Question on Collusion

Question on Collusion

Posted on by Jack

Another question but this time on collusion. The Mueller report documents several contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians. The report say they found nothing to prove a conspiracy but did not exonerate the President. Collusion is a much less specific term. But I think the lack of proof of conspiracy may just indicate that the obstruction and cover-up might have worked in this case.

Will President Trump’s conversation with the President of Ukraine cause people to re-examine the collision/conspiracy part of the Mueller report?

A question on impeachment and obstruction of justice

A question on impeachment and obstruction of justice

Posted on by Jack

To no ones’ surprise President Trump is not going produce documents or allow critical witnesses to appear as part of the impeachment inquiry or Congressional oversight .

This seem to me to be obstruction of justice. Given that the Mueller report gave multiple examples of President Trump’s obstruction of justice, will these additional cases even more clearly demonstrate obstruction where the pattern was not convincing to some after the release of the Mueller report?

Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide by Richard Dawkins

Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide by Richard Dawkins

Posted on by Jack

Is there a God? What is God?

Do you believe in God? Which God? If you think there is a God what is this god like. What can god do? What has God done?
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Bloodthirsty Senators

Bloodthirsty Senators

Posted on by Jack

Who are the Bloodthirsty Senators and what did they do the deserve that name? Let me backup a bit and explain that.

Yesterday I got my email newsletter from Senator Toomey. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) is one of the US Senators for my state. While I often disagree with him, I thought highly of his efforts to get the Senate to approve of universal background checks.

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Letter to Congress on Impeachment Inquiry

Letter to Congress on Impeachment Inquiry

Posted on by Jack

You may want to write your Representative to let him or her know how you stand on opening an Impeachment Inquiry into President Trump. Many have a contact form on their websites. Here is the text of my letter:
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President Trump’s threats

President Trump’s threats

Posted on by Jack

Interesting opinion piece in the NY Times on President Trump’s threats, violent language, and behavior and a potential article of impeachment.

There is a historical precedent for making this type of behavior into an article of impeachment. One of the articles of impeachment for President Johnson in 1868 involved similar behavior. Read it and think about it.

Censure the President now

Censure the President now

Posted on by jack

I’d like to point out an interesting article on why we should censure the President now. I believe President Trump’s behavior in office certainly make him worthy of impeachment. But for several reasons that may not happen as soon as many of us would like.

Karen Tumulty of the The Washington Post suggests censure is something that should be done immediately. It is worth reading and thinking about.

How Democracies Die (and get saved)

How Democracies Die (and get saved)

Posted on by Jack

I have previously written about this book (Reading now: How Democracies Die). Now that I’ve finished, I think it was even better than my earlier opinion.

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H.R.8 – Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019

H.R.8 – Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019

Posted on by Jack

This bill passed the House and has been sitting in the Senate for about 6 months now.

Seems likely it is just one of those bills that the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (aka Moscow Mitch) just won’t let reach the floor for debate. (For an example see Why does “Moscow Mitch” oppose election security ????).
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Democratic debates on healthcare

Democratic debates on healthcare

Posted on by Jack

So far I have watched all the Democratic party debates for the Presidential nomination for 2020. There a quite a few issues discussed but healthcare is a very common one. I think all the candidates have universal healthcare as a goal but differ on how they think the we can get there.

Some present detailed plans and the candidates disagree on which is best and spend a good bit of time in arguing about why my plan is better than your plan. And the questions from the moderators seem to encourage that type of argument.
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Reading now: How Democracies Die

Reading now: How Democracies Die

Posted on by Jack

I was reading an article that mentioned How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt and it sounded like an interesting book and very relevant to my earlier post on The End of Democracy.
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