My stomach is turning over because Nancy Pelosi has said TWO things that I agree with; a fun hot topic that reeks of political theatre and circus; and more story(third installment)

One of the things she said was awhile back and I was already hot and heavy on that topic and that is the Democrats need to focus on policy not impeachment. They haven’t done anything with it yet, but at least she put it out there. Others have said it to, but after me she was the first person from the Democrats who tried to initiate the Democrats doing what they need to do.

The second was the other night and when I first heard it, that is when my stomach turned. She was on air talking about Trump is trying to goad them into impeaching him. Others have said this also, but to hear it from her turned my innards a bit. It cannot be that she is right about anything and for her to be on target TWICE probably means the world is going to end. So, say your prayers.

All kidding aside I do want to touch on these points a bit. The second one is the easier one, Trump would love the House to impeach him because he knows he gets “exonerated” in the Senate. No way no how is McConnell going to let the Senate impeach him. He will twist that process around till it falls with a giant thud. Then all the wonderful Trumps and Trumpites go to the public screaming how wrong the Democrats are, win in 2020 and we all kiss the Constitution goodbye. Pretty obvious, yet I give Ms. Pelosi credit for realizing the danger impeachment might be without giant amounts of undeniable evidence that Trump is the criminal that is Trump.

The first point is more fun to play around with in thinking. I agree whole heartedly that the Democrats need to attack Trump on the public policy front. And I mean hot and heavy, in the press, in his face to the public. They need to hammer out some very specific moderate proposals that large segments of the middle class can get behind including some members of his base. There are some members that can be drawn away with some hard-hitting proposals that they see benefit them. Most of these were on the fence with Trump in the first place, they either didn’t like H Clinton or were on board with Trump’s drain the swamp verbiage hoping beyond hope he might do it. People still hate DC for not getting anything done so the Democrats pushing through some legislation that either the Senate doesn’t act on or Trump is forced to sign, or veto could get real interesting in the public relations war.

It does have to be very serious policy and cannot and I must emphasize even though some Dems will disagree that is moderate in tone. Yet, here is the kicker.

Two approaches must be contemplated with same end game to be successful.

First: Does the current Democratic Congress basically set the tone for the 2020 Democratic primary by creating policy that is moderate in tone, but just liberal enough that the Senate balks at or Trump vetoes setting the stage for Biden to swoop in the primaries with just enough changes in his platform to pull the moderates fully into the picture thereby pulling enough of Trump’s base that he cannot win. Trump’s strategy then becomes having the Senate compromise enough on one or two of the issues to look good and sign a rational public policy bill that he touts to the public and he wins the public relations war and keeps his base intact also pulling independent conservatives to him with the misguided thought he can do something. There is the potential for some real political intrigue here. The endgame for the Democrats though is to pass some real legislation in 2020 that is moderate and productive thereby not losing the House in 2022 and things fall apart again. Again, Trump’s endgame is to play one or two policies the Democrats pass and sign it with major media coverage right after the conventions are over. Just pull the carpet right out from under the Dems. Either way in this scenario, we just get basic political wars and some of the hate rhetoric can calm down.

Second is trickier yet needs to have the same endgame. If the Democrats are successful in winning in 2020, they need to produce moderate legislation that benefits the middle class in very obvious ways. In this scenario the Democrats must show a very united front in the primaries, which by nature are supposed to be contentious. Basically, they must write the Democratic platform before it starts instead of creating a legislative platform and have the candidates fight it out about which one can implement it successfully. So, instead of the Dems picking the candidate like they did with HC in 2016 then have her lose half the voters in the Midwest with her pretentious attitude, find the platform that works and be boring in the primary and let the battle be about who can win in 2020. This can be less divisive which produces a counter to Trump’s rhetoric because he will be attacking the Dems at every character he can muster out of his thumbs on Twitter. They need to stick to a very strong policy front and call out Trump in unison on the policy at every chance they get. Basically, make him open his mouth and try to put two coherent sentences together. Most of his base won’t pay attention, yet again enough will that it throws the Midwest back to the Dems.

Now I am not advocating that the Dems win, I am just giving them good advice they will never listen to and Trump wins again and I throw up all  over this computer since I can sit around and I say I told you so like I did with HC. Remember I said as far back as 2014 or 2015, if the Dems nominate HC they would lose. And the only reason it was close was because the Reps picked Trump. The hatred by so many mid westerners of HC and the pretentious left is so strong that it is going to take some serious platform issues and results for the Dems to retake the Midwest with enough momentum to shut Trump down.

My hope is still for new parties, which I never do anything about, but whine. The true measure of success.

Now on a completely different note (still like Monty Python) one Dem in Congress is really doing his research, well I guess he already did since he was a Constitution in Law professor before running for office. Anyway, the Atlantic online has an interview article where he, the Representative, is asked some questions about something called “power of inherent contempt”. It is a set up article so he can bring up the topic, yet it could produce some seriously good political theatre. And I mean theatre. The endgame would be the Sargent of Arms for the House goes and arrests William Barr for contempt of Congress for thumbing his nose at their subpoena. According to Representative Raskin of Maryland this was something that was done in the 1800’s and is still on the books so to speak.

He admits most Representatives did not know this process exists but is talking about it on his committee which just happens to be the House Judiciary Committee. It would be his committee that is one of the committees that can bring this to the floor for a vote to attempt.

Can you imagine the scene on TV of William Barr being dragged out of his office by the House Sargent of Arms, possibly even in handcuffs? I am barely containing myself to type. This would be hilarious. Would someone from the Attorney General’s office attempt to intervene. The FBI? Do they have the authority to intervene? Can you imagine Sean Hannity on TV that night? Does Trump think he can send the Secret Service to intervene? And what if they did? Or didn’t? We are talking some serious theatre here folks.

Unfortunately we do not have HST and with Ralph Steadman to truly illustrate this madness for us if this was to go down. Can you imagine how crazy the thoughts streaming forth from his keypad? Just the prose of HST and illustrations of William Barr alone would be priceless. I would love to try, but alas I will save you dear reader from an amateurish hack job.

Very dangerous for the country and only ugly end games would play out. Trump has already let us know he doesn’t give a damn about our Constitution or us. It is self-preservation and self-enrichment only for this man. There would be no respect for the process. It would just depend on how many of the people around him react with him. Very scary and absolutely hilarious simultaneously.

The Democrats probably will hold Barr in contempt, just what happens next is going to be too fun.

And on another (Steve Martin) wild and crazy thought, the Dems should nominate Colbert to run. He is too left leaning for me, yet he is hilarious and at least the State of the Union message would be worth watching. And maybe a few of his press conferences. Trump isn’t getting any real legislation done, so maybe if we handcuff Colbert policy wise and just enjoy the Presidency for four years it might just be worthwhile. Didn’t he make some noise around running for Senate in South Carolina once?

More story (third installment)

So he kept walking with no interruptions for what we would call a very long time. Yet, since time doesn’t register for him, he had no notice of the amount of distance he covered.  Every time he would come to a cross path, he would still look left and then go forward. Eventually and very slowly he started to notice something different about the view to the left on these cross paths. Every time he came across one, he, lets say, felt something there. Then over time he also felt something above him. He didn’t know the word flying, but we would say something may have flown over him because of a flittering sound from above. The sound always headed towards the left side of the path. Had he always felt something was there or heard the flittering sound? The towers still hummed, the occasional lights still flickered, was it in the towers, so maybe the flittering had always been there. What made him notice anything?

Finally at one path he turned left and attempted to head towards the area that was different. This time he moved much further into and he stopped. What was different? Obviously the towers were behind him now. He could turn around and go back onto the paths. He looked down. Was he on the same type of path now? He walked backwards to compare. After walking back some he did notice a change. There was no feeling different as it relates to being smooth. The path stayed smooth, but maybe what we call feet sunk in a bit more on the path away from the towers. He walked away from tower paying attention to his feet. They were there, but they did seem to sink into the surface as he walked.

He ventured further. The path stayed the same and his feet did not sink further as he walked. He was conscious though of the difference. And this is an important point, as he walked further away from the towers into this area that still did not have definitive surroundings, he became more conscious. He became conscious of self, of his past journey, of the idea he was headed into something new. All his senses became more aware and he heard more, there was nothing to see everything was like for us walking in fog, but he felt he was seeing this fog, he felt his feet on the ground, could make discernable understanding of his feet sinking a bit on the path. All this was very new, yet very very familiar.

He looked back and could no longer see the towers. And he understood he was not seeing them. He distinctly remembered them, so he know the fog had enveloped them. One feeling he did not have was fear. In fact, he felt a quiet serenity as he pushed forward. And as he walked further, he felt like he was going uphill. He felt his legs moving differently each time he stepped and he felt the journey more labored. The path greeted him with each step a little closer to him as he stepped. This wasn’t like walking up a set of stairs, but as you walk up a hill you feel your feet hit the ground sooner than the previous step as the ground moves up in front of you. He felt that. There was no line of sight to confirm upward movement, he just felt it in the stepping process.

Time still wasn’t a factor so he did not know how long he was walking in this new environment.  The further he walked though the more awareness of himself and the possibility of other existences emerged in his thinking. He grasped he was not alone. He did not have concrete evidence of another entity, but he found himself aware that he could not be the only being or creature or presence in this fog or while walking down the tower paths.

He heard it. He didn’t know what it was, or to use a term like a melodic sound, but that is what it would be to us. A melody emerging to his hearing coming from in front of him. He didn’t realize it immediately, but he had picked up his pace to head towards the sound.

And then there was a blinding light and a host of creatures or presences, or persons headed towards him, some walking, some running, some flying, all shouting with great joy, singing, and talking over each other in different languages all he understood. Initially this was overwhelming, then he remembered something.