Vidal
Vidal's JournalPete Buttigieg says there is 'no question' that Trump faked a disability to avoid fighting in Vietna
From an article at Business Insider:
In an interview with ABC News, which aired on Sunday, 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said that there is "no question" that President Trump faked a disability to avoid serving in the Vietnam War.
"There is no question, I think, to any reasonable observer that the president found a way to falsify a disabled status, taking advantage of his privileged status in order to avoid serving," he said.
He continued: "You have somebody who thinks it's all right to let somebody go in his place into a deadly war and is willing to pretend to be disabled in order to do it. That is an assault on the honor of this country."
Read More: https://www.businessinsider.com/pete-buttigieg-accuses-trump-of-faking-disability-to-avoid-vietnam-2019-5
Trump's stonewalling of the Democrats is actually speeding the courts up to shoot him down
In a column for POLITICO, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said that President Donald Trump and his legal team’s strategy to stonewall the Democrats and run out the clock by using the courts until after the election is backfiring. With Trump ignoring Congressional subpoenas, daring Democrats to take him in court, Mariotti said the president will come to regret it because it will likely lead to impeachment hearings sooner than later.
“In the space of three days this week, two federal judges ruled decisively in favor of Congress’ right to subpoena President Trump’s personal financial and business records,” he wrote. “The speed of the decisions—unusual in complex federal litigation—demonstrates a significant flaw in the administration’s ‘fight all the subpoenas’ strategy. More importantly, it suggests that Trump’s strategy of categorically fighting all Congressional subpoenas will undermine his ability to stonewall Congress in subsequent cases.”
According to the ex-prosecutor, Trump is doomed because the Constitution could not be clearer about how the government is supposed to work. “Trump’s argument is doomed to fail in the courts because the constitution gives the House the ‘full Power of Impeachment’ and it could not exercise that authority without investigating presidential wrongdoing,” he explained. “If Trump’s team is not alarmed by the speed and sweeping nature (not to mention the almost dismissive tone) of the two judgments against the president, it should be. Trump’s strategy on a variety of fronts has been to take extreme positions denying Congressional authority to investigate the presidency.”
“The Achilles heel of Trump’s strategy is that his extreme positions are not fact-specific or nuanced and are easily disposed of as legally groundless,” he explained. “If Trump continues down this path—over former White House counsel Don McGahn’s refusal to appear before the House Judiciary, for example—expect to see more swift rulings swatting down his legal arguments in the coming weeks and months. No court is going to rule that the Executive Branch can categorically refuse to produce evidence and witnesses from a criminal investigation of the president of the United States from the House of Representatives.”
He then said Trump’s adviser’s should re-think what they are doing if they want to succeed because they could be accelerating presidential impeachment hearings. “His strategy is not only generating adverse results quickly, but it could very well convince a court that he is acting in bad faith,” he said. “If that happens, the House could get the courts to do what it is ill-equipped to do itself—enforce compliance with Congressional subpoenas.”
“That could get Congressional investigations, or even an impeachment inquiry, off the ground,” he added.
Read More:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/26/trump-tax-returns-subpoena-226987
Here's how Bernie Sanders made his millions -- and why it matters in the 2020 election
Very good article in CNBC this morning:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/24/where-bernie-sanders-money-comes-from.html
The independent senator from Vermont has enjoyed a recent windfall driven by book deals. In both 2016 and 2017, Sanders and his wife, Jane, had adjusted gross income of about $1.1 million, according to tax returns his 2020 presidential campaign released last month. The couple followed it up with about $560,000 in income last year. The totals mark a stark increase from 2015, when they made roughly $240,000.
The tax returns raised questions about whether Sanders' newfound wealth conflicts with his message. The senator, who wants to hike taxes on the wealthy to build up social programs such as "Medicare for All" and tuition-free public college, says his fatter wallet will not affect his plans. During a CNN town hall last month, Sanders responded to questions about his wealth by saying, "I plead guilty to have written a book which was an international best-seller."
"But I think your question should ask, well, now that you wrote a book, you made money, is that going to mean that you change your policies?" Sanders continued during the event. "Well, you're looking at somebody who not only voted against Trump's disastrous tax plan — 83 percent of the benefits going to the top 1% — but I have and will continue in this campaign to fight for progressive taxation."
How Trump Ends Up in Jail
It just occurred to me what Nancy Pelosi's real game plan is: for Donald Trump to end up in jail as soon as possible.
She has been focusing 100% on winning the 2020 elections, and having another Blue Wave like we had in 2018.
When that happens, we'll not only keep the House but also get the Presidency (maybe the Senate but not likely).
She knows that as soon as Trump is no longer president he can be indicted and arrested and put on trial and be convicted and END UP IN JAIL.
So it's very simple: she is thinking about that one thing only: beating Trump in 2020.
Everything she says and does is for the purpose of achieving this one goal.
Not only will it save our democracy, but it also is the fastest way for Donald Trump to FINALLY pay the price for all of his crimes and evil misdeeds and go to prison, where he truly belongs.
Book Review: Bernie Sanders: Has anyone read . . .
Have you read any of Sanders' books?
If so, please let us know what you think.
Were there new ideas mentioned and discussed, or rehash of old ideas?
Thanks!
Federal judge partially blocks funding for Trump's border wall
Source: The Hill
A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction partially blocking President Trump's plan to fund a border wall with Mexico with money from the Defense Department.
According to Politico, which first reported the ruling, California U.S. District Court Judge Haywood Gilliam issued the order Friday, limiting construction to specific border areas and blocking the administration's plan to use Pentagon funds from various areas to pay for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump made an emergency declaration earlier this year to circumvent Congress and reallocate funding from the Defense Department to begin work on the wall. A border wall was one of Trump's campaign promises and has been at the center of policy debates during his presidency.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/445528-federal-judge-partially-blocks-funding-for-trumps-border-wall-report
Honest Question for Sanders and Warren Supporters
OK, let me be honest: I like Elizabeth more than Bernie.
And, I have lots of friends who were and are huge Bernie fans.
The discussion I've had is this: they tell me that Bernie's ideas are almost the same as Elizabeth's policies and proposals.
But my initial reaction is: NO, that's not true.
It seems to me that Bernie is talking about mostly the same stuff he talked about in 2016.
It also seems to me that Elizabeth has a lot of bold, new progressive ideas that Bernie doesn't have.
Are my friends right, that there is not much difference between the two?
I think this is important because over the next year i see these two as competing against each other for the progressive votes in the Dem. primaries.
Is it just me, or is foreign policy not being discussed enough?
Joe Biden has credentials in foreign policy -- and experience -- far above any other candidate.
He would do more to restore U.S. standing in the world, and to restore our reputation, than any other candidate.
He has friends among our allies all over the world.
It seems to me that this isn't being discussed enough.
I love the progressive policies for changes in taxes and social programs, but right now we need to reverse the damage done to our country by Trump, because many of our allies no longer trust us to be a force for democracy.
What do you think?
Pelosi Fight With Trump Is Part Of Her Impeachment Strategy -- I think it's working
It really does look like Pelosi is working her strategy very effectively. She's playing the long game, and getting Trump to react on a daily basis. Right now, she is clearly winning.
From Talking Points Memo:
Donald Trump leaned into his squabble with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday, retweeting a Fox Business Network compilation of Pelosi tripping over her words during a press conference.
“He’s distracting from House Democrats’ great accomplishments,” Pelosi tweeted in response.
Per the New York Times, the dramatic escalation in their argument, starting with the dueling press conferences after a scuttled infrastructure meeting, was by Pelosi’s own design. She reportedly wanted to shift the national conversation off the impeachment debate roiling her caucus with an attack that would garner extensive media coverage.
Her aggression towards Trump is also a tactic to help her not appear soft on the President while dissuading her caucus from going after impeachment, since she’s been arguing that Trump wants them to start proceedings so he can be exonerated by the Republican-led Senate.
Link: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/pelosi-fight-trump-impeachment-strategy
Here's Nancy's tweet where she again suggests an intervention:
https://twitter.com/TeamPelosi/status/1131751809406722050
By the way, Trump's "disapproval ratings" have been going up over the past week.
Per FiveThirtyEight.com, he's now got a net negative approval rating of minus 12.7, on average:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo
I think Nancy should just keep doing what she's doing, and let Trump keep losing in court. The truth will come out eventually, and when it does, Trump will be toast. Right now Pelosi is burning him, slowly and steadily.
Did Trump Commit an Impeachable Offense Yesterday?
Most people, if they refuse to do their job, will be fired.
Yesterday Trump said he refused to do his job.
He should be fired.
https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/1131530968647520256
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