underway
You will get all the analysis you need on day one of the hearing from print and media. What that analysis will be depends on what you read and watch. The reason is the bottom line on yesterday was this.
If you came in believing the President is an evil man and should be impeached, you found what you wanted in the hearing.
If you came in believing this whole thing is just another attempt by his foes to get the President, you got what you wanted.
So, no minds were changed, no wave created and we are where we began.
What do I think?
I think we should all ask ourselves if the President were Kennedy, Clinton or Obama would those who want to impeach feel the same?
Now on the other hand, if it were, would those who are saying this is a witch hunt say the same?
I think our politicians in their pursuit of power have divided us and created a dangerous situation in the country.
I also think one of the last people I would put as the face of impeachment is Adam Schiff. His latest yesterday that he didn’t know who the whistleblower was laughable. He can call me and I will tell him if he wants to know. Also, Adam, since the whistleblower started all this, on second hand and third hand knowledge, don’t you think it would have been a good idea to understand what he knew and what his motives were?
Oh yea, I think the charge changed again, at least as I understood it. The ever changing charge now appears to be “extortion” as opposed to quid pro quo. The ground keeps moving beginning with collusion to obstruction to quid pro quo and now extortion. How about just winning an election?
Onto day two tomorrow, but behind closed doors for the most part.
Political updates
Saturday is the Louisiana run off election. Though Louisiana is a strong red state, the current Governor John Bel Edwards is a Democrat and favored for reelection. Edwards is as close to a Republican as you can get and still call yourself a Democrat. As an example, on June 1 of this year he signed a strong anti abortion bill. (The bill outlaws abortion as soon as a heartbeat is detected — about six weeks into a pregnancy).
The President has tried and will again try and defeat him anyway. He will be back there tonight. The latest numbers show a tight race with Edwards up by about 2%.
The President will be beaten up in the MSM if Edwards prevails as he was with the Kentucky governorship. But remember this, most Presidents would not venture into races that appear as sure losses and try to win them. They would stay safely in the White House, so give Trump credit for trying.
The latest poll in New Hampshire shows Joe Biden leading, Elizabeth Warren second and Pete Buttigieg up to third. He has passed (narrowly) Bernie Sanders in a neighboring state.
Now a key date here is tomorrow at five o’clock. That’s the deadline to file for the primary.
That’s why Gov. Patrick is announcing today that he is running. Tough to get in so late but he has a shot. Far better than Mike Bloomberg. He will run as a moderate and that further hurts Joe Biden. It will also be interesting to see how New Hampshire reacts with him and fellow Massachusetts citizen running against each other. It could shake up that primary and the race itself.
Patrick will file in NH today then head to California, Nevada, Iowa, and South Carolina to file for their primaries. So he’s all in.
Hillary yesterday said she is getting so many calls to run and she has not ruled it out. If I get the number to call her I will let you know.
As predicted Tulsi Gabbard has qualified for the November 20th debate. She can thank Hillary Clinton for the free publicity.
That makes ten qualifiers for the stage. They are:
Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang.
Missing and soon to depart the race is Julian Castro.
Bet you didn’t hear this about the Republican Primary:
Mark Sanford has dropped his bid. Remember you saw the coverage when he declared, well no one covered he dropped out.
Oh yea, remember the coverage for former Congressman Joe Walsh when he announced? Well it was announced he failed to qualify for the Alabama and Arkansas primaries.
Other headlines
The courts again ruled that Donald Trump must turn over eight years of his tax returns to New York. (So it can be leaked of course). The fascination with his taxes is beyond me. I don’t care, especially if the government was doing its job of monitoring before he ran for office.
The President would like to get past November 2020 before being forced into releasing. The get Trump crowd is fighting to get it out now.
A reader sent this to us this week and it is my sentiments exactly.
“America does not need to see the tax returns of a billionaire who became a public servant. America needs to see the tax returns of public servants who became millionaires while being public servants” — Jaeson Lubell
The WSJ has this story today on the US China deal and some issues:
U.S.-China Trade Talks Hit Snag Over Farm Purchases,
Trade talks between the U.S. and China have hit a snag over farm purchases, as officials seek to lock down the limited trade deal President Trump outlined last month.
“Mr. Trump has said that China has agreed to buy up to $50 billion of soybeans, pork and other agricultural products from the U.S. annually. But China is leery of putting a numerical commitment in the text of an agreement, according to people familiar with the matter. Beijing wants to avoid cutting a deal that looks more favorable to the U.S. than to China, some of the people said, and also wants to have flexibility within the agreement should trade tensions escalate again. ‘We can always stop the purchases if things get worse again,'” said one Chinese official.
The President touted this big time and any pullback will hurt him.
The Roger Stone case has gone to the jury. If convicted it will get big play as the MSM will tie him back to the President.
Have a great day.