Alan A. Alop

"I have a better education than them, I'm smarter than them, I went to the best schools and they didn't. Much more beautiful house, much more beautiful apartment. Much more beautiful everything. And I'm president and they're not."

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

In contrast to Trump’s inane comments, and the totality of his dishonest bumper style spin, it’s important for Americans to see Adam Schiff speaking to the President and his defenders in Congress.

It’s time for Mueller to come with his report to testify to Congress.  We don’t need Barr as a filter.  Who are peripheral players?  

Congress must see Mueller’s full report.  Let Mueller tell us why we shouldn’t know what the report details.

Pledge to Adam Schiff should run for president in 2020!

Stewart Myrent

​I have not contributed to the Forum in about a week (it's not that I haven't been paying attention to what's been going on), but I think it's time that my reticence comes to an end.  I have been waiting for the release of the Mueller report, but the only thing we have gotten is a 4-page distillation of the over-300 page report, from Trump's hand-picked AG, William Barr, who was chosen as AG, presumably, mainly based on his previous, supposedly unsolicited, assertion that a sitting president cannot be charged with obstruction of justice.  Aside from the over-300 page report being shrunken to a 4-page summary, the other unusual thing about Barr's actions, is the delay in forwarding Mueller's report to Congress & the public.  I am withholding judgment on the results of the Special Counsel's report, until the full report is released to the public & we, rather than the AG, can be the judge of it's contents.  Several things seem very fishy about this whole process.  Previous Special Counsel reports have been released (generally to the public) within a matter of a few days, after completion of the investigation.  It has now been a week since Mueller handed his completed report to the Attorney General.  What's the holdup?  Although I was mystified by Barr's synopsis that Mueller's report had found NO evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign & the Russians, there seemed, to me, to be quite a bit of contacts between Trump campaign officials, his transition team & Russians.  Why?  Also, more importantly, why all the lying by Trump officials about meetings with the Russians?  If there was nothing surreptitious, complicit, or illegal going on, why even lie about it?  Hmmm!  By the way, I saw yesterday that Trump referred to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) as, "Little pencil neck Adam Schiff.  He's got  the smallest, thinnest neck I've ever seen."  To be honest, I didn't think I would ever see a president of the U.S. constantly mock & belittle his political rivals, with nicknames & personal attacks on their appearance.  Maybe I'm just a cranky, 72-year old man, but behavior like that seems very CHILDISH to me.  I would never expect to see a mature, elderly man (he's older than I am), act in such an immature & petulant way.  But, as I have stated here before, every time you think that you're never going to see something, there it is, right in front of you. ​

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Am I understanding Howard Fineman’s suggestion on The Beat with Ari Melber? he thinks Robert Mueller’s taking the same slow approach as William Barr  ?  ?  ?  

Mueller is recognized as a straight arrow - if he and Barr are working together, is it because they recognize American institutions, which they want to protect, are at risk?

Do they (like Nancy Pelosi) recognize the damage the impeachment process does to American government?

What’s Howard Fineman suggesting?

Is this why Mueller hasn’t yet come with his report to testify to Congress?  

Americans beware!  Trump’s out over his skis.  We can’t take his bait.

The Honorable Adam Schiff’s rebuke is compelling - take time to listen to it.

Stewart Myrent

​Alan, I happened to see Trump's comments a couple of days ago, also.  Unbelievable!  Janis, I saw Adam Schiff's comments, addressed to his Republican brethren & committee-mates & I would whole-heartedly support a presidential run by him in 2020.  Every time he said, "Maybe you're okay with..., but I'm not okay with it.", you could see the Republicans cringing, and like petulant school-children, pretended to be talking amongst themselves, but you know they heard every word he was saying.  By the way, Schiff's comments were brought on by the Republican caucus of his committee, asking him (unanimously) to resign his chairmanship of their committee.  I'm not sure what the Republicans would gain, if he stepped down as chairman, because the replacement chairman would have to be a Democrat.  (Unless the next ranking member takes over, regardless of party affiliation - don't know.)  However, I totally get why Adam Schiff got pissed off, because this is the very same committee that was previously chaired by Devin Nunes, in the last Congress.  And the Republicans don't think that Adam Schiff is qualified to chair their committee?  Am I nuts, or are they?  Or is there more going on here, than just reality vs. fantasy & delusion?  Or, is it even simpler - honesty vs. dishonesty?  Or even simpler - facts vs. alternative facts?  But I applaud Adam Schiff's remarks, and would only hope that all of our legislators, understood & accepted their Constitutionally mandated responsibilities, as well as he.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Over the years we have learned that words matter, daily speech peppered with phrases found in the Bible or from Shakespeare because they communicate a truth so important they have been repeated over the generations.  Psychologists tell us that bullying words are more abusive than the physical acts that sometimes accompany them.  We use words to take an oath.  In this age of 140 / 280 character eruptions and emojis I’m not sure what’s true.  Often the emoji is the most profound part of a statement.  

Today we have a president who carries on like an adolescent at a kegger, rather than as the leader of the greatest nation of the world.  It is an insult to all of us who call ourselves Americans that this man is paraded across the world’s stage as our representative.  When I hear Trump slander others, bully his real or imaginary opponents, disparage whole peoples with racial or ethnic slurs, threaten violence, tell provable lies multiple times a day, I am more than offended.  His office and access to media give him a platform that I fear gives him the power to assault, even destroy our values and character simply with his words.  

I am grateful for Honorable Adam Schiff - for his service and for the words he spoke.  It’s been too long since my spirit’s been stirred by an American hero.  

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

We are being told too much has been made of the Mueller Report.  If that is true, why hasn’t the report been released?

The wait to see the Mueller Report continues.

Alan A. Alop

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Attorney General William Barr has just read the classic American novel “Moby-Dick,” by Herman Melville, and found that the book contains “no evidence whatsoever of whales,” Barr stated on Tuesday.

Stewart Myrent

Reported by many​ news outlets, but this one from "The Telegraph", reported by Ben Riley-Smith, "A White House whistleblower has claimed that at least 25 officials originally denied security clearance later had their rejections overturned during Donald Trump's presidency.  Tricia Newbold, a White House security adviser who has worked for the executive office of the president for 18 years, made the allegation during an interview with a congressional committee.  She said the reasons why the 25 officials had been initially rejected included foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use and criminality.  Explaining her decision to come forward, Ms Newbold said 'I would not be doing a service to myself, my country, or my children if I sat back knowing that the issues that we have could impact national security.'  Two of the people whose rejections were overturned are 'senior White House officials' who remain in their jobs to this day, according to Ms Newbold.  None of the 25 officials were named publicly by Ms Newbold, who gave EVIDENCE (caps mine) to the House Oversight and Reform Committee over the weekend.  A summary of her comments was circulated to members on the committee on Monday.  Figures on the committee, which is controlled by the Democrats, have said previously they are scrutinising how Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president's daughter and son-in-law, gained their security clearance.  They have denied any wrongdoing.  The White House carries out checks before granting people security clearance to make sure they are not compromised in any way or could cause the president embarassment.  The system helps ensure that figures who gain access to sensitive classified material are not exposed to potential blackmail from foreign adversaries.  The US president has the power to overturn any initial rejection, as do senior staff in the vetting process.  Ms Newbold said she decided to give evidence because she feared her repeated warnings about how the clearance system was working under Mr Trump were not being heeded.  'I feel that right now this is my last hope to really bring the integrity back into our office,' Ms Newbold said, according to the summary of her comments.  During her testimony, Ms Newbold, who has worked in Republican and Democrat administrations, outlined three real but anonymised examples of White House officials whose cases she has concerns about.  As well as the examples, Ms Newbold detailed a list of other concerns about how the clearance system has changed under the Trump presidency and how she was treated when raising red flags.  Ms Newbold also expressed fears that interim clearances - which allow an official to temporarily get access to classified material while waiting for full approval - were being used too much.  She had recently been suspended for 14 days without pay for not following a new policy about scanning certain documents in separate pdf files rather than a single pdf file.  The White House has not yet commented."  Twenty-five Trump Administration officials were denied initial security clearances?  When he pledged to "drain the swamp", did anyone think he was going to "drain the swamp" by bringing them ALL into his administration?  Don't think I need to add anything more. 

Theodore John Forsberg

I recently returned from a trip to Costa Rica. During my visit I had an opportunity to have coffee with a retired

Englishman. His great desire was to teach me the correct usage of the English language. He defined the word

trump- 1. a term used in the card game Bridge, 2. passing wind or gas.

No, I did not make this up and yes I almost gagged on the coffee I was drinking as he told me the definition with

a straight face. Truth is stranger than fiction.

Stewart Myrent

​Janis, could not find "edit" in upper right hand corner of my message, but sentence was supposed to finish with, "...as do senior staff." relative to overturning initial security clearances.  Don't know exactly what happened with my post, but I don't have time to correct now, as I am meeting my daughter for lunch.  Gotta go.  Thanks for asking.

Marvin Irving Blusteln

I wonder, when the R's will find their shame and stand up for America.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Watch for the book "Commander in Cheat" by sportswriter Rick Reilly.

"He (Trump) kicks the ball out of the rough so many times the caddies call him Pele’ (Pele’ is the Brazilian retired soccer player regarded as the greatest player of all time)."

Stewart Myrent

​Janis, was able to finally find "EDIT" for my message #1098 & corrected it.  Have no idea how I got to "EDIT", as I clicked on Message # and nothing happened, but finally "EDIT" showed up & I corrected it.  Thanks for your assistance & guidance.  Originally, I was going to send you a message that I could not find either "EDIT" or "DELETE".  Glad you were curious enough about my comments, to ask a most pertinent question.  I have no idea how that sentence got so screwed up, but I figured it was already posted & hoped most people would get the gist of it, despite my garbled message, and not realizing that I could edit, after the fact.  I'm pretty sure I thought that once the post was in, it was in for good.

Stewart Myrent

​David, thought you might like to know, after meeting my daughter for lunch yesterday, and needing to kill about 3 1/2 hours, before meeting a friend for a movie & dinner, I went to the Schaumburg Library & got Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century", and found it fascinating.  As you know, it was a very easy read & I got through the entire book (only 126 pages) in one hour & 20 minutes.  I still had time to kill, before meeting my friend for movie & dinner.  However, my reading is not going as easily with Goodwin's "The Bully Pulpit", although I have gotten through about 560 of its 750 pages.  The end of this book is in sight, now, and I'm glad I am reading it, because it's very informative about Teddy Roosevelt & W.H. Taft.  Taft was a very prolific, but humble, public servant.  After winning the presidency in 1908, "Taft predicted that his friends and acquaintances would soon 'shake their heads and say 'poor Bill'.  Not long afterward, he responded to remarks on the prospects of his administration with a 'trembling fear' that in four years' time, he would 'be like a man who went into an office with a majority and went out with unanimity.' "  I like my presidents to have a well-developed sense of humor, or, otherwise, the job will beat you to death.  That's why they all age so visibly after 4 or 8 years in the office.  It's got to be the worst job in the world, because you don't really get weekends or holidays off.  EVER!   Because every day, of every week, of every month, of every year, you have to deal with the State Department.  You have to deal with the Department of Defense on a daily basis.  You know what else you have to deal with EVERY SINGLE day?  Those mother----ers in Congress!  I've really never understood why anyone would want to be president.  It is, to me, the epitome of 'thankless' jobs.  So, I'm thinking that to want to be President, you have to be a little nuts, or deluded. 
 

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

check BREAKING NEWS New York Times

Some of Mueller’s team members are simmering with frustration.

Written summaries to be released to the public were included with the Mueller Report.

For 22 months the Mueller team was totally quiet

                - no leaks -

until now

              - a crack of light -

when Barr is misrepresenting their evidence.  

Where are the summaries written to be released to the public?

Barr’s 4 page letter is spin that Trump twisted to create fake news.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

This is no longer about politics - it’s a matter of right and wrong.  

Adam Schiff said it best.

On a daily basis Trump undermines our character as a nation.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

I believe in redemption, I am not a zero-tolerance person.

I have believed Joe Biden is a person who learns from his mistakes.

Actually, I wished women had given Biden the benefit of a private heads up about their discomfort with him invading their personal space rather than going public.

But pardon me, Uncle Joe, you took two steps backward joking about women's feelings with a predominantly white male crowd.  Rather than being accountable, you made women the butt of your joke, not once but twice.

Now I fear you would not have heard discreet messages, forget taking them seriously. 

You don't get it, Uncle Joe.

You do not seem sensitive to others' discomfort, and now you're showing an unwillingness / inability to step into the future.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Kirstjen Nielsen is the 14th member of Trump’s Cabinet to leave in 2+ years of the Trump Administration and departures continue.

Maine Senator Angus King describes Trump: “This guy thinks he’s CEO of America and it’s a family-owned company.  He doesn’t have to answer to anybody.”

Does truth matter? What about the Constitution? Trump muddies the rule of law and now with the aid of AG Barr, the results of the Mueller Report.

Trump has surrounded himself with a small inner circle of family members and people willing to accept he’s the only person whose opinion really matters - he’s always right.  He purposely -- and publicly -- contradicts people within his administration as a way to assert his dominance and keep them on their toes.  “What Trump said yesterday is no predictor of what he will say today.  And what he says today has no real bearing on what he says tomorrow.  This is a day-by-day presidency.”  -- Chris Cillizza

Aside from seeking to discredit an independent media and to devalue truth, Trump repeatedly expresses disdain for the role of the legislative and judicial branches in our system of checks and balances -- all while expressing admiration for authoritarian dictators around the world.  

Enter William Barr, the chief law enforcement officer of the U.S., doing exactly what Trump hired him to do:

Embracing Trump’s conspiracy theory, and without evidence, Barr said, “Spying occurred on Trump’s presidential campaign.” 

(Was Mueller’s Report written for Barr alone? / Is Barr making up the rules? What does Neal Katyal say? / Where is Robert Mueller?)  

Neal Katyal (who drafted the special counsel rules) says Barr’s unwillingness to release the unredacted report to Congress is suspicious.

Talk about a coup.

“Contempt for the rule of law has been a mainstay of the (Trump) administration.  Lawlessness and chaos go hand in hand ... we have a president whose primary tools of governance are lying and lawbreaking.  

“Chaos is an authoritarian’s (Trump’s) best weapon, allowing him to distract some and to make others pine for ‘order.’

“[V]oters should be up in arms that an equal branch of government has aided and abetted Trump’s trouncing of the Constitution.  (Voters) are responsible both for the chaos, which Trump uses to justify executive fiats and rev up his base, and for the abject lawlessness this administration exhibits.  

“The 2020 election is now a referendum on constitutional government.  Democrats are for it, Republicans work to subvert it.  Cast your ballots accordingly.”

with attribution to Jennifer Rubin, April 9, 2019   Washington Post

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg had a friendly working relationship - they toured factories together and occasionally exchanged text messages.

Says Mike Pence: “My family and I have a view of marriage that’s informed by our faith. But that doesn’t mean that we’re critical of anyone else who has a different point of view”.

Why then did Gov. Pence, who has a long history of cheering on anti-gay laws and rulings, champion the most notorious anti-gay legislation in recent history — Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act — that made it easier for religious conservatives to refuse service to gay couples?

The dishonesty of naming the bill the “religious freedom” law helped spur Pete Buttigieg’s decision to come out publicly at age 33.  

In a South Bend Tribune op-ed his rhetoric was anything but revolutionary.  He wrote that he had struggled for years to recognize his sexuality as “just a fact of life, like having brown hair.”  He was still the same guy his constituents had elected four years earlier.  “Being gay,” he insisted, “has had no bearing on my job performance in business, in the military, or in my current role as mayor.”

It does not seem likely Pete Buttigieg will spend time trying to entice Trump’s most loyal religious supporters.  But by “pushing the discussion of homosexuality and marriage toward morality and the Bible, he is opening a door to voters of faith who are turned off by the dominance of the Republican Party’s far right but are not yet convinced they could vote for a Democrat.”

Some evangelicals say that the fracture within their community over Donald Trump runs so deep that the desire for an alternative — especially one like Pete Buttigieg, who is “so temperamentally different from the profane, brash, and unpredictable president” — will remain strong.  

The relevant question for Pete Buttigieg is whether there is a critical mass of those in the evangelical community who are wavering.  

Trump hypocrisy has turned off young evangelicals — they disagree with the decision by evangelical political leaders to stand by Trump.

Pete Buttigieg is an articulate, authentic, reasonable candidate — he’s from the Rust Belt, he served in Afghanistan, and he’s a problem-solver - he advised major businesses as a McKinsey & Co. management consultant.

Pete Buttigieg has liberated himself from his own fears — both personal and political.  He has a level of “assurance” his detractors lack.

with attribution to Bob Moser, April 10, 2019  The NEW REPUBLIC   and  

Jeremy W. Peters, April 10, 2019  The New York Times

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Somehow Mike Pence feels under attack by Pete Buttigieg.  The same Mike Pence who strongly opposes equal rights for LGBTQ people and has promoted policies designed to strip Buttigieg of his equality and made comments attacking his dignity throughout his political career. 

Governor Pence vigorously supported and defended Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban and sought to codify it into the Indiana State Constitution.  

"Buttigieg's right to exist as an equal citizen, with full access to the liberties afforded all other Americans was under constant threat in Mike Pence's Indiana." 

Does it really matter that Pence whose deep aversion to gay people is the throughline of his career was personally polite when he encountered Buttigieg?

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Considering Trump lacked any political experience, had no clear policy agenda, and expressed scant interest in presidential duties, many supported Gov Pence’s selection for the vice presidential slot in 2016.  They hoped the former governor would provide (if not a check) at least a moderating influence on Trump.  

Sadly, for all Pence’s stated convictions and commitments that he is “a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican—in that order” Pence, like the Republican Party generally, has readily sacrificed himself for the political expediency of keeping Trump happy.  Pence is all too willing to do what he must to curry Trump’s favor. 

Trump may not have imagined how good a lackey Pence would be.  He selected Pence to shore up electoral support among white evangelicals. 

Pence's vice presidency makes clear he's a Trumper, from start to finish.  Aside from providing moral cover to Trump’s unsavory conduct, Pence’s habit of excessively praising the president and looking at Trump adoringly has become legendary.  Perhaps forgetting how petty and disloyal Trump is, Pence seeks to do all he can to safeguard his own presidential ambition.

Stewart Myrent

My laptop just crashed a few days ago & I am at the Grayslake public library, checking my email & checking in with you all.  I will be buying a refurbished laptop within a few days, so I can do this from home.  I finally finished "The Bully Pulpit", by Doris K. Goodwin, thankfully, a day or two ago.  I think that may be the last time I read a 750-page book, although it was very enjoyable & informative.  The friend who lent me "The Bully Pulpit" says he has a biography of Alexander Hamilton, that's over 800 pages.  I think I'll beg off.  After finishing "The Bully Pulpit", I realized that Trump has a lot in common with Teddy Roosevelt, except he lacks Roosevelt's intellect, compassion, experience & empathy.  Yesterday, I picked up Bob Woodward's "Fear: Trump in the White House", here at the library.  I've already gone through the first 100 pages (as it is large print format, it totals about 600 pages)  Hope everyone is well & although it was cold, windy & nasty yesterday (here in Chicago area), it feels like spring is just around the corner. 

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

So Stewart, the only difference between Teddy Roosevelt and Donald Trump is that TR was a human being.

Take care, glad you’re OK.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"Healthcare is constructive freedom... freedom to start a small business."