The crucifixion of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar

The crucifixion of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ~ First Amendment to the United States Constitution

How apropos for the Democrats to choose Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent to begin the crucifixion of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.   I’m sure that the Catholic members of congress won’t even be aware of the hypocrisy as they prance around the House floor with their ashen crosses on their foreheads to commemorate the crucifixion Jesus Christ.

Representative Omar sent the majority of the House of Representatives shrieking in horror when she chastised the cash-engorged congress for representing the desires of special interest of the groups like AIPAC before the interests of the American people.  What Omar said was:

Omar quoted rap lyrics — “It’s all about the Benjamins baby” — to suggest McCarthy’s move was driven by the lobby’s prolific spending. Asked specifically who she was referring to, Omar responded, “AIPAC!”

Gasp, horrors no one ever had the audacity to actually say on camera “members of the Empire’s congress have no clothes,”  It didn’t take long for the shit to hit the fan as AIPAC’s agents in the congress and media immediately and in the harshest of terms called for the crucifixion of Ilhan Omar.  From The Gateway Pundit:

Excerpt:

Jewish Leader: Ilhan Omar Is a Filthy, Disgusting, Hater – Has No Place on Foreign Affairs Committee (VIDEO)

Jeff Ballabon, an advisor to President Trump, ripped Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Monday over her latest anti-Semitic remarks on Varney and Co.  Ballabon says Ilhan has “no place” in politics. He can’t understand why Speaker Pelosi keeps her on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Jeff Ballabon: I don’t think there’s room in any reasonable setting for Ilhan Omar and normal people. The problem isn’t that she is expressing herself poorly in a matter of debate. The problem is that her beliefs are deeply rooted in hatred and anti-Semitism. She is a hater. I’m going to say it. She is filth. She has no place in Congress. She has no place on the foreign affairs committee. It is amazing that Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, the most powerful Democrat in America, appears on Rolling Stone, hand-in-hand smiling this week. It’s outrageous… She is a filthy, disgusting, hater.

Sheesh, that guy has no place on TV spouting hatred as debate.  What I gleaned from that clip was this Ballabon guy is saying to congress that because Ilhan Omar stated that members of congress routinely passes laws that benefit their special interest financial backers not that of the American people is a disqualifier.  Therefore Ballabon wants congress to remove Omar from her seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee where she has a platform to question the actions of those acting on behalf of the US government in foreign countries.  After all it was Ilhan Omar who dressed down “death squad” Elliott Abrams on TV.

When asked about where she stands on the censure of Omar, Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez said:

"It's not my position to tell people how to feel, or that their hurt is invalid. But incidents like these do beg the question: where are the resolutions against homophobic statements? For anti-blackness? For xenophobia? For a member saying he'll "send Obama home to Kenya? In this administration + all others, we should actively check antisemitism, anti-blackness, homophobia, racism, and all other forms of bigotry. And the most productive end goal when we see it is to educate and heal. It's the difference between "calling in" before "calling out."

AOC was immediately condemned along with Ilhan Oman by their own Party, the AIPAC controlled Democrats.  From OpEd News:

Excerpt:

The Democratic Party Attacks on Ilhan Omar Are a Travesty I'm Jewish and have worked against anti-Semitism for decades. I was sitting a few feet from Omar at Busboys & Poets and I heard nothing-nothing-that smacked of anti-Semitism, overt or coded or otherwise. By Phyllis Bennis

House Democrats were forced to postpone their vote rebuking Omar amid pressure from large numbers of the public and Trump's comment that this was a "dark day for Israel" popped up all over the relevant media venues. And for what?

Questioning how much of US Foreign Policy results from long standing support for Israel and manipulation by pro-Israel Congress members, who have never in decades had their support challenged or even questioned? I applaud Omar for challenging the history of 1981 El Salvador massacres and assassinations by Trump's point man for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, and no one else did that: that speaks volumes to what she is really all about.

Other Democrats, most notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and others within and outside of the House Democratic Caucus, and many progressive groups, like Democracy for America, declared their support for Omar; the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus, have requested more time to review the issues.

Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Tuesday that the vote could perhaps occur tomorrow (Thursday) and said that a draft resolution would be updated to include additional language rejecting anti-Muslim bias, while some Democrats maintain that a new would be created.

Associated Press weighed in on this developing story at length:

Omar became the flash point after she suggested last week that Israel's supporters are pushing U.S. lawmakers to take a pledge of "allegiance to a foreign country." It's at least the third time she has forced older, pro-Israel Democrats who run the House into awkward territory over U.S.-Israeli policy.

Republicans have been happy to stoke the furor, with President Donald Trump calling Omar's remarks "a dark day for Israel" and posting a photo of himself in Jerusalem. Inside the Democratic family, meanwhile, leaders are in a bind, torn between a need to admonish Omar for her comments and their desire to defend one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.

This time Omar is not apologizing. And this time pro-Israel Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi are not just warning her about the dangers of Jewish tropes. They're expected to offer a resolution condemning anti-Semitism on the House floor.

"Accusations of dual loyalty generally have an insidious, bigoted history," an early draft of the resolution reads in part. "The House of Representatives acknowledges the dangerous consequences of perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes and rejects anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States…"

  

"There is a lot emotional disquiet about the situation, and it's a good time to restate our values," said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is Jewish and a member of leadership. "That's what I hope our resolution can do."

Clearly, Omar's remarks about Israel's influence on US policies have precipitated a lot of anger in the House, and diverts attention away from, for example, passing an anti-corruption bill dealing with campaign finance reform, voting rights, and ethics…

The discussion over reprimanding Omar for saying pro-Israel advocates have "allegiance to a foreign country" has manifested the deep divides ideologically among older vs. newer members, and stemmed from the reactions of some old guard Jewish congress members like New York Reps. Eliot Engel and Nita Lowey, when they criticized Omar demanding an apology…

We have to be very strong and forceful in condemning it." However, Engel stopped short of threatening to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, which some Republicans have demanded.

In response to Lowey's criticism, Omar tweeted: "I am told every day that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks."

Out of the two dozen other Democrats on the Foreign Affairs committee, nearly all did not respond or declined a request to comment on Monday. Member Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) tweeted that Omar should apologize for "hurtful anti-Semitic stereotypes. Questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is unacceptable."

"Resolutions are all well and good, but Speaker Pelosi is clearly afraid to stand up to Rep. Omar if she continues to reward her with a plum spot on the Foreign Affairs Committee," House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) Tweeted on Monday.

Senior Democrats in key caucuses pushed for party leaders to pause floor action related to Omar so members have time to digest the content of the resolution.

Liberals had pushed for language condemning Islamophobia after Omar was targeted in a poster displayed at an event sponsored by the West Virginia GOP linking her to Sept. 11, which included a photo of the World Trade Center buildings on fire and a photo of Omar below it. The draft resolution doesn't mention Omar by name but is a direct response to her most recent comments and comes after a string of Israel-related remarks that her colleagues have claimed are anti-Semitic.

Ocasio-Cortez in Tweets argued that Democratic leaders should have addressed the issue privately before Omar was "called out" publicly. "One of the things that is hurtful about the extent to which reprimand is sought of Ilhan is that no one seeks this level of reprimand when members make statements about Latinx + other communities (during the shutdown, a GOP member yelled 'Go back to Puerto Rico!' on the floor)," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

A senior Democratic aide countered Ocasio-Cortez's criticisms on Tuesday by saying a resolution on the House floor is far from the most severe punishment Democratic leaders could pursue…

A coalition of several Muslim and progressive Jewish organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations and IfNotNow, will hold a news conference today on the Supreme Court steps to support Omar, while Progressive Change Campaign Committee sent out a mass fundraising email in support of those Democratic lawmakers who are defending Omar. Other prominent progressive groups and activists, including Democracy for America, CodePink and Indivisible co-founder Leah Greenberg, underscored their support for Omar on Twitter, using the hashtag #StandWithIlhan.

Is it just me or are the members of congress proving Omar’s point that too many members, many with dual citizenship, put the interests of the Netanyahu’s Israeli government above the interests of the American people?  From Mondoweiss:

Excerpt:

Ilhan Omar is charged with invoking ‘myth of dual loyalty’ — but many Jewish writers say it’s no myth

In an appearance at Busboys and Poets two nights ago Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar called out Israel supporters for advocating for a foreign country:  “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”

Omar’s critique is similar to Rep. Rashida Tlaib saying in January that Senate supporters of anti-boycott legislation “forgot what country they represent.”  Both congresswomen have come under a rain of attack from Israel supporters for these comments. Which is no surprise, given that the two Muslim women are Israel’s strongest critics in the Congress.

Jonathan Chait writes at New York Magazine that Omar’s statement is “much worse” than her last controversy, when she ascribed Israel support to financial contributions from the lobby and then apologized for doing so.

Accusing Jews of “allegiance to a foreign country” is a historically classic way of delegitimizing their participation in the political system….Omar is directly invoking the hoary myth of dual loyalty, in which the Americanness of Jews is inherently suspect, and their political participation must be contingent upon proving their patriotism.

But many Jewish writers and thinkers have raised precisely this “hoary myth” very seriously. They have cited “dual loyalty” as a real factor in the Israel-supporting community, and some have termed it a potential problem. Here’s a list:

–John Judis said in The New Republic in 2007 that the Israel lobby demands “dual loyalty” –and said the Chaits of the world are operating with bad faith when they attempt to blackball the issue:

 [Jewish leaders] want to demand of American Jewish intellectuals a certain loyalty to Israel, Israeli policies, and to Zionism as part of their being Jewish. They make dual loyalty an inescapable part of being Jewish in a world in which a Jewish state exists…

Many Jews now suffer from dual loyalty–the same way that Cuban-Americans or Mexican-Americans do. By ignoring this dilemma–and, worse still, by charging those who acknowledge its existence with anti-Semitism–the critics of the new anti-Semitism are engaged in a flight from their own political selves. They are guilty of a certain kind of bad faith.

–Joe Klein cited the supposed myth of “divided loyalties” in 2008 in the context of the push for the Iraq war by the neocons:

The fact that a great many Jewish neoconservatives – people like Joe Lieberman and the crowd over at Commentary – plumped for this war, and now for an even more foolish assault on Iran, raised the question of divided loyalties: using U.S. military power, U.S. lives and money, to make the world safe for Israel…

–MJ Rosenberg said in 2014 that dual loyalty is a legitimate issue:

I most certainly do believe that dual loyalty is a valid consideration when any group knowingly chooses the interests of a foreign country over their own. Like Israel Firster, it describes reality. The good news for me is that this is not a Jewish community problem but rather the problem with a small group of Jewish organizational hacks, neocons, and rank-and-file true believers (mostly old), etc. The reason [some] go nuts about “dual loyalty” and “Israel Firster” is because they know how valid the charge is when, as with Iran, people knowingly put the interest of Israel’s Likud government above America’s…

–Eric Alterman made extended remarks in 2009 at the 92d Y, celebrating his dual loyalty:

You know, one of the touchiest words you can say when you’re discussing Jews and Israel is the word dual loyalty. It’s sort of one of those words that American Jewish officialdom has ruled out of the discourse. If you say dual loyalty, you’re playing into the hands of anti-semites, because it’s been a consistent trope among anti-Semites that you can’t trust Jews. etc. etc.

And I find this very confusing because I was raised dually loyal my whole life. When I went to Hebrew school, the content of my Hebrew school was all about supporting Israel. When my parents who I think are here tonight sent me to Israel when I was 14, on a ZOA [Zionist Organization of America]-sponsored trip… [laughter/backtalk] that was a bad idea, yeah– it was drummed into me that I should do what’s best for Israel.

I was at the Center for Jewish History not long ago where I heard Ruth Wisse, the Yiddishist professor at Harvard who happens to be the Martin L. Peretz professor, instruct a group of young Jewish journalists that they should think of themselves as members of the Israeli army. …

–Elliott Abrams wrote in 1997 that Jews must “stand apart from the nation in which they live”:  Outside the land of Israel, there can be no doubt that Jews, faithful to the covenant between God and Abraham, are to stand apart from the nation in which they live. It is the very nature of being Jewish to be apart–except in Israel–from the rest of the population…

What all these writers and thinkers are saying is that allegiance to Israel is actually an important factor in the support for Israel in the United States, to the point that some support Israel’s interests over America’s.

And Judis makes the necessary correlation: When you characterize such discussion as anti-Semitic, you’re acting in bad faith, denying something you know to be true, and seeking to set a redline on an important argument.

That’s just what is happening to Omar and Tlaib. Because they have taken the historic step of supporting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) targeting Israel, a first for American politicians, they must be maligned at every turn.

Oh ouch.  That stings.  There was nothing wrong with what Ilhan Omar did or said on the Foreign Relations Committee, this is just a neocon-Zionist attack, a kill the messenger fiasco and everyone knows it.  I believe that any censure of Omar for criticizing the excessive control money has over the congress is unconstitutional and an abuse of power.  From Stephen Lendman:

Excerpt:

Smearing Ilhan Omar

Omar and Rashida Tlaib are the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. Representing Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, she serves on the House Foreign Affairs, Education & Labor Committees.

She introduced legislation pertaining to childcare for workers affected by the government shutdown, a separate measure challenging Trump’s Muslim ban from the wrong countries, another proposing lower drug prices, one more guaranteeing back pay for federal contract workers harmed by the shutdown.

Her criticism of Israeli apartheid ruthlessness was unrelated to anti-Semitism, justifiably calling its harsh treatment of Palestinians “evil doings.”  She supports vital BDS activism despite expressing “reservations on the effectiveness of the movement in accomplishing a lasting solution.” It’s the single most effective initiative against Israeli viciousness, essential to continue and build on past successes.

Falsely called anti-Semitic, she said “I don’t know how my comments would be offensive to Jewish Americans. My comments precisely are addressing what was happening during the Gaza War, and I’m clearly speaking about the way the Israeli regime was conducting itself in that war.”

Israeli high crimes affect all Palestinians throughout the Territories, along with their diaspora counterparts by denying their right of return, affirmed under international law.

On Monday, Trump disgracefully bashed her tweeting: “Representative Ilhan Omar is again under fire for her terrible comments concerning Israel. Jewish groups have just sent a petition to Speaker Pelosi asking her to remove Omar from Foreign Relations Committee. A dark day for Israel!”

Eleven pro-Israeli groups called on Pelosi and Foreign Relations Committee neocon chairman Eliot Engel, to strip Omar of her Foreign Relations committee membership, using it as a platform for truth-telling on vital geopolitical issues, including criticism of apartheid Israel, correctly saying:

“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” adding:  “I want to ask: ‘Why is it OK for me to talk about the influence of the (National Rifle Association), or fossil fuel industries, or Big Pharma, (but) not talk about a powerful lobbying group that is influencing policy” on Israel.

The AIPAC-led Israeli lobby is perhaps the most powerful in Washington, greatly influencing US foreign policy, notably in the Middle East – including support for and promotion of wars of aggression.  In their letter to Pelosi, the 11 pro-Israel groups unjustifiably accused Omar of “strong biases against the State of Israel and the Jewish people” – for her courageous truth-telling they failed to explain.

They criticized her for speaking before the Alexandra, VA-based Islamic Relief USA humanitarian group – falsely called a terrorist organization. 

It supports gender equity and justice, provides food aid to starving people, helps refugees displaced by US/NATO/Israeli wars of aggression, offers disaster relief, helps America’s homeless, and provides healthcare in the US for individuals unable to afford it – not the stuff terrorism is made of, just the opposite.

In response to the fabricated claims, the group said “Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA) acknowledges that certain fringe organizations and baseless online media outlets promote false claims that IRUSA and/or its partners have ties to extremist or terrorist organizations.”  “However, these allegations are categorically false and completely without merit. IRUSA and its partners unequivocally condemn terrorism and violence manifested in any form.” 

Omar responded to unjustifiable criticism of her truth-telling on Israel, saying “I should not be expected to have allegiance (or) pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee,” adding:

“I am told every day that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks.”  “My Americanness is questioned by the president and GOP on a daily basis. Yet my colleagues remain silent. I know what it means to be American and no one will ever tell me otherwise.”

“I fight for peace and justice because only those who experience the pain of war, know the joy of peace.”  “Being opposed to Netanyahu and the occupation is not the same as being anti-Semitic. I am grateful to the many Jewish allies who have spoken out and said the same.”

Undemocratic Dems falsely accused Omar of “anti-Semitic tropes” – a bald-faced Big Lie.  Nearly the entire Congress at all times supports Israel, ignoring its apartheid viciousness, its war on Palestinians for over 70 years – none of its officials ever held accountable for their high crimes.

Sharp, sustained criticism of Israel by public figures is long overdue. Most important is ending US political, financial, and military support for its ruthless regimes – fascist rule masquerading as democratic. 

The question here is “where will the members of congress’ allegiance be?”  Will they be loyal to the Constitution’s first Amendment that says Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech and the right of the people peaceably to assemble or will Congress amend the first Amendment to appease their Israeli lobby?

The purpose of this whole kangaroo crucifixion by congress is to tamp down any criticism or dissent of the previously determined foreign policy, like the Venezuelan coup, war with Iran, strong arming North Korea, war with Syria, war with Russia, war with China and many, many others.   That is the question that will be answered by their actions.  Do they serve the interests of America or that of a foreign nation?  Kicking off the crucifixion of Ilhan Omar on Ash Wednesday the beginning of the Lenten season to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ seems apropos.  According to Bible Odyssey:

Jesus was crucified as a Jewish victim of Roman violence. On this, all written authorities agree. A Gentile Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, condemned him to death and had him tortured and executed by Gentile Roman soldiers. Jesus was indeed one of thousands of Jews crucified by the Romans.

Members of congress claim we are a Judeo-Christian Country are we?  Who really is more like Jesus, Ilhan Omar or members of congress?  Who are the peacemakers and who are the war mongers?  Who cares about human suffering, congress or Ilhan Omar?  Who represent all American citizens, those who have no power to speak for themselves, Ilhan Omar or congress?  If Ilhan Omar cannot speak truth to power who can?  So let their crucifixion of Ilhan Omar begin so all can see who their representatives really work for.

They’re criminals, drug dealers, child molesters and rapists and they’re running our country

The American government is a rogue, criminal enterprise claiming to be a “Democratic Republic” but it is anything but.  What they really are, are unaccountable criminals, drug dealers and rapists funded by the fascist corporate interests feeding off the American people.  The latest charges of sexual misconduct are just the tip of the iceberg of corruption, filth, graft, theft, pedophilia and subjugation of the American citizens in a for-profit oligarchical fascist state.  This fascist state was carefully crafted by both major parties is what our populist President Donald Trump has inherited. 

These criminals, drug dealers and rapists control the elections in America and serve the for-profit oligarchical fascist state.  The labor laws that they have enacted in America have subjugated the American workforce into an indentured, sick, drug addicted populous to be used and tossed aside like garbage on the whim of the slave master.  From Jacobin Magazine:

Excerpt:

Where Despots Rule

In the workplace, workers can be surveilled by their employer, compelled to work long hours, and even denied bathroom breaks (a stricture that in one recent instance forced employees to wear diapers at work). In most parts of the US, employers can legally terminate employees for being “too attractive,” for having the wrong political affiliations, and for choosing a particular sexual partner. When American workers go to work, they enter a world marked more by unaccountable hierarchy than democracy and freedom...

The history of democracy is the history of movements to make government a public thing; that is, to make it the business of the governed — transparent to them, attentive to their interests, accountable to the public.  Private government is rule by authorities who tell the governed that the rules to which they are subject are none of their business, that they aren’t entitled to know about how their government operates, that they have no standing to insist that their interests be taken into account in how they are governed, that their rulers are not accountable to them…

Being humiliated, harassed, and abused by managers, subject to dangerous work conditions, being penalized for off-duty conduct that has nothing to do with on-the-job responsibilities, being pressured to support management’s political causes — such assaults on the dignity, safety, and autonomy of workers are of concern to egalitarians over and above issues of pay and benefits…

For centuries, marriage contracts worked like that. The man and the woman signed the marriage contract by mutual consent, but the contract specified that the man would have near-total authority over his wife. Until the late nineteenth century, upon marriage the woman lost her rights to own property and sign contracts in her own name, to work outside the home without her husband’s permission, even to leave her husband’s home without his permission. Until the late twentieth century, he was legally entitled to rape her…

The case of the employer-employee relation is similar. The state has determined the default terms of the employment relation through employment law. These establish a regime of “employment at will“: the employer can fire the employee for any or no reason, with very few exceptions, mostly having to do with discrimination. This grants bosses almost complete authority over workers, not only on the job but off duty as well.

Since the state has already put its thumbs very heavily on the scales in favor of employers, it is absurd to suppose that the employment contract is a product of negotiation between equals. Very few employees get a chance to negotiate at all...  Since they, like nineteenth-century husbands, have been dealt all the authority cards by default, why would they negotiate to give any of them to their employees?...

The legislated slavery of the American people has taken place under both corrupt parties and has infected every aspect of government.  Now we are being told that the GOP tax scam of giving trillions to corrupt businesses with no strings attached will trickle down to the people in more jobs and higher wages. 

Why would a business invest in humans when they have never valued human life in the past?  You can’t spend over a trillion dollars a year on wars of aggression and pass tax cuts for Wall Street vultures and expect a windfall of profits for working Americans.  From Information ClearingHouse:

Excerpt:

The Soul of the Nation is a Casualty of War

A Partisanship Of The Heart: Interior Measures Towards A Re-Visioning Of Capitalism’s Imperium Of Death - By Phil Rockstroh

According to a nationwide study conducted by the Center For Disease And Prevention (CDC) a greater number of US Americans died (approximately 65,000) from drug overdoses last year than were killed during the course of the Vietnam War.

All part and parcel of capitalism’s war against life itself. The emotional and physical pain, anxiety, and depression inflicted by the trauma inherent to a system sustained by perpetual exploitation has proven to be too much for a sizeable number of human beings to endure, thus their need to self-medicate.

The root of addiction is trauma. The soul of the nation is a casualty of war. There is not an Arlington Cemetery for these fallen, no hagiographic ceremonies will be performed over their graves nor statues erected in memoriam…

Growing up in a working class social milieu, as I did, I am confronted, more and more, by the news of the large number of men I grew up with who are dying in their 50s…  I’ve known, over the years, hundreds of human beings, born into and ensnared by the crime against humanity known as poverty, broken by the culture of greed and social degradation, and blamed by the clueless and the callous for the tragic trajectory in which impersonal fate and the wounding culture, by no fault of their own, has placed them…

                                                             

Truth is, the system, a hierarchy of ghouls, is maintained by harvesting the corpses of the powerless, by means of imperial slaughter and domestic, economic exploitation. Deep down, we know it..  It is time we dragged them back down to earth and subjected them to our earth-borne fury.

Hostility directed at the poor is the shopworn, demagogic sleight of hand trick used to distract from realities such as: Every mcmansion and high end luxury high-rise constructed creates multitudes of the homeless. Every low pay, no benefits, no future mcjob serves to decimate an individual, heart and spirit...

Unmoored from their sense of humanity by lashing angst and alienation, gunmen, in acts of warped libido, raise assault rifles and kill with no more connection to the strangers they slaughter than do stateside deployed pilots of the empire’s predator drones.

Moreover the beneficiaries of the system promote the lie, that shame should be the exclusive dominion of those broken by their system, a system, which is, in essence, a form of government-sanctioned gangsterism, by which they, the ruthless few, and they alone, benefit.

They’re murderers, criminals, drug dealers and rapists and they’re running our country.  They are wholly unaccountable and the people have no way of holding them accountable.  They claim to be Christians but their actions are Satanic serving their dark overlords.  They feed off misery, pain, hunger, ignorance which are abundant.  From The Intercept:

Excerpt:

CHILDREN ARE DYING AT ALARMING RATES IN FOSTER CARE, AND NOBODY IS BOTHERING TO INVESTIGATE

CHILDREN IN THE for-profit foster care system are dying at alarming rates, but the deaths are not being investigated, and autopsies are not even being attached to the now-closed case files, a two-year investigation has found.  The investigation, conducted and released in rare bipartisan fashion by the Senate Finance Committee, looked closely at one of the largest private providers of foster care services, the MENTOR Network.

The companies and agencies charged with keeping foster children safe often failed to provide the most basic protections or take steps to prevent tragedies, the investigation found.  In the wake of the report, shares of the MENTOR Network’s parent company, Civitas Solutions, traded sharply downward, but quickly rebounded amid a lack of press coverage…

The committee found that 86 children had died in the company’s care over a 10-year period, and the firm had conducted internal investigations in only 13 cases.

The political problem for foster children is a structural one. It would be hard to think of a group with less lobbying power in Washington, D.C., while the group homes that warehouse children are making significant profits off each one and are loathe to see that income dry up. Late last year, Hatch and Wyden made a push to reform the system with a bill that would privilege family settings over group homes, but a Baptist group home network in North Carolina persuaded its Senate delegation to block the legislation…

They’re murderers, pedophiles, drug dealers and rapists and they’re running our country.  They feign outrage at injustice while stuffing their pockets with blood money.  From Natural News:

Excerpt:

Memo to Merck CEO Ken Frazier: Your company has easily killed 100,000 times the number of those killed in Charlottesville violence

(Natural News) In case you haven’t heard, Merck CEO Ken Frazier resigned from President Trump’s manufacturing council, blaming Trump for the violence in Charlottesville that killed one protester and two police officers (whose helicopter fell out of the sky for yet-unknown reasons).

Yet Ken Frazier himself should be arrested and imprisoned for carrying out mass chemical violence against all Americans through the fraudulent sales of toxic, deadly prescription pharmaceuticals and vaccines manufactured and sold by Merck on a daily basis.

Nearly all of Merck’s drugs are “approved” by the FDA through an utterly fraudulent process of fake science, cherry-picked clinical trials and regulatory corruption and fraud. Remember, Merck is the same company whose own virologists filed a False Claims Act with the federal government, explaining they were ordered by Merck management to fake vaccine trial results in order to “trick” the FDA. Merck’s entire mumps vaccine operation is a complete and total fraud.

Merck has also been caught committing widespread scientific fraud by disguising its in-house propagandists as “independent science” authors for medical science papers that were published in mainstream science journals. Merck is to medicine, in other words, what Monsanto is to the food industry: They’re both steeped in evil, scientific fraud and deep deception…

Merck is also heavily involved in profiting off the opioid addiction epidemic that’s now ravaging America while generating record profits for companies like Merck. If anyone is committing mass violence against America, it’s people like Merck CEO Ken Frazier, a person who belongs behind bars for his continued sacrificing of human beings for corporate profits... The violence in Charlottesville is nothing at all compared to the violence carried out by Merck’s vaccine division alone, not to mention its other drugs.

In all, the violence witnessed in Charlottesville doesn’t even register compared to the chemical violence committed against millions of Americans every year by Merck and other drug giants. Yet have you noticed how the bought-off mainstream media never covers prescription drug violence? That’s because they’re all prostitutes for the pharmaceutical industry. 

In a truly just society, people like Ken Frazier would be arrested, indicted for widespread fraud and corruption, and spend the rest of their lives behind bars…

In a truly just society, members of congress would be arrested, indicted for widespread fraud and corruption and spend the rest of their lives behind bars.  But this is not a just society, this is a country run by murderers, pedophiles, drug dealers and rapists.  From World Socialist Website:

Excerpt:

Devastating toll of hunger on US school children

He noted that programs like food stamps, school meals and WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) had a major impact in alleviating hunger. But these programs are targeted for severe cuts, if not outright destruction, in the budget proposals of the Trump administration and congressional Republicans.

According to a report published Thursday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the House Republican budget plan, scheduled for a vote in early September, would slash $2.9 trillion from programs for low-income and moderate-income families over the next ten years.

This includes a cut of $150 billion from food stamps alone, a reduction of 40 percent. According to the CBPP, “A funding reduction of this magnitude would end food assistance for millions of low-income families, reduce benefits for tens of millions of such families, or some combination of the two…”

While the Trump administration and the congressional Republicans propose to deal with the deepening poverty and social misery by deliberately making the conditions worse, the Democratic Party offers no alternative. The Democrats are not demanding hearings over hunger or the impact of the proposed budget cuts.

The American government is a rogue, criminal enterprise claiming to be a “Democratic Republic” but it is anything but.  What they really are, are unaccountable criminals, drug cartels and rapists funded by the fascistic corporations with money stolen from the American people.   

There will be hearings, there will be apologies after being caught molesting and raping children, women and men but the majority of the rapists, criminals, drug cartels and child molesters will continue their craft in the halls of congress untouched by justice for it is they, who run our country.

By Patricia Baeten

Hurricane Donald kicks GOP congress aside passes short term financing for Hurricanes

What purpose does the United States Congress serve?  It seems that they only serve themselves heaping helpings of government funded goodies while the states they represent lie in squalor.  Both sides of the isle in congress extoll the glories of low taxes but low taxes hurt the American people while providing members of congress lavish lifestyles. 

Every four years the two parties get together and agree on a president to be elected that will continue with the status quo.  That ended in 2016 when Donald Trump burst on to the political scene as a populist running on the Republican ticket.  Trump had kicked aside the GOP choices of the Deep State and ran a campaign against the Deep State and the status quo and won.

Raising of the debt ceiling hurts regular American people while preserving the profits of Wall Street and protecting them from taxation.  The GOP’s plan was to hold the debt ceiling hostage in order to turn the Hurricane recovery funds into a long-term Disaster Capitalist boom.  By passing an 18-month debt ceiling deal, the GOP would be able to safely cruise through the 2018 mid-term election unscathed for their lack of legislative action.  But then, Hurricane Donald hit.  From National Sentinel:

Excerpt:

White House: Yeah, Trump doesn’t care what feckless GOP leaders think about his ‘deal’ with Dems

After some early stumbles, Trump is proving himself a worthy adversary in Washington

(National Sentinel) Politics Unusual: The White House on Friday said that President Donald J. Trump isn’t concerned about butthurt Republicans over his “deal” with Democrats to secure funds for hurricane relief and to extend the debt ceiling for another three months.

“The biggest message is we are a lot less focused on what makes Congress happy and [instead on] what makes Americans better and stronger,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as the Washington Times reported. “He’s going to continue working with whoever is interested in moving the ball forward to help the American people.”  Sanders added that the president’s deal-making abilities are large part of why Americans elected him.

“The president’s focus was doing what is best for the American people. And that’s why he’s the president,” she said. “People wanted somebody to be a leader. They wanted someone who was going to step up and take action, and that’s exactly what the president did.”

Several Republicans — some of the same ones who refuse to get over the fact that he kicked establishment GOP ass last year and, thus, have been working to undermine him and his agenda — were taken aback by the deal. 

They shouldn’t have been, considering the president has been warning them for months he would work with Democrats if his own party continued to treat him like a red-headed step-child. And as if to emphasize the point, 90 Republicans voted against the $15.25 billion aid package including four from Texas.

None of this is to suggest that Democrats will have their way with Trump moving forward, either.  After some early stumbles, Trump is proving himself a worthy adversary in Washington. That’s going to really work out well for we the people.

The Trump White House not only doesn’t care what feckless GOP leaders think about his ‘deal’ with Dems he’s further putting the GOP on notice, work for the American people or get out of the way.  From The Hill:

Excerpt:

THE MEMO: Trump puts the GOP on notice

President Trump’s shock deal with the two top Democrats in Congress was a shot across the bows of his own party — and the after-effects are reverberating.  Some insiders forecast that Trump is headed for a definitive break with Republican leadership, seeking to forge a new political identity after a divisive first stretch in office…

The deal, struck in a White House meeting and passed by Congress, funds the government and raises the debt ceiling for three months, exactly the terms sought by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Trump backed them… over the wishes of his own party, and his own Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin…

One aide to a conservative House Republican, who asked for anonymity to discuss the matter candidly, lamented that the GOP as a whole “did not have a game plan” to deal with the debt ceiling…

Said Democratic strategist Tad Devine…  “I think he wants to get back to using the power of the presidency to his advantage, and it doesn’t matter to him if it’s to the Republican Party’s advantage or not…   

Trump had an uneasy relationship with the GOP establishment during his campaign.  After he won, he watched Congressional Republicans fail ignominiously to repeal and replace the Affordable Act — also known as ObamaCare — despite having promised voters they would do just that since the law’s inception in 2010…

Still, there is wariness from virtually every quarter about trying to predict Trump’s next moves… 

Trump “is himself like a hurricane,” said Tyler. “There is this enormous cone of uncertainty…  Brad Blakeman, a GOP strategist who served on President George W. Bush’s White House staff, said Trump was motivated above all by a need to expedite aid in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

At the least, however, the most unpredictable president of recent decades has scrambled the political deck of cards once again...  Devine, the Democratic strategist, argued that Trump might ultimately be considering running for reelection outside of the traditional two-party system, gambling that his base would be big enough to prevail in a three- or four-candidate race.  For now, Devine said, it looks as if Trump is trying his own brand of the “triangulation” practiced by then-President Clinton in the 1990s.

Interesting concept, Trump running for reelection outside the traditional two-party system.  The two parties have become useless with each individual having to please his or her financial backers against the interests of the American people.  It is no secret that the GOP party elite despise President Trump.  From PatrickBuchanan:

Excerpt:

Trump Dumps the Do-Nothing Congress

Donald Trump is president today because he was seen as a doer not a talker. Among the most common compliments paid him in 2016 was, “At least he gets things done!”

And it was exasperation with a dithering GOP Congress, which had failed to enact his or its own agenda, that caused Trump to pull the job of raising the debt ceiling away from Republican contractors Ryan & McConnell, and give it to Pelosi & Schumer…

Returning to D.C. after five weeks vacation, with zero legislation enacted, Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were facing a deadline to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government.  Failure to do so would crash the markets, imperil the U.S. bond rating, and make America look like a deadbeat republic…

Yet, every year, it seems, Congress goes up to the precipice of national default before authorizing the borrowing to pay the bills Congress itself has run up… 

Will he give up on free-trade Republicans to work with Democrats to protect U.S. jobs and businesses from predator traders like China?  Will he cut a deal with Hill Democrats on which infrastructure projects should be funded first? Will he seek out compromise with Democrats on whose taxes should be cut and whose retained?

We could be looking at a seismic shift in national politics, with Trump looking to centrist and bipartisan coalitions to achieve as much of his agenda as he can...  The Congress of the United States, whose powers were delineated in the late 18th century, may simply not be an institution suited to the 21st.

A century ago, Congress ceded to the Federal Reserve its right “to coin money (and) regulate the value thereof.” It has yielded to the third branch, the Supreme Court, the power to invent new rights, as in Roe v. Wade. Its power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations” has been assumed by an executive branch that negotiates the trade treaties, leaving Congress to say yea or nay.

Congress alone has the power to declare war. But recent wars have been launched by presidents over Congressional objection, some without consultation…  Result: In a recent survey, 72 percent of Americans expressed high confidence in the military; 12 percent said the same of Congress.

The American people are sick to death of the congress that was elected by billionaires’ money to serve those billionaires.  We know we have no say over who is elected to our government.  Sure we are given a roster by the two parties of candidates who profess their loyalty to their financial backers.  If congress wanted to immediately fund aid for the victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose and Katia they could.  But they don’t want to. 

If President Trump is considering starting a new party for his reelection in 2020 he might look to forward thinkers like Senator Rand Paul.  From The Daily Caller:

Excerpt:

Senate Tables Amendment Calling For Harvey Aid To Be Taken From Foreign Aid Fund

The Senate voted to table an amendment aimed at paying for Hurricane Harvey relief using cuts to foreign aid in an 87-10 vote Thursday.

The “America First” amendment — introduced by GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — would have offset the House-passed $7.85 billion aid package while providing an additional $2.5 billion to be used for Harvey recovery efforts or preparation for Hurricane Irma.

Paul’s office noted that the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) latest information shows that roughly $20 billion in unobligated foreign aid is currently available, which the senator believes would be better spent on domestic emergencies.

“There have been people who argued that our $20 trillion debt is the number one threat to our national security. So what I am asking is: Why don’t we pay for this?” Paul said on the floor ahead of the vote. “Why don’t we simply take some money that we were going to spend someone else for something not as valuable in another country and why don’t we spend it here?”

The Senate is slated to take up the lower chamber’s Harvey relief legislation, where it will attach a continuing resolution to keep the government funded and language on a raising the debt ceiling to the bill before sending it back to the House.

Yes, that’s our congress.  Money for all their myriad of special interests but nothing for America.  Senator Paul says “the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) latest information shows that roughly $20 billion in unobligated foreign aid is currently available, which the senator believes would be better spent on domestic emergencies.”

So USAID has $20 billion just gathering dust and congress won’t allow those funds to be used for Hurricane relief in America.  So where does USAID spend the money congress generously slathers them with?  While this article is from 2014 it gives a really good picture of what congress wants to spend that $20 billion on compared to relief here at home.  From Pando:

Excerpt:

The murderous history of USAID, the US Government agency behind Cuba's fake Twitter clone

“In a number of countries, including Venezuela and Bolivia, USAID is acting more as an agency involved in covert action, like the CIA, than as an aid or development agency…”

Last week, we learned from the Associated Press that USAID (United States Agency for International Development) — the government agency which manages billions in overseas “humanitarian” aid programs — plotted to overthrow Cuba’s communist regime…

What really seems to be weirding people out here is the shock realization that USAID — the nice, humanitarian, democracy-promoting arm of American idealism — also engages in sleazy regime-change and subversion… now’s a good time to refresh our memories about USAID’s dark past.

Former New York Times correspondent A. J. Langguth wrote that the “the two primary functions” of the USAID police training program were to allow the CIA to “plant men with local police in sensitive places around the world,” and to bring to the United States “prime candidates for enrollment as CIA employees...”

Dan Mitrione wasn’t a CIA man himself. Mitrione was a small-town cop and a family man from Richmond, Indiana, who joined the FBI, and was sent to Brazil in the early 1960s under USAID’s Office of Public Safety to train the fledging democratic government’s police force. A few years later, in 1964, a US-backed coup overthrew Brazil’s democratically-elected president Joao Goulart, and installed a right-wing military dictatorship…

By the end of the 1960s… USAID had trained over 100,000 of Brazil’s police in the dark arts of rule-by-terror; another 600 Brazilian police were brought to the US for special USAID training in explosives and interrogation techniques…

I don’t want to get into the weeds too much with USAID but you get the point.  In addition to the three-quarters of a trillion dollar annual budget for the Pentagon, secret unaccountable funds are funneled through USAID and the Overseas Contingency Operations to overthrow elected governments across the globe.  Congress, when faced with horrific natural or unnatural disasters in America refuse to touch any of the trillions in funds for war and terrorizing resource rich, cash poor countries to help their own country.

When our military is sent to fight these corporate wars for profits, they return home, broke, injured, ill and many times homeless and hopeless.  But once they have served their usefulness to world hegemony, congress discards them like toy soldiers.  From Veterans Today:

Excerpt:

NEO: The Unseen Victims of America’s War Machine

In 1938, disabled veterans were an inconvenience. They still are, except at election time when each new candidate promises to address the wrongdoing of their predecessor and, of course, in the end, nothing whatsoever changes.

The Trumbo novel, fiction, is almost identical to the scandal at the massive Walter Reed complex where members of congress receive their medical care. The rundown and rat infested buildings at Walter Reed, during the Bush 43 administration, were used to store disabled military, until the Washington Post found out about it anyway.

In a facility where there are luxury suites for members of congress to receive the most expensive medical care in the world, free of charge, paid for by American taxpayers, disabled combat veterans lived in filth, in many cases medical treatment withheld until they agreed to sign away their rights to disability pension benefits…

When illegal weapons are used, nuclear, biological or chemical, the military veterans who become victims are forced to die from the disease of official denial and anyone who thinks nuclear, biological and chemical arsenals aren’t deployed against targets in the Middle East is a fool…

There are two basic business units for what is now called the Department of Veterans Affairs. One unit denies claims, loses paperwork and has built the largest “Skinner Box” in history to force the sick and disabled to simply “go away...”

The other is “medical mistreatment…”  Care is rationed with waiting lists for things like expensive dental work or knee replacement surgery taking more than a decade.

What is really being hidden is the cost of America’s wars.

You see, the new professional military that Nixon gave the US after Vietnam is a “garrison army,” not a combat army…

When, because of physical or psychological conditions which will invariably result from multiple deployments manifest, these soldiers are more often forced out – charged with an offense of some kind, or disallowed from continuing service and receiving a retirement pension.

This places those who qualify – and not all qualify – in a medical system designed to make dying seem attractive.  Certainly Israel provides far better medical care to al Qaeda and ISIS fighters than America does to her own troops.

The American people are sick of the “America last” congress and stand behind Donald Trump.  When Hurricane Donald trumped the GOP the media and the Deep State tried desperately to put lipstick on the pig.  From TheTrumpet @ Hillary is 44: 

Excerpt:

On Wednesday, Paul Ryan, King of the Ant-Trump RINO GOP Establishment, denounced the idea of a three month extension on the debt ceiling as “ridiculous and disgraceful.”  Paul Ryan and the GOP establishment made all sorts of grand promises early in 2017 of how they would get ObamaCare repeal done and all sorts of other President Trump promises passed – by August! It would all be done we were told early this year…

The problems are that their agenda is not the Trump Agenda…  President Trump knows he is dealing with treacherous establishment liars and users. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell along with the rest of the GOP establishment lie to the voters to get elected and they thought they could do the same to President Trump. But President Trump understands what kind of treacherous creatures he is dealing with:

Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, the GOP establishment thought they could passively aggressive beat President Trump in the art of the deal. Then President Trump schlonged them all, as we predicted in our article below.

President Trump made a better deal with cryin’ Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelousy. It was right out of the Bill Clinton triangulation playbook. President Trump schlonged the GOP establishment. President Trump used cryin’ Chuck and Pelousy to schlong Paul Ryno and the GOP establishment. Big Media and the schlonged tried to claim that President Trump was used by the Obama Dimocrats. To the contrary, President Trump let everyone know he will get his way one way or the other…

President Trump wants to get things done. Paul Ryno and in the Ditch Mitch lied to President Trump about how hard they would work to get the Trump Agenda passed as they pretended their agenda was the Trump Agenda. Paul Ryno, in the Ditch Mitch, and the rest of the GOP congress instead of working hard went on vacation. Weeks of vacation.

They got nothing done for President Trump as they had promised weekly since the beginning of the year. Paul Ryno and in the Ditch Mitch did in fact get a lot done – they blocked President Trump at every turn. So they rewarded themselves with many weeks of vacation.

Paul Ryno and in the Ditch Mitch thought they could keep on getting nothing done and then at the last moment go to President Trump and once again tell him “this is the best we can do so you better sign it” as they present garbage bills for the President’s signature…  But instead President Trump schlonged them all.

With the three month extension of the debt limit and the passage of hurricane relief aid President Trump has placed congress in the position of getting work done or missing their Christmas vacation…

If these treacherous manipulators want to go on vacation they will have to do what President Trump wants. They now know that President Trump will not stand like a doofus as they get nothing done on the Trump Agenda.

Ahh, when it comes to the art of the deal, nobody does it better than Trump.  Hurricane Donald kicked the lazy billionaire funded congress aside and passed a short term financing bill for the hurricanes ravaging America.  That is just a start, with fires devastating the Pacific Northwest there is much to be done and it’s going to take hundreds of billions of dollars. 

Trump has sent a message loud and clear, he will work with whomever it takes to pass the agenda of the American people.  That agenda is to “Make America Great Again” at all costs.  Hurricane Donald’s message “get to work and get things done or I will.”  Nobody does it better that’s why Trump is president.

By Patricia Baeten

Mr. President, leave the GOP and start a “Drain the Swamp Party” before the 2018 midterm election

America needs a new party that is completely divorced from the duopoly that has waged a chemical and financial war against the American people.  Through the duopoly’s complete control over the electoral process they have made it impossible for a viable third party to offer real change in America.  The president is supposed to be the head of the party and yet the GOP congress is frantically working to stymie President Trump’s agenda.  It is time to really drain the swamp with a new third party dedicated to that purpose.

When Senator John McCain returned to congress from his sick bed to vote on the Obamacare repeal bill, that was just a bait and switch.  As a matter of fact, McCain betrayed his president on the Obamacare repeal bill.  Why you might ask?  Because members of congress receive a $10,000 dollar taxpayer paid subsidy to pay for their Obamacare, a perk that was awarded by congress to themselves, while the American people suffer with high premiums, low coverage and massive fines if they fail to carry insurance they can’t afford to use.  But that’s about to end.  From The Trumpet@Hillary is 44:

Excerpt:

Think what we write about below is wrong? Wrong. Look at what we suggest President Trump do to congressional exemptions from ObamaCare and the ObamaCare subsidies issue litigated against Barack Obama’s illegal subsidies as determined to be so by the courts. Check out this most important “tweet” from President Donald J. Trump:

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!

11:27 AM - Jul 29, 2017

18,688 18,688 Replies   11,168 11,168 Retweets   38,917 38,917 likes

Ram ObamaCare exactly as written in law down the GOP congressional throat. Ram ObamaCare exactly as written in law down those who enjoy illegal subsidies the courts have struck down but not yet implemented – then watch as they realize ObamaCare is an Obamination. Enforce ObamaCare as written into law and watch the health insurance system collapse. Ram ObamaCare down every Obama Dimocrat’s throat…

There is also a petition to remove the exemption Congress illegally received from Barack Obama to protect our servants who think they are our masters from having to get on ObamaCare.

Mr. President, drain the swamp.  Start a “Drain the Swamp Party” in time for the 2018 midterm election.  After the Obamacare repeal kabuki dance, the Senate got down to their real agenda of hamstringing President Trump’s ability to conduct his foreign policy.  The Senate voted nearly unanimously to usurp Trump’s presidential powers.  From LaRouchpac:

Excerpt:

Russia Sanctions Bill Based On Numerous Frauds

July 28, 2017 (EIRNS)—The Russian sanctions section of the Iran-Russia-North Korea sanctions bill, H.R.3364, which the U.S. Senate gave its final approval to by a vote of 98-2 yesterday and sent to the White House, is a full-scale assault on Trump, openly putting nearly the entire Congress on the record as backers of the of the fake Russia-gate (proven false by the VIPS report), and willing to back the ongoing coup by the British assets in the press, the intelligence community, and Wall Street.

The bill is based on numerous frauds, among them, the assertion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. It cites in the findings section the Jan. 6, 2017 intelligence "assessment"—the one that was presented as a consensus of the intelligence community as a whole but turned out to have been composed by a hand picked group of analysts from only three of the 17 intelligence agencies—that claimed that "Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the United States presidential election…"

With respect to congressional review, the bill provides that if the president wishes to lift sanctions—in the language of the bill, actions that either significantly alter or don’t alter U.S. foreign policy—he must submit a report to the Congress which will then be the subject of hearings in the relevant committees, and then a resolution of disapproval or approval "may" be originated in either house, subject to limited debate and then presidential approval or veto. It appears that there’s no requirement on the part of the Congress to even respond with a resolution, if it chooses not to, and therefore, if the Congress doesn’t act, the president can’t do anything.

Basically the Russia sanctions bill awards congress powers that supersede that of the Executive.  Drain the swamp, President Trump.  For the 2018 midterm election start a “Drain the Swamp Party” to run against the Democrats and Republicans.  But the Senate wasn’t finished with their dirty deeds and undermining President Trump.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions in collusion with congress recused himself from the faux Russian meddling in the US presidential election investigation.  In doing so he opened the door for the deeply corrupt Justice Department political appointees to name a Special Investigator with unlimited powers to delve into every nook and cranny of Donald Trump’s entire life and the lives of anyone he or his family has ever had contact with. 

Before the war profiteering millionaire congress left for their five week summer vacation they usurped the president’s power to make recess appointments and issued a threat to the president in the event he decides to fire Sessions.  From The Hill:

Excerpt:

Senate GOP steps up defense of Sessions

Senate Republicans are getting more aggressive in fighting back at President Trump’s attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says there will be “hell to pay” if Sessions is fired, while Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, warned he won’t hold hearings to confirm a successor to Sessions…

Senate Republicans also quickly slammed the door on the possibility that Trump could use recess appointment powers to get around Grassley.  “I don’t think it’s going to happen,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, who said Republicans will hold pro-forma sessions every few days to block Trump from making recess appointments.  “If we have to stay in session to protect Sessions, we’d do so,” he said…

If the chamber convenes every few days — even for a few minutes — then it is not, technically, on recess and, therefore, the president cannot make recess appointments…

The use of pro forma sessions to block recess appointments isn’t unusual…  What’s unusual here, is that Republicans are vowing to use the tactic to thwart a president from their own party.

Republicans are acting partly out of friendship to Sessions but also out of concern that Trump may be laying the groundwork to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel who is leading the investigation of possible collusion between Russian agents and Trump’s inner circle of family and advisers…

Graham warned that such a move could provoke a constitutional crisis.  He is working on legislation would require judicial review of any presidential decision to fire a special counsel to determine whether it complied with the law.  He predicted it would have a large number of Republican and Democratic co-sponsors.

“Any effort to go after Mueller could be beginning of the end of the Trump presidency unless Mueller did something wrong. Right now I have no reason to believe Mueller is compromised,” Graham warned.

Drain the swamp, Mr. President.  Fire AG Sessions and fire Inspector Mueller.  Both parties are corrupted beyond repair and if you need further proof that the parties are utterly corrupt to a treasonous degree read this article from National Review:

Excerpt:

Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the Pakistani IT Scammers

There’s more than bank fraud going on here. In Washington, it’s never about what they tell you it’s about. So take this to the bank: The case of Imran Awan, Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s mysterious Pakistani IT guy, is not about bank fraud. Yet bank fraud was the stated charge on which Awan was arrested at Dulles Airport this week, just as he was trying to flee the United States for Pakistan, via Qatar.

That is the same route taken by Awan’s wife, Hina Alvi, in March, when she suddenly fled the country, with three young daughters she yanked out of school, mega-luggage, and $12,400 in cash. By then, the proceeds of the fraudulent $165,000 loan they’d gotten from the Congressional Federal Credit Union had been sent ahead. It was part of a $283,000 transfer that Awan managed to wire from Capitol Hill. He pulled it off — hilariously, if infuriatingly — by pretending to be his wife in a phone call with the credit union.

Told that his proffered reason for the transfer (“funeral arrangements”) wouldn’t fly, “Mrs.” Awan promptly repurposed: Now “she” was “buying property.” Asking no more questions, the credit union wired the money . . . to Pakistan. As you let all that sink in, consider this: Awan and his family cabal of fraudsters had access for years to the e-mails and other electronic files of members of the House’s Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committees.

It turns out they were accessing members’ computers without their knowledge, transferring files to remote servers, and stealing computer equipment — including hard drives that Awan & Co. smashed to bits of bytes before making tracks.  They were fired in February. All except Awan, that is. He continued in the employ of Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat, former DNC chairwoman, and Clinton crony…

This is not about bank fraud. The Awan family swindles are plentiful, but they are just window-dressing. This appears to be a real conspiracy, aimed at undermining American national security. At the time of his arrest, the 37-year-old Imran Awan had been working for Democrats as an information technologist for 13 years…

Congressional-staff salaries are modest, in the $40,000 range. For some reason, Awan was paid about four times as much. He also managed to get his wife, Alvi, on the House payroll . . . then his brother, Abid Awan . . . then Abid’s wife, Natalia Sova. The youngest of the clan, Awan’s brother Jamal, came on board in 2014 — the then-20-year-old commanding an annual salary of $160,000…   for their IT “work,” the Pakistani family has reeled in $4 million from U.S. taxpayers since 2009.

That’s just the “legit” dough. The family business evidently dabbles in procurement fraud, too. The Capitol Police and FBI are exploring widespread double-billing for computers, other communication devices, and related equipment…

The Daily Caller has also discovered that the family, which controlled several properties, was involved in various suspicious mortgage transfers. Abid Awan, while working “full-time” in Congress, ran a curious auto-retail business called “Cars International A” (yes, CIA), through which he was accused of stealing money and merchandise…

In civil lawsuits, they are accused of life-insurance fraud…  Democrats now say that any access to sensitive information was “unauthorized.” But how hard could it have been to get “unauthorized” access when House Intelligence Committee Dems wanted their staffers to have unbounded access?...

They started arranging the fraudulent credit-union loan in December, and the $283,000 wire transfer occurred on January 18. In early February, House security services informed representatives that the Awans were suspects in a criminal investigation. At some point, investigators found stolen equipment stashed in the Rayburn House Office Building, including a laptop that appears to belong to Wasserman Schultz and that Imran was using.

Although the Awans were banned from the Capitol computer network, not only did Wasserman Schultz keep Imran on staff for several additional months, but Meeks retained Alvi until February 28 — five days before she skedaddled to Lahore. Strange thing about that: On March 5, the FBI (along with the Capitol Police) got to Dulles Airport in time to stop Alvi before she embarked. It was discovered that she was carrying $12,400 in cash. As I pointed out this week, it is a felony to export more than $10,000 in currency from the U.S. without filing a currency transportation report.

It seems certain that Alvi did not file one: In connection with her husband’s arrest this week, the FBI submitted to the court a complaint affidavit that describes Alvi’s flight but makes no mention of a currency transportation report. Yet far from making an arrest, agents permitted her to board the plane and leave the country, notwithstanding their stated belief that she has no intention of returning…

Did the swindling staffers compromise members of Congress? Does blackmail explain why were they able to go unscathed for so long? And as for that sensitive information, did the Awans send American secrets, along with those hundreds of thousands of American dollars, to Pakistan? This is no run-of-the-mill bank-fraud case.

Drain the swamp, Mr. President.  Leave the GOP and start your own party in time for the 2018 midterm election.  Mr. President you were elected by disaffected Democrats, Republicans and Independents.  We the people rejected both parties in 2016 and chose you to turn this Titanic around.  The two parties have defied the will of the people and used our intelligence agencies to usurp power from the president.  From Information ClearingHouse:

Excerpt:

Trump Faces Down the CIA and Co-Opts the Pentagon on Syria

“Donald Trump has taken the strangest, messiest route imaginable towards fulfilling his campaign pledge to curtail Washington’s urge to regime change, and to ease tensions with Russia.”

It is also likely that Trump’s gaggle of White House generals, led by Secretary of Defense James “Mad Dog” Mattis and national security advisor H.R. McMaster, have kept the Pentagon in check, preventing a reprise of the mutiny that sabotaged President Obama’s cease-fire and intelligence-sharing agreement with Russian forces in Syria, on September 17 of last year. In a blatant rebellion against civilian authority, U.S. warplanes killed 100 Syrian soldiers at Deir Ez-Zor, allowing ISIS to overrun half the city.

The next week, with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter at his side, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee, “The U.S. military role will not include intelligence sharing with the Russians." The Pentagon had “punked” lame duck President Barack Obama and his secretary of state, John Kerry.

Donald Trump took note, and surrounded himself with generals before setting foot in the White House, perhaps to shield his presidency from falling prey to its own “Seven Days In May”-type scenario… 

Trump this summer defied the War Party and its corporate media mouthpieces, negotiating a cease-fire with the Russians in several regions of Syria, to be followed by additional truces, and ending the CIA’s not-so-covert role as Grandmaster of Islamic Jihad. It seemed...unreal…

The demons at the Washington Post and the New York Times have only one explanation for all earthly phenomena, including the termination of the CIA’s jihadist overseer duties in Syria: Trump is “colluding” with the Russians. The Times moaned that “the decision is bound to be welcomed by the Russians.”  The WP whined that “the Russian government had long opposed the program, seeing it as an assault on its interests.”

Neither paper is concerned that the CIA project violates international laws against unprovoked attacks on sovereign nations, as well as U.S. laws against giving material assistance to al Qaida, a prime beneficiary of CIA weapons, or that half a million Syrians have died, as a result.

Despite his apparent vow of semi-silence on the CIA front, Trump could not resist a Twitter retort. “The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad,” he wrote, effectively declassifying the now-defunct (are we sure?) CIA terror campaign.

Drain the swamp Mr. President.  The two parties have morphed into one War Party with the goal of removing you from office.  Drain the swamp, leave the GOP and form a “Drain the Swamp Party”.  We will stand with you Mr. President, drain the swamp.  Take your fight to the American people, announce that you are starting a “Drain the Swamp Party” and appoint an independent staff to organize it before the 2018 election.    We have your back Mr. President, drain the swamp.

By Patricia Baeten