We Regret The Error

It's Friday late afternoon and after a tumultuous and incredibly intense week here in DC, it's time for a few moments of fun and silliness. Yes, the above correction regarding star Impeachment Inquiry witness Lt. Col. Vindman appeared in GQ magazine. This represents the stuff that makes life worth living.

The great Parker Molloy took this correction and really ran far and wide with it. She created an epic twitter thread of her favorite corrections, and they are deliriously wonderful. So are many of her followers' comments. Check it out, you won't regret any lost time:

Parker Molloy's epic "corrections" thread

Here are a few choice selections:

Oh, yes! Every one of the corrections in her thread is classic!! OK, we're on a bit of a roll here. So let's turn to our old standby, The Onion (America's Finest News Source), for their article on Vice President Mike Pence and his efforts to Self-Rapture himself:

https://politics.theonion.com/sweating-grunting-mike-pence-straining-to-rapture-hims-1839984347

And their photo of a "healthier-than-ever" Trump addressing a campaign rally from an iron lung machine is also a laugh:

Speaking of surreal, here is the weird and strangely addictive twitter site, "Giant Military Cats". It features all sorts of major military hardware and gigantic cats:

https://twitter.com/GiantCat9

A couple of samples from this super silly site:

And as long as we're trying to get past the High Ridiculousness of this past week, it's useful to take a quick look back at when this all began:

Of course, we cannot leave without sharing the wonderful moment that came to us on Wednesday during the Impeachment Inquiry. Ambassador Gordon Sondland had just delivered a morning's worth of sworn testimony that would have sunk a dozen other administrations. He had thrown the entire Trump Administration under the bus. The reaction of ranking Republican and cow lover Devin Nunes, GOP House counsel Castor and chief tool and sex abuse enabler Jim Jordan is priceless! A video for the ages:

And if all these amusements have not done the trick for you, keep in mind the words of the great Comedy Zen Master, Harpo Marx:

Where The Avalanche Is Headed

The time between Veterans Day and next year's Baseball Season Opener will be remembered as Donald Trump's Terrible, Horrible, No Good and Very Bad End of His Presidency. And though there will be times when President Screamy von Poutface and his sleazy sycophants seem to be gaining the upper hand, he will be relentlessly hammered into submission from a variety of circulating fronts.

Let's examine how this proceeds...

IMPEACHMENT. Right, this is obvious and definitely will be happening, 100%.  Ever since the news broke two months ago regarding the curious phone call Trump made to Ukrainian President Zelensky, an intractable avalanche of impeachable evidence has been piling up. I won't bore you with the details, except that the basis for Impeachment is firmly established and is growing.

Public hearings start next week. This should last into December. Articles of Impeachment will be presented for a House vote before Christmas. A Senate trial will begin sometime in January. It could last for several weeks, depending on the number of Articles approved and the witnesses to be called. And because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will establish the trial rules, the Dems need to work hard to avoid his obstacles.

Sometime between the Ides of March and Opening Day, the Senate will have voted. Trump will be acquitted, probably in a nakedly fact-free and partisan fashion, although there will be a few Republican defections. It will be close.

But that doesn't matter. He will be royally hosed. For why that is, let's look at what else is happening, apart from the Impeachment drama. Some of the following will simply pester the President. But others could debilitate. (Note: any of these that are Federal Department of Justice investigations will likely be hampered or delayed by Attorney General Bill Barr. However, he has his own difficulties ahead. When he is gone, these investigations will proceed.)

The Unredacted Grand Jury Testimony from the Mueller Report. There are lots of juicy items here. Not to be forgotten are the 10 specific Trumpian events that were highlighted as Obstruction of Justice material. There will be oh so much more. These instances can be used to prosecute Trump and allies after he leaves the Presidency. Also, some secret memos obtained via FOIA lawsuit already have been released. They don't look good for Team Trump at all. Judge Beryl Howell ruled to release all GJ testimonies to the House Judiciary Committee. Status: Release is stayed, pending appeal.

The Mazar accounting firm.  Trump's financial records are held by this firm. They have been ordered to turn over everything, including taxes, to the House Oversight Committee. Now Trump's lawyers are preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court. Should be interesting.

Deutsche Bank and Capital One. Following subpoenas from the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees, Deutsche "and others" handed over thousands of documents. These involve Trump and his adult children. Since then, Deutsche revealed it had some of their tax returns, and would wait for a court order to send everything else to the House. Status: on appeal with the Federal appellate court in NYC.

Emoluments Clause To paraphrase Chico Marx, there ain't no such thing as a Sanity Clause, but there is an Emoluments Clause to the Constitution. This involves the unconstitutional payments to Trump from foreign entities staying at Trump properties, like his DC hotel and Mar-a-lago. Also involved is the question of compensation to Trump by the Federal government. Three lawsuits against him are in the Federal appellate court pipeline. Two of them will see some action next month.

Roger Stone's witness tampering and Lying to Congress trial The circus is in town here in DC. Stone's trial started yesterday and it's already wild. Why is it important? It implicates the President with Wikileaks, stolen emails and Russia's involvement in the 2016 campaign. And much more might be revealed with the release of some unredacted testimony from the Mueller Report that is being used as prosecution's evidence.

Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal and Michael Cohen and David Pecker Wow, what a Plato's Retreat combo! The SDNY investigation into Trump's hush-money payments to two former paramours was suddenly "concluded" this summer, prolly by Bill Barr. But Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance has subpoenaed the Trump Organization for lotsa financial records. And the House Judicial Committee was poised to investigate last month, but its docket was cleared because of the silly Ukrainian business. It will proceed later.

Jean Carroll, Summer Dervos defamation suits, and the 25 sexual assault accusers These women are not vanishing from TrumpWorld. Carroll, who accused Mushroom Man of sexual assault, has sued him for defamation. So has "The Apprentice" contestant, Summer Dervos, who recently established via phone records that Trump was where she claimed he was when he was. As for the others, well, here's an update:  https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12

Inauguration Committee corruption One of the least known scandals involves Trump's Inauguration Committee. Lots of questions about the huge amount of monies raised versus the not so huge monies spent. Where did it all go? Who donated? No foreign money is allowed!! The SDNY feds have been going over thousands of documents, but it's possible that Bill Barr's coverup hand is at play here.

Trump taxes and IRS   Yet another variation of on a theme. But this involves an IRS whistleblower who claims that "political appointees" prevented a proper audit of Trump's taxes. Hello, Steve Mnuchin?

Trump Foundation  A New York judge announced today that Trump & his kids need to pony up $2 million to various non-profits because of their fraudulent use of the family foundation. It's not much, but it's something. It should be hugely humiliating to them all, but they are sociopaths, so there is that.

Saudi Arabia -- nuclear program for sale, MBS/Kushner and Khashoggi 
Oh jeez, Turkey knew we gave the green light to arrest (and then kill) Jamal Khashoggi? And then used this info as blackmail to get U.S. troops out of their way in Syria? What a spectacular speculative stew!! Well, who knows? But there seems to be a ring of truth there. And though Trump is a key player in all these shenanigans, the main actor is Boy Wonder-In-Law Jared Kushner. His BFF, Saudi ruler MBS, helped secure the miracle billion-dollar loan that saved Kush's bacon with his  666 5th Ave. building. There is so much juice here that it will be impossible not to have various investigative entities circle like sharks.

Hoo Boy! I had to stop because there are so many other scandals out there I couldn't breathe anymore. Suffice to say, the President will have his non-Impeachment hands full through 2020. It will all make him an appealing candidate for re-election.

So now that we have a glimpse of why the avalanche is so big and wild, let's consider where it is headed. Taking the Senate Trial and the barrage of other investigations into consideration, here are my best guesses:

1) An acquitted President spends most of his time fighting off the on-going barrage of high-exposure legal battles. His base still adores him, but it is not as large as before. And the Independents of Suburbia are beyond soured. His approval ratings bounce between 25% - 30%. He is radioactive and doesn't become the GOP's 2020 standard-bearer. He stays on through his term, but his role as President is radically diminished, a figurehead.

2) A convicted President is removed by April. VP Pence becomes President... unless evidence shows he is involved with this toxic Ukrainian goulash, too. He might very well be. If he goes too, huh. Okay, you want some crazy, well here's some crazy: Trump goes, Pence goes and Pelosi is given the keys to the Oval Office. But she doesn't take it! She knows it could lead to violence from an unstable segment of society. Instead, she works out a backroom deal with the GOP to create a "caretaker" administration, helmed by acceptable "Never Trumpers". She remains Speaker of the House, with her heel on the GOP's neck.

3) Before the Senate Trial ends, Trump suddenly resigns - a bolt from the blue. Rumors abound: Ongoing health problems (this is probably legitimate). Didn't want to be convicted. Didn't want to be acquitted with overwhelming evidence, crippling his political life. Again, a Pelosi-led deal is forged in the background: Get the fuck out of Dodge right now and a Barr-less Department of Justice won't go after you for oodles of charges. He takes the deal and splits, setting himself up as a go-to Fox News "I'm The Victim" guy for years to come.

Woof. Well, the future is unknowable, mostly. However, The Daily Kibitz is doubling down on its past prediction that this will all end in tears for Trump, his family, his businesses and the GOP. People are going to prison. Lives and careers will be ruined. Businesses will be destroyed. Fortunes will be lost. Doors may even be pried open a bit to show us the furtive, corrupt world of Dark Money. International Crime Organizations and their Nation-State hosts might be better understood. What a fascinating time to be alive as our society slowly, but surely, changes its collective consciousness and develops better self-awareness.

Now, this doesn't mean the Dems are going to win Presidency in 2020. They can really screw that up. Watch out for a Trump-less GOP ticket of, oh, Nikki Haley and Tom Cotton (or some variation thereof) to power through the hidebound Electoral College. Trump may be gone, but the political mindset that put him there will still exist, and will be harnessed again. There is still a potent Last Hurrah left in the GOP. But the Dems will win both houses of Congress. They will be a strong check against the GOP Executive and Judicial branches. Meanwhile, the Trump & Co. revelations, along with state (and some Federal) prosecutions, will continue past 2020. They will continually erode the GOP's appeal to Independents. By Inauguration Day, 2025, it's a Blue Sky White House and Congress going forward.

Unless. Unless...  Here is David Frum's warning from his remarkably prescient March, 2017 article, "How Donald Trump Could Build an Autocracy in the U.S."

Trump and his team count on one thing above all others: public indifference. “I think people don’t care,” he said in September when asked whether voters wanted him to release his tax returns. “Nobody cares,” he reiterated to 60 Minutes in November. Conflicts of interest with foreign investments? Trump tweeted on November 21 that he didn’t believe voters cared about that either: “Prior to the election it was well known that I have interests in properties all over the world. Only the crooked media makes this a big deal!”

What happens in the next four years will depend heavily on whether Trump is right or wrong about how little Americans care about their democracy and the habits and conventions that sustain it. If they surprise him, they can restrain him.

OK, let's surprise him!!

A Meeting Of The Minds

You think you have had bad meetings?

Here's the set-up. The Kurds, our long-time allies against Saddam Hussein, al-Qaeda, Bashar al-Assad, and then as the primary fighters against ISIS, have been cut loose by President Trump. The Turks are crossing into Syria for some Kurdish "ethnic cleansing" using their Russian allies to help. The U.S. military presence that had protected the Kurds in northern Syria is abruptly done. Our soldiers have been ordered by the Commander-in-Chief to immediately abandon their bases and evacuate. Their compulsory haste is so great that they leave their facilities intact for Turks and Russians to seize. In fact, the U.S. has to order airstrikes to circle back and bomb an abandoned ammunitions depot rather than let it fall into Russian/Turkish hands!

It's appalling and humiliating and will set back American foreign policy and military credibility for ages. So, naturally, a meeting at the White House is held to explain things to Congressional leaders.

Trump starts by distributing and bragging about his tough guy letter to Erdogan (the one which the Turkish leader promptly tossed into the wastebasket and then launched his offensive against the Kurds). By all accounts, it is a meandering and braggadocios monologue.

Pelosi tells Trump that the House had voted 354 - 60 against his actions in Syria (including 123 Republicans). Shivving the Kurds has finally stirred up some GOP outrage. As Speaker of the House, she wants to know what his plan is going forward.  Let's let Nancy tell it: "Then the President said, 'Well, the reason I'm taking the troops out of Syria is because I promised in the campaign to bring the troops home.' My question to him was, Is Saudi Arabia home? Why are our troops going to Saudi Arabia?"

"He said, 'Well, the Saudi Arabians are paying for it.'

"Really? We're putting our troops in harm's way for Saudi Arabia? It just didn't add up. What it did do was cause a meltdown on the part of the president because he was unhappy with those questions."

She pressed him for his plan for the region, including how to contain a newly liberated ISIS. He responded, "My plan is to keep the American people safe."

"That's a goal, not a plan!" she retorted. After listening to Trump claim he "had captured ISIS" Pelosi explained that by removing ourselves from Syria we created a Mideast power vacuum for Russia to fill - a long-time goal of theirs.

"All roads with you lead to Putin." Ka-bloowey!!

During Trump's meltdown he called the Speaker of the House a "third-rate politician." He claimed that there were communists in Syria, "so you (Democrats) should like that." After House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer voiced, "This is not useful" he and Pelosi stood to leave. "Goodbye! See you at the polls!" yelled President Goombah.

(For a nice short rundown on this lovely exchange, check out the Associated Press's reconstruction, using "anonymous sources." It's really good:   'See you at the polls'

So... The picture of Nancy P standing up to Trump is going into the history books. It will be the  emblematic moment when a person - a woman - finally had the balls to confront The Mad King face to face. And the cracking sound of the Titanic's hull just got louder.

Honestly, just look at the expressions from the Trump side of the table. I've seen these kind of downward-cast facial sets before. We all have. It's when something is being said that you know to be true, and you can't even raise your eyes or voice because you know you are in the wrong.

Even the bust of Benjamin Franklin looks honked-off. He's there along with a painting of the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence (they seem to be hailing her).  And in the Oval Office, there are portraits of Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson and Jackson. They are not pleased with President Occupant, either.

After hearing Pelosi refer to his "meltdown" the President had this picture tweeted out with typical disparaging language, claiming that she had had the meltdown. And in her own Queen Boss fashion, Pelosi now uses the picture as the header for her own Twitter account:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Twitter account

Standing up to the bully. Telling truth to power. He must hate her as much as he fears her.

The next several months will be filled with plenty of deranged Trumpkin pushback. It will seem at times that he will succeed. He does not lack for ridiculous, powerful and loud supporters. But his ship has begun taking on water, and as the boat starts to list, those voices will diminish. It looks like the stars in their courses have begun to align. And this image will forever be associated with what is to come.

When The Mad King Falls

Lightning has struck Trump's Tower and it's teetering with a wobble befitting a Jenga structure. It's been an awful month for the President. The "champ" has been staggered with a self-inflicted blow and is on the ropes. We can speculate on what happens next, but who could have predicted what has happened up to now? (I've already been wrong a number of times as the crazy carousel careens.)

Why did President Goombah think that it was a good idea to release the 'nice country you have here, shame if something were to happen to it' Ukrainian phone call summary? Did he really think that it would exonerate him like he said? Did he really think that it was a "pitch perfect" conversation? It might have been the best option of actions. Or... he really believed it exonerated him. When considering anything about Donald Trump, I've maintained that he always believes what he says is the truth - or should be.

This mindset has been ever-present. But the quality of the mind has been in decay for some time. And now it has become the subject of serious mainstream public conversation.

Some shocking comments were made a couple of weeks ago from White House staff and advisors: "His mood changes from one minute to the next... he's losing his shit." "You should ask a psychiatrist about that." "I think the president is in severe mental decline..." "You're basically stuck looking after a 4-year-old now." Read more in this amazing Business Insider article:

"He's deteriorating in plain sight"

"My father was born in a very wonderful place in Germany." His father was born in the Bronx. (His grandfather was from Germany.) He called Venezuela a company, and Tim Cook "Tim Apple". These and other nuggets form the grist for alarm among psychiatric experts. From earlier this spring:

"Mental Health experts warn Trump is in decline"

Understanding the state of his mental health is "Trump's Rosetta Stone." "(His) disordered personality - his unhealthy patterns of thinking, functioning, and behaving - has become the defining characteristic of his presidency. It manifests itself in multiple ways..." Read more about these multiple ways in this terrific piece from The Atlantic by former GOP White House advisor Peter Wehner. It is damning:

"Donald Trump Is Not Well"

Some more examples of his disordered personality and ebbing physical health are highlighted here from the last two weeks or so:

From the United Nations:
He sounds terrible

More from last week:
Others agree - he looks and sounds awful at U.N.

His return from a campaign rally earlier this month:
Trump looks terrible

You want some more? Well, here's some more:

He forgets the name of his son... and that he is the father.

Talking about China tariffs:
Struggles to make sense

Aaron Rupar's wrap-up of wild statements earlier this month:
A deep hodge-podge of crazy talk from two weeks ago

Allow me to introduce you to Tom Joseph. He's an interesting guy. I don't think he's always right and he can exaggerate.  He's definitely not a doctor. But he does have much experience with Dementia victims and his observations are useful. This thread was made in May and things have only gotten worse since then. I don't think he's wrong:

Tom Joseph twitter, following Trump possible dementia

So what are we really looking at? Trump has been a shady grifting mobster-channeling bully all of his life. His moral compass has no True North and spins madly around, inducing vertigo for the rest of us. His character is dedicated towards self-benefit at all costs. He's been a severely flawed man since he left boyhood. His genius has been in marketing himself as a colossal success story while hiding the ugly truth back stage.

But now his real self can't be contained and covered up.

Malignant Narcissism is not a formally recognized disorder diagnosis, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. But most in the psychiatric field recognize it as an unfortunate combination of two psychological disorders: Narcissism Personality Disorder and Anti-Social Disorder. This list of symptoms for both disorders are revealing. Read and think about President Goombah:

NPD occurs on a spectrum and involves a range of symptoms. The DSM-5 lists nine traits that help identify NPD, but only five are needed for diagnosis. 

Common symptoms of NPD include:

• grandiose fantasies and behavior, such as a preoccupation with thoughts of personal success, power, and attractiveness or sex appeal
• little or no empathy for other people’s emotions or feelings
• a significant need for attention, admiration, and recognition
• an inflated sense of self-importance, such as a tendency to exaggerate personal talent or achievements
• a belief in personal specialness and superiority
• a sense of entitlement
• a tendency to take advantage of others or exploit people for personal gain
• arrogant or conceited behavior and attitudes
• a tendency to envy others and believe others envy them

and for Anti-Social Disorder,  one needs at least 3 from these to qualify:

• disdain for authority and social norms, shown by continued illegal or lawbreaking behavior
• a pattern of deceit, including exploitation and manipulation of other people
• reckless, impulsive, or risky behavior that shows disregard for personal safety or the safety of other people
• little or no remorse for harmful or illegal actions
• a generally hostile, irritable, aggressive, restless, or agitated mood
• a pattern of irresponsible, arrogant, or disrespectful behavior
• difficulty planning ahead

Now let's take a look at Dementia symptoms:

Mayo Clinic symptoms of dementia

-- Memory loss

-- Difficulty communicating or finding words

-- Difficulty with visual and spatial abilities, such as getting lost while driving

-- Difficulty reasoning or problem-solving

-- Difficulty with planning and organizing

-- Difficulty with coordination and motor functions

-- Confusion and disorientation

-- Personality changes

-- Depression

-- Anxiety

-- Inappropriate behavior

-- Agitation

-- Hallucinations

And here is a fun list compiled by our friend Tom Joseph. Yes, this is mostly true stuff:



Jeez. Combine Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Anti-Social Disorder, plus add an increasing level of Dementia and we have a clear and present danger in the Oval Office.

All of this is incredibly concerning, of course. What makes it all the more alarming is how his base, the most dedicated of followers, perceive things:

"Malignant Normality" is a term popularized by Dr. Robert Jay Lifton in a study of Nazi doctors and the German public. According to a group of psychiatrists called "Duty To Warn", it occurs "when a segment of society sees reality through the skewed lens of its leader. Its in full bloom. Norms are shattered. Previously unthinkable behavior is routine. Guardrails disappear. Democracy decays. Mental health has to be more of the story."

I believe this to be very much a part of our current story. And for this skewed leader, we've seen and heard rumblings and actions from behind the curtain. Former Assistant Director of Department of Justice Rod Rosenstein, Robert Mueller's boss, tried to get the Cabinet to enact Trump's removal through the 25th Amendment (he says he was joking, and was joking when he said he would be willing to wear a wire to meetings with the President, ha ha). There was the infamous Anonymous Letter to the New York Times that described high-level staff's concerns about Trump and how he is "managed". And there was the more-relevant-than-ever quote from Nancy Pelosi following a brief, strange and abruptly-concluded meeting with the President in May:

Pelosi: "Again, I pray for the President of the United States. I wish that his family, or his administration or his staff would have an intervention. Maybe he wants to take a leave of absence."

Reporter: "Your prayer comments almost suggest you're concerned about his well-being."

Pelosi: "I am."

Something else to consider: Trump made his now infamous phone call to the Ukrainian President the day after Robert Mueller testified to Congress about possible collusion with Russia. His mindset is cast. He doesn't care about consequences, because everything he thinks and says is the truth, no matter what. His mind and body are a toxic vessel of supreme dysfunction. He is unfit for office.

Now for the real speculation:

We all know about the call and the Whistleblower complaint and a path for Impeachment action is being drawn. Already we see super-shady stuff like White House lawyers being instructed to move telephone transcripts to a highly-classified cyber "vault", where no prying eyes would see them. We hear that this is not the first time such a transfer was made. There is much DC conjecture about transcripts regarding Saudi Arabia/MBS and the Jamal Khoshoggi murder; Putin and anything/especially the Helsinki meeting; and North Korea conversations. It's an investigative Holy Grail of sorts.

Those who may be in immediate jeopardy are White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and probably former White House counsel Don McGahn. Others who are going to feel real repercussions include Secretary of State Pompeo, Attorney General Bill Barf,  and Senior Advisor Jared Kushner. A possibility is Vice President Pounce. And, of course, our Chief Executive.

I've seen this all as a five-act play. Act One - The Election. Act Two - The First Year. Act Three - Mueller. Act Four - "I got away with it." Act Five - Rectify. Act Five seems to be underway. We will know it's drawing to a close when people like Paul Manafort start singing from prison and Kelly Ann Conway jump ship. It may all happen much faster than anyone thinks. I'm calling it here: Impeachment Articles will pass the House by mid-December, Senate Trial begins mid-January, Senate Vote by the Ides of March. Trump is acquitted by a very, verrrry thin margin. But it doesn't matter. He's been fully exposed and is toast, except for the die-hard 35% base (which may even shrink a point or three). The GOP will work behind the scenes to remove him as their 2020 nominee.

Let's see what happens!

Not the Sharpie-est tool in the shed.

It can be difficult to assess the most inane and ridiculous news story of the not-yet-completed year, but this is surely it. "SharpieGate" fully captures the malignant narcissistic drive of our Sociopath-In-Chief. It also reveals a couple of other themes: to what lengths sycophants will go to accommodate this nitwit's resistance to admitting a mistake; and how Trump's staff is handling his public persona.

As you probably know, SharpieGate began last Sunday when President Trumplethinskin gave a brief public statement regarding Hurricane Dorian and its projected destructive path. He warned the state of Alabama to brace for the hurricane's impact. The problem was that Alabama was not on the projected path of the storm.

And so throughout this week, Trump has been ridiculed for his mistake. But Trump being Trump, he can never admit error, and so he predictably double-downed. Yes, Alabama WAS SO in the path! Yes, it was, TOO!! Cascades of incredulous media responses showed the hurricane path map from last Sunday, which clearly showed that Alabama could relax: Dorian wasn't coming anywhere near it.

All this served to boil over Trump's anger like the lidded pot that contained the bunny in "Fatal Attraction". It was a full-on tweet offensive all week. He couldn't let it go. And by insisting he was right the whole time, it enabled many to check out the story (which would have died and gone away in the 24-hour news cycle, like most of his Trump transgression stories) and see what a doofus he is.

At best, Trump's Alabama blunder was predicated on a previous Wednesday projected map which included a small portion of southeast Alabama. Maybe it stuck in his head (hard to imagine anything sticking in there). Or, probably, he simply used that outdated forecast map when he made his Sunday statement, instead of using the most up-to-date map.

Then on Wednesday, September 4, Trump presented to a breathless nation his now infamous Sharpie forecast map of Dorian's path, calculated on Thursday, August 29. Added onto the NOAA's "cone of possible storm path" was an additional black outlined bubble that was drawn to include far southeast Alabama. He claimed he'd been told that 'Bama had a "95% chance of being hit".

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/09/04/president-trump-shows-doctored-hurricane-chart-was-it-cover-up-alabama-twitter-flub/

Of course, this wonderful image of a Sharpie-created outline where no NOAA forecast existed laid the Prez open to a tsunami of ridicule. "SharpieGate" was created!

And because it's well-known that Trump favors using a Sharpie over a crayon or any other writing instrument, speculation rose that he had created the Alabama bubble of projected destruction.

All this gave birth to a remarkable and really splendid barrage of memes. (My favorites will follow what comes next here...) And it's important to note that he was carrying forth with this defense days after Dorian had moved up the Florida coast towards the Carolinas. Everything was about Alabama. Everyone else, not so much (also, Bahama's apocalyptic event - no word on US assistance yet).

Today, there are reports that the NOAA upper management has now backed Trump's assertion that Alabama lay in the path of danger. NOAA climatologists and scientists are aghast and appalled. But it becomes very clear what happened. The NOAA spokesperson is a Trump appointee... and had been a member of his Trump Inaugural Committee. 'Nuff said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/09/07/noaas-support-president-trump-over-its-own-scientists-provokes-mass-uproar-weather-community/

So there is the sycophant angle, which is sadly predictable. But what is really interesting is how Trump is being managed in his public appearances. His stupid, if brief, public bellowing about Alabama have been among the few Real Time show-ups that he's done recently. In fact, over the last 10 DAYS he has accumulated just 2 HOURS of public exposure. Something is seriously wrong with this dude, and I don't mean attitude-wise. There might be a real health-related issue that is requiring significantly limited and managed exposure to The Outside World. More on this for the next Kibitz.

But now, as promised, here are my favorite SharpieGate memes. Enjoy!!

Oh, this could go on forever. Until next time...

"Dear Nancy Pelosi,"

"She will cut your head off and you won't even know you're bleeding. No one ever won betting against Nancy Pelosi. (She) knows what she is doing - and that should make you sleep at night, knowing that at least somebody in this town knows what they're doing." -- daughter Alexandra Pelosi.

This quote has given some comfort leading up to the 2018 midterms and into 2019. But it no longer supplies succor. The level of unapologetic racism, flat-out obstructionism and unconcealed movement towards authoritarianism from the President and his supporters has become unsustainable. Watching this national train wreck, one wonders what will survive - the American political tradition, or Trumpism. Perhaps neither?

There are few options available to end this nightmare. One conventional method is to vote the bastards out of office in 2020. But this suggests that the election will be unaffected by foreign shenanigans, home-grown voter suppression efforts, and massive pro-Trump media disinformation campaigns. That's unlikely.

Another option is Section Four of the 25th Amendment, which allows a majority of the Cabinet to remove the President if it determines he is incapable or unfit for to serve the office. The Vice-President becomes Acting President. But the President can appeal and then two-thirds of both chambers of Congress need to agree to keep the President from re-acquiring his position. Not likely, even if Trump continues his rapid deterioration into a sphanx-fitting tub of goo. Not this Cabinet.

The other conventional method is a vote on Articles of Impeachment that is passed by the House of Representatives, and a subsequent Senate trial ends with a "convict" verdict from two-thirds of its members. That would do it, except the Senate is controlled by Mitch McConnell and the GOP. Though the Senate has a duty to conduct a trial based on House-passed impeachable offenses, it's far more likely that McConnell and Company would simply change Senate rules. It would be extreme high drama and institution smashing, but The Turtle wouldn't mind. Democracy in America will be officially dead.

What a revolting situation! In the meantime, Democratic presidential candidates and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have been following Option #1. Pelosi has been encouraging specific House committees (Judiciary and Intelligence among them) to conduct hearings on Trump's various impeachable offenses, becoming "de facto" Impeachment Inquiries. She wants the impeachable offenses laid out for the American public to see and hear, without the polarizing Impeachment process. She understands that very few in the nation (much less those in DC) have read any part of The Mueller Report.

Ideally, the Democrats would be able to show the public the cavalcade of damning transgressions that characterized The Mueller Report, with witnesses speaking and networks videotaping, a la Watergate hearings. With such info, a disgusted but informed public would vote Trump and the GOP out in 2020.

But the problem is that crucial information and witnesses are being made unavailable by across-the-board "stonewalling" techniques by Attorney General Bill Barr and various White House entities. Counteracting such efforts by issuing strongly-worded letters, then subpoenas, then citations of civil contempt, and then criminal contempt, with sundry pauses for court rulings, should take us, oh, into summer of 2020 without any resolution.

So, if you had the chance to ask Nancy Pelosi one question, what would it be? Here is what The Daily Kibitz would ask:

"The USA was born out of an existential crisis and has survived two domestically-driven ones (the Civil War and the early years of the Great Depression). We appear to be in another one now. The Administration operates through a sort of political nihilism where it's OK to ignore laws and rulings, dismantle institutions, damage checks & balances and such, as long as it benefits The Boss. The Senate is run by bad-faith leadership that cares only about maintaining complete control. The guiding principles of the post-war GOP are gone, replaced by a grotesque imperative of bigotry, blinding resentment and willful ignorance. If we were looking at another country, we'd say they're in terrible trouble. So the question is:

"How the hell do we get out of this?"

Seriously, she knows what's up. And when you're going up against the King, you better make your play count. Apparently she is opting for the "death by a thousand cuts", then the coup de grace play against the weakened bull. She understands that right now most Americans don't want an Impeachment.

But this leaky boat is springing more leaks as time goes on. The Ship of State has been taking on water and we are in serious danger.

Our opinion is that Pelosi needs to OK official impeachment inquiries. These hearings have special procedural accelerants that will cut through Administration stonewalls. It's a really big deal to impeach, and once the process is enacted, the requests for info and witnesses supersede claims of executive privilege.

It's not going to get better. We agree with the now ex-British Ambassador who stated confidentially in  diplomatic messages that Trump is inept, incompetent, ignorant and not likely to change. He "radiates insecurity."

Walking through the Fourth of July crowds here in DC, we were struck by the political ugliness of the President's supporters. There were so many attendees wrapped in flags and Trump caps that it made us fear for our country. These are people who have been fired up with lots of fear and loathing. They really believe in the guy. Plenty of vulgar Trump signs, banners, flags and t-shirts at this patriotic family event:

Lots of class -- all low.  We believe that H. Clinton got it right about 50% of his base being "deplorable". She may have been underestimating. They won't be swayed by damning evidence, but the non-base Independents might.

So Nancy Pelosi needs to think this through. She should review this sign on display in the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Read every part and decide if they aren't all being met today by the Trump Administration, the GOP, Fox/Hate Media and White Evangelicals:

And when she's finished with that, she should read this:

Yes, Madam Speaker, we need your help. Time to sharpen the blade. Push forward the necessary process by green-lighting impeachment hearings. Time is no longer on your side. This ship is at serious risk of going down without a rescue.

Oh, Ed. What would you be saying today? "This... is Not America." And he would be right. Good Night and Good Luck, indeed.