That's all folks!

  
Do we dare hope?  Is Robert Mueller about finished with his investigation?  Please?

With congressional mid-term elections just a little over 3 months away, Special Counsel Robert Mueller will either have to wrap up his investigation soon, or hold it over until after the election.  A final report out immediately before the election is not going to happen, particularity after Comey botched a similar situation back it '16.  The Democrats are probably hoping for the former.  Both say their position, whether pro or anti Trump, will be vindicated.  I predict....only Robert Mueller knows. *wink*

Seriously, it seems to me Prez Trump's only hope to avoid the political guillotine is for the economy to continue to boom.  "It's the economy, stupid" has never been more true.  That's overwhelmingly what the 40% who avidly support him tout about him.  Truth is, he has indeed helped the economy stretch its 10 year rebound from the Great Depression of '08, but he is really just riding the recovery coat tale.  Not that Obama fixed it either....the economy had little place to go but up after our $%^&# crooked bankers nearly tanked us all.

I think Trump and his team will be in a world of hurt when Mueller makes his findings known publicly.  There is ample evidence that at least some of those around Trump were duped by Putin and his intelligence people.  The Russians originally recruited Trump's team, not the other way around.   Still, Trump's team didn't walk away, and may have even taken the Rooskie's bait to Trump personally, and when the "implied" offer of help was accepted....BOOM!  Putin has likely been reeling him in ever since.  Or Trump's vulnerability may go back several decades with Russian money financing his businesses after US banks told him they'd had enough of his fast-and-loose financial shenanigans.  We'll see.

And if Mueller does in fact indict some of Trump's team, or his family (Jr, Jared?)....well, the plot thickens.  With something like a 95%+ successful prosecution record, the smart money will be betting on Mueller to win this one, too.  And that's IF Mueller and the DOJ (Rosenstein) agree a sitting president can not be indicted.  If they puncture the presidential shield of prosecution....YIKES!....Watergate redux!  Look for popcorn sales to skyrocket!  *snort*

But not to worry.  We'll survive this, too, whatever happens.  I'm pretty sure.  :)

S

What has happened to the Republican Party?

It wasn't that many years ago that the "Republican Party" and "Ronald Reagan" were synonymous.  Conservatives were proud to say they were "Reagan Republicans".  He would bend and compromise if necessary, but NEVER when it came to the Soviet Union.  He stood firm, gave them no quarter, worked with and within NATO, and eventually backed them down.  Ronald Reagan was tough!

The USSR officially collapsed on December 26, 1991, on GHW Bush's watch, but it was all due to Reagan's perseverance.  Reagan very famously said, when talking about our arms control treaty with the Soviets, "Trust, but verify."  He did not say, "Well, they said they were abiding by the treaty, and that's good enough for me."

Early in his Presidential term a very naive George Dubya Bush once met with Vladimir Putin and said, "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy....I was able to get a sense of his soul."  Later, a much more experienced and worldly Sec Defense Robert Gates said after he met V Putin, "I....looked into Putin’s eyes and I saw a stone cold killer."

It's now said the GOP has become Donald Trump's party as [brilliantly] designed by former advisor Steve Bannon.  Rank and file Republicans rarely say anything negative about Trump.  His brag, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters" has been proven essentially true.  President Trump met with Putin in Helsinki recently and fawned all over him.  He had just been briefed on the 12 Russian intelligence officers who were indicted for meddling in our 2016 election with Vladimir Putin's express approval, but said he believed Putin's denial instead.  

Republicans began to stir uncomfortably, Trump backpedaled his sweetness weakly, and his faithful seem to have gone compliant again.  Their stock, canned comeback to any criticism is "well, Hillary did a lot worse."  For the record, Hillary's emails, Watergate, Teapot Dome, etc, were all criminal scandals, no doubt, but none of that has anything to do with the way Donald Trump is behaving today.  A bank robber can't use as his defense, "well, I only got $500....Hillary got $1,000."

I have many very intelligent, good friends who resemble the description of the Trump Republican I just described.  I encourage them to continue to present their positions on health care, immigration, tax reform, etc.  Those are all things we can reasonably debate.  Kowtowing to Russia and the thug-killer Vladimir Putin should be beyond debate.

I suggest you refresh yourself with the Steele Dossier (here) that was in the news last year.  The jest of it was that the Russians/Putin had some incriminating evidence on Donald Trump that they could someday use to blackmail the new President.  Given the recent strangely cozy US/Russian relations, I expect you'll see this topic soon re-enter the news.

S

We can reasonably debate many issues, but kowtowing to Russia is NOT one of them!

I wish this was funny....

....but it isn't.  It's scarily accurate.

President Trump meets with Russian President Putin in just a few days.  Putin is right now most likely huddled with his personality profile psychologists determining exactly what he can say to get Donald Trump to fetch, roll over, and sit up and beg.  Trump is right now most likely propped up in bed skypeing with his BFF Sean Hannity.

Trump is in no way intellectually or cunningly Putin's equal.  Putin has been laser focused on returning Russia to its former glory ever since the USSR was officially dissolved on December 26, 1991.  Trump was completely unprepared for his office, and was as shocked as anyone when he was elected on November 8, 2016.  Putin was trained as an intelligence officer in the KGB, eventually becoming a Lt. Colonel, and later heading the KGB's successor, the FSB.  Trump kept his dad's slick lawyer on retainer to keep him out of trouble.  Bone spurs *wink* kept him out of the military.  Putin has a honed, long-term strategy.  Trump just says and does whatever pops into his head.  Trump slanders and belittles his opponents.  Putin kills his.

Vladimir Putin will destroy Donald Trump, and we'll all be collateral damage.  No, this is not funny at all.

S

Kickin' a$$ and takin' names

Democrats and Republicans conducting the People's business in Washington.

I recently saw a news clip of a Republican congressman giving the acting Attorney General hell because the Mueller investigation is taking so long.  "If Mueller has something, take it to the damn Grand Jury.  This is tearing the country apart."  He was upset because the investigation has so far taken one year.  For the record, the Nixon/Watergate investigation took TWO+ years, as did the Clinton/Lewinsky investigation and the House Benghazi investigation.  Why can't Mueller have the time he needs, too?

Here's what Congress should, but won't, do:  Both parties should ban all talk about Mueller's investigation.  They should zip their pie holes.  Don't respond to the latest tweet or leak.  Wave the press off.  Just go to work.  Let Mueller do his job, AND MAKE CONGRESS DO THEIRS.  

On a good day, many reports say, the typical congressman and Senator spends half his time fund raising so as to build up his campaign chest for his next election bid.  Then they spend most of their remaining day strategizing how, when, and at who they will poke another sharp stick in the eye of, and of course primping for their next TV appearance so they can lie to us about how hard they work blah blah blah.  That leaves them just a few precious minutes a day to actually DO anything.  If anything actually gets done in Washington, it's purely by accident.  You and I would get fired on our second day of work if we were that unproductive!

No foreign overseas frolicking at the taxpayers expense. No spring/summer/fall/winter recesses.  They need to go to their offices and WORK.  Figure out what to do about North Korea, trade with China/Mexico/Canada/Europe, immigration, how to cyber smack Russia, fix our decrepit roads and bridges and air traffic control system, etc.  No one can go home, no one can get paid, no one is eligible for re-election UNLESS they work out something with the other party.  There is no shortage of projects that needs urgent attention.

Kickin' ass and takin' names.  Who's with me?

S