Posts Made By: James Lacey

Originally Posted by James Brown

Hi James:  I hate to say it, but CNN more or less supports Richard on this phone call angle:

Jim,

Mueller didn't write a letter of protest to Barr because he was happy about the way Barr handled the release of the Mueller report. It's pretty clear that first and foremost, Mueller was concerned about Barr's summary. Any concerns about media coverage came afterward as the timeline shows. I don't necessarily agree that a later release of the redacted version somehow excuses Barr's mischaracterizations. After all, once a narrative is created and used widely, it's almost impossible to rewrite.

Originally Posted by James Brown

But I think that the center will side with Trump more and more as this drags on.  I will be surprised if the Dems don't move on fairly soon, when it appears that endless investigations are bolstering the president with persuadable voters.  If Trump was not such an ass, he could parlay this report (and of course the economy) into a Reagan-like electoral annihilation in 2020.   As it is, I think that the election is going to be super close - it all depends on whom the Ds nominate, and how that person approaches MI, WI, PA and so on.

I don't see independents breaking for Trump unless the Democrats nominate a terrible candidate. In 2016, we had two highly unpopular candidates, and many people were willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt because they didn't want to vote for Hillary. Trump barely won in 2016 despite what Trump flatterers would have you believe. Now that the American people have seen on full display the consequences of a Trump personality in the White House, do you think that independents are going to swing to him? I seriously doubt it when he continues to assail the most popular provisions of the ACA, and as you so tartly put it, continues to behave like an ass. Besides, Congressional oversight and investigations have drug on for years before and it didn't change the minds of independents. The content of Vol.2 of the Mueller report is a veritable treasure trove compared to anything the Republicans had on Hillary. As long as Trump continues to be a pathological lying narcissist who can't help but act on his worst impulses, then there will be no shortage of investigations.

Originally Posted by James Brown

We'll see how it all works out over the next 1.5 years, but if the economy remains robust, history suggests that Trump wins no matter how odious his personality might be.  

I don't disagree with you, and it is incredible how much a robust economy can insulate a politician from criticism. I think the idea that he will easily win in 2020, even with a good economy, is not supportable by the data we have in front of us today. For example, if he lost all the States where he is polling negatively today, he would get clobbered. He lost the popular vote by six million votes in 2016 and only won by squeaking out extremely narrow margins of victory in the by now famous rust-belt states of PA, WI, and MI. He is not even polling well in traditionally red states like Texas. However, as you said, what happens over the next 1.5 years will matter too. I hope we are all here to see what happens.

Originally Posted by James Brown

You're not ill are you?  That last line is more than a bit melodramatic.  The federal and state systems of government we are blessed with are much stronger than any one official.  In my opinion, no rational person, no matter how much they hate Trump, can say that the last two years have been an existential disaster for the USA.  Those who say or publish the existential threat BS are simply not being rational.  I personally am confident that the USA will survive another 2-6 years of Trump.

I didn't mean to be melodramatic, only to suggest that none of us know what will happen in the next 1.5 years. Rest assured, I am in excellent health, and hope everyone else is as well. We did have my mother's 80th birthday party last weekend, and I saw many relatives I had not seen in a long time. To say we were all a little greyer and a little longer in the tooth would be an understatement. Maybe that is the origin of my melancholy.

I agree that any claims of Trump being an existential threat are overblown and hysterical. If anything, Trump has shown that our Democratic institutions are robust and can survive even his level of peak ridiculousness.

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Figures...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/04/tech/trump-social-media-twitter-facebook/index.html

Trump's Twitter feed is info-wars and far-right propaganda, so don't worry, "free speech" for right-wing whack-a-doodles is not dead yet.

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Upon hearing the news, Trump has been tweeting his tweeter off and states he shouldn't testify. 
Why shouldn't he? IF Barr and all the "experts" on Fox news are so correct in their opinions, then Donald doesn't have to block his testimony, now does he?

Trump logic works like this:

1. The Mueller report is a "total exoneration," and that explains why I repeatedly tried to fire Mueller, why I refused to be interviewed by Mueller, and why I'm now trying to silence Mueller. It also explains why I routinely call the Mueller report an unfair political document written by "18 angry Democrats."
2. The first two years of his Presidency were the most successful in history, but the Democrats also stole them.
3. Free speech pertains to maligning Seth Rich and spinning his murder into a political conspiracy for political gain. Free speech relates to pushing anti-vaxxer propaganda. Free speech allows for harassing parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook. However, kneel at an NFL game, to protest social injustice, and you are a whiny son-of-a-bitch that should be fired!

It's amazing that anyone takes this man seriously anymore. You don't even have to satirize him at this point. He is so absurd that his routine behavior is self-parody.

Originally Posted by Pete Brayton

I know of at least 4 or 5 former students who have gone into teaching and said that I was part of the reason they did. As a matter of fact, one of my former students is teaching in my position at my last school.
 

These facts are undoubtedly a better testimony to the success of your career than, say, for example, Bill Barr's rebuke by his entire profession of peers for hackery and misrepresenting the case for obstruction in the Mueller report against Trump.

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

How many make up your "plethora"?  

Currently, more than 720 former federal prosecutors who have worked in Republican and Democratic administrations have signed the letter, and the count is rising. They assert that Barr mischaracterized the Mueller report when he said it laid out insufficient evidence to make an obstruction case.

Originally Posted by James Brown

Then why didn't Mueller include an unambiguous conclusion of obstruction in his report?

I think Mueller made it pretty clear in his report that DOJ policy is not to indict a sitting President. The letter signatories are from a broad sampling of the federal prosecutor profession from what I have read, but of course, I understand some will "shoot the messengers" as part of typical political discourse.

I too think they should have impeachment hearings, but of course, my reasoning is slightly different. First, they should have them just so the general public becomes more informed about what is actually in the Mueller report. I have read a good bit of Vol.2 as it pertains to obstruction and it is stunning. Second, they should have them just so any future politicians know they cannot do what Trump did and get off completely free. I mean are we a nation of laws or not? Lastly, if you are intellectually honest, and you think Clinton deserved impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice, then you have to agree that Trump deserves the same treatment.

Originally Posted by Pete Brayton

It is indeed a sad day and the weather reflects it. Thanks for your support. 

Pete,

I recently sent my Mother her Mother's day card. In that card, I thanked her for her devotion and the example that she and my Father set for my brothers and me. Without my parents and their sacrifices, I would not be where I am today. I could send that same message to any one of the many teachers I have had over the years, and it would be just as appropriate. I don't understand how or when attacking the teaching profession became a mainstream thing by right-wingers. Sadly, it probably has to do with union-busting, and greed driven by privatization advocates.