There He Goes Again

Yesterday, Donald Trump attacked Rep. Elijah Cummings (D - MD), chair of the House Oversight Committee and a leader in the Congressional effort to hold Mr. Trump accountable under the law.

Cummings responded in Trump vernacular; on Saturday, via Twitter, Cummings said:

Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors. It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.

Cummings was not the only target of Trump's racist rants.  Trump also criticized Democratic Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon.

When I taught at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (an HBCU), I told my students Rep. Lewis is someone whom they should seek to emulate.  In an effort to make the point that conduct like Lewis's isn't limited to one or a few types of people, I also introduced them to Alexander Pushkin, the Russian poet who, I told them, represented a nexus between their heritage and mine.

No matter how low a bar Mr. Trump sets, he always manages to sink beneath  it.  I don't want the rest of us to follow.  On such questions,  I'm with the NAACP.

Gaslighting, Russia-style

In the 1944 film Gaslight, the villain manipulates his victim psychologically, eventually causing her to believe she's going insane.  Undoubtedly, the origin of today's fashionable phrase gaslighting.

The film, and Charles Boyer, had nothing on Russian hackers and bots.  On the heels of Robert Mueller's testimony to two House committees, the Senate Intelligence Committee dropped a bomb.  The document produced by the Senate was significantly shorter than the 448 pages of Mueller's findings.  The Intel Committee's work product was 67 pages. to be exact.  Another difference:: the Senate report is even more heavily redacted than Mueller's  document; most of the Senate pages are completely blacked out.  But what's visible is also quite scary.

Russia seems to have focused its hacking on voter registration information in all 50 states. The Senate Report even indicates there's evidence that, in at least a few states,  voter registration data has been deleted.

As in, the folks whose registration has been dumped will be turned away if and when they try to vote in 2020.  As in, the average number of votes per precinct in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania by which Donald Trump won was two.  That's right - two.  Rua.  Bi.  Dui.

Two votes per precinct got Mr. Trump a win in the Electoral college vote of at least three states.  But to this day he continues to deny that any action by any non-United States entity contributed to his victory.

Gaslighting in the 21st Century ...

Dead Men Walking

I don't support the death penalty.  Most research suggests it's ineffective as a deterrent.  Much in art and literature - for example, the film Dead Man Walking, and the book The Executioner's Song - demonstrate its innate cruelty.

Today, it was announced that the U. S. Justice Department, at the direction of Attorney General William Barr, will resume executions.  Five men who have been convicted of murder will be put to death.  The first could die as early as December.

Put Everything Else Aside

At times today, in his testimony to the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, Robert Mueller seemed halting and forgetful/  Nonetheless, one message came through loud and clear.  The Trump campaign and Administration actively resisted any effort to cast light on Russia's efforts at cyber-war against our democracy.

Lawyers have a term for this - consciousness of guilt.

What Part of Baseless Don't They Get?

The behavior today of the Republican members of the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees was (sadly) no surprise.  They followed the Trump Playbook, taking every opportunity to defame and distract.

Robert Mueller and his staff were charged with political bias and personal grudges.  The Special Counsel and his team were insulted and even, in my opinion, slandered.  Were they lesser people, they might have the basis for legal action.

What makes all this particularly troubling is that it indicates an oh-yes-he-is-above-the-law attitude.also evidenced today by the Trump DOJ.

What Havoc Might Mueller Wreak?

In a 25-page filing today with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Donald Trump's legal team continued to use the "partisan effort to attack the President" meme.

Whether in those 25 pages of legalese, or in Mr. Trump's patented "fake news" rejoinders, we're asked to believe that the current occupant of the Oval Office is a helpless victim of partisan attacks by vicious Democrats (some of them probably not even American).  We'll almost certainly also be asked to believe that Robert Mueller's testimony tomorrow is the product of his fevered imagination ... or of his friendship with James Comey ... or of an FBI corrupted by something or other ... or ...

Hospodi Pomilui ...

That was my bubbas' version of OMG!  Translated literally, Hospodi pomilui means Lord have mercy.  I reiterate that today.

There's a report that Devin Nunes, he of midnight rides to the White House , may be appointed Director of National Intelligence for the United States.

Like I said, hospodi pomilui ...

An Aural Pun

Wednesday, July 24 will be, at the risk of making a very bad pun - indeed, the Mother of All Groaners -  Mueller Time.

As I type this, the 1964 hit Twine Time cruises through my head.  I can only hope that the Democratic members of both the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees in the House approach their duties Wednesday with as much emphasis and drive as did this R&B classic.