By SJWNY, a Trail Mix Contributor
We’ve come so far in our history. We have far to go, but really, where would you rather live? We can change what is wrong & bad. It is who we are.
I thought of this as I watched the State of the Union Address. President X highlights the good, taking credit wherever it can be taken. Why not. He has the bully pulpit. Then moments after, herald the opposition attack dogs, howling away whether they have good reason to or not. I’m speaking generally, apply whichever Party whatever year you wish. Formula applied = same outcome.
What else was I thinking? Election of 1884. Grover Cleveland vs James G. Blaine. “Rum, Romanism, Rebellion”: now there was a gift to political operatives who saw an opening to exploit to the fullest. Too bad for the Republicans New York was chock full o’Roman Catholic Irish men. “Ma, ma, where’s my Pa?”: Good news for the Democrats that Cleveland handled this like a responsible gentleman. Nasty year, nasty stuff. We survived.
But one nugget from that campaign was Belva Ann Lockwood. She ran for President under the Equal Rights Party & received 4100 votes. “I cannot vote but I can be voted for” she said. This was symbolic but someone had to step up & make a stand, no matter how seemingly lost the cause. Good lesson, good to remember. How else do things change?
We live in a time of doom, gloom, disrespect, division. We’ve always had these unsavory aspects in our national dna. But we overcome our shortcomings & rise above them. Everything is cyclical, the cream will rise to the top again. We had Belva then, we have Belvas today. We just need to seek them out & give them voice & support.
Perhaps You are our Belva? Hmmm?
Why not.
More Posts by SJWNY
(From last thread) – I will stop (just) short of outright calling SFB a liar in the SOTU address last night (ok, he was). What is extremely telling is how poorly he fared in the ABC and WaPo Fact Checkers this morning.
SJ, very interesting nugget there. I was unaware of that – can’t recall every having studied the Grover Cleveland election back in my polysci classes in college.
There is an increase in both the number of Democratic women running for House seats and financial support from female donors to Democratic candidates overall. Republican House candidates meanwhile have seen a slight decline
from Nov last year
Women are running and they are running as Democrats
https://www.thecut.com/2018/01/women-candidates-2018-elections.html
The one on the right looks a lot like Donny.
business insider: Train carrying GOP members of Congress collides with truck
A train carrying Republican lawmakers to a retreat in West Virginia collided with a trash truck on Wednesday morning.
One fatality has been reported and one person is in critical condition, a local NBC News affiliate reported Wednesday.
Members on board the chartered train tweeted updates on the situation immediately following the crash.
“Security and doctors on board are helping secure the scene and treat injuries,” Alabama Rep. Bradley Byrne tweeted.
“On the train and okay. Prayers for the drivers of the truck,” Montana Sen. Steve Daines tweeted.
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake told the Washington Post that there were three passengers inside the truck and that he helped carry one injured passenger to an ambulance on the scene. Flake’s 18-year-old son was on the train with him.
The GOP caucus was en route to a two-day stay at Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs. President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and members of the president’s cabinet are expected to join the congressional Republicans for a series of meetings concerning immigration, infrastructure, and foreign policy, and the upcoming midterm elections.
Justice Dept. files to dismiss charges against Sen. Bob Menendez
CNN)The Justice Department Wednesday filed to dismiss its remaining charges against Sen. Bob Menendez, likely bringing the legal case against the New Jersey Democrat to a close.
An 11-week trial last fall resulted in a hung jury. Prosecutors had accused the senator of accepting bribes from Dr. Salomon Melgen, a wealthy ophthalmologist in Florida, in return for political favors.
Menendez and Melgen pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“Given the impact of the Court’s Jan. 24 order on the charges and the evidence admissible in a retrial, the United States has determined that it will not retry the defendants on the remaining charges,” DOJ spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said.
sj – More will start to care about DACA, as they find they are not so far removed from the impact. They can’t keep up with building here in TX; they need 20,000 workers. Only the DACA folks seem to be interested in such jobs, but they can’t legally hire them…and, contractors don’t want to pay more for anyone to do those jobs. There is is home-building backlog and they are looking at an additional $5k in building costs for each home if they have to pay a decent wage to get someone to do it.
sj…. excellent column!
KGC… I’d bet good money that women will come out in droves in the 2018 and 2020 elections to vote. SFB apparently thinks that he can control women…. I can’t wait to show him… not me!
Who paid for the chartered train the GoOPerz were taking to a retreat? Who paid for the the retreat?
the hill: Trey Gowdy announces retirement from Congress
Rep. Trey Gowdy
Harold (Trey) Watson GowdyOvernight Health Care: House to begin hearings on bills to fight opioids | Groups rally against cuts to anti-drug office | Departures test insurance lobby’s clout | Amazon teaming up to cut health care costsOversight chairman threatens to subpoena HHS for withholding informationHouse Intel votes to make Nunes memo publicMORE (R-S.C.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced Wednesday that he will not run for reelection.
“There is a time to come and a time to go. This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system,” he said in a statement on Twitter.
DEVELOPING
“This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system”
sooo… is it goodbye jeff and hello trey? or will it be goodbye rosenstein and hello gowdy?
Trey Gowdy insists he is just going back to his old career. He certainly isn’t alone as the Republican Rats dive off the ship any way they can
List of Incumbents Leaving Office
The Greenbriar in Sulpher Springs (where the GoOPerz are holding their retreat is very pricey. Who is paying for it??? Their spouses are attending. Who is paying for it? Maybe the literal train wreck will know some sense into them.
Trey headed back to the Justice Dept. That doesn’t actually help.
In 1872, Victoria Woodhull was the first woman ran for President on the Equal Rights ticket.
The Strange Tale of The First Woman To Run For President
RR
that’s a sucker’s bet – we already have the evidence that it is happening —
It’s great – and what was Trey Gowdey’s previous job – I didn’t know you could get paid for being a giant flaming as–ole
Jamie,
Yes, Victoria Woodhull is the pioneer. Belva Lockwood however ties into the 1884 Campaign which had lots of hijinx & low jinx. And I liked her quote. Plus she is a WNY native 😉
Shirley Chisholm was the first Presidential Candidate I cared about.
blueINdallas,
I get your point about DACA & jobs, but most voters nationally are more concerned with me not them. Impacts in subtle ways will creep up, but the sun still rises in the east. Life goes on.
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing has the worst writers or she is a moron
Katherine Graham Cracker, perhaps it is both in answer to your question. We are talking msnbc after all.
*Shiver* *Grimace*
SJ, i enjoyed meeting Belva through you. Thank you very much. Pleased to see a reference to Grover Cleveland, one of my favorite presidents, wrote nearly a chapter on him in one of my books.
As I write this I am looking at the (former) Grover Cleveland High School. President Cleveland is someone to be proud of here. Millard Fillmore, not so much. And then there’s the William McKinley incident … and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site …
Blue, the Greenbrier is the most expensive resort in WV, but in reality the rates are comparable to a mid range hotel in New York, although they are admittedly a little bit more expensive. If they stay in rooms in the resort, rates are from $520 per night up, including breakfast and dinner. Rooms large enough for entertaining more than a few people start at $400 per room, without meals (which run about $30 for Breakfast and $100 for dinner, plus drinks. They go up pretty steeply from that. Trump’s hotel off Central Park starts at $400 per night for a queen room – no dinner or breakfast included. Pretty close to the same. Typically middle range rooms in NYC can be had from about $140 and up. I don’t expect the critters would stay in those. I’m not shocked by the price of the hotel – but who pays for it? Now there’s a good question. I suspect it’s through some funding of the HoR & Senate.
patd, charges against Menendez dropped? by the SFB DoJ? They must have nuthin’.
And Gowdy to go? Good riddance. Word on POTUS (Sirius/XM) is that he’s shooting for a judgeship.
wouldn’t the rnc and a few friendly lobbyists be footing some of that greenbrier bill? at least the hospitality room, golfing fees and goody bags.
a judgeship, yep, that’s most likely…. life tenure on fed bench.
FBI says it has “grave concerns” over release of Russia memo
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI said Wednesday it has “grave concerns” about the accuracy of a classified memo on the Russia investigation that President Donald Trump wants to release to the public. It was the first time the bureau has weighed in publicly on an issue that has openly divided the Justice Department and the White House.
In its unusual public statement, the FBI said it was given only a limited opportunity to review the four-page memo, which was drafted by Republicans on the House intelligence committee.
Republicans have said the memo reveals improper use of surveillance by the FBI and the Justice Department in the Russia investigation. But the FBI said Wednesday that important facts were omitted.
“As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy,” the FBI said.
The statement escalates the intra-government conflict over the memo, which had already touched off a partisan brawl with Democrats and has pitted GOP lawmakers ordinarily supportive of surveillance against the FBI and the Justice Department. The FBI director and the deputy attorney general have told the White House releasing it could set a dangerous precedent.
[..continues…]
The Goopers pay not taxpayers
vanity fair:
Chris Christie
Returns to TV to Warn Donald Trump
The Trump campaign’s most tragic coal-mine canary is back.
[…]
For all his bluster, Christie has proven to be the Trump administration’s unlikely Cassandra, sounding warnings that seem doomed to go ignored. He did so again on Tuesday from his new seat at ABC News, cautioning his fellow Republicans that framing the F.B.I. as an enemy of the state could have lasting consequences. “I also think it’s a long-term problem . . . if we continue this. Not only for our party but for the country,” he said, adding that “mistakes are made at the F.B.I.,” and the agency needs “to be held account for that, but in a way that’s not so political.” He also attempted to send a warning to Trump through the television, suggesting that a one-on-one meeting with Robert Mueller—which the president appears willing to entertain—was ill advised. “I don’t think there have been any credible allegations against the president of the United States,” Christie said. “And I don’t think the president of the United States, unless there are credible allegations, which I don’t believe there are, should be sitting across from a special counsel.”
[….continues…]
I think Democrats need to get out ahead of the memo in a big way
some ads would be good…..the goops are willing to sacrifice national security, the fbi, and the truth for Donald Trump and the Russians. Boy Howdy this is some mess.
They need to frame it that this is all a scam to help Trump evade the consequences of his actions.
and tie it to all the rats leaving the ship
Lindsey Graham: FISA Memo Should Not Be Released to Public
In an interview with ABC News’ “This Week,” the South Carolina lawmaker said an apolitical special counsel should investigate if there’s been any misconduct by the agency or the Department of Justice.
“I don’t want [the memo] released yet,” he said. “I want somebody without a political bias to come in and look at the allegations I have seen.”
“I want somebody outside of the Republican-led Congress to look at the allegations,” he added.
Graham also said he wants legislation “to protect all special counsels.”
Katherine Graham Cracker should be calling the shots for the Dems because why aren’t they thinking of these things?
Have well known acolytes go on the big shows – Colbert is friendly to these things. Fallon is too friendly to everyone like a yappy puppy. Down, boy. Colbert has no fear, has shown this. Plus his new “Trump” cartoon show on Showtime would feed off the publicity.
howard fineman:
Sources say that Trump has adopted a two-track strategy to deal with the Mueller investigation.
One is an un-Trumpian passivity and trust. He keeps telling some in his circle that Mueller — any day now — will tell him he is off the hook for any charge of collusion with the Russians or obstruction of justice.
But Trump — who trusts no one, or at least no one for long — has now decided that he must have an alternative strategy that does not involve having Justice Department officials fire Mueller.
“I think he’s been convinced that firing Mueller would not only create a firestorm, it would play right into Mueller’s hands,” said another friend, “because it would give Mueller the moral high ground.”
Instead, as is now becoming plain, the Trump strategy is to discredit the investigation and the FBI without officially removing the leadership. Trump is even talking to friends about the possibility of asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to consider prosecuting Mueller and his team.
“Here’s how it would work: ‘We’re sorry, Mr. Mueller, you won’t be able to run the federal grand jury today because he has to go testify to another federal grand jury,'” said one Trump adviser.
wonkette does a number on nunes today. beware the usual colorful language.
here’s an excerpt:
Also too, fun fact: Did you know FISA applications are between 30 and 100 pages long, just chock FULL of reasons why some idiot Russian intelligence asset should probably get a “wire tapp” implanted up inside his bottom? It’s true! You can read all about “FISA, how does THAT work” at the New York Times! Once you’re done reading, you will officially be smarter than Devin Nunes! (Kidding, you were already way smarter than that braindead assclown.) Read more at https://wonkette.com/629129/fbi-says-dumb-lyin-ass-devin-nunes-memo-real-fuckin-dumb-also-full-of-lies#K6RVsuq924D8tlLs.99
Having successfully avoided watching, listening, reading or overhearing anything about the lie fest of last night I feel good today. In a few more hours I expect SFB to blast out a massive tweet that will remove any memory of the night from those who saw it. He can’t help himself.
My paycheck is smaller than it would have been under the 2017 tax laws. It is larger only because I received a small step increase. Overall, working for the government I have lost pay due to increases lower than the rate of inflation along with increases in our costs for health coverage and reductions in retirement matching. It takes a lot to want to be a public servant.
Thank You, Blue Bronc, for working for us.
We’ve lost interest in history in our country which is troublesome. The people who shaped the past speak to us if we choose to listen. Why repeat mistakes unless we are willfully ignorant? Blue Bronc, I hope you will continue to write about your job & experiences because they are illuminating. This extends to all here. Much wisdom to share & learn from.
Flatus, do we need to round up a TM posse to go check on you? Let us know how you’re doing.
Hi, Craig, I’m surviving. Since I went to the clinic for a ‘wound check’ this morning, the wrist is swelling. If it doesn’t ease off, I’ll be back there tomorrow. Walking about very gingerly. Going to bed as soon as I finish a teevee dinner. Hope your Dad is keeping his chin up.
These pugn wusses won’t be playing golf unless they want to freeze their tiny balls off or play in the rain in the mid 40s. I’m guessi bourbon, maybe bowling, gambling and the spa.
pogo, your senator just discovered reality
usatoday:
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin thinks Washington D.C. “sucks,” and Vice President Pence is one reason why.
Pence went after Manchin Wednesday ahead of his speech to Repubican lawmakers in Manchin’s home state. Manchin is a Democrat up for re-election in a state Trump won by 42 points and he has not hesitated to vote with Republicans on a host of issues.
But Manchin voted against Republican-led efforts to repeal Obamacare, which did not pass and the tax reform bill, which passed late last year.
[…some of pence tweets are quoted…]
“I am shocked that after the Vice President worked for almost a year in a divisive and partisan way to take healthcare away from almost 200,000 West Virginians, bankrupt our hospitals, and push tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and huge corporations that he would come to West Virginia and continue his partisan attacks,” Manchin said in a statement. “The Vice President’s comments are exactly why Washington sucks.”
Manchin has enjoyed a cordial relationship with President Trump and was spotted frequently giving standing ovations to him Tuesday night during the State of the Union. After the speech, Manchin embraced the president.
A beautiful morning glory to the trail. Yesterday was a holy day for me and the eclipse was top notch! After spending an hour watching the earth’s shadow cross the moon…the moon was actually smiling before it went blood orange? My repug neighbor to the west turned on his backyard lights. Eclipsing the eclipse. I went to the front of the house to compete with street lighting, but the moon was in 3d glory. My neighbor is a typical republican and tired of nature within five minutes, so I could watch the moon show from the back of the house as the morning glory dimmed the end of the eclipse. Stunning view of the moon in all its lunar beauty…it was breathtaking.
Nice post, sj.
looks like Mueller might have another perp lying to feds case here…. too many contemporaneous players who possibly could refute testimony previously given by others.
excerpt from nytimes story via msn: Mueller Zooms In on Trump Tower Cover Story
[….]
The conference call with the president, Mr. Corallo and Ms. Hicks took place the next morning, and what transpired on the call is a matter of dispute.
In Mr. Corallo’s account — which he provided contemporaneously to three colleagues who later gave it to The Times — he told both Mr. Trump and Ms. Hicks that the statement drafted aboard Air Force One would backfire because documents would eventually surface showing that the meeting had been set up for the Trump campaign to get political dirt about Mrs. Clinton from the Russians.
According to his account, Ms. Hicks responded that the emails “will never get out” because only a few people had access to them. Mr. Corallo, who worked as a Justice Department spokesman during the George W. Bush administration, told colleagues he was alarmed not only by what Ms. Hicks had said — either she was being naïve or was suggesting that the emails could be withheld from investigators — but also that she had said it in front of the president without a lawyer on the phone and that the conversation could not be protected by attorney-client privilege.
Contacted on Wednesday, Mr. Corallo said he did not dispute any of the account shared by his colleagues but declined to elaborate further.
Even if Mr. Corallo is correct and Ms. Hicks was hinting at an attempt to conceal the emails, doing so would have been nearly impossible. Congress had requested records from Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman; Mr. Kushner; and other Trump campaign officials about meetings with Russians. And lawyers had already copied and stamped the emails for delivery to Capitol Hill.
When the president began questioning Mr. Corallo about the nature of the documents, Mr. Corallo cut off the conversation and urged the president to continue the discussion with his lawyers.
Mr. Corallo told colleagues that he immediately notified the legal team of the conversation and jotted down notes to memorialize it. He also shared his concerns with Stephen K. Bannon, then the president’s chief strategist.
Mr. Corallo left the job shortly after the phone call. The recent book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” by Michael Wolff, which was met with angry denunciations by the president, linked Mr. Corallo’s resignation to concerns he had about obstruction, but provided no details.
[…continues…]
We missed the sotu because of a broken dishwasher…we were thankful. Now we can get one of the new dishwashers with built-in government surveillance. Like Mr. Obama in a microwave, nunes will pop-out of this one with FISA warnings. The head congrussian, nunes, a broken barrel, on appliance detail.
Pogo…sorry to hear the gop has invaded the ex-dem gov’s resort in your fine state. Ethics violations abound…let alone the loss of life.
gowdy most likely is looking for a judicial appointment from trump…he carried the loyalty jug of water for a few months. Before the election, he along with pompeo were part of the hit team on Clinton that mccarthy had claimed was their singular congressional mantra to oust clinton. Now who is under arrest? Who is destroying law and order? Who are the nut jobs?
I did watch the young, surfing jackass, Kennedy, do the rebuttal to the sotu. It was a ‘back to the future’ moment for me. Good luck dems.
BW, there’s not a more repugnican spot in WV than the Greenbrier. Owned by our coal baron governor who recently changed to the repug party. Put in a casino and surrounded it by high end jewelry and clothing shops. The casino takes money from all, but it’s always filled with SFB “hell yeah” rednecks.
Perhaps you (better yet, Mr. Wino) should show your neighbor a different moon. Unless he’d enjoy it of course.
Langston Hughes’ born on this day in 1902 and kick off for Black History month. Time for a reminder.
Let America Be America Again
The next time Donald Trump says “America First”, this is probably where he saw it first.
Repugz – A literal train wreck with a garbage truck.
Just read that link on Victoria Woodhull & her sister, Tennessee. Folks were a lot more interesting back then; too much is invented for us. Very few really “make” themselves unless you look at someone at the level of Bezos or Jobs. I came from an abusive and impoverished childhood & got myself out of it, but the structure of life was already there; nothing groundbreaking. Yep, folks used to be more interesting.
There is a countdown clock to the next SFB explosive tweet.
Something feels very strange at this moment. The day feels different from the rest of the last year. I cannot decide on why. I do have some hope that Mueller lay down containment fire, something to cool SFB for an hour or two. Otherwise it might be something I ate yesterday.
omg who gives a crap what SFB voters think(sic) they are never going to change their minds.
We need to remind people that we were better off as a country a year ago. We had an epa, voting rights, and an inclusive president -the stock market doesn’t mean shit.
oh yeah and a lot of people had health care and we were on our way to a better system
so when people say what do the Democrats stand for — they must be the dumbest people on the face of the earth
BB, you are a riot!
SFB will take the WH staff hostage before he leaves of his own free will
And what an arrogant loser Ben Carson is — he managed to violate the ethics of the Trump whitehouse and still did it after being warned. Lock him up and his loser son too
The only thing different about today’s school shooting: it seems the perp is a girl
Jamie
That coin is the distilled essence of Donald John Trump, our president. It should supplant the Great Seal for the remainder of his time in office.
Belva’s slogan applies to so many today
and if you are not temperamentally suited to public office -donate some time or money
so does this lay groundwork for the twit to chop off the heads of fbi & doj heads…a la Shakespeare’s ”The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”
is this his next step toward declaring martial law and becoming dictator?
cnn: Trump sees Nunes memo as a way to discredit the Russia investigation
President Donald Trump continues to tell his associates he believes the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools could help discredit the Russia investigation, multiple sources familiar with White House discussions said.
In recent phone calls, Trump has told friends he believes the memo would expose bias within the agency’s top ranks and make it easier for him to argue the Russia investigations are prejudiced against him, according to two sources.
[…continues…]
Latest school shooting barely mentioned in the “NEWS” perpetrator is a 12 year old girl.
Salvador Castro Middle School . Two shot one in critical condition.
SFB’s first tweets after SOTU.
“Heading to beautiful West Virginia to be with great members of the Republican Party. Will be planning Infrastructure and discussing Immigration and DACA, not easy when we have no support from the Democrats,” Trump wrote on Thursday morning. “NOT ONE DEM VOTED FOR OUR TAX CUT BILL! Need more Republicans in ’18.”
“March 5th is rapidly approaching and the Democrats are doing nothing about DACA. They Resist, Blame, Complain and Obstruct – and do nothing. Start pushing Nancy Pelosi and the Dems to work out a DACA fix, NOW!”
We knew it wouldn’t last, didn’t we. At least he didn’t call Shumer and Pelosi names. He must be on his meds.
In case anyone is interested in visiting where the repugnicritters are engaging in their love fest, here’s a link to the Greenbrier’s website. The Valentine’s Day package looks particularly appropriate considering all the butt kissing going on down there now.
Well, there are some nice recipes for peach buckle, etc., if you follow the links in their gourmet shop.
I hope they have a miserable time there.
Local campaign ads here: Repugz running against immigrants & Dems running against Trump.
Something to make the night go better:
https://twitter.com/NASA/st https://twitter.com/NASA/status/959216986843680769atus/959216986843680769
The comments show a pretty interesting cross-section of the inhabitants of this planet.
Not sure if this tweet post will work since it contains a video, but it is Chuck Todd laying out all the things you would have to believe to think releasing the memo is a good idea.
If carter page has a problem with the FBI application for a FISA warrant to surveil him, he can always petition the court to reverse the FISA judge’s decision. Simple.
If the deadbeat pussypincher has a problem with the FBI application for a FISA warrant to surveil carter page, he can always petition the court to reverse the FISA judge’s decision. Simple.
If, as lyin’ ryan and congrussian nunes claim, Americans have a right to ‘know the facts’, let them publish the FBI’s FISA court application to surveil carter page. This document will outline the probable cause for believing that page committed at least one felony, based on evidence both direct and circumstantial, that is reliable, credible, and believable. Not so simple, and it would make the trump/ryan/nunes/page/putin cabal look extremely bad. Instead, they’ll issue a gallimaufry of innuendos, prevarications, bluster, fibs, smears, and damnable lies.
Unless, of course, they chicken out, spike their story, and change the subject to some other shiny object(ion).
My congrussian, jason lewis (r-MN2), got a concussion in the garbage truck/AMTRACK collision. I don’t know how they could come to that diagnosis. I mean, he’s always like that.
Just found a good solution to all the noise, logged on to Pandora and tuned to the Charley Parker channel. uhmmmm.
I didn’t know there were so many sax jazz players one after another. peaceful, fun
Jack
Exrep,
screw em all. I’m not young and I know how to survive hard times, (been there done that) so just screw them.
Besides a world that lets me listen to good jazz for free, mmmmm ahhhhh
Jack
whskyjack – Amazon prime music is getting better all the time too. It has expanded multifold since I started listening to it. As with Pandora, the playlists get more extensive, covering so many more artists, it is nice to have music that is not just the top ten. Sirius radio has a problem that it created for itself. In 2008 the playlists were cut to top ten and no extras. Since Bannon is not on I decided to keep Sirius only because I travel outside of cellphone coverage and it is nice to have a large selection of music to keep me going.