Dear Trump Supporters: It May Be Just a Red Hat to You, But to Us It's So Much More

Donald Trump burst onto the political scene in 2015 spewing anger, hatred and racism. As a 3rd-rate real estate "developer " and reality TV host he was utterly ill-equipped and unqualified to be president. But he understood branding more than all of the other candidates combined. He stole the "Make America Great Again"  slogan from Ronald Reagan, slapped it on a red baseball hat and the rest is history.

The controversial hat garnered worldwide attention again over the weekend when many MAGA hat-wearing students from a Kentucky Catholic school, attending a pro-life march in Washington, DC, got caught up in a viral media spectacle outside the Lincoln Memorial which found 16-year-old Trump-supporting white student Nicholas Sandmann and 64-year-old Native American activist Nathan Phillips in a tense face-to-face standoff. Phillips was attending the Indigenous Peoples March.

On the left there are accusations that the teens mocked and disrespected Phillips in an aggressive, racially-insensitive manner. (i.e. simulating Tomahawk chops). On the right there's been unequivocal support from the boy's mother, conservative media and even the president, who on Tuesday posted this self-serving tweet:

"Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be. They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good - maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!"

Sandmann's own defense is that he did nothing wrong, was not acting aggressively and was merely trying to "defuse" an explosive situation as he and his fellow students were under verbal assault nearby by four Black Hebrew Israelite protestors. He and his supporters, including his mother, have disingenuously used this verbal assault as justification for his and his pals' behavior towards Phillips. They claim the real victims are the kids.

But the tape doesn't support that contention. Video of the entire roughly 90-minute episode, while indeed proving the kids were targets of vile homophobic, racist verbal attacks, also shows as many as 50-75 Covington Catholic High School students, many recording the encounter on iPhones, loudly and excitedly shouting, jeering and egging on a smirking Sandmann like hopped-up frat boys at a midnight rave. They could've simply walked away. They chose to engage.

These weren't just 'innocent teens.' They were MAGA-hat-wearing teens. And that changes the entire dynamic of the situation.

To non-Trump supporters, the red MAGA hat is a symbol of divisiveness. Of intolerance. Of sexual, gender, ethnic and racial animus. 

To non-Trump supporters "Make America Great Again" really means "Make America White Again."

To non-Trump supporters the MAGA-hat stands for:

*oppression of women

*oppression of Muslims

*oppression of minorities

*oppression of immigrants

*oppression of #LGBTQ

*attacks on the media

*attacks on the FBI & DOJ

*attacks on the judiciary

*attacks on the rule of law

*attacks on decency

*anger

*hate

*bullying

*violence
*white supremacy

To non-Trump supporters, the red MAGA hat is the modern-day version of the white KKK hood. 

That's because Trump is a racist. There's no disputing that, especially against decades of unequivocal bigoted behavior including housing discrimination, the Central Park Five fiasco, his birther campaign, embracing David Duke, verbal attacks against people of color, the Muslim ban, defending neo-Nazis and his relentless campaign against black and brown immigrants. 

To be sure, the red MAGA hat is Trump's white hood.

And MAGA isn't just a slogan. It's a movement. Or as many believe, a cult. And as a cult, the Cult of Trump shares most of the overall characteristics with other typical cults, as outlined by researchers Janja Lalich Ph.D and Michael D. Langone Ph.D. For example: 

*The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law. 

*Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.

‪*The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel... leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear...

‪*The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah...on a special mission to save humanity). 

‪*The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.

‪*The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).

‪*The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).‪

‪*The group is preoccupied with making money.

Trump and his cultists proudly wear the red MAGA hat like a family crest. 

So when a bunch of rowdy teens surround a Native American elder while wearing this hat they're bringing to the encounter everything it's come to stand for. 

It's not...just...a...hat. It's offensive, its insensitive and it's intimidating. 

Perhaps we can't ascribe the underlying racism of Trump's MAGA credo to these kids. Perhaps they're just dopey teens who 'didn't know better.'  But now they do. And if they don't want to be associated with the ugliness that this hat represents, they should immediately apologize to Phillips. 

And they should begin to understand and appreciate what the phrase "Make America Great Again" might mean to indigenous peoples who for centuries had been robbed, slaughtered and are still clearly disrespected. People whose experiences throughout history weren't so "great."

Otherwise, if the hat fits...
  
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A Preview of Trump's State of the Union Speech

My fellow Americans...esteemed Republican members of Congress, Democrats, the five good Supreme Court Justices, any generals who still like me, and the fake-news enemy-of-the-people media. I'm excited to be here tonight to tell you, quite frankly, of all the amazing things I'm doing. And believe me...there's many bigly accomplishments. More than any president ever. Especially Obama.

Let's start with the government shutdown. Or, as many people are calling it, and this is true, and they're right,..the Schumer/Pelosi shutdown. It's all the Democrats' fault. Now when I said weeks ago that I would "own" the shutdown"...that I'd take the "mantle"...that I wouldn't blame "Chuck" and the Dems...that's not what I meant.

Look, I'm a builder...and, everyone knows this, but nobody likes to talk about it, I'm the biggest most successful builder...nobody builds buildings like Trump...everyone loves my buildings...the Chinese, the Saudi's...the Russians...and by the way, there was NO COLLUSION!...the real collusion is with Hillary and the Dems...and so I build things. I 'own' things. And, Mickey Mantle was always my favorite baseball player. The Mick! Ya gotta admit, they don't make 'em like The Mick anymore, am I right! A bit of an ugly drinker though...but we won't talk about that. Lastly, when I said I wouldn't blame Chuck, I actually meant that I would blame Chuck.

We need a wall, people. And I'm not talking about the one between me and Melania. I'm talking about a big beautiful wall. A barrier. Or steel slats. Or Levolor blinds, beaded curtains, Roman shades. Maybe some hanging bamboo. I love bamboo! I love the way it sounds...bam-BOO! Those brown people from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador...and many people don't like using this word...invading America. They're thugs, gang members, terrorists. Millions and millions of terrorists. They're BAD HOMBRES! They dress like hungry women and children to fool us. It's gotta stop. And it's gonna stop right here and right NOW! It's a national emergency!

This emergency is so strong, so severe, so dangerous that I'm willing to wait days, weeks, months even years to stand firm against Nancy on this. Gonna wait to see what she does. Then I'll see what Mexico does. Then I'll see what Rush, Laura, Ann and Sean think. Then I'll read Breitbart. Then maybe see what Bobby Knight and Kimye think. Then I'll wait some more. And then, if everything else fails, I'll declare a national emergency. I can totally do it. Totally legal. I maybe definitely think I can probably do it for sure. And Brett and the SCOTUS boys will back me up, believe me.

Shall we talk about the stock market? It's the greatest market ever. It's done so well since I became president...if you don't count last year, which was all the Fed's fault. But I think it's already up 7,000 points in January.

How about Syria, huh!? We won! We beat ISIS! Don't believe the fake news disgusting fake awful fake FAKE FAKE FAKE news when they tell you ISIS just killed US troops in a suicide bombing. It's all fake. Fake fake fake. What was it that George Bush said..."Mission accomplished!"

And let's not forget that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat.

And how I got MBS to admit he had nothing to do with Khashoggi's murder.

And how I strong-armed Putin into his very strong, powerful denial of election meddling.

I so got this shit, people!

America first! 

Lastly, let's talk about the 800-lb orangutan in the room. No, not me... the big fat witch-hunt. The hoax. Let me tell you, and this is the truth, and nobody knows the truth like me...everyone is lying! All of them! The Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, Mueller and his 49 angry Dems, the Southern District of NY, the local state AG's, the courts, the media, Democrats, Flynn, Cohen, Manafort, Comey, everyone else...they're all just part of a very bigly massive conspiracy to take down your president. They're just angry that we beat Hillary so badly...by 8-million popular votes I think. I am the only one telling the truth, believe me...

So in closing, everything is just wonderful. It's a beautiful administration. The fake fake double-fake ugly fat disgusting lying lying fake news ugly doodyhead media keeps telling you there's "chaos" in the White House, but that's a bigly lie, folks. A bigly, bigly lie. Everything's...running...smoothly!

My administration's great.

The stock market's great.

The economy's great.

Our standing in the world is great.

We made America great again!

God bless me...then you...then America.

What Trump Will REALLY Be Saying Tonight

Everyone but Donald Trump's brainwashed base knows that his "address" to the nation Tuesday evening regarding the "crisis at the border" will be a reprehensible performance piece of lies, deception, misinformation and fascist propaganda. Here's what he'll really be saying...

My fellow Americans. Three years ago I launched my campaign for the presidency. I never thought I had a chance, believe me. I'm a 4th-rate real estate "developer", former realty tv host and fake billionaire. I have no political experience, no vision or core beliefs and all I care about is myself and money. And, I have the temperament of a 5-year-old. To say I was unfit for the job is a gross understatement. But what I quickly understood, that my 16 opponents didn't, was that millions of Americans are stupid and racist. And I used that to my advantage. Bigly.

Let's face it: my base doesn't give a shit about politics. They'd rather watch paint dry than listen to a discussion on infrastructure, the economy or foreign policy. They're Jerry Springer fans. Adrenaline junkies. They like drama and excitement. They go to hockey games just for the fights. They're small-minded, and like watching bullies taunt the weak and helpless. Especially if they're black, brown, Muslim and Mexican. They're angry white people who believe minorities and immigrants have taken away their American dream. Bingo!

Welcome to "Make America Great Again." Which of course means "Make America White Again." I turned these racist fools into an army of red-MAGA-hat-wearing mental zombies. 

So I promised to build a wall. A "big beautiful wall" which would keep out those horrible criminals. And I promised them that Mexico would pay for it. It became our mantra. I whipped 'em into a frenzy like Freddie Mercury at Live Aid. I'd say "Who's gonna pay for the wall?" And like pathetic sheep they'd scream "MEXICO!!"  I did this over and over and over again at all my rallies. And when I'd see them getting bored or ready to leave I'd whip 'em up again with it.  

"And who's gonna pay for the wall??!!"

"MEXICO!!"

Of course, it was all just a lie. I knew there'd be no way Mexico was gonna pay for it. But I knew somebody would ultimately have to.

Which brings us to tonight. My big "crisis at the border" address. Obviously, there's no crisis. Not now, and not before the midterms when I fear-mongered non-stop about the "dangerous caravan" about to "invade America." It's all bullshit. But you already know that. But like I said, somebody's gotta pay for that wall.

Yes. I bullshitted the base. Now I'm fucked. My legacy, and hopes for a 2020 reelection, are flushed down my gold-plated toilet if I don't build that damn wall. So I need to lie again about "thousands of terrorists crashing through the Mexican border"...blah blah blah. You know the drill: MS-13 gang members, thugs and terrorists coming to kill your kids and rape your women. IT'S A CRISIS I tell ya!

And if Congress doesn't give me the money to fulfill this idiotic campaign promise then I'm gonna declare a "national emergency" and just take money from the military and use it for the wall. An abuse of power? You bet. A Constitutional crisis? I really don't care, do you? Let them sue me. It'll go to the Supreme Court...where Brett and the boys will cover my ass.

No one's gonna tell me what to do. No one. I am above the law. I am the fucking law. I'm Trump, dammit, and I'm gonna run America like I run my businesses: sloppy, chaotic, incompetent, dysfunctional, dishonest, drowning in debt, bankrupt, law-breaking and dictatorial.

And no one's gonna stop me...NO ONE!

(breaks out into loud, uproarious maniacal laughter)

'The Wheels Have Come Off': The Trump Administration Plunges Into Full-Scale Crisis

CNN's Jim Acosta reported Thursday that he'd received an ominous text from a “top House Republican who supports the president” and “is in a national security role up on Capitol Hill.” The text, in response to the sudden resignation by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, warned "the wheels may be coming off” the Trump administration. May be?

Let's be clear: Mattis's departure isn't a resignation. It is a blistering protest. A stinging public rebuke of the Unites States president--his Commander-in-Chief--by a four-star Marine Corps general who served his country admirably and honorably for fifty years.

It was without any shred of ambiguity Mattis finally telling Trump, 'You're a moron....and I'm outta here.'

There's no doubt Mattis's resignation letter was intended as a harsh slap to a president he believes is woefully ignorant of geopolitics and lacking the intelligence, temperament, discipline and strategic thinking required of the job. A president who's consistently undermined America's allies while emboldening its enemies. 

"My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues," Mattis said.

In his closing sentence Mattis made clear what he thought of Trump:

"I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform." 

He did not mention his boss.

Mattis is now the third former general to jump off the Trumptanic, following former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and most recently White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. It is the latest in an unprecedented legion of senior-level departures which have included former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (who's reportedly called Trump a "fucking moron").

The proverbial shit is hitting the fan.

The investigation into Russian collusion by special counsel Robert Mueller is intensifying, creating a existential crisis for Trump in every aspect of his personal, political and business life. The president is fending off bi-partisan condemnation over his sudden and unilateral decision-by-tweet to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. The government is on the verge of a shutdown over the budget. The stock market is crashing. And the daily White House chaos is so dizzying it'll make your head spin, believe me.   

At the most perilous time in his presidency, Trump is increasing isolated, rapidly becoming the "I alone" president he once bragged he was. The adults are gone. The guardrails are off. Forget the wheels...we're now scraping the road on rims here. And there's a sociopath madman driving us off a cliff.

It's a BIGLY shitshow, and it's only gonna get worse unless Republicans join Democrats next year to remove this malignant disease before it totally destroys our Democracy.

Stick a Fork in Trump. It's Over

Not even two years into Donald Trump's presidency, every aspect of his personal, political and business life is currently under massive Federal criminal investigation. Let that sink in for a moment.

Trump's family, Foundation (which was dissolved Tuesday morning by the New York Attorney General), business, campaign, inauguration, transition and administration are all facing the long arm of the law.

Trump's house of cards is crumbling. Finally.

Trump's demise has been long overdue. We've longed for it from the early days of his reprehensible birther campaign against Barack Obama, to his June 2015 'Mexicans are rapists' explosion into the race, to his relentless attacks since on civility, decency, humanity, the rule of law, our democracy and everything America stands for.

Throughout his entire life Trump has escaped accountability. Born with a silver spoon, he was handed everything by his rich daddy. He then spent decades at the helm of his grossly over-hyped 'real-estate development empire' (in reality just a small licensing business which threw it's name on everything including office buildings, hotels, casinos, airplanes, steaks, vodka, water, games, mortgages and magazines"...virtually all of which have been bankrupted and shut). It is a 40+ year-old family-run enterprise that, as we're now learning, more resembles a crime family. And The Donald answered to no one. 

Until now.

Trump now has special counsel Robert Mueller, NY's Southern District, attorneys general in NY, DC, Virginia and elsewhere hot on his trail and a Nancy Pelosi-led House about to subpoena and investigate the shit out of him. For the first time in his life, when Trump barks "JUMP!" he's hearing "sit down and shut the fuck up." If his relentless manic, desperate"WITCH HUNT! HOAX! NO COLLUSION!" tweet-storms are an indication, it's driving him insane. As the one person who knows more than anyone the extent of his High Crimes and Misdemeanors,  Trump surely knows the end is near.

If you think Tuesday's dissolution of the Foundation doesn't signal the beginning of Trump's presidency ultimately dissolving...I have some time-shares in Trump Hotel Moscow to sell ya...

Re-Election? Trump Won't Even Finish His Current Term

I laugh when I hear pundits talking about Donald Trump's re-election campaign, as if he's going to last that long. Let me make it very clear: Trump will resign sometime in 2019. I guarantee it.

Trump, and at least one of his children, is in some very, very serious trouble. When you factor in the scale of his High Crimes and Misdemeanors, as well as his position in government, he is perhaps the most crooked, corrupt politician in American history. 

Some context is important here. Let's recap the two biggest presidential scandals of the last five decades. Richard Nixon left office disgraced by Watergate. He wasn't impeached but would've been (and likely indicted as well) had he not cut a deal to resign on August 9, 1974 in his second year of his second term. He threw his presidency in the toilet over a cheap, 3rd-rate break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and then obstructed justice in a bone-headed cover-up.

Bill Clinton was impeached in December 1998 by the Republican-controlled House, but the GOP Senate couldn't muster enough of the 2/3's vote they needed to remove him from office. Clinton's impeachment was all about perjury. Lying about sex. Period. Clinton's biggest crime? He was, literally, an unapologetic horn-dog who simply wanted to get off.

Which brings us to Trump who, as we learned conclusively in court filings last week by Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, is a felon. A soon-to-be unindicted co-conspirator who directed his former lawyer-fixer-legbreaker Michael Cohen to commit campaign finance violations twice in paying off porn-star Stormy Daniels and former Playmate Karen McDougal just weeks before the 2016 election.

To be sure, Trump wanted to get off too (the list of his sordid sexual conquests is quite long), but more importantly he wanted to influence the outcome of the presidential election. And that's the difference between his transgressions and those of his randy predecessors.  

What we have yet to learn conclusively from special counsel Robert Mueller is whether or not Trump conspired with Russia to steal the election, and the extent of that conspiracy. But we will. And soon enough. If anyone out there still doesn't believe this, I have a building on 5th Avenue called Individual-1 Tower to sell you.

The extent of that collusion/conspiracy appears likely to conclude that Trump, the 45th president of the United States of America, is a Russian puppet. A kompromised agent of an enemy state. A traitor.

Trump's political and legal troubles aren't about a blowjob or a picked lock and a busted filing cabinet. They're about the betrayal of America on the highest possible levels of government. Of threatening our national security. Of corrupting our free and fair elections, the bedrock of our democracy.

As such, Trump, facing a bloodthirsty Democrat House come January, is a virtual lock for impeachment. Oh sure, Reps. Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff, who'll be taking over the House Judiciary & Intelligence Committees respectively, are downplaying the "I" word for optics' sake. But they're as horny for this as a sailor on weekend leave.

Which is why Trump won't make it to 2020.

Trump knows more than anyone what he did. He knows the extent of his crimes and the depths of his treason. He knows the involvement of his equally amoral, corrupt kids. His GPS is set to "Mueller" and so he knows exactly where the steely prosecutor is headed. Which is why he tweets "NO COLLUSION!" and "WITCH HUNT" non-stop, hoping that somehow the Founding Fathers will come back to life and make Twitter the overriding Constitutional power.

One day soon the world will know beyond a reasonable doubt what The Manchurian President has done. And what his kids have done. And when that time comes, his heretofore enablers in the Republican Party will abandon him en masse. It'll finally be the point where they face the binary choice of him or me. And then the "I alone" president will get his wish. He'll be isolated, alone and with no one to defend and protect him.

Trump is foolish if he thinks the Supreme Court will ultimately protect him. As previous decisions involving both Nixon and Clinton demonstrate, the Court has made it abundantly clear that no one is above the law. Not even the president.

Trump will then be facing his own choice of stay and fight (visiting Jr. and possibly Eric, Ivanka and son-in-law Jared "I love Saudi Arabia!" Kushner in prison) and face impeachment, indictment and possible imprisonment one day, or take a Nixon-like deal and walk. If he's lucky to be offered such a generous exit.

Which makes the discussion of his re-election in 2020 truly laughable... 

An Open Letter to Daddy From Ivanka, Eric & Donnie Jr

Dear Daddy:

The boys nominated me to write this on our behalf because everyone knows I'm your favorite child (sorry Tiff!) and Donnie thinks I'm a better writer than he is... and Eric, well....anyway...

So, we're mad daddy! Really mad! We'd be crying, but we don't have tear-ducts or human-like emotions (just like you daddy!)...so...anyway...

...We had everything. Money, fame, power. We could lie, cheat and steal. No one cared. Uncle Mikey always took care of everything. Then you had to make everything messy-messy by running for president. And then throwing poor Uncle Mikey under the bus. Now look at us. Mueller knows everything. We're ruined! Likely going to jail. And our very classy Trump brand is worthless. I think we hate you!

Why did you do this to us? You never even wanted to be president. You always told us you hate all those dirty, lazy, blue-collar "little people" and just wanted all the free publicity we'd get so we could make more money (we love money!). And you'd get so much attention (we know how much you loooove attention, daddy!). But you never even thought you'd win. You promised us you wouldn't win. You gave us and mommy...I mean Melanie...your word. You lied to us! Do you remember how upset Melanie was on Election Night? It was so upsetting. I almost cried again.

We are so mad at you (I'm stomping my feet right now!). We put up with all your warts all these years. I never said one word when you'd awkwardly and inappropriately put your hands all over me and tell people like Howard Stern you'd date me if I wasn't your daughter. How could you say that! How could you say you'd only date me not marry me! I felt so unappreciated!

And all those times you called Eric "stupid" and called him and Donnie "losers." All of this was so unfair. We just took it all. We never said anything back to you (ok, I do remember the boys always yelling "Stop it daddy...we're not stupid losers!").

So what do we do now? What does our big strong tough incredibly physically-fit handsome  "counter-puncher" do now to save us all? Do we hire someone to "take care of things" the way Uncle Mikey used to (wink wink...oh shit, my mascara's running...). Do we tell Corey to have Mueller's legs broken? Have Uncle Vlad poison someone? Get Uncle "M" to bone-saw the shit out of...oops...sorry...I forgot we're not supposed to ever talk about that!

Just please do something, daddy, and do it fast! We're very scared. Time is running out. Donnie's already planning how he's going to escape from prison. This is bad. Very, very bad.

Sincerely,
Your favorite child Ivanka (who's ass you really need to stop touching, ok?) & the los...I mean boys.

What If Trump Really DID Write Those Answers for Mueller Himself?

Donald Trump seemed especially agitated last week. Can ya blame him? I'm incredibly agitated just watching this chaotic shitshow on TV. He's living it.

Trump and the Republican Party were trounced in the midterms. He was lambasted over his decision not to attend the WW1 ceremony in France and the Veteran's Day gathering at Arlington National Cemetery. The First Lady went rogue and publicly attacked one of his top national security aides, demanding her firing. The stock market continued to sink back to 2017 levels. And he and his lawyers were working on the written answers to special prosecutor Robert Mueller's questions into the campaign's possible collusion with Russia.

Trump insisted all week that he wrote the answers himself.     

"I write the answers. My lawyers don't write answers. I write answers. I was asked a series of questions. I've answered them very easily -- very easily."

Bullshit. There isn't a lawyer alive who'd let an erratic, impulsive, delusional, pathologically-lying client like Trump write his own answers. Especially not on this level, about this subject matter and with the stakes so high. Plus, Trump can't string together two coherent sentences.

But I can't help thinking...what if he did write them? What the hell would that look like...

Mueller Question #1: Mr. President, did you know prior to June 9, 2016 that a meeting at Trump Tower would be taking place on that date between the Russians and your son Don Jr, son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort?

Trump: I knew that a...look...and I'll tell you this...it was a nothing meeting. There was no collusion! You can't do collusion if nobody offers you anything. Don't get me wrong. And I'll...did we try? But...and believe me...no one cuts deals better than me. If you read my book you'd...everyone knows, frankly, it's a witch hunt. FAKE NEWS! We talked about...and let me tell you it was not easy...Donnie said they had stuff...it was a waste of...we talked about adoptions. Babies. Little people. No big deal. NO COLLUSION! But I never...was I there? I mean I could be. Maybe I was. You tell me...

Mueller Question #2: Mr. President: Were you aware that, prior to the election, WikiLeaks provided hacked emails and other confidential documents from Hillary Clinton, John Podesta and/or the DNC to either Roger Stone or anyone else associated with your campaign?

Trump: I love WikiLeaks! I mean...and no one had more access to them than me...you know I know a lot of people. I build...they buy my apartments. Spend thousands. Billions. The Chinese. The Russians. The Saudis. They all love Trump buildings! WikiLeaks...they're very good at what they do. Julian likes me. And I like him. We talked a lot. Met a few times. But I don't know him. He gave me...everybody knows...NO COLLUSION. It's a WITCH HUNT! 12 angry Democrats who...and Mueller and Comey were lovers. Nobody talks about that. There's no...look...it's not illegal to take hacked emails. Everyone would. It's called op-po research. Perfectly ok to...but Roger never gave me anything. He gave it all to Donnie. So I'm in the clear. But there was nothing useful in them...believe me.

Mueller Question #3: Mr. President, did you fire then-FBI Director James Comey in order to stop the special investigation into collusion with Russia?

Trump: No. That's a stupid, stupid....I would nev...but let me tell you this...and, frankly, many people are saying the investigation is illegal. A total WITCH HUNT! There was NO COLLUSION! Did I want to stop the investigation? You could say that. But I'm not afraid of...look...did I think firing Comey would do that? I only hire the best people. Everyone wants to work for me. Comey, he was...people have this phony talk of chaos in the White House. FAKE NEWS! There's no chaos! It's Michelle Obama spreading lies, but nobody wants to talk about that. Comey? Yeah. I can tell you, frankly, I thought if he's gone I could put one of my guys in there...and I have a lot of friends who wanna help me...I should be protected....Rudy Giuliani...everyone knows he's the smartest lawyer in the history of the legal...and let me tell you...Rudy would've killed the whole disgusting, disgusting thing. And by the way, Jim Acosta's ugly and fat....

Mueller Question #4: Are you planning to fire me?

Trump: We'll see what happens...

Making the Case for Hillary 2020

Before I begin, let me first save some of you precious time by writing a few of the hate-replies I'm expecting:

*Hillary? Seriously dude, WTF is wrong with you?
*Nooooooooooooooo!
*No more f**king Clintons! 
*She was the WORST candidate in history!

Actually, she was the most qualified candidate in history, and she kinda sorta won. She received almost 3-million more votes than Donald Trump and, if we all truly believe in Robert Mueller's investigation into collusion and obstruction of justice, then we should argue that Vladimir Putin stole the Electoral College for Trump by a razor-thin 77,000-vote margin which crumbled the blue wall in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Full disclosure: I was all-in for Hillary Clinton in both 2008 and '16. I have three daughters. Like many Americans hungry for progress and gender-equality, I so desperately and passionately yearn for a woman president. Not only because it's about time we shatter that proverbial glass ceiling, but because I truly believe the future is female. That women should take over the controls...because America, and the world, would be a much better place for it. 

And because I continue to believe Hillary is not only the most qualified candidate in history, but that she'd actually be an incredible president.
 
Ok, relax...I'll indulge you haters for a moment. Hillary did run a bad campaign (she never went to Wisconsin, for example). She is a polarizing figure. She is stiff and awkward. She can come off as entitled, arrogant and tone-deaf. And she does have a husband whose baggage is a real liability (but let's be very clear: she's not responsible for her husband’s behavior. She's a victim of it). Were she to run again, she definitely needs massive help (psst...Hillary...I'm available and ready).

In politics, four years is a very long time. Times change. Perceptions change. People change. Voters change. And yes, candidates can change too. Consider Richard M. Nixon, who had the last laugh in 1968 when, after his humiliating loss to JFK eight years earlier, went on to win two terms because America was a much different place than when he lost in '60. I don't believe the political and cultural landscape is much different in real terms now.

Could Hillary be the new-Nixon?

Regardless of what the haters believe, she still has the highest profile of any democrat. She still has tens of millions of voters with her. She's still as qualified as ever. And, assuming she'd be running against Trump and not a successful primary challenger such as Jeff Flake or John Kasich, would have a badly weakened, highly unpopular, scandal-plagued corrupt president she'd be running against. One with a disastrous term that'd be under an unmerciful microscope.

And no James Comey who, many including the candidate herself believe, tragically sunk her campaign in its final days with his public announcement that she was under FBI investigation while concealing that Trump was as well.
 
And Russia. We now know the extent of Putin's meddling to help elect Trump. That too would be under a microscope and perhaps much less of a factor if our intelligence community is effective in waging its counter-offensive.

To be sure, Hillary has been one of the most vilified political figures in modern history. And I’m in the camp that believe it’s largely due to sexism. Sadly, America still has a big problem with smart, strong, ambitious, determined, powerful women.

America needs to get over itself.

Think of the incredible message a Hillary victory would send to our daughters. That in the face of adversity, no matter who tries to keep you down, that even if you fail, you get back up and fight...and show the world you are smart, strong, ambitious, determined and powerful and successful in the end.

So what would Clinton need to do differently in 2020? She should avoid direct confrontations with Trump (or any other Republican nominee should Trump resign, not run, be primaried or be in prison). Stay away from personal attacks. Avoid the negative. Focus purely on the issues that Americans care most about, not the testy back-and-forth between candidates that frustrates, angers and exhausts them.

On the policy side, the pitch is simple:

Issue #1: Health care. In 1993 Hillary, as chair of the Task Force on National Health Care Reform in her husband's new administration, took on an angry, obstructionist Republican Congress and the insurance industry to fight for affordable, universal health care. While her proposal ultimately failed in a bitter partisan and self-serving economic battle, Hillarycare served to pave the way for Obamacare 25 years later.

Issue #2: Middle-class tax cuts. She could run on providing the working class with the meaningful tax cuts Trump promised but forgot to give "the forgotten men and women."  

Issue #3: Public education. Trump and his woefully inept and unqualified Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have a general disdain for public education, pushing through a budget which starves the system of critical funding.

Issue #4: Gun control. There's been more frequent and deadlier mass shootings than ever. Americans want sensible, responsible gun legislation which involves raising age limits; expanding background checks and eliminating loopholes; increased waiting periods for gun purchases; bump-stock, high-capacity magazine and assault weapons bans; and increased funding for mental health care programs while prohibiting those with mental illness from buying guns.

Issue #5: Climate change. The planet is hotter, the weather more erratic and the storms more violent and deadly than ever. Americans want clean air, safe drinking water and a healthy Earth for themselves and their children.

Issue #6: Women's rights. Women are still fighting for equal pay, reproductive rights and protection from sexual-harassment and assault. The Me Too movement is a prime example of a major cultural shift since the '16 election.

Issue #7: LGBTQ rights. Equality for all Americans, regardless of sexuality. Need she say more...

Issue #8: Immigration reform. Kids were not caged pre-2016. Immigrants/refugees were not relentlessly demonized. America's values were not under siege. It's time for an immigration-reform policy which incorporates decency, compassion, humanity and increased border security. 

These are slam-dunk issues. Hillary would have to effectively hammer them home with genuine passion and concern, and without engaging in personal mud-slinging with the Sociopath-in-Chief. Her campaign would need to be about her and what she can deliver to both democrats and republican voters, and not merely that Trump is an ignorant, sexist, misogynist, racist, xenophobic, corrupt traitor. That needs to speak for itself. And it will.

But there's still the personality problem. Hillary lacks the natural gifts that ooze from politicians like her husband and Barack Obama. The charm, the charisma, the public ease, confidence and comfort of their own skin. This is where she needs the most work. She needs to stop listening to the overpaid, under-qualified consultants with old-school instincts and an over-reliance on nerdy data. She needs to be able to sit with average folks on both sides of the political spectrum and be the girl they wanna have a beer with. She can do it. She just needs to let her hair down and trust her own instincts.

In short, she'd need to stay on message, avoid putting her foot in her mouth and connect on a real human level, while receiving the votes cast for her in '16 and, this time, campaign like an animal in the key swing states.

Yes. Those are some very big "ifs"...

The Caravan: The Deadly Invasion That Never Was

It’s been almost a week since Election Day. And in the run up to the midterms, Donald Trump waged an unrelenting xenophobic campaign to convince Republicans America was on the verge of a 'deadly invasion of thugs, MS-13 gang members and Middle Eastern terrorists' masquerading as a caravan of desperate freedom and asylum-seeking Hispanic immigrants--many of them women and children--walking thousands of miles through difficult conditions to escape persecution and the threat of death.

But miraculously, the nanosecond the election was over, the incendiary rhetoric, which had been feverishly spewing from Trump's mouth like projectile vomit, immediately stopped. As if the caravan doesn't exist and never did. Astounding that this grave national-security emergency, a crisis so out-of-control that it required Trump to hurriedly dispatch the United States military to protect the Southern border, has now suddenly and swiftly vanished.

Which if course means there is no imminent danger. And that there never was. No threat. No invasion. Just a rancid cesspool of cowardly fear-mongering. These immigrants are not thugs, gang members or terrorists. Their only crime is that they continue to see America as their great beacon of hope and promise...where they could keep their kids alive, work hard and pursue the American dream. 

Which or course also means that Trump was lying. Again. That he shamelessly demonized these poor souls as pawns in his partisan shill-game to gin up the hate-vote. That he unconscionably exploited our troops for self-serving political purposes. That he yet again lashed out like a cornered rat because his fragile manbaby ego and political fortunes were threatened.

And once again he lied to the base. Those zombie-like cultists who would walk through fire for the sociopath who rewards their undying loyalty by summarily disrespecting and deceiving them with each syllable he speaks. By using and abusing their sons and daughters...who patriotically signed up to serve their country and asked for only one thing in return: to send them into conflict as a last resort. But instead of being mad-as-fucking hell they keep lapping up his deceptive bullshit like stray cats to a bowl of milk.

To be sure, over the past few weeks Trump has fed his base so much red meat they should be going into cardiac arrest. But they haven't. And probably never will. They are so brainwashed they'd likely follow him into the ether like the cyanide-swallowing Jonestown masses.

The unfortunate caravan saga is just one example of Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors. Just one example of how he's eroding our moral, ethical and legal foundations and normalizing ignorance, incivility, intolerance, racism, dishonesty and criminality.

Trump took an oath to uphold the Constitution. To defend and protect America's interests and the rights of its citizens. But almost every minute of every single day he violates that oath. He's betrayed his country and the people he was elected to serve. He puts his own interests before anyone or anything else. And as evidenced this past weekend in Paris, he's decimated our standing on the world stage. In doing so, our safety and national security is now at great risk.

Our future, and everything we stand for, is uncertain. 

Dear Media: It's Time to Stand the F**K Up With/For Jim Acosta

CNN's Chief White House press correspondent Jim Acosta has been stripped of his access. For asking a question about the RussiaGate investigation. For simply doing his job. Free speech and freedom of the press are under attack. And it would behoove every single other White House correspondent to turn in their access as well until Acosta's is returned. Because an attack on one of them is an attack on them all.

Trump's ferocious attacks on the media is nothing new. His relentless incendiary "the media is the enemy of the people" rhetoric has persisted for years and is believed to have inspired the recent bombing attempts on George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, CNN and his other perceived opponents. It's the same brand of hate-speak that's also inspired the mass shooting-murder at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Which is why Trump's continued aggressive behavior and rhetoric towards Acosta, CNN and the media overall is beyond irresponsible and reprehensible and remains potentially deadly.  

Adding insult to injury, the White House, through its Baghdad Bob press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, even resorted to tweeting a doctored video (grounds for a massive libel suit?) Wednesday night to support the administration's nefarious claim that Acosta was menacing and physical towards a young female intern who attempted to grab the microphone away from him at Trump's surreal 90-minute East Village-worthy performance-art presser earlier in the day.

So it's time. It's time for the media to stand up to Trump and Sanders. To stand up for and with Acosta. To stand up for itself. For journalism. For freedom of the press and the Constitution. For decency, civility and the truth.

Because you can't have respect without self-respect. 

And no self-respecting White House correspondent could/would/should allow this egregious, tyrannical neo-Fascist ban to happen without a strong rebuke and act of defiance and unity.

Stop covering Trump. Stop attending his White House charades. Stop waiting for him to bloviate his pathological lies on the lawn. Stop attending the useless, irrelevant Sanders briefings.

It is a privilege to be president and serve the people. It is a privilege to live in a democracy that allows for a free and open press that can criticize and question its leaders.

Despite the oath he took to protect it, Trump does not respect the Constitution. He openly disdains and attacks the media. He doesn't appreciate the job of journalists and the critical role it serves in our democracy.

He needs to be reminded of that. He needs to learn a valuable lesson. Now.  

The worst thing you can do to Trump is to ignore him.

Hey Trump: You Begged Voters to Make the Election All About You. They Did

Dear Trump (I still refuse to acknowledge you as a legitimate president. Or even a "Mr"):

Congratulations! For months you've literally begged voters to make the midterm elections all about you. Night after night, rally after rally, tweet after tweet, you implored them to hit the polls yesterday thinking one thing: that it was you on the ballot. Well they did.

The election boiled down to a simple "yes" or No." Yes if you like Trump, no if you don't.

Americans said "No." Most of them, that is.

They said no to ignorance, intolerance, incivility and bullying. They said no to gaslighting and pathological-lying. They said no to sexism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, anti-Semitism and racism. They said no to corruption, criminality and treason.

They said yes to decency, civility, tolerance and humanity. They said yes to reality, facts and the truth. They said yes to women, Jews, blacks, LBGTQ, Hispanics, refugees and immigrants. They said yes to the Constitution and the rule of law. They said yes to checks and balances. Most importantly, they said yes to democracy.

Voters sent a strong message to you that you are not above the law. That you do not defy political gravity. That the system worked. That 242 years of process hasn't been destroyed no matter how hard you've been trying.

You acted. You used. You abused. You broke the law. You've betrayed America. And now you and your complicit Republican Congress are paying the price. It's all catching up to you.

We let Trump be Trump, and guess what? The experiment failed. You are not only our worst enemy, but your own.

To be fair, last night did not usher in the big blue tsunami Democrats had hoped for. And that's disappointing. Because it means there's still way too many Americans who are still seemingly ok with pussy-grabbing, sexual-abuse, white nationalism and hate-speak. But to acknowledge the overall results as anything but a huge Democrat victory would be dishonest and foolish.

All across America the political landscape is changing. And not in your favor. Democrats flipped at least 28 House seats and re-took control. They even won seats in Texas and Oklahoma, for example. There's a Democrat governor of Kansas now. Beto O'Rourke and Stacey Abrams came way closer than they should've in deeply red states like Texas and Georgia respectively.  Seven governorships flipped. And state and local seats flipped as well. You did that. You cost your party this power.

The election was a big win for women, minorities and LGBTQ. These victorious candidates not only represent the diverse cultural patchwork that is America, but are well-poised to be incredible Senate candidates in 2020.  

You asked for it to be all about you and we delivered.

You can spin the election as a "tremendous success" all you want, but we both know you understand the critical impact of losing the House. Of what it means to you and your crime family personally. You're most likely crappin' your pants right now. Because you know the investigations are coming. And the subpoenas. And the hearings.

And we haven't even gotten to Mueller yet...

So lawyer up... and strap yourself in. It's gonna be a bumpy ride...

The Most Important, Most Terrifying Election in Our History

America's democracy is about to die. 242 years of freedom is on the ropes. Our time-tested system of checks and balances is about to fail. We are at dictatorship's doorstep. And that loud knock you hear is coming from Donald Trump's tiny hands.

We are about to give a blank check to a madman. A sociopath. A malignant narcissist who will stop at nothing to feed that rapacious beast of an Id. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

I'm sorry to be Chicken Little, but the sky is fucking falling...and I'm gonna cluck like a motherfucker till Tuesday.

America's facing its first true existential crisis. The America we know and love is being tested like never before. And so far it's miserably failing the test.

The Founding Fathers created three co-equal branches of government to serve as checks on each other. The thinking was, that even if Americans elected an amoral monster as president, Congress and the Supreme Court would, in their oversight roles, prevent a rogue leader from turning the nation into a self-serving oppressive cesspool. But what they never expected is that the other branches would not just abdicate this oversight role, but instead defend, protect and enable this monster.

So then what happens? No checks, no democracy. Welcome to the Reign of Trump. Where America has become unrecognizable. 

On Tuesday Americans will go to the polls for the midterm elections. Traditionally, turnout is low for midterm elections. Young people don't show up. Blacks and Hispanics don't show up. The poor and middle class whites don't show up. Those who do show up are fired up. About something. And that anger is usually directed at the party whose president occupies the Oval Office.

Which is why one or both houses of Congress usually flips in the midterms after the presidential election. And more so, if the sitting president's approval rating hovers in the 40%-45% range, as Trump's does, there's typically a loss of 40-60+ House seats and an appreciable pick up of Senate seats.

So the conventional wisdom is that the Blue Wave's-a-comin', right?

But we have a sociopath madman in the White House. So fuck conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom opened the window when Trump won the GOP nomination and then jumped to its frightful death the night he won.

To be sure, if there was a list of "The 1000 Disgusting, Horrible, Unconscionable Things a Presidential Candidate and President Should NEVER Do" Trump has done them all. Repeatedly. By now this teflon maniac...this corrupt, criminal traitor...should've been impeached, indicted and imprisoned. But...

...that GOP Congress. That complicit GOP Congress. The check that never was.

Tuesday you will have a choice. As clear a fucking choice as there ever was. A choice between Democrat and Republican. Decency vs incivility. Good vs evil. Love vs hate. Freedom vs oppression. Democracy vs autocracy.

Say it out loud. Over and over again. Until you realize this is the most important, most critical, most unfathomably terrifying election in our nation's history.

You've gotta show up.

You've gotta do whatever's humanly possible to get yourselves to the voting booth.

You've gotta VOTE DEMOCRAT.

You've gotta vote to have that check on Trump, because if Republicans maintain control of both Houses, it's over. He will be more empowered, more emboldened and more destructive than ever. His dream of saying and doing whatever he wants and being above the law, of being a dictator, will finally be realized.

Show the fuck up. 

This time.

Because there's no next time. 

Because this election is like no other election in US. history. Because no other election in history is truly about the imminent survival or death of our precious democracy. 

So vote like your life and your children's lives depend on it.

Because it does.

12 Years Ago Today My Wife Was Murdered By An Undocumented Immigrant

Twelve years ago today, at approximately 5:30 pm, I walked into my wife's office and found her dead in what appeared to be a suicide. And she remained a suicide until five days later when her killer, a 19-year-old undocumented immigrant from Ecuador, was arrested.

It was unquestionably the worst, most unfathomably horrific day of my life, and there's not been a day since where I haven't grieved Adrienne's tragic loss and her bright light which was so senselessly snuffed out. The pain and sorrow I feel is a life sentence.

Adrienne's death re-shaped me. Who I am. What I believe in and what I stand for. Including my thoughts about immigrants and immigration. And I am saddened by where we are as a nation today.

Let me be clear about a few things: I love my country and would do anything to defend and protect her. I am not for open-borders. I advocate strong border security. I believe immigrants should enter our country legally. And that undocumented criminals should be deported.

And let me be even clearer about this: I hate Adrienne's killer. I hate him for what he did to her. For so brutally extinguishing the life of a kind, beautiful soul. I hate him for robbing our daughter, now almost 15, of the adoring mother who loved her more than anything. I hate that my older children live life without the amazing stepmother they loved so dearly. And I hate him for taking Adrienne away from her own adoring mother and the brothers who no longer have their incredible sister.

But I also hate what Donald Trump has done to America in exploiting murders like Adrienne's to summarily demonize and scapegoat an entire segment of our population because, for political purposes, he's compelled to tear the nation apart and turn us against each other. I hate how he's broad-stroked immigrants--who in desperation seek to cross our borders for a better, safer life--as gang members, thugs and murderers...a reprehensibly false charge not supported by statistics. The truth is, Americans have more to fear from their fellow citizens than from undocumented immigrants.

But that hasn't stopped Trump from pathologically-lying about immigrants. His relentless flame-stoking about the caravan of America-bound, asylum-seeking immigrants which left Honduras weeks ago is just the latest example. As the election nears, and his fear, desperation and panic over a Democratic landslide intensifies, he's been ginning up his base with wildly false claims that we're being "invaded" by these 'violent criminals' who include 'Middle-Eastern terrorists.' Despite that every credible news organization traveling with the caravan has failed to see anyone but freedom-seeking Hispanics, many of them families with children.

Trump justifies his draconian xenophobic positions with claims that there's "30-million" undocumented immigrants in the United States, a grossly inflated figure which is approximately three times the actual number. And that this situation is so dire, so threatening to America, that it requires him sending 5,000-15,000 troops to the border to defend us from this 'evil enemy.'

Not only is this military move an unconscionable exploitation of our troops to support Trump's politically-motivated animus towards immigrants, it will also cost taxpayers a ton in unnecessary expense when our deficit is already swollen. It's a solution in search of a problem. And he's layered this campaign of hate with a new vow to unilaterally end birthright citizenship despite its clear protection in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

But will it end there? How might Trump, who proudly labeled himself a "nationalist', increase the ferocity of his rhetoric? As outrageous as it sounds, it would not shock me if over the next several days, as a flipping of the House and/or Senate becomes more likely, he amps up the fear-mongering and suggests a Hitler-like "Final Solution" to save America from these dangerous brown people who he claims threaten our way of life. That this seems even a remote possibility shows just how low Trump has sunk our great democracy to the fringes of terrifying fascism.

To be sure, Trump has destroyed the values on which America has existed for centuries. He's turned "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free" into "Stay the fuck out of our white America!" He's convinced his angry white base that they somehow have a greater right to lay claim to the country than their black, brown and yellow neighbors.  

Two years ago, less than three weeks before the election, I shared my views on this subject in a New York Times op-ed.  I feared what the country would become if Trump became president. He of course won, and not surprisingly his incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric is more vile than ever.

So on this 12th anniversary of Adrienne's death I'm appealing to voters to fight back. To reject Trump's un-American hate-speak. To rise up and say ENOUGH! To take this country back from his angry, narrow-minded frightened fellow nationalists who've sadly forgotten that we are all descendants of immigrants. Than none of us is better, or more American, than the person beside us.

This is not Trump's America. But it surely has become Trump's Republican Party. It's shameful that the GOP-led Congress has failed to defend the nation from this moral monster. How it's enabled his chaos, corruption and treason and allowed it to spread like a cancer unchecked.

Which is why five days from now we must swarm the polls and vote...them...out. We must vote for Democrats up and down the ballot. We must vote to bring back decency, civility and humanity to America.

To truly make America great again.

Before it's too late...

Dear Fellow Democrats: WTF Is Wrong With YOU?

Dear fellow Democrats:

What the fuck is wrong with you? Better yet, what the fuck are you waiting for? After almost two years of Donald Trump's oppressive reign of terror we're still wondering if you're gonna go out and vote November 6th? That you still might not be motivated enough to replace the cowardly, complicit Republican-controlled Congress that enables this monster? Really? So again I ask, what the fuck is wrong with you? What the fuck are you waiting for?

Do you really need more reasons to vote? Is pussy-grabbing, sexual-abuse, pedophile-endorsing, Brett Kavanaugh, pathological-lying, disabled mocking, war-hero bashing, neo-Nazi-loving, Kleptocractic corruption and High Crimes and Misdemeanors not enough for you?

Do you not understand the gravity of this situation? Let me help you. In two weeks, if Democrats do not win back at least the House, American democracy as we know it is dead. Trump will no longer be a dictator-wannabe. With all concerns and fears about the election behind him, his dictator status will be official. He'll be unchecked by Congress, unchecked by his Kavanaugh-inspired "president is above the law" Supreme Court. He'll be empowered to consolidate power and misuse and abuse that power to advance his self-serving agenda and to further discriminate, bully and violate the Constitution. His rapacious ego will be out of fucking control.

There'll be no stopping him.

Attacks on his opponents will no longer be comprised of mere verbal threats. He will finally be emboldened to rule like the many foreign strongmen he perversely worships. He will attempt to "lock up" his detractors. He will limit free speech and freedom of the press. He will further weaponize the FBI and Department of Justice for personal protection and gain. He will sign even more outrageous Executive Orders, change regulations and circumvent existing law.

Because there'll be no one to stop him. 

Given this terrifying landscape, there should be no question whether Democrats will get off their asses and vote. There should be no doubt that Democrats won't do everything humanly possible to get to the polls. That they'd crawl 10 miles in a blizzard if they had to. That turnout would be at historic levels, in the 90% range. But yet here we are. Fearing that Democratic turnout won't be enough to flip at least one chamber of congress. Here we are, less than two weeks away, with the election way too close for comfort. Un-fucking-believable. 

Democrats, make no mistake: there is no 'next time.' There's no room for message-sending (like staying home because you're fed up with politics). You have a simple albeit chilling binary choice: Democrat vs Republican. Democracy vs autocracy. Freedom vs oppression. Good vs evil.    

If you're black or brown you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you're a woman you must VOTE because your reproductive rights, your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you're a survivor of sexual-abuse or rape you must VOTE because your credibility, your health, your future and your life depends on it. 

If you're an immigrant you must VOTE because your relatives, your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you're elderly you must VOTE because your health insurance, your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you're young you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you're LGBTQ you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you're sick and have preexisting conditions you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you fear America's out-of-control gun culture you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you care about public education you must VOTE because you and your children's health, future and lives depend on it.

If you feel left out of our economic growth and believe there are two Americas--one for the rich and corporations and another for everyone else--you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you care about climate change and science you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you care about voter suppression and voting rights you must VOTE because your freedom, your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you believe in “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”and American values you must VOTE...because other peoples' health, future and lives depend on it.

If you want to restore decency, civility, compassion, empathy, acceptance, tolerance, inclusion and humanity you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you value facts, truth, transparency, honesty and reality you must VOTE because these virtues will be extinct.

If you hate how Mitch McConnell and the Republican Congress has justified, defended, protected and enabled Trump's criminal, treasonous acts by abdicating their oversight role you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you've been shocked and outraged how the GOP steals elections, steals Supreme Court seats and puts accused sexual-abusers on the bench, endorses sexists, racists and pedophiles, disenfranchises voters, gerrymanders/redistricts and undermines the rule of law you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you are fed up with the exhausting chaos of the Trump administration you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you are incensed by Trump's relentless unAmerican attacks on our intelligence community and independent judiciary you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.
 
If you are angered by Trump's sick, twisted sycophantic suck-uppery with America's brutal enemies while he alienates our allies you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you are angered by Trump's refusal to hold Saudi Arabia, North Korea and Russia accountable for acts of oppression, barbaric brutality, murder and/or attacks on America's citizens, residents and democracy you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you find 'very fine Nazis' terrifying you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you are fed up with Trump's ethical and moral bankruptcy and his utter disdain for the rule of law you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it. 

If you are disgusted with Trump's blatant, shameless sexism, misogyny, racism, xenophobia and bullying you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you are repulsed that we have a malignant narcissist sociopath traitor in the Oval Office who puts his own interests before those of America's you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

If you are outraged that Trump's incendiary hate-filled rhetoric has lead to acts of terrorism like leaving explosive devices at the homes and offices of George Soros, the Clintons, the Obamas, CNN and elsewhere you must VOTE because your health, your future and your life depends on it.

Is this not enough?

Trump has begged voters to make this election all about him. A referendum on his presidency. I say, let's make his wish come true. Let's go to the polls November 6th remembering how ignorant, divisive and corrupt he is. How he's tearing the nation apart at the seams.

Democrats, you must accept that you are fighting an enemy that has done and will continue to do everything it can--including and especially lie, cheat, steal and engage in reprehensible racist scapegoating--to maintain power.

Because there is no one to stop them. 

You can stop them. And the only way to stop them is by VOTING. Every vote matters. Your vote natters. Every...single...one...of...them.

We should be making history. We should have the biggest Democrat turnout in decades. 

There's no excuse for not voting. There's always time. Always a way to get away from work or the kids and get to the polls. Make believe you're going out to buy a $1.6-million Powerball ticket. The stakes are much higher. 

And remember that your health, your future and your life depends on it.   

Dear Trump Supporters: WTF Is Wrong With You?

Dear Trump Supporters: what the fuck is wrong with you? That's a serious question. It's not rooted in any sort of innate partisan vitriol or blind tribalism. Rather, it's based purely on logic and common sense, or a lack thereof. So again I ask...what the fuck is wrong with you?

Donald Trump once famously boasted that no matter what he did you'd still support him. Even if he shot someone in the middle of NYC's 5th Avenue. Not for nothing, but that outrageous claim could only have been made if Trump thinks you're all a bunch of fucking morons who are simply too stupid, loyal or both to ever hold him accountable for anything...even murder.  

Are you that stupid and loyal? So far you're proving him right. With flying colors. And bells and whistles.

Ok, so Trump hasn't committed murder...yet. But he has:

*mocked disabled people
*bullied women
*cheated on his wife with porn stars, Playmates and God knows who else
*paid hush money to silence his many mistresses
*refused to release his tax returns as promised
*paid zero taxes for years

*lied about self-funding his campaign and not being beholden to special interests and big donors/corporations

*promised to “drain the swamp” but instead filled his administration with it
*lied to you when he said he’d be “too busy to golf”…and then golfed 70 times

*defended neo-Nazis and white nationalists
*caged children
*promised to build the wall and have Mexico pay for it...then demanded YOU pay for it
*disrespected and attacked war heroes like John McCain (even as he lay on his death bed)
*conspired with Russia to steal the election
*obstructed justice to cover up the conspiracy
*put an accused sexual-abuser and rapist on the Supreme Court
*refused to believe sexual-assault victims while defending and protecting the accused
*lied to the middle-class about getting huge tax cuts (remember "You'll see it in your paychecks starting Feb 1!"?)
*lied to you about giving you better and more affordable healthcare than Obamacare
*lied to you that coverage for preexisting conditions will be protected

*increased the deficit to $797-billion, the highest in 6 years

*increased the national debt to $25 trillion

*started trade wars which has negatively impacted farming, manufacturing & automobile industries
*violated the Emoluments Clause and has enriched himself since day-one
*created unparalleled chaos and turnover (70%+) in the White House
*called the Mueller probe a "witch hunt" despite 30+ indictments & 6 convictions including his top aides
*stood on a stage with Putin and defended him while calling our intelligence community liars
*said he's "in love" with Kim Jong Un
*lied to you that there is "no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea" 
*allowed Saudi Arabia to murder and dismember a journalist and U.S. resident without consequence
*repeatedly disrespected and attacked the FBI, Department of Justice, the intelligence community and our independent judiciary
*claimed the media is "the enemy of the people" 
*incited violence at his rallies
*praised a convicted criminal for body-slamming a reporter
*cursed like a pimp and allowed Kanye West to say "motherfucker" in the Oval Office
*lied to you over 4000 times (according to Washington Post fact-checker)
*treated you as if you're all a bunch of brainwashed ignorant fools

That's quite an impressive resume.

So can you please explain how you still support this crooked, corrupt treasonous monster after all these unconscionable offenses? How you could stand behind him at rallies as he disrespects and undermines democracy and the Constitution? How you could let him lie to you about his undying support of veterans, the military, the police and law & order as he attacks war heroes, POW's and Gold Star families while praising convicted criminals for violent acts? Worse, how you could stand behind him and laugh and cheer like pathetic sheep as he does it?

What kind of Americans are you? Why kind of humans are you? What kind of parents are you? What do you tell your children when you come home from these rallies? Are you proud of your president and what he says and does? More so, are you you proud of how you've acted at these mob-like events? Do you teach your kids to behave like Trump? Do you encourage them to lie, cheat, steal, bully, assault women and mock those less fortunate? Do you teach them to 'respect the law' by treating convicted criminals like heroes? Do you tell them violent men are "your guys?"

And how about all the pussy-grabbing, sexual assaults, rapes and the "boys will be boys" culture? Do you have daughters? Wives? Girlfriends? Mothers? You ok with them having their pussies grabbed by rich, powerful, famous men who think they're entitled to it? You ok with them being sexually-assaulted and raped? Or is it ok only when it's someone else's kid or spouse who's attacked, discredited and degraded?

Lastly, are you religious? Do you go to church and synagogue? Is this what they preach there? Is this what they tell you God wants? That this is the way to behave? That this is how you treat your fellow man and woman? Do you go to church on Sunday and pretend to be compassionate, tolerant, God-fearing faith-based Christians only to head to the Trump rally the next day to engage in angry, hateful unholy behavior like complicit frauds as he demonically breaks every sin in the bible?

And...would you really rather be Russian than Democrat?

So I ask you yet again: what the fuck is wrong with you? Because for the life of me I cannot figure you out.

 

Donald Trump is a Coward

Donald Trump was born and raised in Queens, NY. I was born and raised in Queens, NY. Trump's Queens was the Queens of preppies, wealth, privilege, fancy boarding & military schools, Ivy League universities, trust funds, "small $1-million loans" and $400-million inheritances from daddy. My Queens was blue-collar, stickball, public schools, city/state colleges and tough street kids.

My neighbors' sons were the kids who went off to fight and die in Vietnam. Trump and his pals used their rich daddies' connections to dodge the draft...so they could stay home and wage their own 'personal Vietnam' against STD's.

This backdrop explains Donald Trump. He's the proverbial rich entitled brat born on 3rd base who thinks he hit a triple. The son of an unemotional, affection-adverse but hugely wealthy real-estate tycoon who filled his son's wallet but left his heart empty.

Trump is often called a bully. But like most bullies, he is a weak, feckless coward. He's been a coward his whole life. And he'll be a coward till the day he dies. He fears confrontation. He's a self-proclaimed "counter-puncher" who talks a tough game on Twitter and at rallies of his brainwashed base, but who folds like a $2 lawn chair when face-to-face with his opponents and America's enemies.

Trump is on a perpetual mission to prove himself. Thus the constant bragging, exaggerated self-promotion and outright lying to embellish his accomplishments. The result is an ethical, moral and truth-bankruptcy which fuels this dysfunction. He's a shell of a adult human who craves the attention, praise and credit he never received growing up. And he's terrified. Always. Like a frightened little child. So he lashes out, at anything and anyone, in order to feel even the slightest kernel of self-worth.

Which is why it's never enough for Trump to merely state an accomplishment. He must also claim it's 'the biggest, the best and that everyone before him is stupid and inept and could never have done what he just did.' The hole in his soul is so large that nothing can ever fill it....not even the fact that he's one of only 45 people in America's 242-year history to hold this revered position. He constantly swirls in a dizzying vortex of self-loathing, put-downs and an insatiable quest for validation. He's a prisoner of his rapacious Id. I'm sure it's as exhausting for him as it is for us.

But most of all, Trump is a coward. A shameful, despicable coward.    

A coward who cages children.

A coward who bullies and degrades women.

A coward who's used his power to sexually-assault women.

A coward who belittles and name-calls his opponents.

A coward who mocks disabled people.

A coward who pathologically lies like a terrified cornered rat.

A coward who scapegoats people of color to divide the country.
 
A coward who boasts that "body-slammers" are "his guys."

A coward who calls the media "the enemy of the people" to distract from his personal scandals.

A coward who incites violence and chants of "lock her up" at his rallies.


A coward who "falls in love" with North Korea's Kim Jong Un who murdered U.S. citizen Otto Warmbier.

A coward who shares a stage with and defends Putin while publicly disrespecting and undermining our intelligence community.


A coward who sits by and does nothing after Saudi Arabia savagely murders and dismembers a journalist and U.S. resident.

A coward who's filled his staff and cabinet with generals because he thinks that surrounding himself with military men projects the true strength and bravery he's never had. 

A coward who's in awe of dictators and strongmen because he sees them as the "tough guy" he never was but so desperately wants to be.

A coward who's compelled to mock and disparage war heroes like John McCain (even as he lay dying) to compensate for his own lack of military valor and heroism. 

A coward who's selfish, self-serving and puts his own personal interests before those of America.

A coward who's traded America's reputation, values and defense of human rights for money.

To be sure, Donald Trump has many truly repulsive, reprehensible qualities. But his cowardice, as president of the United States, Commander-in-Chief and Leader of the Free World, reigns supreme.

Dear Democrats: WTF Are You Waiting For?

I was talking the other day with someone who's active in the Congressional midterm elections. A Democrat. I asked her how she thinks it looks for the party on Election Day.

"Feeling good," she sheepishly said. "But it really all depends if our people get out and vote." 

Yes. The concern is always about turnout. But it shouldn't be now. Given all that's at stake, you'd think Democrats would be so fired up that they'd camp out at the polls the night before as if Led Zeppelin reunion-concert tickets were going on sale at 6am. Because the truth is, if they're not fired up enough to vote now, what...the...fuck...are...they...waiting...for?

Let me be perfectly clear: America is on the verge of autocracy. We are led by a sociopath. A malignant narcissist. A dangerous demagogue. A rabble-rousing, race-baiting dictator-wannabe bully who's shattered all norms, boundaries and any sense of decorum and decency in his rapacious quest to consolidate power and self-enrich. A sick, twisted, reincarnated Morton Downey Jr who derives a creepy masturbatory thrill from instigating and dividing people.

Which is why the upcoming midterm elections are everything. Everything.

Does your vote matter? Yes.

Can you change the course of history with your vote? Yes.

Election Day is the one day in the year when the billionaire and the janitor have the exact same power. That any democrat wouldn't exercise this power during Trump's reign of terror is mind-numbing.   

Do democrats really need a reason to vote? Consider how Trump and the Republican Party have turned America into a rancid cesspool:

*Neo-Nazis marching in the streets, and in at least one case, murdering liberal protestors
*Sexism and racism blatantly promoted and enabled
*Disabled people mocked
*War heroes, POW's and Gold Star families attacked
*White House/administration choked by daily chaos and rampant corruption
*Sexual-abusers, rapists and pedophiles protected and defended
*Supreme Court seats stolen, with accused sexual-predators on the bench
*Gerrymandering and voter-suppression 
*EPA gutted
*Climate-change denied; TPP and Paris Climate Accord abandoned
*Healthcare attacked
*Social-Security threatened
*Public education deteriorating
*Children caged / family-separation
*Muslims banned
*DACA attacked
*Increased gun violence
*Tax cuts for the rich and corporations
*Unions and workers' rights under attack
*Women's reproductive rights attacked
*Same-sex marriage attacked
*Religious fanaticism
*FBI/Justice Department assailed and undermined
*Media attacked as "the enemy of the people"
*Constitution and the rule of law disregarded
*Enemies emboldened, allies alienated
*Sycophantish sucking up to brutal dictators
*Treason accepted

For the first time in our nation's 242-year history our democracy is having an existential crisis. Checks and balances only works if the checks do their job. So what happens when Congress is complicit and allows a kleptocrat despotic traitor to consolidate power? What happens when the Supreme Court has a tie-breaking justice who believes the president is above the law and should be insulated from subpoena and indictment? Tyranny happens, that's what.

Is Trump a tyrant? Yes. Is Mitch McConnell a tyrant? Yes. Has the GOP-led Congress cravenly abdicated its oversight role in exchange for tax cuts, deregulation and a conservative judiciary? Yes.

The only way to stop this terrifying spiral into fascism is for democrats to vote. And vote en masse. To break records. To win the House with a huge enough margin to scare the shit out of Republicans that 2020 will be an even bigger bloodbath...where both the Senate and White House will be in major play.

But make no mistake: the main reason to take back the House is to give Democrats the ability to conduct investigations into Trump's corruption and treason. To have subpoena power. To protect special counsel Robert Mueller and his RussiaGate investigation. To return law and order back into the political landscape. To protect democracy. To impeach if necessary. And to provide the check that's so desperately missing right now.

Because the alternative is chillingly unthinkable...