tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58086752024-09-01T21:41:58.896-05:00This daily blog is composed of clips and links from other progressive blog and news sites, accompanied by my own observations. We are committed to challenging the Trump administration and its policies, exposing its corruption and lies, and helping to lay the groundwork for a progressive comeback.Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comBlogger6006125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-72028640427156129672021-01-21T05:00:00.000-06:002021-01-21T05:00:40.022-06:00

Joe Biden, the president of the United States. Not a perfect president, but the perfect president for these post-Trump times. Earnest, unpretentious, good-natured and decent, he bookended the angry, dystopic "American Carnage" speech of four years ago with this: “My whole soul is in this. Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation, and I ask every American to join me in

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-56443128314079257982021-01-20T05:32:00.000-06:002021-01-20T05:32:49.694-06:00

He is the only president to be impeached twice; and if AG Bill Barr hadn’t buried the Mueller report, it could have been three.  He refused to accept defeat after the biggest voter turnout ever, a remarkable election in the midst of a pandemic, where people literally risked their lives to vote -- driven largely by their desire to be rid of him. He transposed his personal refusal to

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-63960110342590925782021-01-19T05:16:00.002-06:002021-01-19T05:16:16.625-06:00

Trump's plans for inauguration morning https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-inauguration-departure-plans_n_60055a2ac5b6efae62fa1c92The outgoing president is reportedly leaving for Mar-A-Lago on Wednesday morning so he can take one last flight aboard Air Force One. . . .  Trump is “scheduled to land in West Palm Beach, FL at 11am Wednesday morning with just 1 hour left in his

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-50193342850384373652021-01-18T04:58:00.002-06:002021-01-18T05:00:48.522-06:00

Astounding new video from the Capitol invasion (thanks to JT for the link) https://www.newyorker.com/news/video-dept/a-reporters-footage-from-inside-the-capitol-siege  GOPers who encouraged the Capitol insurrection are already getting ads run against them https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/1/14/2009239/

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-32092556064918055722021-01-17T05:24:00.001-06:002021-01-17T05:24:43.883-06:00

Okay, I have tried not to say it. I don't like to be alarmist. But we are facing an inauguration in which Trump, his lying Republican buddies, and right-wing media have created the false belief that Biden was elected illegitimately, and that the election was stolen. His supporters are outraged and planning for Something Big. Security for the event is off the charts -- and we face a very real

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-4996333957666632332021-01-16T05:18:00.000-06:002021-01-16T05:18:10.058-06:00

Could Trump lose the impeachment vote in the Senate? https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/will-the-senate-convict-trump-impeachment-mcconnell.html The process: https://www.axios.com/trump-impeachment-trial-5325181a-a63d-48d4-b634-3ef517fd8335.html [NB: Here's the big problem for Senate Repubs -- it is OBVIOUS that Trump created the conditions for and encouraged the assault

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-34168529753463188432021-01-15T05:29:00.001-06:002021-01-15T05:29:33.872-06:00

Check. . . check . . . check . . . and . . . check (thanks to AG for the link) https://www.facebook.com/richard.botterill.5/posts/10208449296612012 Only the lonelyhttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-endures-second-impeachment-alone-and-silent_n_600048cfc5b691806c4fad71Trump kept out of sight in a nearly empty White House as impeachment proceedings played out  . . .https://

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-1423789317042839782021-01-14T04:27:00.000-06:002021-01-14T04:27:22.093-06:00

The GOP is done with Trump -- and one reason they may vote to convict him in the Senate is to block him from ever running again  https://politicalwire.com/2021/01/13/republican-sentiment-rapidly-turns-against-trump/ The fight over Trump is tearing the GOP apart -- and Tom Friedman says, Goodhttps://politicalwire.com/2021/01/12/trump-is-blowing-apart-the-gop/“I want Trump out — and I don’t

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-47296712240212842252021-01-13T05:59:00.000-06:002021-01-13T05:59:07.105-06:00

This is the 6000th issue of Progressive Blog Digest. I started it in 2004 when I was on sabbatical in Belgium and desperate to keep up with U.S. news overseas. The tortures at Abu Ghraib had just been revealed and I felt that we were seeing the true underbelly of evil in Bush’s foreign policy. The Valerie Plame scandal was heating up. We were learning what “Blackwater” was. The Iraq war, founded

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-33770715153623379772021-01-12T05:20:00.003-06:002021-01-12T05:22:21.898-06:00

Is anyone in charge right now?https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/who-running-federal-government/617634/More: https://politicalwire.com/2021/01/11/white-house-is-in-meltdown/Trump approval plummets to 33% https://politicalwire.com/2021/01/11/trumps-approval-falls-11-points/ WH Counsel Pat Cipollone and AG Bill Barr told Trump he can't pardon himself https://

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-87565783169374194582021-01-11T05:33:00.003-06:002021-01-11T05:34:29.328-06:00

The final days https://politicalwire.com/2021/01/10/trump-plans-defiant-final-week/“Banned from social media and abandoned by some staff after inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump and a dwindling circle of advisers plan a defiant final week in office,” Bloomberg reports. . .  More: https://www.businessinsider.com/

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-80479527491169965342021-01-10T05:18:00.000-06:002021-01-10T05:18:22.382-06:00

More violence to come? https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/us/online-extremism-inauguration-capitol-invs/index.html John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab -- a group at the University of Toronto that monitors cybersecurity -- said he is "terribly concerned" about the inauguration. "While the broader public was aghast at what happened (Wednesday) at the Capitol, in certain

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-21786113086094675502021-01-09T05:32:00.001-06:002021-01-09T06:04:54.433-06:00

Sure enough, we find out that Trump's lifeless and pro forma "concession" video was nothing but another half-assed attempt at damage control -- after all the damage had already been done https://politicalwire.com/2021/01/08/trump-made-video-after-warning-of-his-legal-risk/“Mr. Trump initially resisted taping the video, agreeing to do it only after aides pressed him and he appeared to

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-43137588446910599552021-01-08T05:21:00.004-06:002021-01-08T08:14:11.944-06:00

Republicans may have finally learned the lesson: if you defend and enable Trump he only gets worsehttps://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/06/trump-loyalty-capitol-attack-455667Trump loyalty disintegrates . . . “He screwed his supporters, he screwed the country and now he’s screwed himself,” said a 2016 Trump campaign official, predicting his former boss would cease to remain a popular figure in GOP

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-80231273505038208742021-01-07T05:23:00.000-06:002021-01-07T05:23:06.087-06:00

Let's be very clear: Trump knew exactly what he was doing. He welcomed these groups to DC, he predicted that it was going to be "wild," he called on them to march on the Capitol, and only later, AFTER they had stormed the building, attacked police, and disrupted an historic joint session of Congress, did he call for peaceful actionhttps://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-29089513263525800272021-01-06T04:39:00.000-06:002021-01-06T04:39:20.528-06:00

In Georgia: Warnock wins, Ossoff leads narrowly. If these results hold, the Dems will control the Senatehttps://www.vox.com/2021/1/6/21534292/senate-2020-results-democrats-win-schumer-biden https://www.rollcall.com/2021/01/06/democrats-move-closer-to-senate-control-as-warnock-defeats-loeffler/ [NB: And another failure for Trump. I guess calling the election "illegal and invalid" isn't a

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-21741212063226394002021-01-05T05:39:00.001-06:002021-01-05T05:39:04.626-06:00

The full transcript and phone call showing Trump trying to pressure/threaten the Georgia Sect'y of State to "find" 11,780 votes and overturn the electionhttps://www.cnn.com/2021/01/03/politics/trump-brad-raffensperger-phone-call-transcript/index.html More: https://www.salon.com/2021/01/04/trump-to-sue-georgia-secretary-of-state-for-releasing-recording-of-him-trying-to-cheat-report_partner/

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-31946857725218341262021-01-04T05:40:00.000-06:002021-01-04T05:40:09.635-06:00

Mitch McConnell thought that when he told the Senate GOP that voting to overturn the election results would hurt the party, they would listen to him. First it was just Josh Hawley going rogue -- then it was going to be just a handful -- now it's a dozen, and there are still two more days to gohttps://politicalwire.com/2021/01/03/mcconnell-loses-control/“We can’t say this emphatically enough: This

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-36790772565009449172021-01-03T06:14:00.001-06:002021-01-03T06:14:09.275-06:00

Trump is throwing everything at the wall to try to stay in office -- which is kind of strange since he has made quite clear that he has no interest in doing the work of actually being president.  Now, as his days inevitably wind down, he is lashing out at everybody -- especially other Republicans. In fact, for days now he has ignored Joe and Kamala and Chuck and Nancy, and all his other

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-2610630957508475642021-01-02T04:57:00.000-06:002021-01-02T04:57:21.220-06:00

Trump "demands" a $2000 stimulus payment (really, just endorsing the Dem position), and then does absolutely nothing to make it happen. So, of course, it doesn't happen.  On this, on the Defense veto, and on the phony election challenge, Mitch tells Trump, No, without any fear of retribution. Is ex-president Trump going to be less of a factor than he thinks?https://politicalwire.com/

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-70517970368927395232021-01-01T05:05:00.000-06:002021-01-01T05:05:03.917-06:00

Trump comes back to DC early from his golfing break in Florida -- so you know there's something going on that he really cares about https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/12/31/2005051/-Donald-Trump-is-hurrying-back-to-Washington-because-that-coup-just-won-t-plot-itselfWhen Donald Trump heaved off to Mar-a-Lago for his latest “golf vacation,” there seemed a fair chance that he’d not bother

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-14938057366946617092020-12-31T05:50:00.000-06:002020-12-31T05:50:19.547-06:00

One way or another, Trump is going to lose on January 6  https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/30/electoral-college-biden-trump-452081President Donald Trump’s last-gasp bid to overturn his 2020 election defeat appears doomed on Jan. 6, when Congress is set to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. But the byzantine process by which Congress counts and validates the Electoral College

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-70821582513036632672020-12-30T05:50:00.004-06:002020-12-30T05:50:29.070-06:00

What is Trumpism? https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/deep-story-trumpism/617498/ Can the GOP channel the energy of his most fervent supporters and advance a sort of Trumpism without Trump? The answer depends on what Trumpism is—a populist prototype, a personality cult, or something stranger. To some, Trumpism marks the beginning of a new Republican Party. Four years ago, Trump

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-55129562604974895562020-12-29T05:12:00.001-06:002020-12-29T05:12:31.417-06:00

We are learning more about how the handlers around Trump talked him into backing down on the COVID bill https://www.axios.com/why-trump-signed-coronavirus-relief-5fd23003-ac26-45e0-a09e-cddefaadbd42.html Getting a cranky, stubborn President Trump to belatedly sign the COVID relief bill, after unemployment benefits had already lapsed, was like being a hostage negotiator, or defusing a bomb. .

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5808675.post-9466571363922179952020-12-28T05:17:00.000-06:002020-12-28T05:17:14.105-06:00

I was going to say that maybe Trump's refusal to sign the COVID bill, the government funding bill, and the Defense bill wasn't because of any strategy or principled opposition to what is in them, but because this relentlessly transactional person just doesn't want to give Congress what it wants when it won't give him what he wants by backing his election scam on January 6.  I didn't say

Nick Burbuleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11052188822471256837noreply@blogger.com