Make Way for 2020

It’s the end of 2019 and the political chaos continues.

Three years after stealing the election, tRump is still in office. The investigations that began even before he took office are still under way and are producing more evidence of corruption every day. That’s in addition to the dirty dealing that has resulted in two articles of impeachment: Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

It seems as if this exercise in accountability has gone on forever, but in reality it’s only been a year since the Democrats took over the House and the Republicans’ grip began to slide. Hours of testimony and revelations by civil servants have resulted in impeachment. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was under fire early on, played her cards carefully. It was a carefully orchestrated process with the Republicans kicking and screaming and denying all way. And the Tweeter-in-Chief, unable to vary his vocabulary, screamed “hoax,” “sham,” and “witch hunt” in defense.

There is no defense. A new scandal is lurking around every corner. Administration insiders are turning or being fired, exposés are being written, hearings and investigations bring new facts to light.

The cluster-fuck that is his administration has led to the gutting of environmental protections, agencies run by clueless clowns, unbridled cruelty toward immigrants, and the rise of hate groups.. Anyone disagreeing with him is ousted and tweet-shamed. He’s become a laughing stock among our longtime allies, including England’s Boris Johnson, his brother from another mother. Attorney General William Barr and Rudy Giuliani (whatever position he's holding) galavant across the world undertaking shadow relations with dictators.

  

The much-anticipated Mueller report, at more than 400 pages, was a bit of a disappointment. It was incriminating but didn’t result in the indictment of the president because, well, a sitting president cannot be indicted. It was up to Congress to follow through, and it has, after a fashion.

The tipping point came with the revelation that vital aid to Ukraine was withheld in exchange for dirt on the Bidens and conspiracy-laden information on the Crowdstrike server.

That made the grounds for impeachment much simpler than dissecting the Mueller report. 

tRump has bucked the process all the way, refusing to allow witnesses to testify or providing documents. He is apparently unaware that those actions makes it evident he is hiding his guilt. His only defense is the insults tweeted daily at Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats.

Speaking of tweeting… That constant barrage alone points to tRump’s increasingly deteriorating mental instability. His “rallies” are exercises in incoherent, obscenity-laced word salads.

  

Medical professionals such as Dr. Bandy X. Lee have been dissecting his psychological state (agreeing on a diagnosis of malignant narcissism) from year one and have only increased their alarms. More recently, he seems to be developing a Messianic complex, blindly fueled by pseudo-Christians.

That’s an issue that hasn’t even been touched legislatively. Invoking the 25^th Amendment calls for consensus by the vice president and the cabinet. Pence is a sycophant; given his complicity in the Ukraine scandal, one would think he’d want to turn on tRump to save his own skin. And the cabinet is full of “actings,” those who are living under tRump’s thumb.

The Senate trial that will follow the articles of impeachment already has the makings of a nightmare. Pelosi is sitting on the articles pending the approval of rules by the Senate, leaving Moscow Mitch McConnell to stew in his juices over the holiday recess. He’s refusing to call witnesses (compounding evidence of guilt). Sen. Lisa Murkowski mumbles about being “disturbed” and Sen. Susan Collins makes noises about being “open” to calling witnesses. Come on! It’ll only take a few of you.
 

Meanwhile, the Democrats

For the past year, a huge flock of Democrats has been competing for the 2020 presidential nomination, led by Biden, Warren, and Sanders. Others have come and gone. With the exception of a few wingnuts like Gabbard and Williamson and billionaires such as Bloomberg and Steyer who are trying to buy the election, all have good messages. But the debates, which have been an exercise in who has the pithiest quips, have not produced any serious frontrunners.

Simply, they must get their shit together. Yes, we need serious improvements to health care coverage, but whatever is proposed will have to be blessed by Congress. Standards of living need to be improved, climate change needs to be taken seriously, and the wealthy need to start paying their fair share. They all agree on those issues.

Please, put your heads together, choose a couple of strong candidates, and do what it takes to beat Donald tRump.     
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