Why did Trump steal from the American people?

Has Trump sold out America yet?

CM

Please consider this possibility, but I cannot project the probability of such, that is pardon. I think President Biden should pardon Mr. Trump. Yes, I said it. It's suitable for the National Healing. A pardon will not wipe away all Trump's State problems, but it will give him a chance to catch himself to deal with his other issues. Trust me, and they are many. I like to think Bill C. would list all the legal charges that are pending or charges filed.

Biden doesn't owe Trump anything. Besides, a pardon is not about paying back a debt or a favor. A Pardon is about showing a little GRACE (giving him what he doesn't deserve; "Unmerited favor") and MERCY (not giving  what he does deserve (indictment/jail). Please, don't ask what federal crimes?

Pardoning is the Christian thing to do. Trump needs it; America needs it; and because Biden is a different character of a man. The world needs to see love, the law, and compassion in action. Mr. Trump may never ask, accept it, or express appreciation, but Biden should give a pardon.

If I had the new President's ear, I would suggest pardoning and encourage him to do it. CD Posters, you agree with my position? If not, why not? CM

I often find myself fascinated with the intricacies of how we perceive the truth; how we are willing to accept the truth or reject it in order to give ourselves peace of mind when confronted with inconvenient realities. It seems we as a society have become experts (whether it be consciously or subconsciously) in deconstructing what we know are factual truths and then reconstructing them to be more appropriate, more righteous, and even more politically correct. We perform mental gymnastics; accepting certain aspects of a factual reality, while omitting or outright rejecting other aspects of that same reality in order to drive home a point we want to make.

Why do we do this? Why have we become so good at it? A stranger recently told me a story which seemed to make the answer to these questions quite clear. The story goes something like this:

One day a man named Truth and a man named Lie stood by a river just outside of town. They were twin brothers. Lie challenged Truth to a race, claiming he could swim across the river faster than Truth. Lie laid out the rules to the challenge stating that they both must remove all their clothes and at the count of 3, dive in to the freezing cold water swim to the other side and back. Lie counted to 3, but when Truth jumped in, Lie did not. As Truth swam across the river, Lie put on Truth’s clothes and walked back in to town dressed as Truth. He proudly parading around town pretending to be Truth. Truth made it back to shore, but his clothes were gone and he was left naked with only Lie’s clothes to wear. Refusing to dress himself as Lie, Truth walked back to town naked. People stared and glared as naked Truth walked through town. He tried to explain what happened and that he was in fact Truth, but because he was naked and uncomfortable to look at, people mocked and shunned him; refusing to believe he was really Truth. The people in town chose to believe Lie because he was dressed appropriately and easier to look at. From that day until this, people have come to believe a lie rather than believe a naked truth.

The moral of this story, and how it applies to modern day society, is that we often either consciously or subconsciously reject certain truths in our personal lives or in the world around us for the sake of our peace of mind. These truths may be in our personal lives: financial issues, relationship issues, struggles with our faith, addiction problems; they are all areas where we often turn our back to the cold hard truth, even if it’s at our own peril. We’ve also seen this in public society as well. Our country is brutally divided among ideological lines on every front. People can be presented with irrefutable yet inconvenient truths regarding societal issues including terrorism, global warming, race relations, cultural differences, and countless other issues, but they shun those truths and decide instead to believe the well dressed lie, especially if it benefits their agenda or idealistic narrative. The story of Truth and Lie swimming in the river may answer why we do this to ourselves, but what it doesn’t answer is when and if we will ever learn from it.

SOURCES:

• Twitter@parkersJoking/ Email: psimp114@gmail.com
• https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/7/1630950/-The-Story-of-Truth-Lie

In CM's Opinion:

The eyes of history recorded the actions of Courage, Cowardice, and Cover-ups at Trump's Senate Removal Acquittal. Trump is as guilty as sin! He's as deadly as a five-dollar bottle of "White lightening Moonshine". I find the U. S. President, Donald John Trump, to be mean, petty, and divisive. His intoxicating influence upon the Republican Senators is palpable. The U. S. Senate is complicit in its failure to call witnesses , produce documents and encouraged a cover-up. It's not over! Yet to come is "The Naked Truth". CM

PS. I hope this post is clear, Wolfgang. CM

Washington (CNN) — Fifty US military personnel have now been diagnosed with concussions and traumatic brain injuries following the Iranian missile attack on US forces in Iraq earlier this month, according to a statement Tuesday from the Pentagon. 

That's an increase of 16 from late last week when the Pentagon said 34 cases had been diagnosed. 

"As of today, 50 U.S. service members have been diagnosed with TBI," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell said in the statement.

"Of these 50, 31 total service members were treated in Iraq and returned to duty, including 15 of the additional service members who have been diagnosed since the previous report. 18 service members have been transported to Germany for further evaluation and treatment. This is an increase of one service member from the previous report. As previously reported, one service member had been transported to Kuwait and has since returned to duty," the statement added.

Several Pentagon officials told CNN that the number of diagnosed cases is likely to continue to change. Approximately 200 people who were in the blast zone at the time of the attack have been screened for symptoms. 

Although traumatic brain injuries are not always apparent immediately after they've been suffered, the disclosure of injured US service members indicates that the impact of the attack was more serious than initial assessments indicated. Tuesday's announcement is the third time the Pentagon has updated the figures for the numbers injured.

Veterans group demands apology after Trump said traumatic brain injuries from Iranian attack are 'not very serious'

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/25/politics/trump-vfw-traumatic-brain-injuries/index.html

What a cold-hearted and compassionless person? Trump didn't do anything. This is wrong! Trump knew in advanced and allow these injuries to happen. If he didn't know, he should have. This is a dereliction of duty. Why would a person serve in the American military with such a weak person in a leadership position? This is the man the Republicans are suspending with truth and reality to keep in office. What happened to to protect and defend? It's a sad day in American solider become pawns in the hands of its President and sides with the enemy. Trump said: "traumatic brain injuries from Iranian attack are 'not very serious'".

Trump wanted to outdo Obama to kill to a big-named U. S. enemy. Yet he was unwilling to follow through or protect the soldiers under his command. America, why do you put up with this kind of behavior? Why do you put up with this man? Don't be complicit with Trump's compassionless deeds. Where is the outrage? CM

SOURCE: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/25/politics/trump-vfw-traumatic-brain-injuries/index.html

• "Having power corrupts a man, or lessens his morality, and the more power a man has, the more corrupted he will become. This idiom means that those in power often do not have the people's best interests in mind".
• Trump is not above the law!
• The Republicans want him gone, but they can't say it openly or now. They will later claim the evidences swayed them to impeach Trump. The Republican Party is like the flying-monkeys in the movie The Wizard of Oz. The scene the depicted when little Dorothy threw a bucket of water to put out the fire on the burning scarecrow; some of the water flashed on the wicked-witch. She melted away to nothing. Instead of the flying-monkeys getting angry, they sung, rejoicingly , "Ding dong, the wicked-witch is dead".

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" (Sir Walter Scott, 1808). CM

President Trump’s impromptu weekend visit to a doctor brought fresh questions about the status of his health after the White House released a memo late Monday denying “speculation” that he had been treated for a medical emergency.

Trump, 73, made an unscheduled trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on Saturday, a visit that remained shrouded in secrecy for two days as Trump stayed away from the public eye and the White House dodged questions about his health.

In a memo released by the White House late Monday, Trump’s doctor, Sean Conley, wrote that Trump’s “interim checkup” over the weekend had been “routine,” and was only kept secret because of “scheduling uncertainties.”

“Despite some speculation, the President has not had any chest pain, nor was he evaluated or treated for any urgent or acute issues,” Conley wrote in the memo. “Specifically, he did not undergo any specialized cardiac or neurologic evaluations.”

While Trump claimed that he had begun “phase one” of his annual physical, Conley said Trump would have a “more comprehensive examination” next year. Trump described his condition on Twitter as “very good (great!)”; Conley’s memo did not characterize the president’s overall health. It did include cholesterol figures that had dropped since Trump’s last physical exam in February.

In a statement Saturday, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said that Trump had undergone a “quick exam and labs” and that he “remains healthy and energetic without complaints.” Grisham also said Trump had taken advantage of a “free weekend” in Washington to “begin portions of his routine annual physical exam.”

Trump with then-White House physician Ronny Jackson in August 2017. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Two people who interacted with Trump late last week said that he seemed to be hoarse and have signs of a cold but that nothing serious seemed amiss.

Trump’s voice was occasionally subdued and raspy during a news conference Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But Trump also spoke for more than an hour Thursday at a political rally, the latest in a string of campaign events that the White House has pointed to as signs of his energy and vigor.

On Monday, he remained out of public view, holding his meetings behind closed doors. He met with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell inside the White House residence rather than the Oval Office, according to a White House official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

...There are other reasons Trump’s visit to Walter Reed was out of the ordinary.

During Trump’s previous medical examinations, the White House has announced the visit in advance, and the president has taken the presidential helicopter, Marine One. On Saturday, Trump’s visit was not announced beforehand, and the president used a motorcade, which is equipped with an ambulance.

“That’s one of the unusual things about the whole situation,” Peña said. “Not just the mode of transportation but also, traditionally, the physicals are announced and put on their public schedule. That’s why it doesn’t quite fit the profile.”

While there are other plausible explanations for the decision to forgo Marine One, the White House has not adequately communicated the circumstances around Trump’s visit, said Jonathan Wackrow, a former Secret Service agent. “The way that this was messaged from the White House just was poor,” he said Monday on CNN.

It's hard to pray with understanding because Trump and his cabinet lies so much. I don't agree with his politics, but pray for him, just the same. CM

The public Impeachment Hearings begin tomorrow by The U. S. House of representatives. Here are the factual charges.

The case for impeaching Trump (The Facts):

Trump solicited election meddling from Ukraine

Democrats believe this might be the slam dunk against Trump. The whistleblower said it first, and it has been corroborated by multiple witnesses: "The President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election."

Trump made the request directly to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This is clear from the rough transcript of their July 25 phone call, which was released by the White House.

After an exchange of pleasantries, Trump said the US had been "very good to Ukraine" but the relationship was not "reciprocal." Zelensky thanked Trump for providing Ukraine with military assistance and said he was almost ready to purchase additional anti-tank missiles from the US.

Trump responded, "I would like you to do us a favor though," and asked Zelensky to investigate a conspiracy theory that would help him undermine the Russia investigation. Later in the call, Trump asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading 2020 rival.

Diplomats appointed by Trump later told Ukrainian officials that Zelensky needed to publicly announce the probes, which is very rarely done in legitimate criminal investigations. This strongly suggests the plan was designed to maximize political damage to Biden's presidential campaign and was not motivated a by a sincere effort to root out corruption, as Trump claimed. 

"The Ukraine situation encapsulates almost exactly what impeachment was created to address," said CNN legal analyst Michael Gerhardt, who was called as a nonpartisan expert witness on impeachment during the Clinton hearings. "When the Framers talked about impeachable offenses, they mentioned the President engaging in a corrupt relationship with a foreign power."

There was a quid pro quo for a White House invite

Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines a quid pro quo as "something given or received for something else." Multiple witnesses have testified that the Trump administration tried to establish a quid pro quo with Ukraine to secure investigations into Biden and the Democrats.

"I think it's very likely that the Democrats will be able to show that there were conditions to presidential actions on Ukraine," said CNN legal analyst Ross Garber, a leading expert on impeachment. "Then the question becomes, were those conditions legitimate or illegitimate?"

One element of the allegedly improper arrangement included withholding a White House invitation from Zelensky. The clearest evidence of this comes from a text message sent by Kurt Volker, who was Trump's handpicked envoy for Ukraine, to top Zelensky aide Andrey Yermak.

Volker texted Yermak right before Trump called Zelensky. He said: "Heard from White House — assuming President Z convinces trump he will investigate / 'get to the bottom of what happened' in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington. Good luck! See you tomorrow."

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the White House's National Security Council, listened in on the Trump-Zelensky call. He later testified that based on the "vast" power disparity between the two leaders, Trump's request would have been interpreted as "a demand" and that Zelensky would need to "fulfill this particular prerequisite in order to get the meeting."

There was a quid pro quo for US military aid

In addition to dangling the White House visit, the Trump administration froze $391 million in military and security assistance to Ukraine, which is still at war with Russia and Kremlin-backed militias. Weeks later, US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told Yermak that the money likely wouldn't be released until Zelensky announced the investigations. 

Other witnesses also said the military aid was linked to Zelensky's announcement. This includes Vindman and Tim Morrison, two officials on the White House's National Security Council who listened to the Trump-Zelensky call. It also includes Ambassador Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, who testified that "everything" Ukraine wanted relied on the investigations.

George Kent, a top State Department official overseeing Ukraine policy, testified that US military support for Ukraine was "critically important" but "partisan interest" got in the way of US policy.

"That's the most compelling argument why aid to Ukraine was in our national security interests," said CNN contributor Joe Lockhart, who was President Bill Clinton's press secretary during his impeachment. "Russia is at war with Ukraine, our ally. But President Trump put his own political interests ahead of our national security interests. That's why it rises to an impeachable offense."

At a press conference last month, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney brazenly admitted that US military assistance had been withheld until Ukraine investigated the conspiracy theories about Russian meddling in 2016 and the Democratic National Committee's hacked servers. Mulvaney quickly walked back some of his comments, but the damage was already done. 

Some Democratic lawmakers have raised the stakes and said the quid pro quo is tantamount to "bribery" -- a key distinction because bribery is listed in the Constitution as an impeachable offense. It's not clear yet whether Democrats will levy that accusation against Trump in an article of impeachment. Some strategists have said this might be an effective strategy. 

"They need to be careful to be simple," said CNN contributor Paul Begala, a senior Clinton adviser during his impeachment. "Donald Trump knows that simple and clear slogans, repeated relentlessly, can have an effect. The Democrats should just call this what it is. It's bribery."

Trump's directives to Giuliani undercut US policy

Trump deployed his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to lead the effort to secure investigations from Ukraine. As Giuliani worked to make that happen, he circumvented State Department channels and undermined US policy toward Ukraine, multiple witnesses told lawmakers. 

Taylor, the man responsible for promoting US interests in Ukraine, said it explicitly: "The official foreign policy of the United States was undercut by the irregular efforts led by Mr. Giuliani." 

In his closed-door deposition, Sondland testified that Trump "directed" him, Volker and Energy Secretary Rick Perry to coordinate with Giuliani on Ukraine and corruption-related matters.

Rudy Giuliani, personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, speaks to members of the media at the White House in May 2018 in Washington, DC. 

Things went awry after Sondland and the others teamed up with Giuliani. Former White House adviser Fiona Hill testified that she and others were alarmed by Giuliani's shadow diplomacy and that she reported these concerns to White House lawyers. Kent also testified that Giuliani's parallel foreign policy was "wrong." Even Sondland said he was "disappointed" by Giuliani's role.

"The direction from Trump was clear -- work with Giuliani because he represents me in this matter," CNN legal analyst Michael Zeldin said. "Giuliani has confirmed that in his tweets, that he was working on behalf of the President. Giuliani was working under Trump's authorization."

Democrats could draft articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abusing his powers and manipulating the State Department for political gain, and having Giuliani do his dirty work. The former New York City mayor has maintained that everything he did was meant to defend his client, and that protecting Trump from "false charges" actually "is in the nation's best interest." 

Trump improperly removed Yovanovitch

As part of his shadow diplomacy, Giuliani also pressed for the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, a career foreign service officer who served as US ambassador to Ukraine from 2016 until May of this year.

She testified that after she was instructed to leave Ukraine, she was informed by Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan that she had "done nothing wrong" and that the State Department "had been under pressure from the President to remove me" since summer 2018.

Former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, arrives on Capitol Hill on Friday, October 11. 

Kent, another State Department official, testified that Giuliani led a "campaign of lies" to oust Yovanovitch. This included allegations that she was a "deep state" partisan who stood in the way of Trump getting what he wanted from Ukraine. Giuliani prepared a dossier with these claims and gave it to the White House, which passed it to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"One of the elements of an impeachable offense is that you have to show bad faith," said Gerhardt, the impeachment expert. "Shoving aside US diplomats and conducing your own shadow foreign policy is the same as shoving aside the US Constitution. If the State Department wasn't ready to help Trump do what he wanted, that says a lot. It underscores the bad faith."

In Trump's phone call with Zelensky, he hinted that Yovanovitch was "going to go through some things." She testified that she felt threatened by this. Democrats could portray this episode as an act of political retaliation by Trump, based on false pretenses, against a respected civil servant.

The Trump administration obstructed the inquiry

Early on in the process, the White House declared the impeachment inquiry "unconstitutional" and ordered staff not to cooperate by providing documents or testimony to House investigators.

At least 10 senior Trump administration officials have ignored subpoenas, including Mulvaney, Perry and Pompeo. The State Department and the Office of Management and Budget have defied subpoenas for documents that could shed new light on Trump's dealings with Ukraine.

"I believe the House of Representatives is acting under its impeachment authority, and has the legal right to this testimony," Zeldin said. "For White House witnesses to refuse to honor these subpoenas, it appears obstructionist to me. There is no arguable basis to deny Congress."

After President Richard Nixon ignored congressional subpoenas in 1974, the House Judiciary Committee approved an impeachment article against him for contempt of Congress. Rep. Adam Schiff, a top Democrat leading the Trump inquiry, has repeatedly invoked the Nixon precedent and has pointed out that a federal judge ruled that the House impeachment inquiry is legal. 

If Democrats want to broaden their obstruction case against Trump, they have options. 

The White House admitted that it used a highly classified filing system to suppress transcripts of the Trump-Zelensky phone call, which Democrats could portray as a cover-up. Also, Vindman testified that he was blocked by the White House from adding more context to the transcript, specifically a reference to "Burisma," the company where Biden's son sat on the board.

Let's not burden this thread with propaganda. Please, cite only the facts. Keep it clear... CM

source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schiff-sets-stage-for-impeachment-hearings

(by Fred R. Barnard, of Printers' Ink, 10 March 1927)

All this a witch-hunt and "Fake News"?

America, do you have a leadership problem? If God put Trump in office, could this be judgment on America? CM

The American Republicans are complicit in the matter. The unarmed women and children at the border were given a victory in bringing America to her knees, via Mr. Trump. They, now, seem to be stronger than all of America's mighty Arm-forces. How can one man hurt so many people? Mr. Trump is afraid, angry, out of touch, and really don't know what he's doing. Mr. Trump is the 21-Century "Punisher". America, fix your wrong. Take your country back. This is what happens to a man who cheats on his family, stole the election (back-deals with the Russians), and now, cheating the American people of their jobs, wages, and peace of mind. "Lord, listen to your children praying...". Delivery America from the hands of this man (Trump). CM

Trump committed 'outright fraud' in 'dubious tax schemes,' according to a big, new investigation from The New York Times President Donald Trump committed "instances of outright fraud" to increase the value of gifts he received from his parents, according to a New York Times investigation.

The alleged tax schemes described in the article largely took place in the 1990s.

President Donald Trump committed "instances of outright fraud" as he helped his parents dodge taxes and boost the money he got from them, according to a detailed New York Times investigation published Tuesday.

The president received today's equivalent of $413 million from the real estate holdings of his father, Fred Trump, the newspaper reported, citing a "vast trove of confidential tax returns and financial records." The findings contrast with the story Trump has always told about himself – that he built up wealth and success after only getting a small loan from his father.

Trump and his siblings in part "set up a sham corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents," according to the Times. The article notes that tax experts say the president would be unlikely to face criminal charges related to the conduct because of how much time has passed since much of it took place in the 1990s.

By age 3, Mr. Trump was earning $200,000 a year in today's dollars from his father's empire. He was a millionaire by age 8. By the time he was 17, his father had given him part ownership of a 52-unit apartment building. Soon after Mr. Trump graduated from college, he was receiving the equivalent of $1 million a year from his father. The money increased with the years, to more than $5 million annually in his 40s and 50s.

I am not surprised. I hope more eyes are opened. Trump is in office for himself--starting with the big tax cut. CM

(https://www.christiandiscourse.net/uploads/editor/3x/fj26f9y4g10x.jpg "")

President Trump acted Thursday to block pay increases for federal workers that are due on Jan. 1. He has sought to peel back the labor protections of civil servants but ran into a legal setback last week.![]

After being rebuffed in an attempt to peel back the union protections of federal workers, President Trump took aim elsewhere on Thursday: at their paychecks.

Invoking authority that he and other presidents have used previously, Mr. Trump told Congress he was canceling government pay increases scheduled for next year.

Congress has the power to override his decision, however, and unions representing government workers called on lawmakers to do so.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Mr. Trump said the government would forgo an automatic 2.1 percent pay increase for federal workers scheduled for Jan. 1 and specified that there would be no across-the-board increase for 2019. The letter did not estimate the overall savings from canceling the raises, though it said a related move canceling raises that are based on the workers’ location would save $25 billion.

https://cbsloc.al/2PO1vk9

“We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” the president wrote.

The president proposed a pay freeze in the budget he sent to Congress in February, two months after he signed a $1.5 trillion tax cut that is expected to balloon the federal deficit.

                  ****************************************************************************

Is the economy growing? Are people making a living wage? Will tax cut put more in your pocket?
The only people who will benefit from the tax cut are the very rich and big corporations. The very people and states that voted for Trump are the ones he's robbing. The sad truth, Federal workers (minimal of 30,000) will be denied their promised pay raise. Here we go again, taking the working class and giving to the rich. Why did he say this when he was trying to pass the tax cuts. This is worse than "taking money from Peter to pay Paul". Trump said he was axing a 2.1 percent across-the-board raise for most workers as well as locality pay increases averaging 25.7 percent and costing $25 billion. Ha, Making America poor again. Fabrications, broken promises, and (past/present) mendacities. CM

Republicans need to wake up and Christians need to stop denying reality. Mr. Trump is a disappointment and dangerous. He was given 100 pages of briefings, by his staff, to be firm with Russia, but all were widely ignored. It's not funny or cute. He's America's problem to fix soon. It's a possibility that the country may not be able to wait for the next election. It's a sad day! Trump sides with Putin against the U. S. Government. He has debased himself and a nation. CM

The memo has been released and is very telling. It is no secret why the DOJ and FBI were fighting so hard against its release. I do not see how any national security is in jeopardy because of the memo's release. Instead, it appears that the heads of very high officials at DOJ and FBI are going to roll because of it.

The Russia Investigation should end NOW. It is clear this has all been a political ploy to destroy Donald Trump with no basis in reality or merit or even authenticity.

I hope that Justice is duly served to the people behind this. They should be ashamed for weaponizing the DOJ and FBI in order for their own political ambitions and desires to be advanced.

Nancy Pelosi actually thinks that releasing the memo means the President has surrendered his constitutional rights as Commander In Chief... I think she needs to take a basic civics course...