In One 30-Minute Interview, Trump Makes 24 False or Misleading Statements

To wrap up the year here's a good reminder of what we face in a president who lies on a gargantuan scale. See as compiled by Glenn Kessler in the Washington Post.

Friend's Letter on Unjust Tax Bill

Today I am publishing an e-mail letter written by my good friend Jeff Deiss on the topic of the unjust and financially irresponsible Republican tax bill currently making its way through congress. I'm sure you will be as impressed by the cogency of his points as I am. Here is Jeff's missive:

Dear Senator McCain/Flake,

I am writing you about the pending tax reform bill in a sense of desperation.  I am a California citizen, but given the divided nature of politics in the US, it would be of little use to write to either my Congresswoman or Senators.  Given the Republican majority, their votes will not decide the outcome, and indeed they have not been able to participate in any significant way throughout the legislative process.

I urge you to reconsider your support of the pending tax bill.  It is ill-conceived, mean-spirited, financially imprudent, and profoundly unjust.  Consider just a few of the features of the bill:

• A significant tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, who notwithstanding their tax burdens are already doing well.
• A significant tax cut for large corporations, who already have significant cash reserves and are not tax-constrained in undertaking new investment.
• A serious loss of government revenue at a time when our deficit is already a matter of widespread concern.
• A new taxation principle that will tax wages at a higher rate than contractor income.
• The loss of tax features that support affordable housing, historic preservation, and renewable energy development. 
• A reduction in the mortgage tax deduction that penalizes Americans unevenly - striking only citizens who have the misfortune of living in high housing costs states such as California.
• Elimination of the local and state tax deduction that also penalizes Americans unevenly - again striking only citizens who have the misfortune of living in states with a high local/state tax rate such as California.

I am astonished by the flagrancy of this ill-conceived, mean-spirited, financially imprudent, and profoundly unjust tax bill.  I am an American, but my representatives have neither been consulted nor had input.  Who will stand up for me and my fellow Californians?  I am turning to you because I know and appreciate that you have repeatedly had the courage to vote against partisan blocs and instead side with the best interests of all Americans.  I urge you to oppose the final tax bill and save the nation from further division and just as importantly the anguish of having to later unwind what would quickly be viewed as a broken, discredited tax system.

Sincerely,

Jeff Deiss

Oakland, California

I joined the demonstration last Tuesday at the Vista office of Congressman Darrell Issa, Republican of California's 49th district. Though he was not considered vulnerable, the 8-term incumbent was surprisingly re-elected by only 1621 votes a year ago, the closest margin of any House member who wasn't defeated. This surprising vulnerability has engendered a blood-in-the-water response from local Democrats, who are aroused and eager to unseat Issa. Demonstrations have been held at his office in Vista every Tuesday for a year, with 300-600 people showing up every time.

 Here's a picture of me at the most recent one. As you can see, part of my objection to people like Issa is personal in nature!  



I live in the adjoining 52nd District, represented by Democrat Scott Peters. I still wanted to register my disgust with Issa and the rest of the GOP congress for their regressive moves on immigration, taxes, health care, equality, and in not standing up to the appalling demagoguery and dishonesty of President Trump. Issa himself is reputedly the richest man in congress with a net worth of around $400 million. He earned notoriety as chairman of the House Investigations committee, spending years trying to trash President Barack Obama without cause, and finding nothing, of course, to charge him with.   

 

Trump a Clear and Present Danger to America

Another day, another preposterous lie. So passes one more day in the Administration of Donald J. Trump. I truly feel we are in grave danger under this man. We find today the president tweeted that Time Magazine called him up and let him know he was "probably" going to be chosen as Man of the Year for 2017. He claims he turned down the offer because it would involve a major photo shoot. The magazine reports that it never reveals its choices ahead of time, which this year will be December 6. In other words, Trump was making this up. (Source.)

We have come to expect constant prevarication from Trump, to the extent it is becoming almost accepted as normal. The Washington Post, for example, has been keeping track of Trump's "false or misleading statements" and at last count had them at 1,318.  But it most decidedly is not normal. This level of lying makes Richard Nixon look like Mother Theresa. I fear that behavior like this is evidence of grave psychological problems. Not only is the sheer quantity breathtaking, but the nature of a lie like this is sorely troubling.

Consider someone so insecure that even though he is President of the United States he must concoct self-aggrandizing lies to try to impress people that he really is "somebody." Being president in itself is apparently not enough. Keep in mind that Trump actually was chosen Time's person of the year for 2016 owing to his election to the presidency that year. Yet he is so desperate for approval that he must fabricate the tale that he was going to win it again this year too, except, of course, that he decided to turn it down as unworthy of his time. And wanted to make sure everyone "knew" that, too.

This is a seriously deranged individual with fleets, armies, and nuclear weapons at his instant command. I tremble for the safety of the nation, and indeed the world.   

Why the Hypocrisy of Strident Moralists Like Roy Moore is so Common

Here's an insightful observation on Alabama senatorial candidate Roy Moore from Matt Bai, Yahoo political reporter. I feel Bai is onto something here, and his insight is not just restricted to conservatives. He also mentions liberal examples of the same kind of moral hypocrisy. To see the whole piece, go to this link.

"Moore’s fans in Alabama — most of whom are good people, I’m sure — are left to wonder, as people always do in these instances, how to reconcile the Moore they knew with the predator they’re reading about now in the papers. How could a man so devoted to public morality have been hitting on teenage girls by signing their yearbooks?

But it’s really not confounding at all. The truth is that moralizing and scandal are flip sides of the same filthy coin. Rigid intolerance is often the sign of one who can barely tolerate himself.

It turns out that all that time Moore was raising hell about morality and religious values, he was exorcising personal demons at the public’s expense. He was posturing as the moral pillar he badly wished he were, in order to somehow repress the weak, wicked man he knew himself to be.

You see this everywhere you look in public life. We know now that too many men, agonized by their own struggle with pedophilia, flock to the priesthood because they think they can redeem themselves. We’ve seen famous preachers come to tears railing against greed and adultery, because on some level they know they’re preaching to the mirror."

Trump Believes Putin, Not US Intelligence Community

President Donald Trump continues to make the most incredible statements. Yesterday during his trip to Asia he was asked whether he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Trump's response:
“Every time he sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Putin. Trump also called the American intelligence services that determined Russia had undertaken major efforts to influence the American 2016 presidential election "political hacks." (Source)

It is difficult to believe anyone is that naive or stupid. Vladimir Putin is a former KGB colonel who has said "Above all, we should acknowledge that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the twentieth century." (Source)
Putin has systematically dismantled democracy in Russia. Opposition papers and television stations have been shut down. Demonstrators who criticize Putin are arrested. Political rivals have been shot dead on the streets or died of radiation poisoning, and the perpetrators are never caught. He has launched invasions of Armenia and Crimea, has committed Russian forces to prop up the genocidal Assad regime in Syria and and his forces have surreptitiously intervened in Ukraine to support pro-Russian separatists who are fighting the legitimate government there. As Senator John McCain said today,

 "President Trump today stated that he believed Vladimir Putin is being sincere when he denies Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and reiterated that he hopes to cooperate with Russia in Syria," McCain, a strong critic of the President, said in a statement. "There's nothing 'America First' about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community. There's no 'principled realism' in cooperating with Russia to prop up the murderous Assad regime, which remains the greatest obstacle to a political solution that would bring an end to the bloodshed in Syria. Vladimir Putin does not have America's interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our national security at risk."(Source)


If Trump actually believes the word of such a man he is an international babe in the woods whose credulousness is a clear and present danger to the security of the United States. If instead he knows better but is lying to the American people to protect his business ties to Putin's Russian oligarchs, collusion between his campaign and Russian agents, or simply because his ego cannot stand the thought that he may at least partly owe his election to the disinformation and meddling of a foreign power, then he is a corrupt figure deserving of impeachment.

Letter to AARP

Dear AARP:

I have received your letters regarding congressional moves to cut Medicare and turn it into a voucher program, and to fail to preserve Social Security at its present levels. As AARP members and as citizens who are 63 and 64 years old, my wife and I are just as dismayed and alarmed at these developments as you are.

Your letters appeal for money to assist your campaign to fight these outrages. But in order to secure our financial support I am going to require some more information from you.

First, your letters provide no details on what your campaign consists of. There is a vague reference to “push our elected leaders to do the right thing and protect our promised benefits.” Please explain how AARP intends to do that, and how additional money will be used in that effort: hire more lobbyists, buy TV ads, offer political contributions, or what?

Second, your letters appear to skirt reference to the elephant in the room. You say a “new federal budget introduced in the House of Representatives.” You refer to “powerful forces on Capitol Hill.” Let’s be frank. Those who introduced this inhumane and immoral budget are the Republicans. The “powerful forces” you refer to, who wish to take life-saving medical care and a bare subsistence pension away from vulnerable seniors are the Republicans.

I know you want to try to be a nonpartisan organization, but these are the political realties we face. Your current letter includes petitions for me to sign to my senators and representative. I have signed and included them in the envelope, but these are unnecessary. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris in the Senate and Scott Peters in the House are Democrats who strongly support Medicare and Social Security. They will do the right thing without any prodding. On the other hand, verbal appeals to Republicans will fall on deaf ears. They are the ones committed to cutting taxes and slashing Medicare and Social Security. They are the “powerful forces” who introduced the very legislation you rightly decry. No amount of jawboning is going to change their misguided devotion to their lamentable ideology. 

No, if you want to protect Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security your campaign needs to focus on alerting the American people about who is working to reduce or eliminate these crucial programs. You will not safeguard these vital benefits without defeating Republicans and electing solid Democratic majorities to both Houses of Congress. If that is the intent of your campaign then please let me know as soon as possible so I can rush my contribution to assist you in your efforts.  If it is not, then stop wasting my time and your efforts in a quixotic crusade

Do you really want to save Medicare and Social Security, or do you just want money to protect your jobs while paying lip service to standing up for us? Then let me know your campaign will be focused on electing our supporters and defeating those who threaten our very lives and my generous support will be on its way.

Steve Natoli,

12122 Royal Birkdale Row Unit 306, San Diego, CA 92128 

(559) 303-4671