A year ago today, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. In his plea to Senators to convict the president, Adam Schiff (D-CA), the lead impeachment manager for the House, warned “you know you can’t trust this president to do what’s right for this country.” Schiff asked: “How much damage can Donald Trump do between now and the next election?” and then answered his own question: “A lot. A lot of damage.” “Can you have the least bit of confidence that Donald Trump will… protect our national interest over his own personal interest?” Schiff asked the senators who were about to vote on Trump’s guilt. “You know you can’t, which makes him dangerous to this country.’’
Thank you Heather for unpacking another day of a shitstorm, otherwise know as the United States of Trump.
I feel my level of being discouraged with this Country is that no one is stepping up to stop this bullshit. Trump and his accomplices are burning it to the ground as we stand by watching. This country looks like the dysfunctional family that lives down the road that regardless of how many times you call the police, CPS and any other agency, you get the same answer, "we can't do anything about it". I can't possibly be the only one sick of this.
Adam Schiff clearly called this a year ago. Why didn't we dig our heels in then ?
His criminality is bottomless. He's doing what he is to the election and riling up the evolutionary U-turns to take their money. It's no different from his casinos, his "university," or any of his many other scams - except that doing this, he doesn't have to worry about them suing him for not delivering anything to them, or going bankrupt through mismanagement that forces investors to go after him. It's "free money" to him, with no restrictions on what he can do with it. It's the ultimate "fleece the rubes" scam.
And the worthless scum calling themselves "Republicans" are worse, that they see it, know what is happening, and are fine with it since they too get to fleece the rubes.
Jen O'Malley Dillon was right: they ARE "fuckers."
Every day, another proof that President Truman was right 72 years ago: "the only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies."
Even though I know McMurdering McConnell and his Minions are evil, cynical power mongers who don't give a crap about people dying, losing their homes, and the world going to hell, I weirdly continue to be surprised by the depths to which they are willing to go in order to facilitate the deranged tantrums of their Dear Leader. I agree with you, HCR, that the "decision" to stop Biden's team from gaining access to DOD reports--and I would not be surprised if the rest of the transition ground to a halt as well--has to do with the Russian hacks. Putin has probably told his little Donny that he needs to prevent Biden from learning how deep they got so that they can continue to monitor and mess with our essential infrastructure systems.
The fact that their actions are utterly illegal has no effect: this "administration" has refused to abide by subpoenas, judicial decisions, and congressional condemnation and blithely ignore all references to the rule of law--and they get away with it. Why? How? Because Moscow Mitch and His Merry Band of Traitors are protecting the Deranged One and his enablers.i They have spent four years engaging in historic levels of illegality. Why stop now? To expect that they would come to some level of consciousness of their culpability now at the end is fantasy.
When do we make the entire "Republican" Party an illegal domestic terrorist organization? Because that is what they are.
A powerful summary this morning Professor, and as has been said many times, this one day in the news of our “President” would be enough to fuel years of Republican investigations, hours of vein-bursting outrage on Fox et al, and reams of self-righteous print from the old guard, lard-ass, Republican Intelligentsia (oxymoron alert).
But what strikes me is something you noted some days back when bodies started piling up in the Defense and Intelligence mortuaries as Trump launched his campaign to purge the few remaining truth-tellers following four years of filling posts with true believers.
The internet attacks on Homeland Security, Commerce, Treasury, and others that began in March have now begun to come to light. It isn’t much of a stretch to imagine that similar attacks on vital domestic infrastructure are taking place under the radar as well – water, power, banking, communications …
Trump delayed the standard briefings for the incoming Administration and now Defense is stalling its briefings and lying about it. The distribution of the Covid vaccine is in shambles, the Federal Reserve is having its legs cut out from under it, all as the inevitable reality of Trump’s exit from power draws near.
Is it preposterous to believe that all of this is of a piece? Who benefits when the incoming Biden Administration takes office facing not only a floundering economy and a raging pandemic, but hamstrung by deliberate actions of the current Administration to deny them critical intelligence at a time when the nation is under attack?
Professor Richardson: You started these Letters during the administration of a President who challenged the integrity of our Democracy. Now, as his term of office comes to an end, it seems to this reader that your voice needs to be heard ever more broadly. Thank you for what you do – I pray you are able to continue this work.
I can’t remember where I first read it, maybe from Malcolm Nance or Sarah Kendzior, but this question haunts me: If Tя☭mp were in fact working for Putin, what would he be doing differently than what he’s doing now?
Trump is burning the country down and some of those who are sworn to protect it are passing the gasoline and matches to him and setting stage to blame it on someone else. Truly disturbing.
He is a very angry man with a lot of power. I have to give him and his enablers credit for how inventive they are for using our own freedom to assault us.
I feel like America is on suicide watch.
I wonder what his escape plan is when leaves the burning building? The fire brigade will show but I’m sure that some demented soul will not allow them to turn on the water.
The only thing that stands between us and them is our reasoning and our sense of personal power. I see a lot of statements here indicating we are weak and we have no choice. That mentality will bury us for sure. We are not poor things having things done to us. Remember, we are in the majority and we are bright people to say the least. Let’s not walk around in fear that we are being destroyed because in fact if we do that’s exactly what will happen. Keep the faith!
Thank you for this eye-opening, detailed, and alarming summary. How bad it can get? = limitless as you have shown. Will the parties "come together" to save the country? I think not. I think heavily hyper-partisan gerrymandered Wisconsin provides a model. The Democratic governor there has been hamstrung by Republicans contolling the state senate and assembly. They passed legislation just before the transfer of power in 2018 limiting the governor's and state attorney general's powers, they've refused to confirm department heads and then used that to deny powers (the Dept. of Health Services head is still unconfirmed and COVID restrictions have been challenged because of that), they've done pretty much nothing during the whole year to help the people, though they have challenged all mask and distancing rules in the conservative state supreme court and did manage to install an unpermitted Christmas tree in the closed capitol. BUT, they won another term as the "minjority" in November. For all the hoo-haw about how successful was the state Democratic party, they were not able to take back control of the legislature. And this is where the state story intersects with the our national future if national Democrats choose to not fight like hell for big people-helping policies and instead return the same centrists, "deficit hawks," and corporation-connected members to power as they mostly seem to be doing. We will just end up back in Hell's anteroom, but next time with a much more evil and effective Devil, I fear. This deliberate destruction by Republicans won't be stopped with an olive branch and a return to "normal," I think.
Gosh...where to start? One thing is for certain, Fake 45 and his minion want to bury the bodies before they are found by the transition team. The team will need metal detectors once they gain access to everything. That is if Biden and Harris ever physically make their way in! The muck and the thorns will be so thick...
So far, Fake 45, McTurtleneck, and the silent GOP continue to push the proverbial envelope. How come Democrats sit idly by? I really do not want to hear complaints. I want someone, ANYBODY to get really ticked off and go after them all! People are hungry and have no money. People are homeless. People are sick. People are dying. Do SOMETHING!
I still cannot get my head around the fact that the destruction trump is causing cannot be stopped. There is a repulsive trump cult following that is hell bent in taking this country down and they don’t even stand for anything.
Also, the video clip on Friday of pence and his wife getting the vaccine struck another visceral reaction - a sickening display of one more “me first” episode. There are front line people across the country who have been delayed in getting the shot so his gesture was hollow and insulting. We don’t need him or anyone else from the criminal cabal to show us the shot is safe!
Contrary to a comment somewhere on this thread, I strongly believe that trump is not indifferent. I think he has parked his vast derriere on the nest where vile plots are being hatched. A common thread among all the conversations and books written about him is that he is wildly compulsive about being involved in absolutely everything that's going down. Not least of which appears to be imminent war.
"(DOD) this morning abruptly halted the transition briefings the Pentagon had been providing, AS REQUIRED BY LAW, to the incoming Biden team. Observers were taken aback by this unprecedented halt to the transition process." Could I just say that I hope with my whole heart that there's more out there than "observers"? That there are fierce activists behind the bland voices and faces of pre-Biden leadership?
I get that national security et al is not something top secret details of which are for public consumption. But it would help if someone credible, sincere and tuned in would say, "We know what's going on. We're on it." For example, I would trust Adam Schiff's word. My assumption is Dems are in the dark. So, they sure as hell can't come out and say, "Bad news, Nation. We're all gonna die via trump/Miller or COVID or some Machiavellian combination of the two. Happy holidays!" The silence seems informative and is frightening.
I don't have a red-hot conclusion for this comment. That's the product of fully waking up at 2:30 a.m., wondering how to spell Diplodocus.
Thank you for another brilliant post HCR. No comfort tho. The criminality multiplies and the scams continue. I worry about the next month. a lot of time for more destruction. I hope Dem leadership stays alert. Plus will any Repubs see the light or all stay in darkness. Peace and Courage. Sleep well. Resist.
Imagine the revelations of criminality that will emerge after Trump and his ilk are out of office. Imagine learning the evidence of why Trump has done Putin's bidding to cause our nation's decline. Or the financial incentives driving a coronavirus strategy that promotes death and suffering on a scale difficult to grasp. Or the defiling and dismantling of government agencies.
I could go on, but we all know the long list. "Letters from an American" has cataloged it. The nation must know the underlying truth. All of it. The cult must be confronted with it. Perhaps some will recoil and renounce their slavish devotion to what they don't see as evil. The new administration must seek justice. Otherwise, America will never recover.
Thank you Heather for unpacking another day of a shitstorm, otherwise know as the United States of Trump.
I feel my level of being discouraged with this Country is that no one is stepping up to stop this bullshit. Trump and his accomplices are burning it to the ground as we stand by watching. This country looks like the dysfunctional family that lives down the road that regardless of how many times you call the police, CPS and any other agency, you get the same answer, "we can't do anything about it". I can't possibly be the only one sick of this.
Adam Schiff clearly called this a year ago. Why didn't we dig our heels in then ?
Be safe, be well.
His criminality is bottomless. He's doing what he is to the election and riling up the evolutionary U-turns to take their money. It's no different from his casinos, his "university," or any of his many other scams - except that doing this, he doesn't have to worry about them suing him for not delivering anything to them, or going bankrupt through mismanagement that forces investors to go after him. It's "free money" to him, with no restrictions on what he can do with it. It's the ultimate "fleece the rubes" scam.
And the worthless scum calling themselves "Republicans" are worse, that they see it, know what is happening, and are fine with it since they too get to fleece the rubes.
Jen O'Malley Dillon was right: they ARE "fuckers."
Every day, another proof that President Truman was right 72 years ago: "the only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies."
Even though I know McMurdering McConnell and his Minions are evil, cynical power mongers who don't give a crap about people dying, losing their homes, and the world going to hell, I weirdly continue to be surprised by the depths to which they are willing to go in order to facilitate the deranged tantrums of their Dear Leader. I agree with you, HCR, that the "decision" to stop Biden's team from gaining access to DOD reports--and I would not be surprised if the rest of the transition ground to a halt as well--has to do with the Russian hacks. Putin has probably told his little Donny that he needs to prevent Biden from learning how deep they got so that they can continue to monitor and mess with our essential infrastructure systems.
The fact that their actions are utterly illegal has no effect: this "administration" has refused to abide by subpoenas, judicial decisions, and congressional condemnation and blithely ignore all references to the rule of law--and they get away with it. Why? How? Because Moscow Mitch and His Merry Band of Traitors are protecting the Deranged One and his enablers.i They have spent four years engaging in historic levels of illegality. Why stop now? To expect that they would come to some level of consciousness of their culpability now at the end is fantasy.
When do we make the entire "Republican" Party an illegal domestic terrorist organization? Because that is what they are.
A powerful summary this morning Professor, and as has been said many times, this one day in the news of our “President” would be enough to fuel years of Republican investigations, hours of vein-bursting outrage on Fox et al, and reams of self-righteous print from the old guard, lard-ass, Republican Intelligentsia (oxymoron alert).
But what strikes me is something you noted some days back when bodies started piling up in the Defense and Intelligence mortuaries as Trump launched his campaign to purge the few remaining truth-tellers following four years of filling posts with true believers.
The internet attacks on Homeland Security, Commerce, Treasury, and others that began in March have now begun to come to light. It isn’t much of a stretch to imagine that similar attacks on vital domestic infrastructure are taking place under the radar as well – water, power, banking, communications …
Trump delayed the standard briefings for the incoming Administration and now Defense is stalling its briefings and lying about it. The distribution of the Covid vaccine is in shambles, the Federal Reserve is having its legs cut out from under it, all as the inevitable reality of Trump’s exit from power draws near.
Is it preposterous to believe that all of this is of a piece? Who benefits when the incoming Biden Administration takes office facing not only a floundering economy and a raging pandemic, but hamstrung by deliberate actions of the current Administration to deny them critical intelligence at a time when the nation is under attack?
Professor Richardson: You started these Letters during the administration of a President who challenged the integrity of our Democracy. Now, as his term of office comes to an end, it seems to this reader that your voice needs to be heard ever more broadly. Thank you for what you do – I pray you are able to continue this work.
I can’t remember where I first read it, maybe from Malcolm Nance or Sarah Kendzior, but this question haunts me: If Tя☭mp were in fact working for Putin, what would he be doing differently than what he’s doing now?
We are crippled far beyond the recovery of one term, and the suffering of people will continue for longer than we realize.
On top of all this is the knowledge that Biden / Democrats / Liberals will be blamed for everything that Trump et al have done to damage America.
I feel too much despair to even acknowledge the rage that is surely beneath it.
What more can be said?
Trump is burning the country down and some of those who are sworn to protect it are passing the gasoline and matches to him and setting stage to blame it on someone else. Truly disturbing.
He is a very angry man with a lot of power. I have to give him and his enablers credit for how inventive they are for using our own freedom to assault us.
I feel like America is on suicide watch.
I wonder what his escape plan is when leaves the burning building? The fire brigade will show but I’m sure that some demented soul will not allow them to turn on the water.
I'll give you one guess who is "distributing" the COVID vaccine to friends and the highest bidders. Yep... Jared!
The only thing that stands between us and them is our reasoning and our sense of personal power. I see a lot of statements here indicating we are weak and we have no choice. That mentality will bury us for sure. We are not poor things having things done to us. Remember, we are in the majority and we are bright people to say the least. Let’s not walk around in fear that we are being destroyed because in fact if we do that’s exactly what will happen. Keep the faith!
Thank you for this eye-opening, detailed, and alarming summary. How bad it can get? = limitless as you have shown. Will the parties "come together" to save the country? I think not. I think heavily hyper-partisan gerrymandered Wisconsin provides a model. The Democratic governor there has been hamstrung by Republicans contolling the state senate and assembly. They passed legislation just before the transfer of power in 2018 limiting the governor's and state attorney general's powers, they've refused to confirm department heads and then used that to deny powers (the Dept. of Health Services head is still unconfirmed and COVID restrictions have been challenged because of that), they've done pretty much nothing during the whole year to help the people, though they have challenged all mask and distancing rules in the conservative state supreme court and did manage to install an unpermitted Christmas tree in the closed capitol. BUT, they won another term as the "minjority" in November. For all the hoo-haw about how successful was the state Democratic party, they were not able to take back control of the legislature. And this is where the state story intersects with the our national future if national Democrats choose to not fight like hell for big people-helping policies and instead return the same centrists, "deficit hawks," and corporation-connected members to power as they mostly seem to be doing. We will just end up back in Hell's anteroom, but next time with a much more evil and effective Devil, I fear. This deliberate destruction by Republicans won't be stopped with an olive branch and a return to "normal," I think.
Gosh...where to start? One thing is for certain, Fake 45 and his minion want to bury the bodies before they are found by the transition team. The team will need metal detectors once they gain access to everything. That is if Biden and Harris ever physically make their way in! The muck and the thorns will be so thick...
So far, Fake 45, McTurtleneck, and the silent GOP continue to push the proverbial envelope. How come Democrats sit idly by? I really do not want to hear complaints. I want someone, ANYBODY to get really ticked off and go after them all! People are hungry and have no money. People are homeless. People are sick. People are dying. Do SOMETHING!
I still cannot get my head around the fact that the destruction trump is causing cannot be stopped. There is a repulsive trump cult following that is hell bent in taking this country down and they don’t even stand for anything.
Also, the video clip on Friday of pence and his wife getting the vaccine struck another visceral reaction - a sickening display of one more “me first” episode. There are front line people across the country who have been delayed in getting the shot so his gesture was hollow and insulting. We don’t need him or anyone else from the criminal cabal to show us the shot is safe!
Contrary to a comment somewhere on this thread, I strongly believe that trump is not indifferent. I think he has parked his vast derriere on the nest where vile plots are being hatched. A common thread among all the conversations and books written about him is that he is wildly compulsive about being involved in absolutely everything that's going down. Not least of which appears to be imminent war.
"(DOD) this morning abruptly halted the transition briefings the Pentagon had been providing, AS REQUIRED BY LAW, to the incoming Biden team. Observers were taken aback by this unprecedented halt to the transition process." Could I just say that I hope with my whole heart that there's more out there than "observers"? That there are fierce activists behind the bland voices and faces of pre-Biden leadership?
I get that national security et al is not something top secret details of which are for public consumption. But it would help if someone credible, sincere and tuned in would say, "We know what's going on. We're on it." For example, I would trust Adam Schiff's word. My assumption is Dems are in the dark. So, they sure as hell can't come out and say, "Bad news, Nation. We're all gonna die via trump/Miller or COVID or some Machiavellian combination of the two. Happy holidays!" The silence seems informative and is frightening.
I don't have a red-hot conclusion for this comment. That's the product of fully waking up at 2:30 a.m., wondering how to spell Diplodocus.
On we go.
Thank you, Heather. The evil that starts with Tя☭mp and percolates down to everyone in his administration is horrifying.
Thank you for another brilliant post HCR. No comfort tho. The criminality multiplies and the scams continue. I worry about the next month. a lot of time for more destruction. I hope Dem leadership stays alert. Plus will any Repubs see the light or all stay in darkness. Peace and Courage. Sleep well. Resist.
Imagine the revelations of criminality that will emerge after Trump and his ilk are out of office. Imagine learning the evidence of why Trump has done Putin's bidding to cause our nation's decline. Or the financial incentives driving a coronavirus strategy that promotes death and suffering on a scale difficult to grasp. Or the defiling and dismantling of government agencies.
I could go on, but we all know the long list. "Letters from an American" has cataloged it. The nation must know the underlying truth. All of it. The cult must be confronted with it. Perhaps some will recoil and renounce their slavish devotion to what they don't see as evil. The new administration must seek justice. Otherwise, America will never recover.