Trail Mix

By Jace, a Trail Mix Contributor

For the pure joy of it! A bit longer than usual today but worth every moment. Beethoven at his best. Somehow just perfect for this Sunday morning.

Enjoy the music and as always enjoy your day!

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— Kin Hubbard (1868-1930)

By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor

Can you imagine getting hired for the most difficult job on Earth.  A job so difficult that those who take it age decades in four years, and are beyond any hair coloring after eight years.  A job which requires tremendous diplomatic skills.  From Washington to Obama, the man in this job worked hard, and many played hard or drank hard.

Then the little people of America spoke, or rather voted.  Although they were not many, they were in the best districts to flip an election to the loser.  Some day we will know if they had help from the real nasties of the world.

So, a loser ends up being president.  A man so unready that elephants had severe gut bombs hit them.  A man who still does not know he won.

What do we do now?

Follow the twit’s twitter tweets?  No.  You would probably end up blocked because you would mock the idiot and he does not like that.  Best to just follow several people like KO.  Following others who do follow the senile old man lets you see others who probably would throw their waffle iron through the window when they read certain tweets.

Next, we need to write, call, visit our representatives in the Congress to tell them that the nutso has to be stopped and controlled.  Your representative, whether a fruitcake R or a Dem, needs to know you do not approve of someone who thinks people talking to him are talking on the telephone being in office.  It may be that your representative or senator is thinking the same thing.

One of the most important points is whether or not the guy is actually working.  He spends most of his life not working.  He is on “vacation” right now.  The problem is I am not sure if prior to this afternoon we do not know if he was working.

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“Take precautions,” as Sherlock Holmes would tell Dr. Watson when they needed pistols.

Marketwatch: Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. That’s a sign that his inquiry is growing in intensity and entering a new phase, the report said. Legal experts quoted by the newspaper say the move suggests he believes he will need to subpoena records and take testimony from witnesses.

Yet another poll is finding slippage for the President within his base. For the first time white voters without college degrees disapprove more than they approve: 50-43%. (Quinnipiac University)

Trump won 67% of those voters last year. Now only 43% think he’s doing a good job.

This survey reinforces one I wrote about last month showing that another key group — voters who backed Obama and Trump — were showing signs of disenchantment. Combine these trends with the likelihood that progressive voters might be motivated to turn out in larger numbers than in 2016 to oppose Trump and it’s not a stretch to conclude that his reelection is already looking dicey. Sure looks like he’s worried about that. And he’s not alone.

It’s no accident that these numbers, which are surely reflected in more advanced private polls by Republican groups, coincide with noticeably eager moves by GOP politicians to distance themselves from a president they really can’t stand.

Could this dip among key white voters cynically explain the Trump Administration’s sudden and weird attempt to probe supposed reverse discrimination in college applications? Also, it could explain his dead-on-arrival legislation announced yesterday to cut legal immigration by 50%. And his now disappearing transgender ban tweet. He knows none of this will happen. He’s just desperately tossing out the red meat.

Sorry Mr. President, like everything else going on, your problem isn’t policy or personnel but your grotesque personality, incompetence and dishonesty — which are finally getting on the nerves of many who voted for you.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina rarely misses a chance to slam President Trump. Yesterday morning the failed 2016 candidate for the GOP nomination again upped the ante, reacting to The Washington Post report that Trump dictated his son’s initial misleading statement about his meetup with Russians:

“That was a bad decision by the president, which will make us ask more questions,” Graham said on NBC’s Today show. “When you get caught in a lie about one thing, it makes it hard to just say ‘let the other stuff go.’”

Repeatedly, Graham chooses against giving Trump any benefit of the doubt, as a president’s party supporters usually do, instead going out of his way to extend and expand the impact of negative news.

Is this just revenge for nasty stuff Trump said when they were campaign rivals? Or is he laying the groundwork for a 2020 primary challenge?

I suspect the latter. One reason is Graham’s vote last week in favor of the so-called “skinny” Obamacare repeal, which failed and seemingly ended the GOP’s “repeal and replace” crusade. With that vote Graham preserved the argument to core conservatives that he sided with them on abolishing Obamacare.

But just before that vote Graham trashed the legislation, calling it a “fraud” and “terrible policy.” When his close friend John McCain chose to cast the decisive vote against the bill, Graham was free to vote in favor.

Preserving his anti-Obamacare credentials is not demonstrably necessary for Graham to maintain popularity in South Carolina, where he enjoys widespread support. It only makes sense for gaining ground among conservatives nationwide.

How Graham would fare in a 2020 battle against Trump is questionable, given his lackluster run last time. But it looks like he is doing everything possible to undermine Trump, shore up his appeal to primary voters and keep the option open.

[Cross-posted via HuffPo]