President Trump's Raw Form at Penn. Rally

Trump in Raw Form at Penn. Rally
Deprived of a carefully worded teleprompter at his Pennsylvania rally for the Republican candidate, Rick Saccone, running for a  seat in the U.S House, President Donald Trump was free to allow his base instincts to take over. Although Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) was in no sense an issue in the race, he took the occasion to call her a "low-IQ person," and also repeated a claim that Washington, DC is run over with "very bad people." Was Trump trying to get a bigger turn-out for that segment of his base that is composed of out-and-out racists? The charitable view of what Trump said is that he was referring to the Democratic lawmakers in DC; however, even that view contradicts the occasional claim that Trump wants to proceed on a bipartisan basis. Trump's "bad people" were not limited to those in DC, as he directed the audience's attention to all the bad people in the assembled media people.

Trump also  called MSNBC host Chuck Todd a "sleepy-eyed son-of-a-bitch." Todd was a strange target,  because during the campaign, Todd was considered too be the host on MSNBC who did the most to boost the Trump campaign. Since I watch MSNBC quite a bit, Todd seems to be the host who has the most Republican lawmakers on his show. One account I've read is that Trump has had meetings with Todd, at which they yell at each other in the beginning and then settle down to have a  civil conversation.

As an indication that Trump's frequent references to his greatness are not limited by any sense of reason, Trump took credit for the success of the Olympics in South Korea. Also, he again provided evidence of his reverence for dictators, when he told his supporters to be "nice" toward Kim Jong-un.

At the rally to promote the candidacy of Rick Saccone, Saccone was rarely mentioned, with about the only reason Trump gave to vote for him was that he would support the entire Trump agenda. Even that support was compromised by Trump referring to the fact that he had carried the district by 20 percent over Hillary Clinton. It was clear from the most recent polling that, at best, Saccone might have squeezed through by the skin of his teeth, Trump then taking credit for saving Saccone from a defeat. The Trump camp was initially silent in the face of a narrow win by the Democratic candidate; however, later, a White House spokesperson issued a statement saying that Trump's late intervention saved Saccone from a major defeat. Trump supporters frequently defend the indefensible.

Trump Gets Personal with Mueller
Over the weekend, President Trump's tweeting has gotten personal with Robert Mueller, with Trump calling him out by name and saying again that there is no collusion and no crime, and that the investigation should never have been started. The extra dimension is Trump's charge that all 13 prosecutors are Democrats, with the push back being that the prosecutors have not demonstrated political bias in their former work. More importantly, Mueller is a registered Republican, as is his immediate superior.

Trump's more pointed charges against the Mueller investigation have stirred the embers of the fear that Trump is getting ready to fire Mueller, and the attendant fear among Democratic lawmakers that the Republican leadership will let him get away with it. Related to the Mueller furor is the recent firing of Andrew McCabe, the deputy director of the FBI. An ethics committee in the FBI recommended that McCabe be fired for the way he handled his role in the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails, with a specific charge that he had given a background briefing to journalists, a practice that is often done by government officials. Attorney General Jeff Sessions did the actual firing. The firing took on a heartless coating when the it took place literally hours before McCabe would have officially qualified for a pension, which now may mean no pension, or a very limited one.

The report is that McCabe took notes that are contemporaneous with the firing of James Comey and what Comey told him; also, McCabe prepared documents on his own interaction with Trump after the Comey firing. McCabe has now reportedly turned his documents over to the Mueller team. President Trump has called the documents "fake," whether or not he has seen them. Trump's frequent denigrations of McCabe has sullied his reputation and it almost a certainty that absent Trump's fulminations against him, he would either have continued in his job, or retired with a full pension.

Stormy Weather in Forecast for Trump
Stormy Daniels is scheduled for a "60 Minutes" interview on March 25. Her lawyer has said that she will reveal the kinds of bodily harm that has been threatened if she reiterates her story of her sexual encounters with Trump. The lawyer has also announced that six more women have come forth with accounts of sexual activity with Trump. He says that the stories sound creditable but they have not been fully vetted.

Stormy has agreed to give up the $130,000 that Trump's personal lawyer has admitted he paid her. Since this is a court filing, the receipt or denial of the repayment must be in writing. I haven't been able to locate an account of what has happened to Stormy's give back.

Today I heard a concise description of Trump's treatment of the Stormy matter: He has denied a relationship ever happened, and has paid "hush" money for something that never happened. That is a description of a bogus leader who should never be followed nor trusted. 

ADDENDUMS:
*Days before President Trump signed a bill that increased military spending by $165 billion over the next two years, a Gallup poll found 33% in favor of increased military spending, 34% supported reduction, and 31% favored the status quo.

*A committee will be formed to develop a plan for school safety with the demonstrably incompetent Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, heading it.

*DeVos imploded in a recent "60 Minutes" interview, in which she demonstrated her poor grasp of educational issues, the low point coming when Lesley Stahl asked  if she ever has visited under-performing schools, and to DeVos's response that she has a policy not to visit them, DeVos smilingly agreed with Stahl's suggestion  that maybe she should.

*At least four Cabinet members -- Ben Carson, Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke, and VA Secretary David Shulkin met separately with White House Secretary William McGinley to discuss ethics practices. All four have been found to be living extravagantly at taxpayer expense. 

*House Agriculture Chairman Michael Conaway announced that he would delay the release of a farm bill, as all the Democrats on the committee would not vote for it because it would take 8 million people off the SNAP rolls.

*U.S. Central Command General Joseph Vogel joined Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is saying the Iranian nuclear deal is in the best interests of the U.S. He says: "If the JCPOA goes away, than we will to have another way to deal with the nuclear weapons program."

*Jennifer Baker, the spokeswoman for the Institute for Legislative Action at the NRA, says: "These bills [potential bans of bump stocks] are inherently overreaching and would ban commonly owned firearm accessories."

*Last month, the Supreme Court refused to hear the Trump administration challenge to a lower court temporarily blocking DACA. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will continue to review the case.

*The White House insists the DACA program is "clearly illegal" and benefits "illegal immigrants en masse."

*A national poll has found that 56% favor electoral redistricting; only 12% oppose.