with a system of 100% hand-marked paper ballots counted by hand in public. Nothing less will help restore the conditions necessary for a functioning democracy.
Thank you for your continued support and for standing with us for real elections that are fair, transparent, and verifiable.
Sincerely,
Tim Canova