1.21.18: As For The Parents Of DACA Americans, Just Say 'Thank You'

Shutdown, Day 2...

The entire day leading up to the exact date of one-year anniversary clearly illustrated the impeccably clear leadership of the Trump Administration, and at exactly midnight eastern time in Washington, the United States government shutdown to honor the mark. Lovely.

Now that it's here, the question at the top of the program was whether this is a Schumer Shutdown or a Trump Shutdown. Obviously, it depends who you ask, and thanks to "Meet The Press's" producers, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) both appeared in separate interviews. This gets right to the center of the president's 'shit hole' comment, pardon the phrase.

In this instance not having been in the room, you have to take the word of the people who were. When asked, Senator Durbin said that he 'amplified' it, using Chuck Todd's term, because the president lied about ever having said it. Senator Lindsey Graham 'said his piece' to the president in the very meeting, to which Mr. Cotton said was part of Mr. Graham's overall conversation about policy. But apparently, Trump owned it by bragging about the comment to people close to the president, according to conservative journalist Erick Erickson.

So if the president even owned it and Tom Cotton can't summon the backbone, despite serving at a commander post in Iraq where he said he was used to vulgarity, and say the president said what he said and I don't agree with it, or "I agree with it" if you're Tom Cotton. Who's to say? In other words, be a stand up guy and don't be afraid of it, just own it. Plus, he didn't say it so what's he worried about it? Afraid of the president, and reason this matters is because Mr. Cotton has shown himself to not be a reliably honest check on the president. And that said with no malice toward the office of the presidency.

In terms of the shutdown and the deciding factor of what the to do with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in terms of making a deal to pass a budget, today's panel consensus was that this is a pretty easy deal to make. Chuck Schumer gave the president $18 billion for a border wall in exchange for DACA.

President said 'yes,' then president said 'no.'
Like negotiating with Jell-O...

Which gives a bad name to Jell-O by the way, but I'm sure the company is enjoying the product placement.

The president said on Tuesday that he would sign anything the bipartisan group of Senators put together. Mr. Durbin and Mr. Graham give him that compromise and the president says no. Schumer gives what he wants and the Mr. Trump says no. The Senate Majority leader said publicly that he was waiting to know what the president wanted. And on and on and on.

Mr. Trump, with various networks, is on video record  that a shutdown is on the president. Well he's the president. And there's the little fact that Republicans control the House, Senate and White House.


The president rescinded the executive order from the last administration on DACA and threw it to congress with a March 5th deadline, which is soon close in congress's time frame that it's like yesterday. There is no more road.

As stated in this column before, DACA recipients are Americans, productive ones at that so give them a passport.

Mr. Cotton would not agree with something so definitive but would concede a path to citizenship. He's concerned about the parents and giving them legal status, which they should not be granted because they're the ones who broke the law. So he's saying that you twenty-something DACA recipient can stay but we're going to break up your family and mom and dad have to go back.

How about this instead since the onus of border security is on us,we didn't like that you broke the law, but thank you for the great productive American you contributed to our country. Thank you. Here's your legal status. 

You can have understanding about the Republican position of limiting family migration, derogatorily referred to as 'chain migration' and not feel too bad about it, but it shouldn't be tied to the DACA recipients.  It's called compromise where everyone loses a little.  Senator Cotton is hard right on immigration so much so that he's the fringe in his own caucus who according to Senator Lindsey Graham should be blocked as a credible voice on the issue. He give him the 'sit-down-rook' verbal swat, but despite Mr. Cotton not copping to it in the interview, he did 'get' to the president on immigration and changed the president's mind... again.

Lastly, Stephanie Cutter was on the mark for calling out White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short on his duplicity when it comes to immigration at once sounding conciliatory and then endorsing a video that the says Democrats are complicit in the murders of Americans by illegal immigrants, which is something else that should be censured by the Republican-controlled congress but frankly, they're too complicit.

Here's that exchange from the transcript...

CHUCK TODD: Is that ad -- let me ask you this, is that ad helpful to you today?

MARC SHORT: I think it's helpful to continue to raise awareness of what the--

CT: The tone of that ad, you find the tone of that ad helpful?

MS: I think that the data in that ad continues to remind people that there are people coming across--

CT: The data, not tone.

MS: --our border--

CT: Is the tone wrong?

MS: I'm telling you, the data of the ad shows that there are people coming across our border that pose threats to our country. Yes.

Does Mr. Short sound like he works for the Trump Administration, or what?

And if there was any doubt, the president owns the 'shit hole' comment and he owns the shutdown.


Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Stephanie Cutter, fmr. Communications Director for President Obama; Al Cardenas, fmr. Republican Strategist; Peter Alexander, NBC News

1.14.18: This Is How Far We've Come. This Is How Far We've Come? Executive Time.

This is how far we've come. This is how far we've come?

We have to have the discussion on whether the president is a racist or not. Whether you think so or not, the president does provoke this on himself with irresponsible, bigoted, bastardizing, unpresidential and  __________ (fill in the blank for yourself) statements about race, ethnicity, countries of origin and, frankly, most all non-whites. Fmr. advisor to Rand Paul and aide in the Bush White House now MSNBC political analyst, Elise Jordan said it best that there is no reason at all to go out of your way to alienate and antagonize people. As president, that shouldn't be that difficult. But we did get Norway in return. Roughly 54 countries in Africa plus Haiti and El Salvador makes 56 traded away and one in return. Not a good deal, wouldn't you say, and now we learn that Norway is an unwilling draft pick and refuses to report to the president's call.

Here's how Donald Trump should defend his latest example of stupidity in calling Haiti, El Salvador and the entire continent of Africa shit holes...

(Aside: The television analysts and anchors and press writ large are giddy to say the word "shit" on live air. You can see it in the faces, which is pretty hysterical in and of itself. We're glad that "Meet The Press" rightly didn't indulge in this TV candy because it's not necessary, and it got tiring of watching them one by one eat the candy. Like you just want a break from it if you follow these things or live an everyday life. But President Trump has lowered the bar another three rungs yet again, teaching our children by example.)

He should defend this untrue statement like he defended himself on his "Putin and Russia kill people" defense. Include us into the group. Like Mr. Trump said, "You think our country's so innocent?" Instead, "You think our country's not a shit hole too?" The president has said that other countries' airports are much nicer than others. He also said our FBI is in tatters. He declared a state of emergency on our opioid crisis so... Isn't that what's he's saying? What everyone is thinking, as some explain....

But we actually don't want to say what "everyone's thinking." It wasn't acceptable when he used this defense the first time, and it shouldn't be now.

The biggest disappointment isn't how Mr. Trumps disgraces the office of the President of the United States on a daily basis and trivializes the overall awesome responsibility it truly carries where lives are in the balance. Donald Trump has never internalized this concept. No, bigger than that is that we voted for the guy or not enough of people showed up to vote for his opponent. Anyway you look at it, it's on us, really.

But there's an out here, be it a slight one, and that is that Americans were sold a hyped product that ended up not being made of the quality we were promised. We expected sturdy bolts in components of stainless steel construction, but instead we got something plastic and one of the knobs has already broken off. 

The Out:  Where are the individuals who represent us?

Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan (R-WI) said what the president said unfortunate and unhelpful. Mr. Ryan is so preoccupied and focused on his personal crusade to fulfill every Ayn Rand wish list item that when he says 'unfortunate,' he means he doesn't care all that much and when he uses the word 'unhelpful,' he means to his agenda. The deal that seems to have really been struck was with Republican leadership and Mr. Trump, which was 'let us carry out our agenda and we'll kiss your shit hole no matter what you say.'

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said in his interview that what the president said wasn't 'constructive.' That was forceful, no psychache in Mr. Paul's back, apparently. He then defended the president, as did David Brody from the Christian Broadcast Network, with making distinctions between what the president says in public versus what he does or what people close to him say. The latter of which is hardly a comforting method of reassurance. Mr. Paul said that we should give the president the benefit of the doubt, but what doubt is he talking about? Ms. Jordan, said this is what happens when you 'hitch your wagons' to Trump, and then without addressing it to her former boss directly, eviscerated every excuse or notion of logic in defending Mr. Trump.

All that said is the reason we have wiser men and women such as fmr. Ambassador Andrew Young and Andrea Mitchell. Mr. Young explained that you shouldn't call an alcoholic a drunk if you want the person to remain sober and cure the disease. Ms. Mitchell reminded us that compassion and a sense of humanity should be qualities that our presidents have, which Mr. Trump does not have. She importantly noted that 20 people have perished in California mudslides and the president has mentioned one time.

The troubling question is why these concepts would have to be explained to the president in the first place. If this is the case then take all the "executive time," without Twitter, that you need Mr. President.


Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Elise Jordan, MSNBC; David Brody, Christian Broadcasting Network

One more thing...
Hawaii... A ballistic missile warning that turned out to be a false alarm. Not only does Mr. Trump have us thinking about the possibility of nuclear war with North Korea, but he's also got the military paranoid to the point of making these types of mistakes, as well?

1.7.18: What To Believe? Political Sense or Common Sense...

To believe or not believe? That is the question. Michael Wolff, author of the new, controversial and sold-out book, Fire and Fury: Inside The Trump White House, appeared as Chuck Todd's first guest today to discuss not only its contents but the more importantly, at least to a journalist, the process in which the information was obtained.

Admittedly, I haven't read Mr. Wolff's book yet. As an ordinary consumer, the bookstore was already sold out by the time I went to pick up a copy so it's on order. However, that aside and focusing on the interview and the panel conversation afterward, Mr. Wolff portending himself to be less than forthcoming on his explanations on how he got staffers in the White House to speak about the president with the noted exception of fmr. senior strategist advisor Steven K. Bannon who is on the record in the book. As New York Times Magazine's Mark Leibovich described asking questions of Republicans about the president, it's sort of a two-for. Journalist asks what someone thinks of the president and in turn that someone asks if it's off the record. Danielle Pletka said of the book that there wasn't anything in there that people familiar with the president, including journalists and politicians, didn't already know. Believably, Mr. Wolff said that the president flattered him, saying "he's great," which stands to reason due to prior reputations in of both in New York City. It's gossipy journalism.

Pretty dismissive, all things considered.

But here's the rub. If the book doesn't tell us things that people already know then one would have to be alarmed at conclusions such as: Staffers desperately trying to contain the president or that the 25th Amendment is part of the everyday conversation around the White House. How bad it must be that Steve Bannon would go on the record earning himself less powerful friends in Washington, a much lighter wallet and the new monitor, Sloppy Steve. It goes to show that in Mr. Trump's world, you're great until the day you're not, until you are again. It's a significant break, as Mr. Leibovich described on the merit that it does make the Breitbart/ Trump base have to choose sides in a way.

Also, if the book is filled with falsehoods, the president's reaction to it is grown-up schoolyard kind of stuff in nature. He threatens a lawsuit and complains about weak libel laws, really? That the president has felt the need to come out and state that he's a "very stable genius" doesn't inspire any confidence. On the other hand, it confirms how thin-skinned the president is, and as a president that's something you simply can not be. One thing that Mr. Wolff explained made perfect sense with regard to the president's chief of staff John Kelly and his not having seen the president's tweets, to which Mr. Wolff said there was no way in hell (paraphrasing) that he didn't see him. A man like John Kelly doesn't go into a day or situation not knowing or having a good idea of what's coming at him.

Refer to Senator Bob Corker (R-TN): It's like adult daycare in the White House.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions hasn't done anything to help calm things down to let all us know that the adults have any control in the Administration with Freedom Caucus Republicans calling for his resignation over his recusing himself in the Russia investigation. However, Mr. Sessions is ideologically stubborn in wanting to play out the pursuit of his obsessions - as Joy Reid described them - the evils of marijuana and immigration in that there are too many immigrants in The United States. So much for Republican dogma of leaving things for the states to decide. Not to mention there was a New York Times report this week that Mr. Sessions instructed staffers to get dirt on fmr. FBI Director James Comey to discredit him. 


Finally, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) clarified for us the difference between political sense and common sense.

According to Senator Graham, we need special investigators investigating other special investigators on the motivations of their investigation. This makes perfect political sense, which is the same as saying it makes absolutely no common sense.

What's that old Steven Wright joke? The opposite of progress is congress.

Lindsey Graham admitted that he's cozied up to the president because he's the president, and that with North Korea, Iran and immigration on the table, Mr. Graham wants a seat at it. However, there have to be ways to achieve that other than the sad inexcusable criminal recommendation he's submitted with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) against fmr. British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele and the dossier he wrote on Mr. Trump. Mr. Graham needs to take a step back and have some ant-acid, or start giving out free sample packs to us. The first part of his statement today made sense in that Robert Mueller and his investigative team should be empowered and allowed to finish its work. He should just leave it at that. Period, hard stop.


Panel: Joy Reid, MSNBC; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Mark Leibovich, The New York Times Magazine; David Brooks, The New York Times

12.31.17: Instead Of Stopping American Carnage, The President Is Trying To Set It In Motion

In this 'look back at 2017' and 'look ahead' theme today, let's dispel with something right away and that is that the 2020 presidential race (also discussed) is a political lifetime away and who's really to say what will happen by then. There's prognosticating and then there's the almost ridiculous notion of thinking who will run in the next presidential year.

As for 2017, Mr. Trump set the tone with those two inaugural words, "American carnage." He said it would stop but in many ways he has just begun to undertake the effort of creating it. Domestically, you look at the country and we've never been more divided. As Rich Lowry explained, it isn't so much of Mr. Trump's policies, which have been mostly traditional Republican, but the viscerally, personally negative reaction the sound majority of the country has had for Mr. Trump himself.  The precipice came after Charlottesville and the statement about "very fine people on both sides," a completely disgraceful statement. Despite what Mr. Trump has said, he has never made an honest attempt to govern and represent all of the people of this country. The good health of the economy saves his domestic performance from falling into the abyss.

Internationally, Mr. Trump has been amateurish and just plain stupid on so many fronts. Starting with Russia, which can be summed up with the big 'Why.' If there's nothing there and it's all a big 'hoax,' as the president likes to say, then why all the lying and covering up of facts and meetings and contacts? Why all the secrecy, as Katty Kay asked. The fact is that there is something there and time and Robert Mueller's special counsel will tell. But even if you take Russia off the table, which you really can not, Mr. Trump has embraced autocrats in Turkey and the Philippines, abdicating any leadership role the United States plays on the front of human rights.

This weekend, Mr. Trump tweeted about the protests occurring right now in Iran and he mentioned human rights, but the statement carries no respect when you consider how he's represented us abroad (and here at home). Pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords was a short-sighted, isolationist decision: Short-sighted because the U.S. has the opportunity to leader the world in clean energy technology manufacturing, but he's ignoring the business potential, and isolationist because he's alienated the world and more importantly our key allies. From a contentious conversation with the prime minister of Australia to insulting the German chancellor to her face to being publicly rebuked by Teresa May of Britain, the president has sown distrust with once steadfast western allies. Coming full circle, Putin got what he wanted in this respect.

As Kristen Welker explained, the president hasn't done anything to curtail North Korea's nuclear program, except to make the dictatorship more aggressive in its pursuit. Moving into the next year, continued bluster from the president potentially moves us ever closer to a hot war on the Korean peninsula, something that no one wants. And speaking of hot wars, the panel briefly discussed a potential hot war between Saudi Arabia and Iran; "one step away" was the phrase Katty Kay used.

And looking ahead to 2018 politically, Charlie Cook explained that we're standing on the beach and we look out into the ocean and see that a big wave is gathering. But the big 'however' is that the Democrats need a clear, concise agenda - one easily explained to the American people - or the tide won't be with them. Simply running against Mr. Trump because of personal failure to represent the office of presidency, in a presidential way, will not be enough. Some Dems don't want to hear this but Mr. Cook was correct in saying that they need to take impeachment off the table because even if the Democrats won every Senate race that's up, they'd still need 60 votes to impeach and no Republican in the Senate is going to vote for that. It's Mr. Trump's Republican party, like it or not.

At the beginning of the year, Mr. Trump said that the "American Carnage" would stop, but it seems like he's trying to set it in motion.

With that said, the good news is that despite all his attempts at undermining America's institutions, we've seen them be quite resilient in the face of all these attacks - the FBI, our judicial branch. Mr. Trump also has more people in this country paying attention to politics and what's happening in Washington, and that is also good for the health of our Democracy. Three cheers for that!

Everyone have a safe and happy new year in 2018!


Panel: Katty Kay, BBC News; Kristen Welker, NBC News, Rich Lowry, The National Review; Charles Cook, The Cook Political Report


One more thing...
Troll (verb), Dog Whistle (noun) and Alt-Right (noun) are three words we simply don't need as a society, but they are now unavoidable.

12.24.17: This Year's Take Away - Mr. Trump Sold Us A Bill of Goods

This column has never really been a fan of the "year in review" type of programming and for the most part it will stay away from that today because events continue to happen that affect our path as a country moving forward.

The prime example of this week was the non-binding United Nations resolution vote on whether to accept the United States' stance on recognizing Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel (appropriate given this time of year, don't you think?). In practical terms, West Jerusalem functions as Israel's capital, as that is from where the country's government functions. However, the Trump Administration made no distinct between the western and eastern parts of the city. By declaring all of the city as the capital of Israel, the U.S. has essentially removed itself as a credible broker for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. For those who may not care about such things or think that's it's no big deal to them, it's naive and short-sighted to consider or in this case not consider where our allies fall on this decision. Contrary to the Trump Administration's stance that it thinks the U.S. can go it alone, we can not.

Here's a graphic of the vote tally from Thursday, December 21st.

Among the countries voting to reject the United States' stance was France, Germany, England, Japan, South Korea, The Netherlands and Spain just to name a few. Even Russia, who Mr. Trump continually desires to befriend voted against the United States. The tally was 128 in favor of rejecting the U.S.'s position and 9 in favor of it.

Then our U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who was thought to be a voice of reason within the administration says that "The United States will remember this vote..." basically threatening the U.N. and by extension of allies with retribution. Ms. Haley lost a lot of credibility this a sane voice in an administration of chaos.

Chuck Todd said the operative word for this first year of the Trump presidency was "disruptive," but more accurately it is "divisive." After a year-long campaign of dividing this country domestically, the year was capped off with the administration sewing new threads of division with our allies abroad.

Speaking of division, The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson mentioned the one thing that in most Americans' eyes is irredeemable for Mr. Trump, and that is Charlottesville. "Fine people on both sides," is what the president... The President of the United States said about a neo-nazi march. And that's where Mr. Trump was all year, playing to his white aggrieved base, which at year's end got screwed over by him as well with the $1.5 trillion tax cut giveaway that won't help them, and one from which he and his family will greatly benefit. He declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency and then did nothing about it except to take away money that hampers combatting it.

If there's any take away from this year, it's that Mr. Trump sold the people who voted for him a bill of goods, one that we'll all have to pay for.


Panel: Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report; Hugh Hewitt, the Salem Radio Network and MSNBC; Carol Lee, NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post


One more thing...
Vice President Mike Pence's sycophantic praise of the president makes me want to puke.  What a suck-up. Or as they would say in a diverse neighborhood that he's unfamiliar with, he has no cojones.

12.17.17: If You're Looking for A Democratic Wave, Be Careful as Tides Can Change

Even with a 'deeply flawed' candidate, it's no less than stunning that Doug Jones won the special election for the Alabama senate seat over Roy Moore. Simply stated, decency won and hence America won as well. Really, Mr. Moore wasn't so much as a flawed candidate as a corrupted man. All candidates are 'flawed,' because no individual is perfect, but Roy Moore had been corrupted by money and power, operating without any checks and when you run for an office with national implications, you're going to have the layers peeled back and exposed. Alabamians decided that they didn't like what they saw and didn't want to be represented in that way. So... Thank you Alabama.

Chuck Todd in his interview with White House Legislative Affairs Director, Marc Short, showed him a clip of their last interview where Mr. Short denounced the behavior that Mr. Moore was credibly accused of, but since that time his boss, President Trump, had endorsed Roy Moore for senate. Mr. Short, today, explained that Mr. Trump endorsed him because he represents the party. No. This is incorrect as the president doesn't represent the party but all Americans. It's one of the worst aspects of Mr. Trump's presidency: that he has no inclination to represent all Americans, just pitting one group against another. Alabama reminded us that we as a country are better than that and that we've had enough.

With that, much of the talk of today's program was about the projected Democratic wave election that is coming in 2018. To that, Democrats should be cautiously optimistic. A lot can happen between now and next November, but Republicans are not helping themselves with this tax cut bill that they're trying to pass. Details aside, what Americans know is that the tax breaks disproportionately favor corporations and the wealthiest one percent of the population. There's no getting around that, no matter what the spin is. As Mr. Short even said, the most important thing about this tax cut bill is that the corporate rate has been cut. Again, details aside, what the average American hears is that corporations get a permanent tax cut and individuals do not.

The underlying message is that Republicans aren't for the average working family. With this tax cut bill, the GOP isn't doing itself any favors moving into 2018. And as for Mr. Trump, the majority of Americans don't trust him to be honest with them, and all the groups, namely women and African-Americans, are energized to vote against the Republican agenda and hence the president.

Mr. Todd asked Governor John Kasich (R-OH) if we as a country are in a better position than we were at the beginning of the year, and he demurred on the answer. Understandable, but to directly answer the question, one can only say 'no.' However, Governor Kasich did say that the GOP can not govern small, angry and narrow - Mr. Trump's precise governing style. What makes it all the worse is that many Republicans in the House and Senate are following right along in this vein.

A prime example is the coordinated attack on Special Counsel Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in our political system by Republicans in Congress and on Fox 'News.' (Anytime I mention Fox in this column, 'news' has to be put in quotes, but all the network has been is a shill for the president.) What they are overlooking is that they are exacerbating is a threat to our national security. What does it say about a political party that controls all branches of government that undermines American institutions? No matter what Speaker Ryan or Senate Majority Leader McConnell, and sorry to say but for Mr. Kasich as well would tell you, the Republican party is the party of Donald Trump. Not quite corrupt, but certainly and sadly corrupted.


Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Stephanie Cutter, fmr. Obama Campaign Manager; Al Cardenas, fmr. head of the American Conservatives Union; George Will, Washington Post columnist


A few more things...

The Trump Administration has directed that the Center of Disease Control (CDC) can not use the following terms in their budget proposals - diversity, vulnerable, science-based, evidence-based, fetus, entitlement or transgender. Sounds like a Mike Pence denial wish list to me.

In this case, the following terms may have to be banned in the press to describe the Trump Administration: divisive, authoritarian, dictatorial, idiot-based, unstable, fantasy-based and stupid.

Also, the one topic that was not talked about at all was 'net neutrality,' which was repealed this week. Was it just a matter of time or was it because Comcast, NBC's parent company would stand to benefit from this repeal. Hopefully, the former and not the latter.

12.10.17: Roy Moore Is A Lose-Lose For America

With the special election in Alabama coming up this Tuesday, it's safe to say that Alabama voters couldn't care less about what this blog has to say about it, which gives one the freedom to opine on the election. NBC's Hallie Jackson mentioned that there were other big Roy Moore stories before the very credible allegations of Mr. Moore molesting children.

Refusal to take down the Ten Commandments from the court house = unconstitutional.

Banning individuals of Muslim faith from serving in Congress = unconstitutional.

Making homosexuality illegal = unconstitutional.

Instructing lower court judges to not honor same sex marriages = unconstitutional.

One of the best time for families was during the period of slavery = despicable.

And then there's molesting children... And this guy was a judge?

Since Alabama voters don't care about this blog, I'll say that if they elect Roy Moore, it's evidence of the state's majority has little knowledge of or use for the Constitution and 'morally bankrupt' becomes an apt description for that majority.

If Mr. Moore wins the Senate will seat him and the chamber, controlled by Republicans, will ultimately do nothing. Even at this point, how does the GOP credibly claim that it's the party of family values? It no longer can not. That's not to say that Republicans writ large are despicable or deplorable or what ever adjective you want to use, but let's certainly dispense with the moral high ground. What we've also learned this week is that Democrats can not claim it either. With that in mind, tribal politics, which has been the order of the day thanks to Mr. Trump, is not the answer for the United States. For example, even if you disagree with Senator Tim Scott's (R-SC) policy positions, he's a senator that has earned and deserves respect.

But make no mistake, the election of Roy Moore to the Senate is a lose-lose for America. As David Brooks said, if he's elected the Republican party will be viewed as repulsive for a generation.

This brings us to the tax bill, which in sum is not good for 99 percent of the American people and here's why... First, under reconciliation, meaning the Republican-controlled Congress are enacting it as a budget deal which only needs a simple majority, punishes blue states by allowing for less tax deductions. However, the tax bill will eventually create 1.4 trillion dollars in nation debt (as has been calculated) so Republicans are proposing that since this is the case, cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will have to happen, which disproportionately adversely effects people in red states, as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) outlined. So every one loses except the top one percent. By the time the general public digests and understands all this, it will be too late to go back.

Lastly, there's the growing effort by conservative pundits, TV personalities and more and more Congress people to discredit the Mueller investigation. Of course Sean Hannity comes to mind first and foremost, but Mr. Hannity is solely interested in maintaining power, money and influence, not justice and the truth. The president would fire Mr. Mueller, a Republican appointed as FBI director by a Republican president, at his own political peril. The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan said that there would be huge political backlash for such a move, but really would there be? Hmmm... Let Mr. Mueller, who thankfully is immune to the TV hacks, finish his work and the American people will judge. As Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT) described, there are too many 'funny' (my word) omissions, obfuscations and forgotten facts that it's extremely difficult to conclude that it's coincidence.

Panel: Hallie Jackson, NBC; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; David Brooks, The New York Times; Cornell Belcher, NBC analyst

One More Thing...
Senator Al Franken and the other resignations (Conyers, Franks) this week... The bottom line is that whether you agreed with their politics or not, they all had to go.

12.4.17: The Inner Cirle's Day of Reckoning Is Coming, Without A Doubt

One can not help thinking about the other shoe and the other foot... With indictments and now the guilty plea on Friday by former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, if this were happening to a Democratic administration, the Republican-controlled Congress would be all over impeachment calls and criminal investigations. Remember that a Republican-controlled Congress spent more money on investigating the tragedy in Benghazi than on any other congressional investigation in the country's history. Sorry to say it, but many Republican politicians throughout this process have shown any principle. With that said, it's something that one should dwell on.

However, with Lt. General Michael Flynn pleading guilty on Friday for making false statements to the FBI - a minor charge comparatively to what he could have been charged with - the Trump Administration should be generally worried and certainly they are despite any outward appearances. And let's dispel of this little nugget right off the bat - an FBI sending an anti-Trump tweet and being dismissed for it in the summer doesn't change the fact in the slightest that Mr. Flynn pleaded guilty.

Looking at things objectively, there is evidence of obstruction, specifically from President Trump's tweet yesterday where he said that he fired Mr. Flynn because he lied to Vice President Mike Pence and because he lied to the FBI. Mr. Trump's lawyer said he sent that tweet and that's the only one that he's ever sent on behalf of the president. It's seriously doubtful that Mr. Trump's lawyer sent that statement (as we have to view Mr. Trump's twitter feed as official statements from the president), but even if a lawyer for the White House sent that, what was that person thinking? You just admitted that the president obstructed justice. Why hasn't that lawyer been fired for such a damning statement?

Senator Feinstein said that her 'enough is enough' moment came last month, but after so many of these moments, what finally set her off? Through the judiciary committee she must now know something, which she can not share, that has solidified some kind of impropriety on behalf of the president. What we do know is that Mr. Flynn did not act as a rogue agent and that members of the administration's inner circle knew what he was doing. Certainly, as confirmed, Jared Kushner knew what was going on as well as J.T. McFarland. (Interestingly, Ms. McFarland is now the ambassador to Singapore. They sure shipped her a long way away.)  In a private email Ms. McFarland said the following: “If there is a tit-for-tat escalation Trump will have difficulty improving relations with Russia, which has just thrown U.S.A. election to him,” she wrote.

Ouch!

Just a figure of speech? Not likely. If there was no collusion or quid pro quo then why write or say such a thing?   As far as the inner circle during the transition is concerned, Mr. Pence was the head of the transition team so how does he not know what Mr. Flynn is doing. As the investigation progresses and more people are implicated, the shielding or walling off of Mr. Pence will come into clearer focus, most certainly.

Where we'll leave this is to answer the question of whether the president himself is under investigation and the answer is 'yes,' but not directly. By squeezing everyone else, the special counsel will find out what the president knew, and he knows quite a bit. For example, the meeting in Trump Tower with the Russians didn't escape Mr. Trump's attention. He knew about it. Let's face it, Donald Trump Jr. doesn't really strike anyone as some independent savvy thinker. And by extension, it's hard to believe that President Trump doesn't know everything that his son-in-law Jared Kushner knows.

Mr. Todd asked Senator Feinstein where we are in all this. Answer: With the guilty plea from Mr. Flynn on Friday morning, we're at the end of the beginning. There's a lot more to come out, for sure.

As for the tax legislation, Senator Collins said she voted for it because she got an "ironclad" promise that Medicare would not be touched. We'll see how long that lasts, but she also said that the tax cuts will pay for themselves with economic growth, which in reality is doubtful because the entire package relies on the theory of trickle down economics, which we know doesn't work. But with that said, the Republicans control Congress and through budget reconciliation, they passed their tax overhaul plan. By using this process they didn't need any Democrats in the Senate to vote for it. Fiscal constraint in terms of deficits and debt are lost on Republicans when they're in control, with the lone exception of Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), but lets see how the House members react and whether the Republican deficit hawks in the lower chamber vote against the Senate bill. Because of political expediency, it will pass. Republicans need a win that badly.


Panel: Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Mike Murphy, Republican strategist; Eddie Glaude Jr., Princeton University

One more thing...
It's despicable that President Donald Trump would campaign for Roy Moore in the Alabama media market (via a rally in Pensacola, Fl - the Mobile media market). Hard stop.

And for Corey Lewandowski and Dave Bossie's book, Let Trump Be Trump... God help us, that's exactly what this country is trying to prevent.

11.26.17: Women Are Simply Fed Up

If you agree with the notion that the election of Donald J. Trump as president evoked a massive response from America's women, it's because they are rightly fed up with powerful entitled men ruining the country on all levels. Making the response two-fold, look what happened in the recent election in Virginia, and around the country for that matter, a number of women took office for the first time. In terms of sexual harassment, men in powerful positions, abusing that power, are being called out, and it's about time.

Maybe it has to start in high profile industries first like Hollywood, the media and in Washington to have the shock effect so that the culture does change. But it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of the problem... It never is. Katy Tur vented that the first two in the aforementioned list cleaned house quickly and decisively - Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey an Mark Halperin (from NBC) and Charlie Rose (from CBS) respectively. However, in politics, there's this 'hold on a moment' attitude, let me check to see if I like this person first (based on their politics). Anita Hill, an American hero, flatly and correctly stated that Washington can not lead on this issue. And we know it, from just what minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said during her interview today. Congress is going to institute mandatory anti-harassment and anti-discrimination classes. Welcome to the 21st century. Large and small companies alike and many school districts around the country have been giving such classes for years. Great that Congress can finally catch up.

Ms. Pelosi was correct in saying that Al Franken was a very different case than Roy Moore, but both need to be addressed, not ignored. And in both cases, there's no doubt that the women's complaints are credible. Ultimately, if charges aren't being brought up then with regard to these public officials voters will have their say. For Mr. Franken, he should be subject to an ethics investigation and see where that goes first, but at the end of his term, perhaps it should be the end of the run.

Roy Moore, on the other hand, is an alleged (probable) child molester who cloaks himself behind a wall of piety, but is a corrupted soul. President Trump's defense and de facto endorsement of Judge Moore comes from a place of self-preservation more than from anywhere else. Mr. Trump has no credibility on sexual harassment because of the infamous awful words that came from his own mouth and the many complaints against him. So when he defends Roy Moore by saying "He totally denied it," so it's not true, it's like he's saying that about himself. Mr. Trump's extended argument that it's better to have Roy Moore, Republican yet child molester, in office than a Democrat. Another one of the death by a thousand cuts Mr. Trump is inflicting on the American societal body. One has to think how sad it is that our children should be able to look up to the President of the United States as our moral center - a notion that has been completely vanquished.

Ms. Pelosi wasn't completely coherent on all this, stumbling and parsing her answers - what to do about Bill Clinton in retrospect and sitting Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), the minority leader on the judiciary committee. Of the latter she said that he deserved due process despite some very 'uncomfortable' circumstances in this particular situation. She talked a circle. With regard to President Clinton, saying that we should 'move forward' was an effective punt. With the prospect that taxpayer funds may have been used in the settlement, from a pool of money set up by Congress for just such a purpose, makes it even more imperative that this be looked into. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) to his credit, called for transparency on these settlements. Transparency should come, like tomorrow.

The Washington Post's Michael Gerson described the different circumstances as tribal morality - if you're in my party, I believe you. But maybe not even that... The governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, said that she believed the women but in the senatorial election she is going to vote Republican, meaning she's going to vote for Roy Moore. Really? Talk about assinine and cowardly. It's one thing to be lead, and another to be lead by the nose. If this is the official leadership and the mouthpiece for the people of Alabama, then how can one not be worried about the fact that Alabamians are going to determine where the moral bar for this country is set?

At this point, I should be admonished for not talking about taxes as rightly Ms. Pelosi did to Chuck Todd. There's no excuse for Mr. Todd to solely focus on the salacious, and not real policy that is going to determine the financial fates of so many on "Meet The Press." This column's excuse... Well, we're not "Meet The Press."


Panel: Heather McGhee, President, Demos; Katy Tur, NBC News; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network and NBC; Michael Gerson, The Washington Post


One More Thing... Michael Flynn
Mr. Flynn's lawyers have stopped communicating with the White House lawyers. Hugh Hewitt said that he thinks it nothing more than Mr. Flynn's foreign agent registration violations (which is a big deal) that are the sole cause of his trouble. However, one can't help but think it's more than that. Breaking with Mr. Hewitt's opinion, it's definitely more than that and it's clear at this point that Mr. Flynn is cooperating with Robert Mueller's investigation. The intrigue continues to mount.