Guard Dog

I finally finished Skyrim. It only took 8 years! Now WTF am I going to do?

So Trump can be removed prior to the election and STILL be re-elected huh? Now wouldn't THAT be a lit torch in the hay barn! That would be funny as hell! Hey Bruce. Since you haven't been around lately FYI: I no longer have any political affiliations. I just want to see the whole thing burn. And it's happening!

That is utterly inevitable and not because of Trump. He hasn't helped but he didn't start us on the road to ruin. The worst part is it does not have to be this way. But it will be because the US Government will not stop deficit spending.

Congrats to Jimmy Carter on turning 95 yesterday. As a President he was rather ineffectual. An undoubtedly good and dignified man but very much in over his head. Since leaving office he has redefined what the post-politics life of a President can be.

Dallas Police officer Amber Guyger convicted of murder. Well, what do you know

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/463815-reporters-scramble-after-mouse-falls-from-white-house-ceiling Too funny UPDATE: Rep Schiff announces subpoena on the Briefing Room mouse. Schiff stated the mouse may be a material witness to the President's phone conversations. "It's imperative to determine what this rodent knows and when it knew it" UDATE to UPDATE: President demands private meeting with Briefing Room Mouse before Congressional testimony. UPDATE to the UPDATE of the UPDATE: Briefing Room Mouse found dead of apparent gunshot to the back. Cause of death ruled suicide.

Oh she would only be in office a few months. But you are thinking about this logically. You have to think angry. Angry think would go something like this: Both Trump & Pence are removed sometime next year. Pelosi becomes President. Now there are only two GOP candidates in the 2020 election: Sanford and Weld. Neither is really electable. Although ironically either would likely make a capable if uninspiring President. So whomever the Dem nominee is in 2020 cakewalks into power. The electoral math already favors the dems keeping the house and possibly taking the Senate. Now suppose all that happens. President Warren has an all democrat congress and they go after and remove Kavanaugh. Not likely but not impossible. The half of the country that is already against the Democrats will start thinking this whole thing was just a coup and the fact that Trump actually did something wrong will be forgotten. And of course he will never STFU about it. Between him and Hannity and Co making hay of this whole thing it could get REAL ugly around here. The Democrats are going to come out of this winners to one degree or another. And, of course they wil over play their hands because that is what they do. And when they do it's not a stretch for the conspiracy theorists to theorize this was all a conspiracy. And the people who already think the worst will feel they have been justified. If this does end in Trump's removal (still a very long shot) there needs to be a tone or reconciliation after. But, that ain't gonna happen

Never mind

Apparently one of the characters in the new Dune movie is getting gender and race swapped. Based on the level of outcry on another forum I thought it was going to be Jessica or Paul. Turns out it was Dr. Kynes. What is the big deal? That guy was on about 10 pages and that was it. Of course once the SJW camel gets it's nose under the tent other BS changes start happening. Maybe there is still time for Jessica to become Jessie, Leto's black gay concubine. LOL, that STILL would not be worse than that POS version they made in the 80's with Patrick Stewart in it!

Just think folks. If Pence is implicated in this whole sorry affair guess who is next in line of succession:

June 15 2015. All downhill after that. Or maybe July 28 2016. The day Hillary Clinton was nominated and we were guaranteed the next President was going to be a fool or a villain. Turns out we got both, lucky us.

Just finished a book on nutritional and palliative care for elderly dogs. One of my dogs is elderly and failing and the other is entering her elderly years with a serious health problem. After some very heavy and often sad reading the last few weeks it's time for something lighter: A whole LOT lighter. The Chet and Bernie series is silly enough that indulging in it is something of a guilty pleasure for me.

Didn't he also tweet his removal would trigger a civil war yesterday? This gets better by the minute. There are things for which I would feel justified in bearing arms against my country. The removal of a politician, even an honest one and he is far from that, is not one of those things. It's also hard not to interpret his comment about what we used to do to spies as a threat to the WB. In other news I'm seeing Hillary Clinton's name come up a lot of late. Along with speculation she may enter the race. Especially since Biden might well be compromised in Trump's self immolation. He was fading in the polls anyway and Warren is damaged goods. Oh please, please, please let that happen. Once you realize to outcomes of elections are utterly irrelevant (a contest of villainous fools and foolish villains) politics becomes much more entertaining. Clinton would diving in would bring an amusing level of chaos. Amber Guyer. Incompetent cop murders someone. Nothing to see here. I'm actually surprised they didn't drop an untraceable pistol on the guy's body, forge a backdated warrant for his arrest and give her a medal. If I were king for a day I'd give the police a choice. Either you give up your firearms while on duty or you give up your qualified immunity. You cannot have both.

I built my solar food dryer yesterday. It came out pretty good I must say. I bought a bag of fuji apples from Kroger to try it out today. The weather is perfect for it.

Johnson never wanted to be President. Had it not been for Lincoln being assassinated he never would have been. Trump wanted this for reason only he can know.

Tribalism is running deep. It is a problem when facts are viewed through political rose colored glasses. Were the parties reversed and Trump a democrat facing a republican congress we would be in the same situation. His supporters on the left would convince themselves it's all a political witch hunt to take out their champion. And, as you and I both said, the path forward is steep, rocky, and likely leads off a cliff. The Senate is not likely to remove him. That is why Congress should censure him. Publicly, formally and explicitly and make his bad acts part of the public conversation. Make them a big part of the campaign. Repeat them, repeat them, then repeat them again. After a Congressional Censure there is no defense case, no rebuttal, no year long circus leading into an election. Here is the ugly truth; he's more likely to be re-elected if they try this because it will put the right's backs up to support him. Take the justice you know you can have. Another suggestion. They have just one shot at this. I'd save it to see if he gets re-elected. THEN take him down if. Delay the inquiry a year. Articles of Impeachment can be drafted at anytime. Not a criminal trial so there is no speedy trial issues. You already know what I think of the abuses of power by the executive branch. Has there been a President that didn't? Carter or Truman maybe. Eisenhower. It's a really short list. This is more egregious than anything I can remember. But it would be far better if the voters took him out. Then we can get on with the next abuser of power.

Oh yeah. There is no lipstick that will make that pig any prettier. Even if every other fact was false this is damning by itself.

Caught up on all the reading of the past two days festivities in Sodom-on-the-Potomac. As Gromnir said the bit about the whistle blower having only secondhand knowledge of the events in the complaint is a problem. If the people with first hand knowledge don't cooperate this would be a non-starter in any criminal proceeding. Don't know about impeachment though. It's not exactly a criminal trial so the standard may be different. Gromnir would likely know. That does not mean every word isn't true. I read the transcript and is sounded like it could go either way to me. The thing is, it is extremely unlikely Trump will be removed. Even if the house impeaches him it will be up to the Senate to remove him. When this happened to Clinton it turned into a circus, he wasn't removed, and everyone came away hating everyone in the whole process. Congress CAN censure him. Hasn't been done in a while but it is their prerogative. It's not impeachment but it's also not nothing. It gives them a chance to spell out everything the Orange Menace did and why it's bad in clear and simple language without embarking on a difficult and ultimately futile impeachment that will end in a muddled failure. Take the justice you can have IMO. In the case of a censure there is no defense case. No rebuttal. You did this and it was wrong. It puts all the facts before the voters and ultimately the voters are the best ones to remove Trump. Or don't. IDGAF anymore anyway. There are naught but villains here.

Hell I say we go a little further. Put each in command of half the military and wait and see how long it takes them to declare war on each other. I bet we won't make it 20 yeas.

I stopped at home depot yesterday and bought everything to build this: I got the idea from Pintrest. It's a solar powered food dryer/dehydrator. I have a pretty big electric one but I am liking this "make the sun work for you not against you" thing.

The Presidency is more trouble than it's worth. I say we abolish the office. The founders were big fans of the Roman Republic so let's take a page from their book. On December 21 of each year all the names of all 50 state governors are placed into a pool. One name is drawn. Similarly the name of all 535 members of Congress are put in a pool and one name will be drawn. The two "winners" will be co-consul's for one year January 1 to December 31. All the executive authority from Article Two invested in each equally. They have to agree on any action the executive branch takes. Damn shame this is not a workable idea. There is a 67% chance in any given year the consulships would be split over the two parties. At least we would be safe most of the time!

@Gromnir: Yes I understand everything you said. Short posts are ill suited for nuance. And while it was not completely accurate to say the outcomes of the Muller affair in any way proved Trump's innocence the end result was pretty much the same.

I was happy to see that. Still holding out hope she can climb back into this.

My problem goes back to the sale of our company a few years ago. I received a 1/7 share and took deferments on the CG to buy into a few other opportunities. The problem is some of the advice I received on how to handle this was not correct. There have been times my taxes have been sufficiently complex I did not do them myself. This wasn't one of those times, although it should have been.