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| credit: Patrick Chappette Wackydoodle sez: He's yuge! |
The power of the Big Lie is remarkable, and Don Veto is playing that for all it is worth. A former Justice Department spokesman offered his opinion, “I know of no instance where the [Justice] department has been able to affirmatively restrain anyone from executing their First Amendment rights, especially if they were responding to a lawful subpoena.” US Person says, it is a minor relief to know the First Amendment is still good law, even if you cannot find a job. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a motion to cite the Attorney General for contempt of Congress.
{4.05.19) Is it because this has been seen before that official Washington is doing its dead level best to run away from a corrupt executive undermining the very charter he is sworn to uphold from "all enemies foreign and domestic"? Democratic legislators' lack of urgency, and instincts for nothing but official self-preservation is offensive to the extreme. Why don't more people vote? Look no further than the here and now: they simply do not think they are being represented, so why bother. Trump has built his political viability on the bedrock of an inflamed reactionary base that is occasionally and alarmingly out of touch with reality. Why else would they cheer his outrageous lies, bombastic and incendiary rhetoric, nonsensical policies, and distracting political brawls? It is time for a united front against the forces of authoritarianism, or the pusillanimity of Democratic hacks will be our nation's undoing. Trump has shot democracy on 5th Avenue in broad daylight. Now the only question is: will his boast prove accurate?
Congressional oversight is a fundamental feature of our co-equal system of federal governance. Forcing Congress to resort to litigation to obtain Executive Branch cooperation when there is evidence of serious malfeasance on the record is resource consuming and contemptible. To label the Russian investigation a political "witch hunt" or a "hoax" is as deceitful as the lies they spin about Don Veto's relationship with Vladimir Putin. Worse than that, it is debilitating. But as long as the very white boys foment a massive legal battle with Mr. Nadler and his colleagues, they will never have to even talk in public about the boss' real connection². Except when Individual I gets on the phone with his buddy Vladimirovitch to laugh about the whole enchilada. If Putin's web-based interference in our election process was intended to undermine our political institutions, which is the conclusion of our own intelligence establishment, then Putin has received a "yuge" return on his investment.
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| credit John Cole BC Idonwanna sez; Operators are standing by! |
2. Trumpland has launched two lawsuits to block subpoenas for evidence from third persons, refused to allow Executive branch officials to testify to Congress, and is now trying to figure out how it can stop former official Don McGahn, a private citizen who is willing to appear, from testifying before Congressional committees when executive privilege has already been waived. The Justice Department is refusing to hand over the unredacted Mueller report and its supporting evidence, claiming the congressional demands are "not legitimate oversight" The very white boys' contempt of Congress knows no bounds: the Treasury Department has blown past two deadlines for surrendering Individual I's tax returns that it is REQUIRED by law to divulge. Barr's blatantly obvious shilling for his corrupt boss is just one aspect of the Very White House's aggressive cover-up. The operation makes Nixon's White House cover-up operation look pathetic.
Barr endorses an extreme philosophy of executive power and has a history of mischaracterizing unfavorable conclusions and information in so-called 'summaries'. When he worked at DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel, he issued a secret memorandum authorizing the FBI to make fugitive arrests overseas even if the extraterritorial arrests violated international law. This memo apparently justified the abduction and transportation to the US of Panamanian dictator, Manual Noriega, to face drug trafficking and money laundering charges. Congress demanded to see the opinion. Barr refused to release it, instead offering to provide an account that he said “summarizes the principal conclusions.” He used the same language to describe his four page whitewash of the Mueller Report. When the secret memo finally saw the light of day, Barr’s summary had omitted some of the most consequential and incendiary conclusions from the actual opinion. You cannot give Barr credit for originality, but at least he is consistent.