The Criminal in Chief of the Republican Party threw such a hissy fit over the FBI raid on fixer Michael Cohen that he has stopped his pretense of cooperation with the Mueller investigation.  Since it seems unlikely that Trump will allow an interview with Mueller, it appears that Mueller sees no need to delay making his report of Trump’s obstruction of justice.  Ready!  Aim!

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office and President Donald Trump’s legal team are now proceeding with strategies that presume a presidential interview will likely not take place as part of the Russia investigation, after months of talks between the two sides collapsed earlier this week, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

On Monday Trump’s lawyers were discussing a possible interview with Mueller’s team and had begun to hash out the final sticking points, including the timing, scope and length, according to people familiar with the discussions. One person familiar with the strategy said the president’s lawyers had sought over the weekend to expand his legal team to include individuals who would prepare him for an interview. Another person familiar with the matter, however, said preparations had not yet gone that far.

But the prospects for a presidential interview drastically dimmed once the FBI raided the home, office and hotel room of Trump’s long-time personal lawyer, Michael Cohen on Monday, these people said. The president criticized the raid as out of bounds in Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump aides…

…Now, according to two sources, Mueller’s team may be able to close the obstruction probe more quickly as they will not need to prepare for the interview or follow up on what the president says… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NBC News>

Rachel Maddow fills in the blanks on Mueller’s plan.

Mueller has Trump on those four Obstruction findings and will certainly have him on campaign finance crimes. And then we can deal with his conspiracy with Russia.

RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!

Back on 05 October 2015, I posted the article “The Fall of King Coal“.  It is filled with information on Don Blankenship and I highly recommend giving it a read!  Unfortunately, Blankenship is making a run for the US Senate as a Republican.

One of the most loathed businessmen in West Virginia is seeking to win a seat in the Senate. Don Blankenship, who was given the damning title “Dark Lord of Coal Country” by Rolling Stone magazine, is vying to be the Republican Party’s pick for the Senate from West Virginia [emphasis mine]. Yet the coal industry mogul’s negligence was blamed for one of the worst coal mining disasters in 40 years.

In 2010, a massive explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine, owned by Massey Energy—where Blankenship was then CEO—killed 29 miners in West Virginia. The deaths of the workers led to a heightened focus on mining safety and possible violations that put the lives of the workers at risk. But in Blankenship’s school of thought, as Rolling Stone reported, no such concern seemed important. Instead of taking responsibility for the workers and their well-being, Blankenship called the fatal incident an “act of God.” At the time, the coal tycoon told Metro News’ Talkline that the explosion was caused by other factors; he said cutting sandstones was “risky” and blamed a gas leak that became exacerbated by a faulty ventilation system.

But the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said Blankenship’s company had committed a whopping 48 safety violations. MSHA also shared a 2005 memo Blankenship circulated within Massey Energy, telling employees to focus on coal product over everything else. “If any of you have been asked by your group presidents, your supervisors, engineers, or anyone else to do anything other than run coal (i.e., build overcasts, do construction jobs, or whatever) you need to ignore them and run coal,” Blankenship wrote.

From AlterNet

This from Wikipedia: (I encourage you to read the entire Wikipedia article as it provides some of his views on the environment and the lengths to which he will go to cover over some nasty environmental problems that directly affect him.)

“As a result of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, in which 29 miners were killed in Raleigh County, West Virginia on April 5, 2010, he faced up to 30 years in prison on several charges including felony conspiracy.^[3] A federal grand jury indicted Blankenship on November 13, 2014, for conspiracy to violate mandatory federal mine safety and health standards, conspiracy to impede federal mine safety officials, making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as securities fraud. [emphasis mine] On December 3, 2015, Blankenship was found guilty of one misdemeanor charge of conspiring to wilfully violate mine safety and health standards. He was acquitted of felony charges for lying about safety procedures in Massey’s Upper Big Branch Mine.^[4]

On December 28, 2015, U.S. Magistrate Judge Clarke VanDevort lowered his bond from $5 million to $1 million, and he was permitted to return to his home in Las Vegas, and travel freely in the U.S. On April 6, 2016, he was sentenced to 1 year in jail and fined $250,000. On May 12, 2016, his appeal rejected in federal court, he reported to FCI Taft, in California north of Los Angeles, to begin serving his sentence.^[5] On January 19, 2017, his appeal of his conviction was rejected by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.^[6] He was released from prison on May 10, 2017.”

Although Blankenship managed to wiggle out of all the charges save one misdemeanor, he is still a criminal having served a one year prison sentence.  And ostensibly, he is complicit in the deaths of 29 miners, all who were and would have been West Virginia workers and voters in 2018. 

1. How then is he allowed to run for the US Senate as a candidate for the Republican party while so many former prisoners in various states are not allowed to vote in any election?  I suppose one only need say he is a millionaire/billionaire and a Republican.
2. Do West Virginians have that much support for “The Dark Lord of Coal Country” as Rolling Stone calls him, to allow him to unseat Joe Manchin, DINO, a seat which he has held since 2010, and before that the governorship of West Virginia?

In the event that this is not a really bad dream, “The Dark Lord of Coal Country” must NOT be voted into office!  West Virginians need to understand that the coal industry will not return to its glory days despite what Drumpf said and campaigned on.  Blankenship will only parrot Drumpf and other Republicans who clearly live in the 1800’s.

Resist the Republican Reich!!!

In the wake of Paul Lyin’ Ryan’s announcement that he will not seek reelection, the talking heads of the Trumpopolypse are singing Ryan’s praises.  Of course, they are hard put to keep up with Ryan singing his own praises.  However, when the smoke clears, and we get to look back on Ryan’s speakership, it will be clear that Ryan has been the worst Speaker of the House in History.

Nearly all the oxygen and outrage in DC is being sucked up by Donald Trump and his outrageous executive orders. But let’s not forget about the man without whom Trump could not accomplish his larger agenda: the spineless speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, Trump’s mainstream defender and apologist at every turn.

Ryan, who has cultivated a sham image as the “reasonable” Republican for years, has backed virtually all of Trump’s most controversial and cruel policies. Ryan manages to never buck Trump on anything of significance, while getting publicity for meaningless, quasi-critical statements. He is the biggest fraud in American politics.

That much was clear yet again over the weekend, as the New York Times’ Jim Rotenberg reported that Ryan’s office “declined to engage” with him on any questions about Trump’s despicable war on the press, which even Republicans who haven’t dared to break with Trump on much of anything decried as a move befitting a dictator. Instead, Rotenberg wrote, Ryan’s office said it “disputed the premise of the question”.

It’s just one in a long line of cowardly and slimy moves by Ryan, who is really just Trump in a more aesthetically appealing wrapper…  [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Guardian>

Is the author spot-on or what?

One of the best presentations of this I have seen is from Lawrence O’Donnell.

In a word, Lyin Ryan is a coward.  He should be exposed as such every day he remains in office.  Good riddance!

RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!

Few people have done more harm to the American People than Ayn Rand devotee, sycophant, serial boot licker, and frequent wearer of a dollop of orange poo at the end of his nose, Speaker of the House, Paul Lyin’ Ryan.  While Trump has distracted America with his raving mania, Ryan has organized the theft of $billions from the poor and middle classes and the transfer of those funds to billionaires.  But like most rats, Ryan knows when to desert the ship.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) told colleagues Wednesday that he will not seek reelection this year, ending a nearly 20-year tenure in Congress and adding further uncertainty about whether embattled Republicans can maintain control of the House.

“The speaker is proud of all that has been accomplished and is ready to devote more of his time to being a husband and a father,” said Brendan Buck, counselor to Ryan, adding that Ryan plans to serve out his term and retire in January.

The decision comes ahead of mid-term elections that were already looking treacherous for Republicans, who risk losing control of the House.

The party has seen a large number of retirements, and Ryan’s exit is certain to sap morale as Republicans seek to contain a surge in enthusiasm from Democrats, whose fortunes have been buoyed by the unpopularity of President Trump…

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Here’s video coverage from MSNBC:

That will leave us with a vacancy in one of the most heavily Gerrymandered districts in the nation, but it’s a seat we might actually win.  Here’s why.  The most likely Republican to defend the seat is Paul Nehlen, a racist pro-Trump Ammosexual, who was considered a joke before today.

I’m most pleased to have shared good news today.  This is how we can remember Ryan best.

RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!