Alan Dershowitz gives the Megalomanic Dictators Justification to avoid Impeachment

Alan Dershowitz shocked the American Political World at the Senate Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump on January 29 by stating:

“If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.”

This is the defense:

• Megalomanic dictators used to justify their repressive rule in banana republics.
• Totalitarian strongmen like Putin use to rationalize his continued leadership in Russia.
• Mass murderers like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao used to explain the genocidal acts they committed against opponents and minorities.

This is not a defense that a lawyer of the President of the United States, a nation that is a Democratic Republic, should present in the well of the Senate in an Impeachment Trial.

This is a defense all who love Democracy and Republics should shun and condemn.

Republicans like Martha Coverup McSally who acquit this President without allowing for additional witnesses and due process will show the American People that they prefer the rule of a Megalomaniac Dictator-Demagogue rather than a Democratic system with Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances.

The American People need to show their disdain for Dershowitz’s position and those Senators who support it and vote for acquittal by voting them out when they run for reelection.

The People and the country need patriots in Congress, not collaborators.

They need Legislators that believe in the American Dream, not the Cult of Trump.

They need public servants that follow the Constitution, not those that want to tear it up.

https://blogforarizona.net/alan-dershowitz-gives-the-megalomanic-dictators-justification-to-avoid-impeachment/

Four Questions Democratic Voters should ask when Selecting the 2020 Democratic Nominee

With the first votes set to be taken in Iowa on Monday, February 3, 2020, Democrats should consider four questions when deciding who should be the party’s nominee to go against the 2016 Popular Vote Loser.

Question One: Does the Candidate have the Character/Temperament to be President?

The Electoral College election of Donald Trump has shown that character and temperament matters with who occupies the Oval Office.

Surrounding himself with a team of cult following nativist and self-serving sycophants, the 2016 KKK endorsed candidate has broken one norm of Presidential Etiquette time and time again.

This behavior, enabled by indulging subordinates and allies, has led to Mr. Trump becoming the third President in United History becoming impeached.

Democrats do not need to select a mirror image of Trump. Thankfully, there are none among the major candidates.

Question Two: Can the Democratic Nominee win the Electoral College as well as the Popular Vote.

It is reasonable to conclude that, in all probability, Donald Trump will not win the popular vote in 2020.

It is possible the Democratic nominee, whoever it is, may, given Mr. Trump’s performance, have a higher popular vote margin of victory than Hillary Clinton (just under three million) in 2016.

What Democratic voters need to consider is which candidate has the best chance of ensuring an Electoral College victory by winning states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona.

Question Three: Which Democratic Candidate has the best coattails? 

Which of the Democratic Presidential Candidates will help Nancy Pelosi sustain her House Majority?

Which of the Democratic Presidential Candidates will best help the Kentucky Senate nominee defeat Enemy of the People-Political Prince of Darkness Mitch McConnell or Mark Kelly best Martha McSally in Arizona? Furthermore, which Democratic Nominee could help Senate candidates soundly defeat Republican incumbents in Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, and South Carolina and get a Democratic majority in the upper chamber.

Which Democratic Presidential Candidate will best help local candidates in purple states like Arizona take one or more of the state legislative chambers, county offices, or gubernatorial seats?

Question Four: Which of the Democratic Presidential Candidates has a Progressive Program that can pass Congress?

If the Democrats win the White House, maintain their majority in the House of Representatives, and capture control of the Senate, what candidates legislative program has the best chance of securing passage?

Democratic voters need to remember that Republicans, given their history in the Clinton and Obama Administrations, are not going to support any major initiative from any Democratic President. Furthermore, Democratic Senators like Kyrsten Sinema, Doug (if he gets reelected in 2020) Jones and Joe Manchin are probably not automatic yes votes.

Democratic voters need to consider which Presidential Candidate’s Progressive agenda has the best chance to pass through the reconciliation process because it is unlikely the Democrats will have a filibuster-proof majority in 2021?

These are the questions Democratic voters need to consider when choosing the nominee best equipped to defeat Individual One and move the country forward with a progressive agenda.

Trump and Schweikert want to cut Entitlements for our Most Vulnerable

The President of Betrayal” has surprise, surprise, broken another promise to the American People.

In November, Blog for Arizona published a piece titled “Donald Trump: “The President of Betrayal.”

The thrust of the article, based in part of the analysis of Morning Joe panelist Donny Deutsch, was that Mr. Trump should be branded “The President of Betrayal” and Democrats should point out his deception of the American People on betraying his oath of office (Obstruction of Justice during the Mueller Investigation and the two Articles of Impeachment) as well as:

“Kitchen table issues” showing how Individual One betrayed the “American Trust, the National Security, the Constitution, the Presidency, he betrayed us on education….taking our budget back ten percent, he’s gonna betray us on healthcare, he stills wants us to repeal Obamacare,…he’s betrayed you on taxes…..(Trump is) A corrupter, a betrayer, this guy is an extortionist, this guy is a briber, and this affects me because how..he did the same thing he did the same thing to my taxes, he’s doing it to education, he will do it to health care, so take whatever adjective you like, corrupter, betrayer, and thief and bring it back to the issues that matter…”

During his three years in office, Mr. Trump has repeatedly betrayed the American People by breaking promises to them. These include:

• Saying he will work harder than Obama and not spend the time his predecessor did on the golf course.
• Making Mexico pay for the border wall.
• Instituting a large national infrastructure program.
• Replacing Obamacare with something better and cheaper.
• Passing tax cuts that will help everybody and pay for themselves.

This week, The Liar in Chief added to the many (16,241 as of January 20, 2020) lies, broken promises, and misleading statements by telling a CNBC journalist while in at the Davos Switzerland World Economic Forum that his Administration would look at ways to cut spending, including entitlements (Social Security and Medicare) to reduce the national debt.

During the campaign, Mr. Trump said he would not touch either entitlement program. He has repeatedly lied on this. His budget for 2020 calls for an $845 million cut to Medicare over ten years.

The 2016 Popular Vote Loser has allies in the House who share the view that entitlements should be on the table for spending cuts.

Ethically and electorally embattled Arizona Congressional District Six Representative David Schweikert, in an interview with the Fountain Hills Times, feels that “entitlement programs are what drive the country’s debt.”

Mr. Schweikert further commented that:

“Less than 30 percent of spending is discretionary and more than half of that is for defense. [These programs] are promises that were made; I’m optimistic there is a path [to reduce debt].”

Some of the Democrats running for the opportunity to defeat Schweikert this November have condemned his (and Mr. Trumps) plan to cut entitlements.

2018 Democratic Congressional District Six Democratic Nominee Anita Malik wrote on:

“In a new interview with The Fountain Hills Times, Rep. David Schweikert again blames “entitlements” for our growing debt. He also says he worries impeachment will be the new norm.

1. We can raise the cap & protect Social Security. As for the growing deficit, did he forget about the corporate tax cuts?

2. He’d rather normalize obstruction of justice?

3. He may be a self-proclaimed geek, but his numbers rarely add up.

It’s time for a change.”

Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, the 2018 Democratic Congressional District Eight Nominee, wrote:

“Rep. Schweikert voted to increase the debt by $two trillion to help his wealthy & special interest donors save billions.

Now, he wants to force Arizona seniors to pay for it by cutting Medicare & Social Security.

Shameful. #AZ06 needs leaders to put AZ families 1st.”

Both Malik and Tipirneni are right.

Cutting entitlements on the backs of our most vulnerable elderly to reduce the national debt while preserving tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals and corporations that do not need them is the wrong long term strategy in steering the nation’s finances.

This stance, more than impeachment, may resonate with older voters in the battleground Rust Belt States or the retirement communities prevalent in Arizona and Florida.

The political ads create themselves if Democrats take advantage of the gift “The President of Betrayal” and Representatives like David Schweikert have just given to them.

The American People do not deserve to be deceived again.

https://blogforarizona.net/the-president-of-betrayal-breaks-another-promise-to-the-american-people-threatening-to-cut-entitlements/

Senate Republicans See No Evil Hear No Evil

It appears after the first five days of the Senate Impeachment Trial of Individual One-2016 Popular Vote Loser-KKK Endorsed Candidate President Donald Trump that most Senate Republicans are adopting the attitude of See No Evil, Hear No Evil.

Even the moderates Democrats are hoping come to their side on calling witnesses (like Susan Collins or Lisa Murkowski,) seem more aghast when House Managers Adam Schiff or Jerry Nadler call them to account rather than the totality of the case against Mr. Trump.

These Senate Republicans are ignoring the lessons of history, mimicking scenes from literature, and ridiculing Constitutional Law in taking this Anti-Democratic and Republic approach.

Republicans Ignoring History

Watergate, in some ways, is like the Ukraine Affair. In 1972, Richard Nixon, like Donald Trump today, wanted to damage his strongest potential Democratic opponents (Ed Muskie and Hubert Humphrey) so he could run against the weaker general election candidate George McGovern. To accomplish this, Nixon and his operatives launched a dirty trick and smear campaign to discredit these candidates (including breaking into the Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel) that did just that.

Sound familiar.

Trumpists like to point out that if the Senate moves to remove the President, they will be overturning the election results of 2016.

Here is a news flash.

Every impeachment is, in essence, an attempt to undo the electoral results of the previous Presidential election.

Nixon (thanks in part to the dirty tricks and smears he and his team instituted) won a landslide in 1972.

He was forced to resign less than two years later.

Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham did not seem to care about overturning the 1996 election when they pushed the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Such fecal matter saying they are overruling the rule of the people. Individual One-KKK endorsed candidate did not even win the popular vote in 2016, losing by just under three million votes to the non-Russian endorsed candidate, Hillary Clinton.

Republicans Mimick Scenes from Literature

When watching the House Impeachment hearings and now the Senate Trial, three works of literature spring to mind: Doctor Faustus, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Murder on the Orient Express.

Republicans, like Marlowe’s title character Doctor Faustus, appear to be willing to sell their souls to the devil (in this case the one of political fortune) so they can win their primaries and maybe the Presidency through another electoral college victory.

It seems they have quietly decided that Mike Pence, who lacks the bombastic charisma of the Chief Executive Demagogue, can not take them across the finish line.

Republicans, like the jurors in To Kill a Mockingbird, seem perfectly willing to ignore the facts and, in this case, (instead of sending an innocent man to jail as in the Harper Lee classic,) wrongfully acquit a President who has committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

Republicans, like the suspects in Agatha Christies Murder on the Orient Express, all seem to be in on the crime.

There is Political Prince of Darkness Mitch McConnell (remember the one who did not want to go forward with telling the public about Russian interference) who is working in consultation with the White House during the trial and vowed to acquit.

There is Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee (and Trump hatchet man) who apparently has ties, along with his aide, to Lev Parnas.

Mike Pompeo (who showed last week he can not stand the pressure of a thorough interview by crumbling under questions from National Public Radio reporter Mary Lousie Kelly), Willam Barr, Mick Mulvaney, Mike Duffy, and John Bolton are putting loyalty to the Cult of Trump over the country by not going before Congress to testify.

Finally, there are the Republican Senators who seem perfectly willing to engage in, yes Senator Murkowski, a cover-up, by expressing a willingness to acquit without hearing from any of the people referred to above or see any documents withheld from the Administration.

Republicans Ridicule the Constitution

When has there ever been an impeachment trial that did not have witnesses?

None.

Republican Senators will be creating a dangerous precedent if they went forward without calling any witnesses to the Senate Impeachment Trial of Donald Trump.

They would also be eroding the Checks and Balances of the American Republic if they let Donald Trump get away with totally obstructing Congress by not releasing at least one piece of paper or falsely claiming executive privilege to prevent one witness with direct knowledge to come forward and testify.

Many have already pointed out that if Mr. Trump is innocent, why is he not releasing the documents that could clear him or allowing the witnesses to speak that can exonerate him?

The easy answer is those papers do not exist and those witnesses can not lie under oath.

To those who claim that there are classified material concerns, and National Security matters, could easily be addressed by having the questions tailored to the alleged offenses.

The American People saw this could be done with the witnesses who did testify before Congress.

Unfortunately, Republicans like Arizona’s Martha McSally would rather hide under the proverb “Hear No Evil, See No Evil” and jeopardize the American Constitutional System rather than put country over party/cult.

https://blogforarizona.net/senate-republicans-see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/?fbclid=IwAR1ZiNpJU7XcHEsX9oBLyYp-iIWXn78jXmxZvFrz3mtVj2UcQ9Al8Rfrqc0

Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham did not seem to care about overturning the 1996 election when they pushed the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Such fecal matter saying they are overruling the rule of the people. Individual One-KKK endorsed candidate did not even win the popular vote in 2016, losing by just under three million votes to the non-Russian endorsed candidate, Hillary Clinton

SNL Cold Open from 1/25/20

https://nypost.com/2020/01/26/snl-cold-open-alan-dershowitz-reunites-with-just-hanging-jeffrey-epstein-in-hell/

Cartoons of the Week from Blog for Arizona

https://blogforarizona.net/cartoon-of-the-week-312/

Real Time and Overtime with Bill Maher 1/24/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id6GTO1mIDk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6STb5tfB9Y

Tumulty and Brooks from 2/24/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg55J4coeZ0

If the Senate does acquit Individual One, do the Democrats in the House still have the recourse to subpoena Bolton and the others, go through the courts, and followup on another impeachment? Just food for thought.

Idea of the Week

When an impeachment inquiry is launched, all motions to the courts to compel witnesses to testify should be heard and decided on an expedited basis.

It is ridiculous (and outrageous)  that the courts, on matters of checks and balances, do not see the need to adjust their schedules in handling these constitutional issues in a timely manner.

Documentary of the Week: The Democracy Rebellion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AGtHN9_NV8

Book of the Week:

Actually a play

Doctor Faustus to show Republicans the dangers of the Faustian Bargain they have woven with Individual One.

Editorial Cartoons for 1/24/20

If Individual One is so innocent, then why not have the witnesses testify to questions that do not interfere with national security considerations? The Republican Party, in not allowing, at this stage, the release of documents and the subpoenaing of witnesses is going to earn the name of the Coverup Party.

Power of the People: McConnell is forced to change the schedule that will benefit justice and due process.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/21/politics/senate-impeachment-trial-day-1/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/impeachment-trial-01-21/mcconnells-changes-to-the-trial-rules-come-after-concerns-from-republican-senators#live-blog-list

"The McConnell Rules: a criminal cover-up by Republicans in the Senate"

https://blogforarizona.net/the-mcconnell-rules-a-criminal-cover-up-by-republicans-in-the-senate/

Why not an All Woman Democratic Presidential Ticket in 2020

One year from today, this country may have a new President and Vice President.

Is it possible the nation may finally have the first woman President in United States History? The First Woman Vice President? Or may it actually be an All Woman Democratic Presidential Ticket in 2020?

Why not?

The country came within less than 120,000 votes combined in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin of electing a woman President in 2016.

Remember that Hillary Clinton would probably be the President right now if not for a combination of James Comey reopening the email investigation, throwaway votes to Jill Stein, Americans staying home because they thought she was going to win anyway, or surprising crossover support among some citizens from Barack Obama to Mr. Birther KKK endorsed candidate.

People should never forget that Clinton was the People’s choice, winning the popular vote over Individual One by close to three million votes.

Despite that, some pundits and other observers still wonder if a woman could become President of the United States.

That is not the question these people should be asking.

With so many exceptionally qualified women holding or having held Gubernatorial, Senatorial, Mayorial, and Congressional offices, people should be asking if 2020 could finally be the year a woman captures the Presidency or whether there can be an All Woman Presidential Ticket in 2020.

The answer is yes.

There are already many highly accomplished women candidates that are or have run in this Presidential election cycle.

It is not hard to imagine a ticket a duo that may include a combination of either Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, or Kamala Harris.

Incidentally, the New York Times Editorial Board has endorsed either Warren or Klobuchar for the Democratic Nomination.

There are currently six Democratic Woman Governors in the country with valuable executive experience from Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, and Rhode Island. They along with ex-governors like Arizona’s Janet Napolitano (who also served as Homeland Security Secretary) could merit consideration as potential Vice Presidents or later Presidential candidates.

In the Senate, there are currently, in addition to Warren, Klobuchar, and Harris, 13 Democratic Women Senators (including  Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema) with a wealth of legislative experience that would warrant review for the second slot on the ticket or higher at a later time.

There are dozens of Democratic Women Representatives in the House (like Arizona’s Ann Kirkpatrick) and hundred of female mayors throughout the country including the three presiding over Flagstaff (Coral Evans,) Phoenix (Kate Gallego,) and  Tucson (Regina Romero). A substantial number of them would make viable Vice Presidents or future Presidential candidates.

As Virginia is rightly saluted for becoming the Thirty-Eighth State to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and the country celebrates the Centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote in national elections, it is time to stop asking if a woman can become President and start asking when it will happen and if can also be an All Woman Presidential Ticket to represent the country.

That time maybe 2020.

https://blogforarizona.net/why-not-an-all-woman-democratic-presidential-ticket-in-2020/

Editorial Cartoons from Blog for Arizona

https://blogforarizona.net/cartoon-of-the-week-311/

Editorial Cartoon/Poster for 1/18/20

Real Time and Overtime with Bill Maher from 1/17/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9_Lw1nF9dg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-NBh9LgnNM

Shields and Brooks from 1/17/20

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/shields-and-brooks-on-trump-impeachment-evidence-democratic-debate

Idea of the Week: Watch as much of the Impeachment Trial that you can

Book of the Week

A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America by Phillip Rucker and Carol Leonnig

Editorial Cartoons for 1/16/20

Moscow Mitch, Let the Press do its Job

The Political Prince of Darkness-Grim Reaper-Obstructionist in Chief-Enemy of the People-Moscow Mitch McConnell wants to put limits on the Press during the Senate Impeachment Trial.

These restrictions, reported by the Associated Press, include the corraling of journalists to a “designated area” which would hinder reporters asking Senators questions in the hallway and a security check to ensure writers do not bring electronic devices into the Impeachment trial proceedings. This move by the real Enemy of the People has already been condemned by a bipartisan group of Senators including Amy Klobuchar, Roy Blunt, and John Kennedy.

Why is Moscow Mitch afraid of the Press?

Like the situation with the calling of witnesses, if Donald Trump is so innocent and the Republican defense of him is answering the call of righteousness, why fear reporters asking questions?  Why be scared of what the witnesses have to say on live television for all the American People to see?

The obvious answer is the Enemy of the People knows Donald Trump is guilty of high crimes and his people, with each passing day of new revelations (Parnas seems to be a gold mine of information,) look worse to the American People for their blind, cultish protection of him.

The Political Prince of Darkness is worried that if journalists are allowed unlimited access to Senators, his members will not be able to give coherent justifiable defenses to the revelations about Individual One they hear during the trial.

The odds would then dramatically increase that he loses his precious Senate Majority on November 3, 2020.

Citizens should call their Representatives and Senators and tell them that it is UnAmerican to place restrictions on the press during the third impeachment trial of a United States President in History.

Moscow Mitch should follow the guidance of fellow Republicans Blunt and Kennedy rather than the example of Putin and other dictators and let the reporters do their jobs.

https://blogforarizona.net/moscow-mitch-let-the-press-do-its-job/?fbclid=IwAR2SQmQzx1Z34z8dCFpwlLxqiIkOPCg5ca8Y3uejOUW2xuCF5vMT0sLoVPk