Deep State? Just plain nuts.....

Donald Trump and his supporters maintain there's a "deep state" (federal workers actively working to sabotage his presidency).  When you see the list of all the entities that Trump thinks are working to undermine his administration, it's incredible. About the only ones that they haven't blamed are Mr. Peanut and the ghost of Martha Washington (btw, Trump should get on his knees and thank any entity that questions or prevents his rash and unconstitutional decisions). It's not just "deep state," it's--how can I put this politely?--nuts, actually. So, um, who exactly is in this conspiracy?

Well, first, obviously, the media, which Trump has now elevated from "fake" to "corrupt." Even polls on once-darling FoxNews are supposedly out to get him (51% support impeachment and removal from office).

Next, there's the CIA...and the FBI..and, um, the National Security Council...and, oh, yeah,  Trump's DOJ.  Trump has publicly accused their members or leaders (with no evidence) with everything from gross incompetence to criminal activity. Even the Homeland Security Chairman Senator Ron Johnson (to the shame of Wisconsinites everywhere) says he STILL doesn't trust them--which is especially interesting because, for most of Trump's term, they've all been headed by Trump appointees.

And, of course, the Democratic Party--the party that he thinks intentionally keeps its server in Ukraine (seriously?) to hide the information that reveals Trump really should have won the popular vote, I guess.  And the party umbrella includes everything from Obama's (again) never-any-evidence "ordered wiretapping" of Trump Tower, to Hillary Clinton's e-mails, to Joe Biden and his son, Hunter (whom Trump has publicly denounced as a "loser.").

The House Democrats play a part, too. Trump has regularly and forcefully called for the "impeachment" of numerous members, including House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for "treason." (side note: House members are not subject to impeachment).

Members of Trump's hand-picked staff are suspected of sabotage, too, so much so that Trump's phone calls with foreign leaders (including those of Russia and Saudi Arabia) are put on a codeword server usually reserved for top-secret information, so no one can ever find out the true content of the calls.

The courts are crooked, too.  Trump has called them, even at his most tepid, broken and unfair.

Don't forget any civil servants--people that swore to uphold the Constitution and pretty much put country above all--that worked for Obama, well, or Bush, or, um, whomever can be blamed for the latest leak, or whomever has perhaps reported irregularities or possible illegalities committed by the President of the United States.

Oh, gosh, yes, there are also trusted allied countries that work against him, and it appears that intrepid do-gooder Rudy Giuliani has even uncovered sabotage from--yes--Ukraine.

These don't even include the Never-Trumpers or GOP members that speak out against Trump's words or actions (like John McCain or Mitt Romney), or the 20+ women that have accused him of assault or harassment.

Whew.

And doesn't that sound nuts to you?

The Case For Impeachment

"I have an Article 2 where I have the right to do whatever I want as president."  
"If somebody called from a country...'We have information on your opponent'--oh, I think I'd want to hear it."                                                                                                                                  --US President Donald J. Trump

Image from nbcchicago.com

This is corruption at its core--we have a President who doesn't view his unconstitutional acts as anything more than doing normal business.

It's incumbent upon the impeachment inquiry to not only investigate the Ukraine call (in which the US President asks a foreign government to open an investigation on his chief political rival), but to establish clearly his continuing pattern of, as House Speaker Pelosi calls it, "lawlessness."

First off, this isn't about Joe or Hunter Biden--as much as Trump supporters want to deflect. And it's not a continuation of the Mueller investigation or revisiting the 2016 election. It's about corrupt actions of the US President to maintain his hold on power. 

And it's a pretty easy, and quick, case to make.

Earlier this year, Federal Election Commission chair Ellen Weintraub tweeted this: "Let me make something 100% clear to the American public or anyone running for public office, it is illegal to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election."

1. Trump--even without the "quid pro quo" words he was too sly to speak--clearly asked the Ukraine President for something of value to attempt to disparage his chief political opponent. That there is evidence that Trump tied it to a meeting with Zelensky is the "quid pro quo," and even Trump's allies (including WI Sen. Ron Johnson and his diplomat William Taylor, Jr.) expressed their concerns that approved Ukraine aid was tied to Ukraine's willingness to investigate the Bidens.

Trump's self-released "transcript" of the call even bears that out.

2, That Trump, then doubled down (with cameras rolling) by reiterating his request to Ukraine, and then inviting another foreign government--arguably our number one adversary, China--to open an investigation into his chief political opponent was merely fuel to the impeachment fire.

And that should be enough.

But there's more. And it's a pattern of corruption that began before, and continued into, the White House. All for Donald Trump to achieve and maintain his hold on power.

3. Candidate Trump "joked" an invitation for Russia to find opponent Hillary Clinton's missing emails. Within 24 hours, Russia hacked into the DNC.

4. He praised the release of the hacked emails on Wikileaks--which the US had previously declared an "enemy of the state."

5. As President, during the Mueller investigation, Trump's personal desire to hold power included at least ten actions that Mueller concluded might constitute obstruction of justice--including orders or actions to fire those conducting the investigation.

6. His public derision of the federally-approved probe was magnified in tweets in which he praised those who did not offer testimony against his Russia narrative and excoriated those that "flipped" on him (including those he had previously praised or those he claimed really weren't connected to his campaign). This type of witness intimidation (I'd term it tampering) has continued to include the Ukraine call whistleblower.

7.His lies to keep hold on his power included such varied things as denying business in Russia as he pushed a Trump Tower Moscow to not knowing Stormy Daniels to having "no involvement" of the false explanation of Don, Jr.'s Trump Tower meeting (which he had, in fact, dictated).

And it's all a story of a man trying to hold on to his power.

It's evident.

And it's corrupt.

And it's the President of the United States of America.

It is not normal business.

And it's time to say, "No more, Donald Trump."