Dear Group,
McMorris Rodgers may invite whomever she pleases to stand for her views and values and help her raise money. According to her spokesperson, Jared Powell), she supports Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, but wants it concluded as quickly as possible, so it seems an odd choice to invite Devin Nunes to campaign for her at a fundraising luncheon at the Spokane Club today. As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Nunes, in close alliance with Trump, has done everything in his power to discredit the Mueller investigation. (You can read at length in a richly sourced article the saga of the “Nunes Memo.”) Many have suggested Nunes himself should be investigated for obstruction of justice.
With the Nunes invitation McMorris Rodgers declares her claimed “support” for Special Council Mueller’s investigation is just soothing rhetoric. Nunes’ visit her tells us that McMorris Rodgers not only wants the Mueller investigation concluded quickly but that she endorses Nunes’ partisan contortions intent on undermining an investigation in which most citizens have confidence.
So join us as citizens of Spokane at 11:15AM outside the Spokane Club to underline the hyper-partisan politics for which McMorris Rodgers really stands. Here’s the link to the event details. Wear your sunhat and sunscreen. Wear your regular summer clothing. No candidate needs to be involved. The McMorris Rodgers/Devin Nunes alliance speaks for itself.
According to the Spokesman:
Members of Fuse Washington, which describes itself as the state’s largest progressive organization, said they plan a protest outside the Spokane Club. Brown said her campaign won’t be taking part.
“We’ll be getting out the vote for the primary,” she said.
The primary election deadline is Tuesday, August 6th. Don’t put off your homework.
I close today with an article contributed by John Strobel, a retired journalist and editor, a friend as concerned as I am with the direction of our country:
The irony is exquisite. John Stormer’s controversial 1964 book, “None Dare Call It Treason,” opened a divide in this country when Barry Goldwater supporters used the plot of Communists infiltrating the U.S. government to support the Republican presidential nominee. Stormer died on July 10, just six days before the Trump-Putin Helsinki summit that established beyond doubt that Russians have infiltrated the Trump Organization.
At the Helsinki press conference, Donald Trump looked sick to his stomach, servile if you will, while Putin looked elated. What had Putin shown Trump in those two hours of secret negotiations earlier?
The New York Times had a Page One story on July 18 of treason now becoming a part of the national dialog. We’re way beyond “none” daring to call it treason. We now have a president of the United States who has clearly established that he is a national security risk.
On Nov. 6, we have the opportunity to launch the beginning of the end to our national nightmare and global embarrassment. We must vote out of office those who have been complicit in Donald Trump’s crimes against our Constitution, national ideals and decency.
It starts with getting rid of Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
I stand before you as a lawyer might in giving his final arguments before the jury deliberates. That jury is you, and you’ll render your verdict on Nov. 5. Here is the evidence established at trial:
1) THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE:
Even Republicans must now admit that with the latest indictments of 12 Russian military officers, Vladimir Putin is seeking a controlling interest in the United States. Putin’s handpicked candidate — Trump — is well-entrenched in carrying out Russia’s most strategic goals: the destruction of NATO, the European Union, the World Trade Organization, and the G7 (unless Russia is allowed back in).
Russia was kicked out of the then-G8 when it invaded Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. Now Trump wants Russia back in. Why? Crimea is still under Russian control, and Russian soldiers are still fighting in Eastern Ukraine. Trump also wants sanctions against Russia that were imposed by the U.S. Congress and the European Union dropped. Why?
Why are most Republicans in Congress doing whatever they can to cover up Russia’s collusion with the Trump organization to ensure Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2016 election?
With the Helsinki summit in the rearview mirror, we have clarity. Putin and Trump colluded in spinning why we should believe their lies and reject the findings of the entire American intelligence community, the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Mueller investigation. Trump blamed the victim, America, and defended the attacker, Russia. The Trump Organization is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Russia Incorporated.
2) A MORE DANGEROUS WORLD:
• Sanctions were crippling North Korea, yet it expanded its nuclear missile threats. Trump created an artificial crisis, then said he solved it by sitting down with the most brutal dictator in the world, Kim Jong Un. While Kim got joint U.S.-South Korea war games suspended and the sanctions regime eased through China, Trump was looking around for a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. But in fact, Trump has made the crisis far more dire: North Korea is upgrading its nuclear weapons facilities.
• NATO has been the most successful defense treaty in American history, but Trump wants to tear it apart. After threatening that the U.S. may walk away, he later claimed he saved the organization by getting the other members to pony up more money. They did no such thing. Now we have a weakened alliance against a resurgent enemy, Russia.
• Trump has embraced our enemies while insulting our friends. For what purpose? Why would he praise the brutish, murderous dictators of Russia, Turkey, the Philippines, North Korea, Egypt, and others? Why would he heap scorn on our closest allies, including Britain, France, Canada and Germany? It’s simple. He wants to be thought of as a strongman, even at the expense of our democracy and our oldest and dearest friends.
• Trump pulled out of the Iran treaty despite the IAEA certifying it has no nuclear weapons, nor does it have enough nuclear material to build one for at least a dozen years. Now Iran is free to develop the weapons. And Trump just created an artificial crisis as he did with North Korea.
3) A MORE DANGEROUS HOME FRONT:
• Children have been kidnapped on our southern borders in a flagrant attempt to keep the white race in power. Trump’s orders go way beyond child abuse. The president claims the immigrants are murderers and rapists and they broke our laws by entering illegally. He doesn’t mention that many tried to enter legally but were turned away despite U.S. laws that say they can seek refuge from rape and slaughter in their homelands. Older immigrants have been sent to private prisons where they face rape, forced labor and other indignities.
• Racism, always there in our society but for the last few decades mostly in check, has broken its societal chains. There used to be a problem of “driving while black.” Now it’s “living while black.” Same thing with anti-Semitism. “Jews will not replace us,” the marchers in Charlottesville yelled. Homophobia is making a comeback, and anti-Muslim sentiment is growing. All this so Republicans can make better gains at the ballot box, aided by gerrymandering and voter suppression.
• Trump and his congressional sycophants couldn’t get rid of the Affordable Care Act, so now they are chipping away at it. The latest, denying insurers federal money to make the pre-existing conditions mandate work, will balloon rates this fall.
• Trump knows his election team colluded with Russia, so he launched a counter-war to what he calls a “witch hunt,” namely attacking and defaming the Justice Department and FBI. And Trump’s lackeys in Congress embarrassed themselves in their interrogation of FBI agent Peter Strzok, a man who, as head of the FBI counterterrorism unit, helped keep this nation safe.
• Trump administration officials have demonstrated incredible corruption while tearing down the very agencies they had sworn to protect. Some have been allowed to retire but should have been fired, then indicted for their corruption. The list includes Tom Price, Scott Pruitt, Wilbur Ross, Ryan Zinke and Ben Carson.
• Mismanagement has plagued the Veterans Administration for decades. Director David Shulkin was starting to get a handle on it when Trump nominated his personal physician to replace the fired Shulkin. Had it not been for Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana exposing Adm. Ronny Jackson’s unworthiness, the VA might have wallowed. Trump claimed he saved the VA … but it was only because he signed two of Sen. Tester’s VA bills.
4) U.S. ECONOMY IMPERILED:
• The trade war Trump launched despite centuries of evidence that it won’t work is endangering our economy and threatening a world recession. He claimed he had to do it for national security, but in fact it imperils it. And it puts to the lie that he is the master negotiator. There is no art to his deal-making. He’s a fraud. He calls our enemies — China and Russia — trade “competitors.” He calls our friends — the European Union — trade “foes.”
• The trade war has battered a key underpinning of business: the ability to plan ahead. Without the predictability of stable markets and supply chains, businesses will get conservative. The Federal Reserve Board is already warning about firms pulling back and retarding economic growth.
• The tax cut will only help the wealthy. Corporations for the most part did not use Trump’s largesse to create new jobs and modernize plants, but to increase stock dividends and buy back stock.
• The trade war and the tax cut will have the damning effect of raising interest rates faster as inflation takes hold. That means the government has to service the burgeoning debt through higher interest rates, further weakening the economy. As this is playing out, the unemployment rate will start to increase. Another serious recession is on the horizon.
• Republicans now say that because the debt is getting out of control (thanks to their efforts), we must cut back on “entitlements,” which the GOP is trying to make into a repulsive word. Yes, we are entitled to Medicare and Social Security because we and our employers paid for insurance to cover those benefits. Congresses for decades have raided the two funds to help their budgeting. Now the Republicans want to steal from us again.
5) DEATH OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY:
The Republican Party prided itself on being the party of globalization. No more. It prided itself on being the party of fiscal conservatism. No more. It prided itself on being the party of free trade. No more.
It prided itself on being the party of family values. No more. It prided itself on being the party of law and order. No more.
The Grand Old Party no longer exists. The Republican Party, R.I.P., is now the Trump Party.
Hitler and Mussolini came to power by democratic means, then destroyed their democracies. Trump wants to be on that trajectory by tearing down the institutions that protect our republic. Don’t let him do it. Step up and vote this November for whatever Democrats are on your ballots. Talk to your friends, families, co-workers and neighbors about doing the same thing.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, America needs you.
John Strobel
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry