The Nunes Memo is Just Another Con Job

This “Nunes Memo” is the latest in a line of Republican con jobs being actively pushed by the GOP and their media propaganda machines. They make it seem like it’s a lot more important than it really is.

In a nutshell, the House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed the FBI warrants requesting surveillance on a couple of Trump campaign operatives. Then Rep. Nunes’s staffers went through it and picked out all the things they could spin as FBI bias, corruption, or just plain tawdriness, leaving out context or anything that would legitimize the behavior they were using to cry foul.

Basically, they were doing to this memo what those crooks were doing with Planned Parenthood “sting” videos.

By using this dishonest methodology, you could argue that the Batman movies were about nothing but a cross-dresser trying to bring capes back into fashion. You’d do that by leaving out the background of Bruce Wayne, the reasons why he dresses as a bat, and the greater problem of a crime-riddled city, run by crime figures with the first name of “The.”

The Nunes memo is a sham, a political hit piece designed to provide cover for the president to fire Rod Rosenstein, who, not coincidentally, is the only one who can fire Robert Mueller. And the only reason anyone wants to fire Robert Mueller is that they are terrified of what he is likely to find. (Or has already found.) The GOP doesn’t want the gravy train to come to an end so they’re mortgaging their alleged values and ethics so to ensure that criminals who are helpful to big business will remain in power.

And the scary thing about Mueller is that his process does not require the cooperation of Congress. He’s after criminal activity and federal or state charges.

Congress would prefer to conduct their own investigation, so that the Republicans who run it can, with their heads placed somewhere from which there is no clear view other than through their navels, declare that there was no wrong-doing, claim victory and kibosh the whole affair. Obviously, the GOP Congress is not going to file impeachment charges against 45 no matter what he does.

But Mueller can derail the whole thing, so they’re trying to derail him first. Doesn’t that make you proud to be an American? That’s our government in action… at least when it’s run by Republicans.

It’s laughable that they are trying to claim the investigation is being run by left-leaning ideologues…

Yep, just a bunch of hippie radicals, huh?

This is one more symptom of the blight that is Fox “News;” emboldening our elected officials to lie, repeatedly, right to our collective face. Yell a lie enough times and it becomes the truth, especially to people who want to believe it.

Debunkery

While I’m all worked up, I might as well take a look at a couple recent conservative memes I harvested from Facebook.

Dear Republicans,

We will never forget your propensity to wrap yourself in the flag and military at every chance you get, especially when it gets you out of addressing any actual problems. Other people seem able to maintain more than one idea at a time. At this particular time, immigration is dominating the news cycles so a point about immigration is to be made.

Also, please explain how you have so many rules that only Democrats have to follow. Is there some kind of veteran quota? Is there a particular number of vets we have to showcase before we’re allowed to address another issue? I haven’t seen this kind of outrage since President Obama wore a tan suit jacket.

And by the way, what has this administration done for veterans, besides reducing their access to health care? You guys complained to high heaven about the VA under Obama. What have you done to fix the problems you were yelling about?

You love to position every social issue as a zero-sum game regarding veterans.

·        How can we afford welfare when there are homeless veterans?

·        How can we afford SNAP when there are homeless veterans?

·        Why would we pay for birth control when there are homeless veterans?

·        How can we take in war refugees when there are homeless veterans?

OK, you’ve been in charge for a year, with complete authority. What have you done for homeless veterans? Or any veterans? I think you just like using veterans to browbeat others into not helping someone else… usually a “brown” someone else.

All we see is lip service… a whole lot of flag lapel pins and not a hell of a lot of anything that would help. Like in the new budget proposals… the military gets a fuck-ton more money. How much of it goes to pay for the troops? (Answer: Jack Shit, compared to the money spent with defense contractors.)

You are more interested in using the military or homeless vets as a cultural bludgeon rather than solving their problems, so, forgive me if our shallow optics diverge from yours. Talk to me when you have a solution. Until then, go fuck yourselves.

Signed,

We the People Without a Military Fetish

More Debunkery

Are you freaking kidding me. You WISH all we had was Trump hate. But first, let’s look at your platform/alleged accomplishments.

·        Border security. Borders are reasonably secure. Illegal immigration was down before Trump even ran for office. Walls are the least effective ways of securing a border. Most illegal immigrants flew here on a valid visa and then over-stayed. You’re proposing a $25 billion vanity project for the country’s leading narcissist. (I bet you could buy a lot of housing for homeless vets with that dough.)

·        Boom economy. Are you kidding? Only for major stockholders. The rest of us? Meh. This big stock bubble (it’s been solid for a while, but plummeting now, as I write,) only helps if you have major stock holdings. Are YOU rich now? Can YOU take it easy because of your flush stock portfolio? I can’t. Because the Trump economy only benefits those who can afford to plunk millions into the market. Big business is booming. The rest of us wait for the crumbs.

·        Better Trade Deals. Who’s he gonna deal with? Everyone hates us. He’s alienated all of our allies, none of whom are eager to do us any favors any longer, nor give us any better deals. Why don’t we ask the former employees at Carrier, who just lost their jobs to Mexico after one of Trump’s highly self-publicized “deals.”

·        Infrastructure. It’s falling apart, just like it was when the Republicans bottled up all infrastructure bills during the prior administration. Reducing the deficit was too important to spend money on fixing our crumbling roads, rails, and bridges. But not too important to refuse the massive tax giveaway to big business, though, right? That’s a demonstration of Republican priorities right there. They should be embarrassed to even list it here.  Where is the Republican infrastructure bill? (Hint: The Wall doesn’t count.)

You think all we have is hating Trump? Here’s what Democrats want to actually run on:

·        Creating workable health care system (again).

·        Securing reproductive rights, especially the right for women to reproduce whenever they damned well want to. Reinstating insurance coverage for birth control is a part of it.

·        Instituting a sane, non-bigoted immigration policy.

·        Doing something about automatic and semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity clips, including background checks referenced against the terrorist watch list.

·        Safeguarding same-sex marriage, or in other words, Equal Rights for All.

·        Repairing the separation of church and state.

·        Voting safeguards. The GOP is reinstituting the poll tax. We need to make it easier for everyone to vote, not harder for one party’s opponents. This is not Russia. (Yet.  They’re working on it.) Address racial and political gerrymandering.

·        Overturning Citizens United, which begat the whole mess we have now, where anyone with enough money can buy their own politicians right off the rack, without anyone being the wiser. And appointing judges who aren’t in the pocket of big business or the religious right.

·        Instituting a tax structure that gives the breaks to the lower and middle classes, and penalizes companies for moving businesses (and profits) offshore. End the loopholes. We will spend the money on goods and services and “trickle UP” to Corporate America, rather than the other way around. Let the corporate tax breaks sunset and let the rest of us keep ours. That’s what moves an economy.

·        Using real science when formulating policy, rather than political expediency, where the end is a done deal and the “science” is designed from the start to back it up.

·        Funding and strengthening the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and ensure its independence.

·        Ensuring Net Neutrality. Internet service in 2018 is a public utility, to be treated as such.

·        Raising fuel efficiency standards.

·        Investing in wind and solar power. Fossil fuels exist in a finite amount and they’re damaging the habitability of this planet. It’s time to recognize that and act accordingly.

I could go on. There are tons of issues the Democrats can promote. Hating Trump is just a bonus.

In fact, he’s not much different than any of the rest of them. Pence, Ryan, McConnell, none of them would differ from the policies of the Trump Administration if he were gone. If the Republicans are to remain in charge, I’d prefer that Trump remain. The other guys would accomplish more of their destructive agenda without sitting on their ball-sacks every week. The fact that Dolt 45 is incompetent is the only thing that stops them from activating a full-on sci-fi movie dystopia in the here and now.

Without Trump, our only hope would be Jennifer Lawrence.