Democracy or not

This.

After two and half centuries of our nation's history, it's come to this:

The President's lawyers argue on the Senate floor that he can withhold aid, coerce an ally, and try to cheat in an election,

And there's nothing we can do about it.

Our Founders would be aghast. pic.twitter.com/3uHFnaY44q

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 31, 2020

Sunday reading

I'm lounging on the porch, listening to the Cubs game and reading the newspapers -- online -- while it rains on the other side of the screens. It is good.

Some good reads, all from The New York Times ...

• For a Major Disney Collector, It’s the Magic Hour
• Melania Trump, a Mysterious First Lady, Weathers a Chaotic White House
• Kenan Thompson, the Reluctant Star of ‘Saturday Night Live’

Reince Priebus on Trump White House: 'Take everything you’ve heard and multiply it by 50.'

I've been waiting to read anything from my old buddy Reince about his time in the White House, and today it appeared.

Former White House Chief of Staff and Kenosha native Reince Priebus provides some behind-the-scenes insights about his short but tumultuous time working for President Donald Trump in a new interview. 

“Take everything you’ve heard and multiply it by 50,” Priebus tells author Chris Whipple.

Here's another account from The New York Times. I can hardly wait to read more. 

Hillary and Barack meet for coffee ...

Saturday morning reading

It’s Saturday morning.

Kates is in bed, trying to bat away a head cold that’s plagued her the last few days.

Faye was up, as usual, at the crack of dawn – preventing me from getting a head start on the day and trying to accomplish some things before the rest of the house awoke. Now she’s cozied up in a chair, watching her Saturday morning Disney cartoons. “My Friends Tigger & Pooh.” “PJ Masks.” “Mickey and the Roadster Racers.”

Phoebe is still sleeping, recovering from a night of bowling with the families of my office colleagues. The big drama in her world last night was that, in the three games we bowled, she failed to get a strike.

I am sitting at our dining room table, basking in the sunlight – the cats are doing the same in their lounge areas beside me – and reveling in the fact that temperatures are going to approach a high of 70 degrees today.

I’m also loving The New York Times’ political coverage these days, particularly its commentary about the new administration.

Today’s revelations …

Tom Brokaw was asked in 1969 to be President Nixon’s press secretary.

A PBS station in San Antonio censored a commentary addressing the Republican themes of stifling mainstream media, only to realize its mistake and let the commentary piece air later.

The longtime friendship of Jorge Pérez and Donald Trump is now cold as a result of the administration’s controversial policies and rhetoric.

Kellyanne Conway. Nothing more to say on that topic.

And from the amazing Gail Collins, James Buchanan’s days as the worst president in American history may be numbered. (Newsweek has a story about the presidential survey, in which Obama fell just short of the top 10 in his first appearance in the ballot. Sigh.)

I know some of you are worried that the president is losing his mind. Perhaps you think that he’s depressed over the fact that his first four weeks in power have been marked by a disastrous attempt at immigration control, the axing of the national security adviser, the ignominious retreat of a nominee for labor secretary and a failed military raid in Yemen.

No. “I don’t think there’s ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we’ve done,” Trump said at his press conference. Remember, this is not a man who does self-deprecating irony.

Oh, and the 25th Amendment may be a thing.

Time for me to get outside.

USA TODAY exclusive: Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills

Well, this is interesting ...

"Donald Trump casts himself as a protector of workers and jobs, but a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation found hundreds of people – carpenters, dishwashers, painters, even his own lawyers – who say he didn’t pay them for their work. ... 

(H)e has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.

At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others."

Meanwhile, the Democrats are coming together and digging in ...

Paul Ryan, what are you thinking?

I’ve always had a lot of respect for Paul Ryan as a person and politician. I had the privilege of hearing him speak and interviewing him a few times during my newspaper days in southeastern Wisconsin and was always struck by how genuine he could be and how well he connected with constituents.

So I was disappointed by Thursday’s news that he was endorsing Donald Trump.

I get it. It’s all politics and it’s an attempt to unite the Republican Party.

But seriously. Paul Ryan, what are you thinking?

“So Ryan’s singular act of appeasement in the face of the Trump juggernaut sends a loud and clear message about the kind of rhetoric that Republicans are willing to accept in trade for hanging onto the House of Representatives and securing their thin margin in the United States Senate.

Instead of breaking with other establishment Republicans, Ryan, threw in with a man who has pushed what used to be racist, dog-whistle language from the darkness where it belongs, to the center of our civil debate.

Ryan has thrown in with a man who, with his support for a travel ban on the members of one of world’s largest religions, has cast aside the very religious freedoms that Republicans claim to staunchly defend.”

There’s this, too. A Donald Trump presidency would threaten the U.S. rule of law.

(Updated 06.09.16)

Here's more: Donald Trump does not have a campaign

And more: Poor Paul Ryan

"So in his efforts to placate the right wing of his right-wing party, Ryan just sold out the principles of the Republican Party to a reality TV show host and ethically challenged businessman.

Now Ryan can no longer separate himself from Donald Trump and his dubious positions and policies. Ryan can step back from or criticize some of Trump’s positions, but he won’t be able to do that every day or his endorsement becomes a total joke. We had many months and many debates to watch and learn who Mr. Trump is, so we can assume that Paul Ryan knew what he was doing personally and what he was doing to the Republican Party when he made his endorsement. Now, for the next five months Paul Ryan has to live with the consequences."