1,000 Days

From Twitter

Will the women lead to the ultimate downfall of tRump?

Donald tRump has been in office for 1,000 days. No, I refuse to use the honorific with his name because he is the furthest thing from a president the United States has ever had.

The most recent calculation by the Washington Post totaled tRump's 13,435 false or misleading claims over 993 days. 

Never have we seen the level of corruption and abuse he has created in all aspects of his administration – the White House staff, cabinet positions, judges all have questionable qualifications and histories, often mired in the swamp tRump vowed to drain.

It started with the Muslim ban and has continued through tRump’s reckless withdrawal of troops working with our Kurdish allies against Isis after some pillow talk with the Turkish president Erdogan. Both actions resulted in big time criticism and diminished standing with our allies.

In between, we’ve had a horror show of executive orders attempting to fund his wall and persecute immigrants, upend protection of wildlife and public lands, strip away LGBQT protections and women's reproductive rights, all while kissing up to the world’s dictators and playing golf with his sycophants. I’m sure I missed a lot.

Now that the Democrats have won the House and after fits and starts (and oh, yes, recesses), the impeachment inquiry has finally begun. It was triggered at last by the quid pro quo phone call with the Ukraine president and the cruel turnabout in Syria after a phone call with Turkey’s president. (Take that phone away!)

Before that however, the judiciary committee was stonewalled by refusals to honor subpoenas and to produce documents; those who showed up to testify hid behind the aprons of executive privilege or their bad memories. The White House continues to defy subpoenas and requests for documents.

Meanwhile, Republicans have been sticking their fingers in their ears, yelling “La-La-La-Oh, but Hillary’s emails,” while Moscow Mitch, whose actions are equally dubious, sits on a pile of bills (including legislation protecting voting rights and keeping foreign money out of elections) and appoints uber conservative judges.

The July 25 phone conversation between Ukraine’s Zelinsky and tRump, in which tRump made military support contingent on digging up dirt on the Bidens, seemed to be the trip wire, substantiated by the whistleblower complaint and notes on the call itself.

Further investigations are revealing a shadow state department, honchoed by Rudy Giuliani, tRump’s personal attorney, working in tandem with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (who gives the impression that he’s a former football player who took too many blows to the head) and Attorney General William Barr, who also acts as tRump’s personal attorney and Gordon Sondland, a tRump donor rewarded with the position as EU ambassador and subsequently stuck his nose in the Ukraine. And Guiliani’s clients and Ukraine hatchet men Frick and Frack (Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman) have been arrested. Oh, and John Bolton, National Security advisor, resigned and pundits are making noises that he may be the whistleblower; the hawkish Bolton may be looking to redeem himself by describing Giuliani, who is also now under investigation and will not comply with a Congressional subpoena to testify, as a hand grenade.

Enter the women

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi led the cautious way toward impeachment, almost reluctantly, despite a steady drumbeat calling for it. It was difficult to wait her out, but it seems as if her strategy is paying off. The Mueller report laid cogent grounds for impeachment, but the Ukrainian phone conversation makes it easy to understand.

Two little known women have come forth to blow the lid off tRump’s charade.

Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovich, who questioned the investigation into Biden, was summarily put on the next plane out of the country. Her opening statement is a blatant condemnation of what took place in the Ukraine. She testified for nine hours.

Fiona Hill, a Russian expert in the administration resigned and in her 10-hour testimony said she confronted Sondland, who will also testify after initially defying a subpoena.  

Looking back a year, there was Christine Blasey Ford, whose gripping testimony laid bare Bret Kavanaugh’s behavior.

It’s these women who are finally breaking though the tRump administration’s 1,000-day grip on the country and leading the way for others to come forward, including former NATO ambassador Kurt Volker; George Kent, a Ukrainian adviser (who confirms that firing Yovanovich was a smear campaign) and Michael McKinley, former aide to Pompeo, are also testifying, and  These are not high-profile players, but rather those working behind the scenes every day in the White House.
Finally, there are five women running for president. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar are solid; any of them would make an excellent president. I would pay good money to see any one of them debate tRump. Tulsi Gabbard and Marianne Williams, meh...

It would be incredibly satisfying if it were women who finally take down the most corrupt, misogynistic, bigoted president in the history of the United States. His 1,000 days in office have become a stain on our history and we have every right to fear what the next 13 months will bring.