The Banana States Of America

By one key measure, it is now official: This is the most authoritarian Congress in history.

The House Rules Committee, meeting in its ornate chamber on the third floor of the Capitol on Monday night, sent two bills to the House floor under “closed” rules — that is, legislation that must be rubber stamped in toto, without being amended by so much as a comma. That brings the number of closed rules in this Congress to 84, beating the previous record of 83 set in 2014, according to the Democrats’ tally (a Republican tally counts one fewer). And here’s the truly remarkable part: Republicans have another seven months in this Congress to run up the score.

There are various explanations for this. But what this means in practical terms is the GOP majority has used parliamentary maneuvers to block votes on amendments to legislation that would likely pass with broad bipartisan support — on outsourcing jobs, immigration, gun safety, disaster relief, Social Security, Medicare, the environment, prescription drug costs, Pell Grants, national security, criminal-justice reform, veterans’ benefits, drinking water, child nutrition and maternal health.

WaPo

Sad how law and order Republicans are so desperate to protect Turmp from the consequences of his own dirdy deeds that they'd smear the FBI. That used to be just a far, far left thang! It's very suspicious that Republicans are so desperate to discredit the Mueller probe before the results of the investigation are revealed. There must be something awful for Turmp coming.

BUILD A WALL, REALLY?
For those who believe Trump's Wall is the solution to stopping the inflow of drugs to the US, here is an interesting stat:

95%-97% of the drugs coming into the U.S. are coming by water, via non-commercial boats, container ships, fishing boats, speed boats and even submarines. - Ed Krassenstein

Turmp is using fear of immigrants just like a car salesman uses fear of breakdowns to sell expensive extended warranties. Fact: I have never had a breakdown in 8 years of owning the Tribbie. I used to work in sales. I knew salescreeps just like Turmp. Make up lies (the horrid number of crimes committed by immigrants, immigrants gonna steal yer job [yeah, just wait til them highly-skilled immigrants are grudgingly allowed in by Turmp, and see who gets the high paying jobs]). Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.

Yes, pass comprehensive immigration reform to somewhat pick and chose who comes into the USA. But I bet'cha a $ to a donut that if Turmp had is way, as would many of his followers, there'd be no immigrants allowed into the country atall.

The Right's Assault on the Mueller Probe Takes a Bizarre New Twist

The president’s allies have been calling for the termination of Mueller’s investigation almost since its launch, seeing it as a grave danger to the Trump administration. The new line of attack revolves around a four-page classified memo drafted by Republicans on the House intelligence committee that GOP members claim shows malfeasance on the part of the FBI and Justice Department during the early phases of their investigation into improper communications between Trump associates and Russia. The implication is that information from a dossier -- paid for by anti-Trump Republicans and then Democrats and compiled by the intelligence firm Fusion GPS -- was used as the basis for warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on the communications of Trump associates, somehow showing bad faith on the part of law enforcement and invalidating the special counsel’s investigation.
https://www.alternet.org/right-wing/rights-assault-mueller-probe-takes-bizarre-new-twist

Our Porno President...

So, who in their right mind is doubting the dossier now?