The impeach Trump crowd has been cheered on by the dog whistle blown on a daily basis by Carl Bernstein. Bernstein is famous for taking out Richard Nixon. To liberals he is a hero who destroyed the worst President in U.S. history. Honest historian would call that an illegal coup removing a President from office primarily because you didn’t like his personality. Nixon’s biggest crime was winning re-election by a landslide. The liberal left literally hounded him from office without regard to the consequences. Among other things, those consequences led to us throwing away our victory in the Vietnam War.

But the liberal left never bothers to research the truth about things like this, so Carl Bernstein was elevated to Patron Saint level. When Bernstein said he had the goods on Trump, well nothing else mattered. Except that Bernstein didn’t have the goods, he doesn’t have the goods and he was embarrassingly wrong.  A really good reporter would have known better, but Bernstein foolishly went all in on the nonsense being spewed by Lanny Davis, without realizing that Michael Cohen had testified, under oath, saying the exact opposite of what was now being reported.

It appears as though Davis went off half-cocked before he had an opportunity to thoroughly interview his own client. Thus, Davis reported what he wanted to believe, only to discover that almost everything he was saying was wrong. At least Davis had the moxie to publicly admit he was wrong. He also admitted that he, and he alone, was the source for Carl Bernstein.

Everyone, other than the clowns at CNN who went all in on Bernstein, realizes that the story reported by Carl the magnificent was total BS. It is not unusual for CNN to run stories that end up being false. What is different here is that Bernstein went with a story he KNEW was false and he is insanely pretending he is still right.

Bernstein is done. His credibility has been shattered. His last chance at redemption would have been to admit he got it wrong and apologize. But Bernstein, like a lot of liberals, is incapable of admitting or even recognizing error. As a result, the only thing certain is that Bernstein can never be trusted to report the truth about anything. Virtually everyone in the MSM has figured this out. CNN may figure it out too, eventually, the questions is whether any viewers will be left to notice.

If you read the New York Times or you listen to Governor Brown, this is the hottest summer in the last 10,000 years. The earth’s temperature is soaring because of CO2 levels and we must all abandon straws and drive electric cars to save the planet. Obviously most people don’t buy this, because if they did there would be a run on those silly hats that have tiny umbrellas attached.

It is hotter, because we surround ourselves with man made things that absorb heat. This is easy to understand. Is it hotter sitting on the grass or in the middle of a road paved with asphalt? This may be obvious to you, but to the global warming alarmist crowd, not so much. Which is making it hotter, CO2 or paving over football fields?

Two much CO2 is dangerous. Many studies show that if CO2 levels approach 4% that is a problem. People start to show symptoms like becoming dizzy or get headaches. 4% seems pretty low, until one realizes that the current level of CO2 is .04% or 400PPM. 4% would be 40,000PPM or 100 times the current levels. No one is predicting anything close to that. Right now there is concern that CO2 levels may skyrocket to 410PPM.

It turns out that there are people studying the effect of increased CO2 levels in a closed environment. They grow pot for a living.

https://www.growweedeasy.com/co2

People who grow weed in greenhouses know all about increasing CO2 levels. They sometimes increase them to 1200 or even, gasp 1500 ppm, which is 3 to 4 times the naturally occurring level. It actually costs a lot of money to generate the additional CO2, but the marijuana plants love it. It makes them grow faster, bigger, stronger and it even reduces the odor.

This does not raise the temperature in the greenhouse, because adding CO2 to a closed environment does not raise temperature.  If anything, supplemental heat is required. What it does do is allow the pot growers to increase heat because plants love CO2 and adding CO2 only makes plants tolerate higher temperatures.

In other words, the “greenhouse effect” promoted by global warming alarmists, doesn’t actually work in real greenhouses.

Do these Pot heads wear moon suits while working in these greenhouses? Don’t be silly. They are far more likely to suffer from the effects of smoking the stuff than from increased CO2 levels in the greenhouse.

So, while the world does appear to be going to pot, there just may be the side benefit of exposing global warming alarmists as being more delusional than potheads.

TDM

History has a way of repeating itself. During the late 1990s it was increasingly clear that Bill Clinton was an awful President and an awful person. When he looked into the camera and flat out lied about having sex with Monica Lewinsky, it was the final straw for a lot of people. When it became clear he had lied about this, under oath, Republicans felt compelled to move for impeachment. At first, Bill Clinton had very little support even among Democrats in the Senate. They all thought that he had disgraced the office of President of the United States. They were right about that.

Everything changed when the trial in the Senate began.  Dale Bumpers, former Governor of Arkansas and former Senator from Arkansas led the defense. He had just retired from the Senate. Following is a link to the text of his opening remarks.  This is absolutely brilliant, and it is just as applicable today as it was in 1999:

https://australianpolitics.com/1999/01/21/comments-by-dale-bumpers.html

“How did we come to be here?” We are here because of a five-year relentless, unending investigation of the president. Fifty million dollars, hundreds of FBI agents fanning across the nation examining in detail the microscopic lives of people, maybe the most intense investigation not only of a president but of anybody, ever.

…that investigation has also shown that the judicial system in this country can and does get out of kilter unless it’s controlled. Because there are innocent people – innocent people who have been financially and mentally bankrupted.

One woman told me two years ago that her legal fees were $95,000. She said, “I don’t have $95,000 and the only asset I have is the equity in my home, which just happens to correspond to my legal fees of $95,000.” And she says, “The only thing I can think of to do is to deed my home.” This woman was innocent; never charged; testified before the grand jury a number of times. And since that time, she has accumulated an additional $200,000 in attorney fees. Javert’s pursuit of Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” pales by comparison.

I doubt that there are few people, maybe nobody in this body, who could withstand such scrutiny. And in this case those summoned were terrified not because of their guilt, but because they felt guilt or innocence was not really relevant.

….You’re here today because the president suffered a terrible moral lapse, a marital infidelity. Not a breach of the public trust, not a crime against society, the two things Hamilton talked about in Federalist Paper No. 65 – I recommend it to you before you vote – but it was a breach of his marriage vows.

It was a breach of his family trust. It is a sex scandal. H.L. Mencken said one time, “When you hear somebody say, ‘This is not about money,’ it’s about money.”

And when you hear somebody say, “This is not about sex,” it’s about sex.

You pick your own adjective to describe the president’s conduct. Here are some that I would use: indefensible, outrageous, unforgivable, shameless. I promise you the president would not contest any of those or any others.

Mr. Chairman, we’ve also learned that the rule of law includes presidential elections. That’s a part of the rule of law in this country. We have an event, a quadrennial event in this country, which we call “presidential elections.” And that’s the day when we reach across this aisle and hold hands, Democrats and Republicans. And we say, “Win or lose, we will abide by the decision.”

Colleagues, this is easily the most important vote you will ever cast. If you have difficulty because of an intense dislike of the president – and that’s understandable – rise above it. He is not the issue.

He will be gone. You won’t. So don’t leave a precedent from which we may never recover and almost surely will regret.

Bumper could give that same opening statement today, and he would be equally right. What Bill Clinton did was inexcusable, but his actions did not justify the removal of a President of the United States from office. It was, as he said, all about sex. He was also right in pointing out that few people, including those people serving in the Senate in 1999, could survive such scrutiny.

History will repeat itself, but this time there will be no impeachment and there will be no trial in the Senate. It is time for both sides to reflect on the most important thing Dale Bumpers said in 1999.

We have an event, a quadrennial event in this country, which we call “presidential elections.” And that’s the day when we reach across this aisle and hold hands, Democrats and Republicans. And we say, “Win or lose, we will abide by the decision.”

“WIN OR LOSE, WE WILL ABIDE BY THE DECISION”

Republicans failed to appreciate that in 1999. Democrats are repeating the mistake in 2018. The only question is how much more damage needs to be done before people wake up and stop the nonsense.

TDM

Michael Cohen plead guilty to tax evasion, false statement financial institution, willful cause of unlawful corporate contribtuion and excessive campaign contribution. He plead guilty to making hush money payments to influence an election. Here is what Cohen actually said:“I participated in the conduct for the purposes of influencing the election.” Everyone assumes he is talking about Donald Trump.

When you listen to the hyperventilating on CNN, remember one thing. The Federal Prosecutors in New York does not have the authority to investigate Donald Trump. They report to Donald Trump. That is why a Special Counsel, Mueller was appointed to investigate alleged Russian collusion. Mueller handed the case off to local Federal Prosecutors. While CNN is day dreaming of the legal noose closing in on Trump, Federal prosecutors aren’t even investigating Trump and they aren’t going to be investigating Trump. That is why they never mentioned his name.

Paul Manafort was found guilty on 8 counts. He was found guilty of filing a false tax return. He was found guilty of not filing a form to report a foreign bank account. He was convicted of two instances of bank fraud. None of this even mentioned Donald Trump. My prediction is that this case will be appealed and probably won’t be resolved until after Trump’s re-election. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see this eventually overturned on appeal because it is not clear that Mueller was authorized to investigate this. It is not even clear that the second trial will take place.

Manafort was in custody, to avoid him tampering with a jury. Once the trials are over, he will likely be released on bail. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Manafort to start serving time in a federal prison.

Trump won’t consider a pardon or anythng else for Manafort until all legal proceedings are over and that is likely to take years.

At some point the reality of this will sink in on the usual suspects, reminding us all of the last verse to Casey at the Bat:

“Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright, the band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, and somewhere men are laughing, and somewwhere children shout, but there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Mueller has struck out.”

TDM

I remember watching the Harlem Globetrotters play when I was very young. They always played the Washington Nationals. The Washington Nationals were extremely skilled; at losing to the Harlem Globetrotters. In retrospect, these were some very talented people. In every game there was a period where they started shooting lights out and gave the illusion of this being a real game instead of an exhibition. But, in reality, their sole mission was to make the Globetrotters look great and they were very good at their job.

I now realize that CNN has taken over the role of the Washington Nationals. They have become Trump’s foil. Whenever Trump needs to rile up the base, he just lobs a shot at CNN. They never fail to respond. It reminds me of the standard Globetrotter stunt they use in every game. One guy chases another guy with a bucket of water and throws it at him. At the last minute the Globetrotter being chased ducks and the water goes into the crowd. Except the bucket was never filled with water, it was always filled with confetti. They still use the same trick, but the water is aimed at a referee and they now use real water. They have been getting laughs with some version of this stunt for close to 100 years.

CNN falls for the water bucket trick on a daily basis. The primary difference is that CNN doesn’t realize this is all a big joke. This is now so bad that when FOX News needs to add amusement to a show it just shows clips from CNN broadcasts. It is almost like the CNN actors are performing a parody of themselves.

I think Trump would be devastated if CNN just started reporting the news. He would be just as frustrated as the Globetrotters if the Washington Nationals weren’t available. Every good comedian needs a good foil and CNN has become master of the craft. I wonder if they will ever figure this out for themselves.

TDM

I am generally skeptical of all conspiracy theories. The reality is that few things are as good as we want or as bad as we fear. That is why I have always taken the “Deep State” conspiracy theories with more than a grain of salt. That is, until now. It is no longer possible to deny the existence of the deep state and it is worse than we imagined.

CBS is gloating because 60 former CIA employees all signed an open letter slamming Trump for taking away John Brennan’s security clearance.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-former-intelligence-bosses-speak-out-in-favor-of-brennan/

CBS and everyone one of these former CIA officers missed the point. The President does not report to the CIA, they report to him. Our constitution made the Commander in Chief the President, a civilian, to protect us against exactly this kind of abuse of power.

This letter will have zero impact on Trump, but it is having a major impact on the deep state. There really are a lot of arrogant, selfish and naïve people who believe they are above the law and, more importantly, the constitution. They, not Donald Trump, are the ones guilty of playing politics with National Security.

The President of the United States has a constitutional right to revoke the security clearance of anyone. There is even a Supreme Court decision regarding this. In the case of John Brennan, the better question is why he even had a security clearance. The man literally accused the President of the United States of treason, solely because he didn’t like the way Donald Trump conducted a press conference with Vladimir Putin. His public comments are not just insulting to Donald Trump, they are unhinged. In addition, there is increasing evidence that it was Brennan who started the whole Russia collusion investigation because he didn’t realize Trump was joking about asking Russia to help find Hillary’s missing e-mails. Even if he was trustworthy, which he is not, this is beyond stupid.

Ultimately, I think that Brennan has done us all a big favor. He just may have given Trump the best gift of all. The biggest challenge for those striving to drain the swamp is to find  deeply entrenched members of the deep state. Thanks to John Brennan, a large number of them have self-identified.

It boils down to this. If you cannot understand why John Brennan does not deserve access to classified information, then you also should be denied access to classified information. Those who signed this letter are either too hopelessly biased or frankly too stupid to be trusted with classified information.

There is an old saying in sports, never let them see you sweat. With this letter, the deep state has enlightened Donald Trump regarding what really scares them. He clearly has the authority to take away the security clearances from anyone he wants for any reason he wants. I expect Trump to seize the day and start revoking a lot of security clearances. He doesn’t even have to revoke them, he can suspend them and let them all re-apply. Since none of them can establish a “need to know” none of them are likely to even apply.

The fastest way to drain the swamp is to pull the plug on those who clearly are unworthy of having access to top secret information. Brennan just teed it up for Trump to do exactly that.

TDM

The Daily Caller is reporting that Bruce Ohr received a phone call from Christopher Steele on May 10, 2017. Allegedly Steele said he was “afraid they will be exposed.”

http://dailycaller.com/2018/08/17/christopher-steele-bruce-ohr-exposed-comey-firing/

The timing is significant.  This was the day after Trump fired Comey.  On May 17, 2017, Rosenstein announced the appointment of Robert S. Mueller to serve as Special Counsel.

I determined that a Special Counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly.

The MSM instantly assumed that the Special Counsel was out to get Trump. But what if the real objective was how: “government officials administer the law?” So far, Trump has not been accused of anything. Both the Special Counsel and Rod Rosenstein have repeated said the President is not under investigation. Mueller hired a lot of highly partisan Democrats to conduct the investigation. If he was out to get Trump, he should have included Republicans to avoid even the appearance of a conflict. Mueller knows that. So does Rosenstein. However, if the real target was not the Trump campaign, but rather people within the FBI and the DOJ, then this makes sense.

Look at how the MSM responded to the firing of Comey, McCabe and Strzok. Observe how they responded to Trump stripping John Brennan of his security clearance. Any investigation by someone appointed by Trump would have been debunked. Without regard to the facts, the MSM always portrays the FBI, the DOJ, and the Intelligence Services as above reproach and they express outrage at any hint of criticism. But no one objected to the Mueller investigation because they were so sure Trump was the target.

After all this time there still isn’t even a hint of collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia. None of the indictments by Mueller even mention Trump. But the players within the FBI, the DOJ and the Intelligence services are all out of power. Some of them have been fired and some of them are facing the real possibility of indictment. All of this happened after Mueller was appointed Special Counsel. Coincidence? Some of the worst offenders were assigned to Mueller’s team. Was that to catch Trump or to catch them?

Richard Burr, Chairman of the SSCI, has consistently backed the FBI, the DOJ and the intelligence agencies. That all changed yesterday when he issued the following statement:

“If Director Brennan’s statement is based on intelligence he received while still leading the CIA, why didn’t he include it in the Intelligence Community Assessment released in 2017?”

“If his statement is based on intelligence he has seen since leaving office, it constitutes an intelligence breach. If he has some other personal knowledge of or evidence of collusion, it should be disclosed to the Special Counsel, not The New York Times.”

“If, however, Director Brennan’s statement is purely political and based on conjecture, the president has full authority to revoke his security clearance as head of the Executive Branch.”

The SSCI has been very careful to protect the reputation of the FBI, DOJ and CIA. Burr has access to all the documents. Unlike Devin Nunes, he has not been critical of people like John Brennan. That makes this statement all the more powerful. Wise people will recognize this and respond accordingly.

The Russian Collusion myth has not only collapsed; it has turned into a world class backfire. Instead of closing in on Trump, the investigators are closing in on those who started all this with a patently false narrative. This is so obvious that at some point even CNN may notice.

TDM

One would think, based on the hostile relationship between Donald Trump and the MSM that this is a new problem. History, however, teaches us that the opposite is true. There has always been a serious problem with conflicts between the people in charge and the press. Donald Trump is not the first President to deal with a hostile press, that would be John Adams. Like in the second President of the United States John Adams. Adams was so pissed over negative stories about him that he signed the Sedition Act of 1798 making it a crime to publish criticism of the government. That was repealed when Thomas Jefferson took over in 1800. The MSM likes to quote Jefferson as the champion of the free press. But in reality, Jefferson hated the press too.  He gave a speech on June 14, 1807 explaining the problem:

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_speechs29.html

To your request of my opinion of the manner in which a newspaper should be conducted, so as to be most useful, I should answer, “by restraining it to true facts & sound principles only.” Yet I fear such a paper would find few subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more completely  deprive the nation of its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood.

Jefferson was not sure which did more harm; suppressing the press or letting the press publish information it knew or should have known was false.  When Donald Trump accuses the press of Fake News, he is only following in the tradition of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

There is one major difference. This time our news is not limited to what we read in the newspaper or on hear on the nightly News. Thanks to the internet, we can see videos of what was actually said and we can read actual documents. The problem for the media is not that Donald Trump accused them of fake news; it is that it is so obvious that he is often right about this.

The press has been showcasing Omarosa 24/7 and then asked the White House why it didn’t just ignore the outrageous allegations. Sarah Sanders kicked them in the teeth with this response:

https://www.redstate.com/alexparker/2018/08/15/omarosa-sarah-sanders-trump-platform/

“I think all — not only those of us here in the White House, but frankly, I think most of America would be happy to ignore it, but unfortunately the individuals in this room continue to create a large platform for somebody they know not to have a lot of credibility, for someone they frankly refused to give a platform to when they worked here at the White House.”

We are about to see a fundamental change, not because the press has changed, but because it is simply harder for them to get away with crap. Anyone bothering to do five minutes of research soon realizes that the MSM often gets facts wrong and any reference to Donald Trump is almost always negative. In addition, even to people who desperately want to believe, the press has promised too much and delivered too little. Those people foolish enough to watch CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC and ABC all expected Trump to be publicly humiliated and frog marched out of the Oval office in disgrace. It is increasingly clear that Trump isn’t going anywhere, but a lot of his opponents are the ones being humiliated.

One thing that hasn’t changed is this. The MSM will not even consider just doing the right thing for the right reason. It wasn’t in their DNA in 1807 and it isn’t in their DNA now.

TDM

Omarosa is putting on quite a show. The MSM media is eating this up big time. She could get more air time than Stormy Daniels. She better make a ton of money in a very short period of time because she is becoming one of the most toxic people on the planet. She is literally destroying herself on national television. My guess is that her only hope for a future is to run as a Maxine Waters class of candidate in one of those ultra-safe Democratic districts, but I suspect even the most liberal democrat will hesitate to be associated with this clown.

Ironically, she actually is doing serious harm to President Trump.  Not because she was fired from her White House position, but rather because she was hired in the first place. None of her accusations have an ounce of credibility. She has already been caught lying about nearly everything. The tape of John Kelly firing her is only proof that he was more than justified in firing her.

Omarosa has left a trial of debris everywhere. None of this should have been a surprise:

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/omarosa-manigaults-feuds-from-the-apprentice-to-the-white-house.html/

When news broke that Omarosa was fired by the White House, Robin Roberts said: “Bye Felicia” on Good Morning America.

Piers Morgan said that getting the chance to get Omarosa fired again would be a public duty on behalf of all Americans.

Donald Trump has hired Omarosa on several occasions, each time ending with a meltdown similar to what we see today. One can understand that, on shows like Celebrity Apprentice, because even though everyone hated Omarosa, she did draw viewers. In her case, the primary attraction was the opportunity to see her fired again.

My guess is that she was given a meaningless position in the White House, with no access to President Trump and zero responsibility to try and delay the next scene of the Omarosa act. At some point, her performance, even at this gift position, was so bad that General Kelly had enough and fired her. His big mistake was thinking that Omarosa would be intimidated by threats that she could could face criminal prosecution for her unethical behavior. Omarosa clearly doesn’t care about minor things like potential criminal prosecution. That is why she literally recorded a conversation in the Situation Room, well aware that this was a major breach of White House security. Like I said, the real question is not why she was fired, but rather why she was ever hired.

TDM

For quite a while, I have suspected that Rod Rosenstein is doing exactly what Donald Trump wants him to do.  The following article on AOL offers some strong evidence of this:

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/08/08/its-fantastic-trump-looks-like-he-is-starting-to-warm-up-to-rosenstein-and-now-says-they-have-a-great-relationship/23498710/

Note that Trump and Rosenstein apparently talk on the phone at least twice a week and Rosenstein visits the White House several times a week. It is reported that he briefs President Trump’s team before any major news announcement. When asked about Rosenstein, Trump said: “We have a great relationship. Make sure you tell them that.”

Trump is a master showman and perhaps he pretended to be furious at Rosenstein to provide him cover while he was actually cleaning the swamp. No one in either Party has accused Rosenstein of covering up for Trump. Yet I can think of no instance where Rosenstein took anything resembling a shot at Trump. He simply said he would do his job and follow the evidence. The liberal left interpreted this, as they interpret everything, to mean that Rosenstein was out to get Trump too. But what if the opposite was true? How would we know?

The answer is that we would look at the results. The results are stunningly in Trump’s favor. There hasn’t even been a hint of evidence regarding the Trump campaign colluding with Russia. All of that stuff reported in the MSM has come from unnamed sources who may not be aware of what really happened. In the meantime, all the top officials at the DOJ and the FBI opposed to Trump have either been demoted or fired. None of them are in a position to influence anything. We can assume that many of the “leaks” containing negative information of Trump came from these guys. In every case Trump was able to just swat these away leaving the MSM with egg on its face. It seems quite possible that all of these people were being shielded from the real investigation and were only given the information that Trump wanted them to have. This lead the MSM to produce several obviously fake news stories that only made them look more desperate. In the meantime, none of these people have any power within the FBI or the DOJ at all. At least some of them are facing serious jail time.

If Rosenstein was truly out to get Trump, then he appears to have achieved the exact opposite result. This means he is either hopelessly incompetent, or he has been doing exactly what Trump wanted him to do all along. While the MSM has been waiting, breathlessly, for Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller close in on Trump, Rosenstein and Mueller have been draining the swamp. Even if Manafort is convicted, which is far from certain, this investigation turned up several other swamp people, like Tony Podesta, who were quietly turned over to local prosecutors. The more serious investigations are the ones you know nothing about.

The odds of Trump being charged with anything are Nil. The odds of him being accused of collusion with Russia are Nil. The odds of him being charged with obstruction are Nil.

The Manafort trial is supposedly the culmination of the Mueller investigation, but Trump isn’t even being mentioned. Neither is Russian collusion.  Instead we have a very wealthy man who probably did cheat on his taxes being charged for things he allegedly did long before he was involved in the Trump campaign. The government is attempting to prove this with the testimony of someone who already plead guilty to cheating on his taxes and lying to the FBI, and by the way, embezzling funds from Manafort. Good luck with that.  Manafort could easily be convicted, but he could also walk. Either way, it will have no impact on Donald Trump other than to exonerate him from any hint of collusion.

This I realized something very important. If Mueller was really out to get Trump, he would have put Republicans on his investigative staff. He would have done that, so no one could have accused him of a partisan witch hunt. The make-up of his staff only makes sense if he was out to drain the swamp and he didn’t want the real targets of his investigation to catch on until it was too late.

What we do know at this point is the Mueller came, he saw, Trump is still standing, and the bodies of the swamp creatures are piling up.

TDM