Uh Oh!

The inevitable crumbling of the Trump Administration has finally begun, it seems.  We are by no means out of the woods as far as the potential damage this republic will endure before he finally is ousted either by impeachment or the election of 2020, but the signs are there.  The straw that broke this camel’s back appears to be the Ukraine incident which will ultimately result in Articles of Impeachment against Trump.  It is actually fascinating to watch as cracks in the foundation of Trump’s corruption filled government widen and reveal the rot that is far more pervasive than we ever thought.

And the road we take as a nation is perhaps finally taking a turn that many of us yearned for but thought a hopeless dream.

How ironic that a scheme conceived by the President and his henchmen to hang the mantle of corruption on Joe Biden has revealed the massive corruption being perpetrated on the American people every day by the Trump Administration.  With the arrest of the two slimeball lackeys of Rudolph Guiliani this past week, the desiccated skin of the whole ruse has been ripped off for all to see.

And the view is not pretty. 

As each revelation is revealed, we can see the methodology employed to erase each impediment to the success of this dastardly plot.  We can also see the structure of the plan and individuals who have taken part in its execution.  From Trump to Giuliani to Pompeo to Sonderland to Rick Perry to Pete Sessions to the two creeps sowing false accusations against Biden and Marie Yovanovich.   The intent to corrupt and lie to the world about what was going on in this episode with Ukraine is sickening. 

We now finally see underneath the reptilian surface of what is surely this kind of corruption at every level of the Trump Administration.  Trump and his Cabinet lackeys have been pushing aside loyal career government employees who find themselves in positions that impede the progress of the Trumpification of the programs and safeguards that have taken 242 years to evolve into our system of government.  That is why Marie Yovanovich was removed as Ambassador to Ukraine with no reason other than she ‘had lost the confidence of the President’. (BTW, in an interview on TV the other day he said he didn’t even know her!) She was an impediment to the accomplishment of the Trump/Guiliani plan to corrupt the Ukrainian government. 

That is also why 2 White House staffers responsible for disbursing and monitoring the $400 Million Congress appropriated for Ukraine’s defense, were pushed aside and control of that money was put in the hands of a new Trump lackey with no experience working with Congressional disbursement—his experience?---former Chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party.  The result was that Trump was able to stall payment to Ukraine so he could force the Ukrainians to support his scheme to slime Joe Biden.

Think about this—Many of Trump’s current cabinet and cabinet level appointees are “Acting”.-- Labor, Homeland Security, Chief of Staff, National Intelligence, Office of Management and Budget, SBA.  Other positions in “Acting” status are heads of OSHA, FDA, FEMA, ICE, US Citizenship and Immigration Service, US Customs and Border Services, These positions are supposed to be approved by the Senate.  And yet, they have not been, which means they are appointed without approval and there is no action being taken to submit their names to the Senate for approval.  The net result is that these powerful branches of our government are being led by Trump people that he can manipulate to his own ends. 

Note this example: with the resignation of “Acting Secretary of Homeland Security” Kevin McAleenan, Trump is considering appointing “Acting Head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services” Ken Cuccinelli to the role of “Acting Secretary of Homeland Security”---a role that the Senate rejected him for when his name was submitted for approval.  In fact when Cuccinelli was appointed to USCIS, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee said, “"With both Democrats and Republicans opposing him, there is no reason for President Trump to install someone who has no chance of Senate confirmation,” Thompson said. 

In fact, I would urge all of you to read the following article which describes the Trump Administration’s strategy for placing unapproved personnel to head top agencies.  You will notice in the text of this article the description of how long-time experienced loyal and patriotic agency employees are removed to make way for Acting Directors and support staff that Trump can control and manipulate.  This results in directions that these agencies then take to radically change their function and authority to more closely adhere to the questionable Trump motives and designs.  This is how our government is being corrupted by Trump.  The danger is ongoing and pervasive.  Link to article.   

The courageous patriotic action taken by Marie Yovanovich in testifying before the House Intelligence Committee is an example for all of us, and most specifically for others working in government who have witnessed the growing decay in department after department.  Have you noticed that the State Department has hollowed out?  Career diplomats are resigning because they are ‘in the way’ of the new way of doing diplomacy.  The new standard being set by Trump and his administration is a standard built on corruption—lies, deception, conspiracies and coercion are the tools of the trade.

The day of reckoning is coming, not only for Trump and the perfidious men he surrounds himself with, but for all the Republican stooges who have blindly supported his actions because they have chosen party over country for the past 4 years.   As the corrupt schemes are unveiled over the coming weeks and months, these Republicans will be faced with the awful truth that they have been cowards and lackeys;  not patriots.  When the weight of the evidence for the variety of egregious things Trump has done over his term coalesces into Articles of Impeachment, Republican representatives ,and more importantly, senators will be forced to take a position on whether they condone and support what has happened.  I wonder what they will do?  As public pressure increases as the evidence becomes more comprehensive, will they still blindly support this President?  They will have a fateful decision to make; they will be faced with their own ultimate legacy that will be recorded in the history books.  We will see who the real patriots are……

It appears that Nancy Pelosi is the consummate strategist, and her path to exercising the Congress’s constitutionally mandated power of oversight of the Executive branch is steadfast, considered and cautious.  Trump screams foul, is vitriolic in his criticism, claims all sorts of non-existing privileges , and denigrates the Democrats with crude, disgusting language and lies about their motives.  His continued stonewalling of all legitimate requests by Congress will only seal his fate.  It is all going to be revealed over time as Congress inexorably follows the Constitutional process for impeachment.  I predict that the wave of revulsion that Americans will express as they learn the extent of his motives and the pervasiveness of his illegal actions will be his final undoing.