Last Call For Meat The Press, Con't

The Trump regime's war on its critics has already reached dangerous levels, and we're not too far now from the point where the regime will take action to match Trump's rhetoric.

President Trump and his allies signaled Monday that they intend to use the broad conclusions of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation — which found no criminal conspiracy with Russia to influence the 2016 election — to forcefully attack perceived opponents they say unfairly accused the president of wrongdoing.

The targets are diffuse, ranging from specific Democratic lawmakers to the media more generally. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway called on House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) to resign immediately, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) urged Schiff to relinquish his committee chairmanship. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said he planned to investigate what he dubbed “all of the abuse by the Department of Justice and the FBI” during the 2016 presidential election. And the Trump campaign sent a memo to television hosts and producers that included a list of guests it suggested should no longer be booked because they “made outlandish, false claims” on air.

Trump himself, speaking in the Oval Office, offered a broad and harsh denunciation, saying there were “a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things.”

“I would say treasonous things against our country,” the president added.

The next step will be a bevy of Justice Department investigations into Trump's critics on Capitol Hill and in the media, and if you think a man who openly uses the word "treasonous" to define his critics isn't doing this out of pure revenge, then you've just bet the freedom of your country on that assumption.

We all have.

The strategy — currently loose and informal — is still in its infancy. But all signs indicate a Trump operation seeking vengeance and accountability from critics it says maligned the president over the investigation into whether his campaign or associates conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. An adviser who talked to the president said Trump has an appetite to see his critics investigated. The adviser spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation.

“What he says is, he wants this investigated,” said Trump’s lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani. “I don’t think he’s thought it out like Lindsey has. But he wants these things investigated.”

While Trump and his allies have portrayed Attorney General William P. Barr’s summary of Mueller’s findings as a complete vindication of the president, Barr made it clear that the special counsel was not exonerating the president on the question of obstruction of justice. And details of the report, if made public, could prove troublesome for Trump. Mueller’s work led to criminal charges against 34 people, including six former Trump associates and advisers, and showed that Russia sought to influence the election and help Trump.

Still, the president’s aides and allies have shown little desire to turn the page, preferring to write a new book detailing what they say is a rush to judgment from a Washington establishment unwilling to ever give Trump an unbiased assessment.

“This is not something to put behind us and move on,” said David Bossie, Trump’s 2016 deputy campaign manager. He said the White House and the Trump reelection campaign need to make sure “we are beating the drum” on how what he sees as a D.C. echo chamber bungled its handling of the Mueller investigation.

“The members of Congress, who made these ridiculous claims, how can they be on television again? How can they be called by reporters again?” Bossie asked. “How can reporters who have perpetrated this fraud gleefully on a number of networks, and at major newspapers across the country, how can they be trusted again?”

The next question will be "How can they walk free among us again?" and then "How are they not traitors again?"

The time where autocrat Trump starts taking real revenge against his critics is very soon upon us.  Nixon and his enemies list was nothing compared to what's coming.  This is what I've been warning about for years now.  Trump feels now that there's nothing to stop him.

World history tells us that he's most likely correct.

Things will move quickly now.

Jussie-tified By The Circumstances

A month after being hit with sixteen felony counts related to what the Cook County prosecutors' office said was actor Jussie Smollett's conspiracy to fabricate a hate crime about an attack made by two men wearing MAGA hats, all charges were immediately dropped, Smollett's record expunged and the case sealed by a judge.

Attorneys for “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said Tuesday that charges alleging he lied to police about a racist and homophobic attack have been dropped.

Smollett attorneys Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes said in a statement that Smollett’s record “has been wiped clean.” Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts related to making a false report that he was attacked by two men.

Among the questions that weren’t immediately answered was whether prosecutors still believe Smollett concocted the attack and whether there’s new evidence that altered their view of events. Typically, a minimum condition of dropping cases is some acceptance of responsibility. In a statement, the Cook County prosecutors’ office offered no detailed explanation.

“After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case,” the statement from spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.

Smollett had made a $10,000 bond payment to get out of jail after his arrest on the charges.

Police and prosecutors have said Smollett falsely reported to authorities that he was attacked around 2 a.m. on Jan. 29 in downtown Chicago because he was unhappy with his pay on “Empire” and to promote his career.

Smollett, who is black and gay, plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox TV show that follows a black family as they navigate the ups and downs of the recording industry.

Smollett reported that he had been attacked on his way home from a sandwich shop. Smollett said two masked men shouted racial and anti-gay slurs, poured bleach on him, beat him and looped a rope around his neck. He claimed they shouted, “This is MAGA country” — a reference to President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan. He asserted that he could see one of the men was white because he could see the skin around his eyes.

Cook County and the Chicago PD were willing to put Smollett in prison for decades over this.

And then something happened to make all of this go away.  I don't know what it was exactly, but I bet it has something to do with this announced earlier this month.

Reports of leaks about the Jussie Smollett case have prompted an internal investigation of the Chicago Police Department. 

The department told CNN on Thursday that it had opened an investigation into alleged internal leaks. 

"I would like to point out that a lot of the information out there was inaccurate and there were numerous agencies involved in this investigation," said Sergeant Rocco Alioto with the Chicago PD Office of Communications. "As a standard procedure when there are allegations of information being leaked, an internal investigation has been opened and we are also looking at our vulnerabilities." 

Smollett reported to police in January that he had been attacked in Chicago in an incident that ended with a noose around his neck. Police initially investigated the case as a possible hate crime. 

But after police arrested two men who were "persons of interest," police sources revealed that police suspected Smollett knew the men and had paid them $3,500 to stage the attack. 

Smollett has denied that any involvement in orchestrating an attack.

This case went so far into the crapper for Chicago PD that the prosecutors dropped a case against a gay, black man who reported that Trump supporters assaulted him.  They indicted him with dizzying speed and had accomplices and everything.  Chicago Police went on national TV like Good Morning America to indict Smollett in the court of public opinion.

And then the case popped like a sop bubble and they tripped all over themselves making sure this case never happened.

There's a reason why, and I'm betting the Chicago PD did something so horrible that if it came out in the trial, it would have destroyed them.   Not a plea bargain, not a public apology, but a sealed case.  If this had been a celebrity payoff, then it would have been a plea bargain and community service or a suspended sentence/probation.

Whatever it was, it was so awful that it prevented a major police department from destroying a black man's life, something police have done with impunity for decades.

Something happened with this case.

I want to know what it was.

They're Coming For Obamacare Again

As I've been saying for a while now, Trump's main motivation is petty revenge, and there's nothing he likes more than punishing the Obama coalition.  There's no better way to get of us, he figures, than to take health care away from tens of millions, and the post-Mueller Trump regime is now fully dedicated to obliterating the ACA through the Roberts Court.

The Trump administration on Monday said the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down,in a dramatic reversal. 

In a filing with a federal appeals court, the Justice Department said it agreed with the ruling of a federal judge in Texas that invalidated the Obama-era health care law. 

In a letter Monday night, the administration said "it is not urging that any portion of the district court's judgment be reversed." 

"The Department of Justice has determined that the district court's comprehensive opinion came to the correct conclusion and will support it on appeal," said Kerri Kupec, spokesperson for the Justice Department. 

It's a major shift for the Justice Department from when Jeff Sessions was attorney general. At the time, the administration argued that the community rating rule and the guaranteed issue requirement -- protections for people with pre-existing conditions -- could not be defended but the rest of the law could stand. 

After the Justice Department took that position, federal District Judge Reed O'Connor struck down the entire law and the case is currently before a federal appeals court. 

The Trump administration would not defend the law in court so a coalition of 21 Democratic states led by California stepped in. 

"This lawsuit is as dangerous as it is reckless. It threatens the healthcare of tens of millions of Americans across the country -- from California to Kentucky and all the way to Maine," said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement. "The Affordable Care Act is an integral part of our healthcare system. ... Because no American should fear losing healthcare, we will defend the ACA every step of the way."

Attorney General Bill Barr has been given his marching orders.  The plan now is to take everything from those who voted against Trump.  That battle will be fought very soon in front of the Roberts Court.  There are absolutely four votes to overturn the Affordable Care Act.  All that matters is whether or not Chief Justice John Roberts is willing to be number five.

The plan now is to take it all from us.  Up to and including our health care.

Having said that, the ACA is broken.  It needs to be fixed.  It will never be fixed as long as Republicans are there to rebreak it.  But the GOP wants to take that from us anyway.

For some of us, that means taking our lives.

StupidiNews!

• Jeremy Richman, the father of Sandy Hook shooting victim Avielle Richman, was found dead Monday morning, the third suicide in the past week related to school shootings.
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell again blocked a Democratic-led resolution to call for the full release of the Mueller report, once again citing national security reasons.
• House Democrats have sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr demanding the full, unredacted Mueller report bu next Tuesday, April 2, the Justice Department says it needs up to 60 days to do so.
• The UK Parliament has voted to take over the Brexit process from PM Theresa May in a full revolt, three cabinet ministers so far have resigned in order to back Parliament's alternative plan.
• Apple is unleashing its new streaming service dubbed Apple TV+, the service will include original exclusive shows from Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Sesame Street and more.