{"id":34580,"date":"2018-12-03T15:22:06","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T23:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=34580"},"modified":"2018-12-03T15:42:22","modified_gmt":"2018-12-03T23:42:22","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-03-december-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2018\/12\/03\/squatchs-open-thread-03-december-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch’s Open Thread 03 December 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was a busy day and I did not get to doing research for a post as I had wanted to do.\u00a0 Before I knew it, it was mid evening and I decided sleeping was more worthwhile.\u00a0 What a great and long sleep I had.\u00a0 I did not even feel my cat Primo crawl into bed with me, all 11.5 kilos\u00a0(25 lbs) of him.\u00a0 My Winnie has been lounging under my chair, purring away as I write, and little Annie is sitting on my feet keeping them warm.\u00a0 Truth be known, she’s hoping I’ll drop a bite of ham for her but lunch is done.\u00a0 Well as TC says “OGIM”!\u00a0 Have a great week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s took me 3:51 (average 4:48).\u00a0 To do it,\u00a0click here<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 How did you do?<\/span><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

AlterNet<\/span><\/strong><\/a> —\u00a0Buckle in, folks.\u00a0This past week was an exciting one, as more evidence arose implicating Donald Trump in a conspiracy with Russian forces to steal the 2016 election. That doesn’t mean that this horrible chapter in American history is coming to an end any time soon. Things are almost certainly going to get more hairy, if that can be believed, but the grim truth of the matter is that it’s still likely that Trump’s time in office will only end if and when voters throw him out in 2020.<\/p>\n

By the same token, however, it’s critical not to despair. We’re looking at another two years of prying Trump’s fingers off the Resolute Desk, but in that process, there’s now good reason to believe we’ll finally see some of his closely guarded secrets getting exposed. I dare any reader to deny that after watching Trump humiliate this country for two years, there won’t be at least a little bit of fun in watching him experience humiliation.\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

That\u00a0brings us to the bad news: Despite all the stunning developments of the past week, there continues to be no path that gets Trump out of office before the voters have a chance to throw him out. The same distortions in our electoral system that allowed Trump to gain the White House while getting fewer votes than Hillary Clinton have allowed Republicans to control the Senate, even expanding their majority while Democrats\u00a0snag millions more votes.<\/p>\n

And Senate Republicans, under the leadership of Mitch McConnell, have no intention of acknowledging Trump’s corruption or obstruction of justice, much less actually voting to convict him if the House of Representatives passes articles of impeachment. McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, is Trump’s secretary of transportation, after all. More to the point, McConnell himself is interested in seeing exactly how\u00a0much power Republicans can seize even after the voters rejected them, so he has every incentive to back Trump, no matter how much of the latter’s likely criminality is exposed.\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

Things will get very bad, perhaps even worse. But after this week, the endgame\u00a0is looking a whole lot better.<\/p>\n

Click through for the rest of this interesting opinion piece.\u00a0 I agree with much of it.\u00a0 But one concern I have is whether or not Trump will try to seize power like a fifth rate dictator if he is defeated in the 2020 election.\u00a0 We already have his own suggestion from the 2016 election campaign when during the last debate against Hillary Clinton, answering the moderator’s question about accepting the results of the election, he said “\u201cI will look at it at the time,\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201cI will keep you in suspense.\u201d\u00a0 (NY Times<\/strong><\/a>)\u00a0 He could not and would not come out and definitively say “Yes.”\u00a0 And as we know, McConnell and the Republican dominated Senate will try every dirty trick in their playbook to hold onto power.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daily Kos<\/span><\/strong><\/a> — As a federal judge in Maryland planned to the open discovery process in an emoluments case involving Donald Trump, the government sought to advance an “unusual” appeal to halt the case\u00a0from moving forward,\u00a0according to Politico<\/a>.\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

On Monday,\u00a0Trump\u2019s\u00a0lawyers appealed<\/a>\u00a0those rulings using \u201ca rarely invoked process\u201d\u00a0 that is intended to stop rogue judges from pursuing a line of legal reasoning that is deemed improper.\u00a0In their request for what\u2019s known as a \u201cstatus conference,\u201d\u00a0Trump\u2019s lawyers argued<\/a>\u00a0that he\u00a0is \u201centitled to absolute immunity\u201d as pr*sident and allowing discovery to move forward would violate that immunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn sum, the President will suffer the very burdens from which absolute immunity is supposed to shield him,\u201d wrote Trump\u2019s lawyers, in an appeal that was\u00a0reportedly approved<\/a>\u00a0by the solicitor general of the United States. [currently Noel Francisco appointed March 2017 by Trump]<\/p>\n

I think the title of this piece says a lot:\u00a0Trump’s lawyers make desperate bid to halt emoluments lawsuit<\/strong> against Trump (emphasis mine).\u00a0 A reminder to Trump: Nobody is above the law, even you!<\/span><\/p>\n

Alternet<\/strong><\/span><\/a> —\u00a0A confused\u00a0President Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0was caught by a hot mic saying, “Get me out of here” as he wandered off the stage at the G-20 on Saturday.<\/p>\n

This CBS News video shows the American President leaving the President of Argentina unexpectedly alone.<\/p>\n

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John Gruber\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u2714<\/b><\/span><\/span>@gruber<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The man is a fucking idiot. People laughed out loud as Trump wanders off stage, mic\u2019d up\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 saying \u201cGet me out of here.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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TO\u146d \u1587O\u146dE T\u1587AViS<\/span><\/span>@TopRopeTravis<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Oh my lord.<\/p>\n

Trump just wandered right off the stage, leaving the Argentinian president all by himself.<\/p>\n

A staffer is then observed attempting to stop and retrieve Trump.<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen… Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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OMG!\u00a0 Trump’s elevator does not go all the way to the top!\u00a0 Click through to the article and then click on the big red box from the Guardian.\u00a0 It will take you to Twitter where you can see and hear Trump as people laugh.\u00a0 Did you know that Fred Trump, the idiot’s father, had Alzheimer’s disease having been diagnosed at the age of 87.\u00a0 Is it possible that Donald Trump is displaying early signs of the disease?\u00a0 So this is the most powerful man in the world?<\/span><\/div>\n
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YouTube<\/span><\/strong> —\u00a0With all the negativity in the news courtesy of Trump, Republicans, and Trump supporters, I thought we could do with some humour and a dose of nostalgia.\u00a0 I am sure that you have all seen this before but enjoy this refreshing look back.\u00a0 BTW, it is 32 minutes in length.<\/span><\/p>\n