A special political message.

Excuse the rant, but : 

We've all been nominating this and that for the "Real" national emergency. I'm gonna barge in now and remind everyone what the *Real* For-Reals Actual forget that other stuff for now bolded double-underlined National Emergency is. The one we cannot ignore much longer if we want to have a Democracy any longer. The crisis is much bigger than the doddering old coward and crook occupying the White House without the permission of 2/3 of the country. The Emergency is this : We have allowed ourselves to put our Democracy up for sale to the highest bidder due to the Citizens United decision, and we have sold it out cheap, for a few measly Russian billions paid to a fistful of mendacious, larcenous, rapacious, power hungry damned fools who want to destroy the American Government because they didn't like the outcome of the Civil War. A few stupid, petty men who have neither the heart to help their fellow men nor the soul to hold to the American ideals. A fistful of men too interested in their own petty bullshit political fights to retain any fealty to the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. These men (and they are indeed nearly all men, with few women and no persons of color ) want control over all people so that they can deliver the greatest amounts of misery to the poor while shoving money into the pockets of the wealthiest, but even that is of only secondary importance. The greatest emergency by far is the need to take back our FORM of government, wherein money is not speech, wherein secrecy is not permitted, and all must act in the open. No more secret PACs! No More unlimited campaign donations. The purpose of secret money groups is not free speech, but secret bribery. We must demand an immediate move to amend the constitution to ban such uses of money. If not that, then a renewal of McCain-Feingold, constructed so as to withstand supreme court scrutiny. WE HAVE TO GET THE BIG MONEY MEN OUT OF OUR POLITICS ! No one should be able to BUY an election!

Rant Over.

Teal Deer

Teal Deer version : Stop talking about this and that for a moment and realize those are secondary at best. If we allow ourselves to further descend into an Oligarchy none of that stuff will ever get done.

Mr Majority Leader . . .

I rise on this occasion to inquire of the Gentleman from Kentucky, the distinguished Majority Leader Mr McConnell; what level of corrupt or criminal activity does the President of the United States have to achieve in order for the Majority Leader to consider Impeachment ? Exactly what level of high crime or misdemeanor does the President of the United States have to reach before the Majority Leader sees fit to take action ? In the Constitution of the United States, the houses of Congress are charged with overseeing the President's actions and with taking appropriate corrective action when the President should require it. Thus far, the Senate has done exactly nothing to chide, censure or correct the President's behavior, no matter how egregious it may be. Not even one resolution condemning any act by the President has been even considered. Not when he refused to divest himself of business interests that do business with or make a profit from United States Government agencies, staff or facilities. Not when he has clearly shown that he will reward political donors with financial gains in terms of ordering the Tennessee Valley Authority to keep a coal fired power plant open solely so they can buy coal from one of Mr Trump's campaign donors. The Senate has so far refused to even mildly critique the President for social comments that are insulting and denigrating to minorities, such as "There were good people on both sides" of the murderous incident in Charlottesville Virginia. So, Mr Majority Leader, I ask again : What level of perfidy is enough to cause the Senate to take even the most mild of action to correct or punish the President for his egregious behavior ? Does the President of the United States actually have to murder someone in public to trigger the Senate's displeasure ?