Category: Personalities

Who is Robert Swan Mueller III ?

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Who Is Robert Swan Mueller III ?

D. S. Mitchell

Robert Swan Mueller III was just appointed by the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, as Special Counsel to investigate the Russian interference in the U.S. 2016 presidential election. Mr. Mueller is a well known and high profile attorney who has served the United States many times. His known integrity throughout the government has made his appointment welcomed by most observers, inside the government and out.

Mr. Mueller is an American lawyer and civil servant who was the sixth Director of FBI. Mr. Mueller served longer than any Director, outside the J. Edgar Hoover, from 9/4/2001 to 9/4/2013.

I support his appointment, however, I believe we need an independent commission, and will continue to speak out for that end.

Dar

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Trump Silliness

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Trump Silliness

D. S. Mitchell

I know that yesterday, Calamity Politics veered off course when I did my ‘Sunday thing’. Today I should be settling down and writing my usual intuitive and imaginative political blog comment, but I am still reeling from mounting disclosures leaking from every government orifice, as the terrified bureaucracy, and White House staffers, spill their guts ‘off record’ in an effort to save our democracy and our cherished institutions.

Blogger Id

We need every leaker and whistle blower we can find to stop Trump and Pence. Usually I don’t mention Pence, however if we are going to push for impeachment of Trump we must also ensnare Pence. Pence has been ‘protected’ so far, but I’m sure that he is seriously involved in the collusion aspect of the campaign. We must never forget, he was brought on board by Manafort. He was there, in the inner circle, surrounded by Trump, Flynn, Sessions and all those Russians. The last thing we want in the White House is that smooth talking, MC looking troll of the right.

Because the media, the bureaucracy and the Democrats are running point for me I am going to, once again, in two days straight, try to use my political voice to lighten the mood for a moment. So, here’s a few comments overheard at the Fort George Brewery, Astoria, OR.

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Trump Scandal Report and More

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Trump Scandal Report and More

D. S. Mitchell

As Calamity Politics’ chief spokesperson, I want readers to know that I am a progressive that attempts to be relevant, topical and hopefully engaging in my coverage of the U.S. political scene. The television screen has erupted, like I have never seen, at least not since the last days of Nixon. I went to bed with the kerfuffle screaming from every channel except FoxNews, (Hannity) which was still talking about Comey. I couldn’t watch that show very long, before I said to myself, bedtime.

This morning, I woke up early, so at 0400 I hit the remote and flipped through a couple of channels, before joining Joe and Mika. Everyone was talking over one another and there was an obvious level of excitement.

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Trump Derangement Syndrome

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Trump Derangement Syndrome

D. S. Mitchell

The first place I ever saw the term ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ was in a December 2016 LA Times Op Ed, written by Justin Raimondo, the editorial director of Antiwar.com. Justin Raimondo, a Republican, is a self described “conservative-paleo-libertarian” whatever that is supposed to mean. Wikipedia calls it a philosophy that is “in opposition to social progressivism”. I give you this little tidbit to allow you to appropriately weigh his comments.

In his Op Ed, Raimondo states the Trump Derangement Syndrome disorder developes in stages. I will briefly outline those stages of development as Raimondo describes them:

In the early stages of his described ‘disease,’ the victims “lose all sense of proportion.” In Trump’s case, “every tweet arouses a firestorm” of reaction.

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Another OMG Day

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Another OMG Day

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics is the place for relevant, topical and engaging coverage of the U.S. political scene. Please join me today as I examine the good, the bad, the planned and the unplanned of today’s headline political conversation.

The news media has been churning out so much sludge since Monday that I have decided to just touch on each topic briefly.

Headline: Sally Talks. Sally Yates former acting Attorney General of the United States appeared in a high profile televised congressional hearing on May 8, 2017. She shared the witness table with former Director of National Intelligence now retired, James Clapper. The subcommittee has been designated to investigate the Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election.

Lt. General Michael Flynn is a central figure in the aforementioned investigation. Sally Yates came to Capital Hill to testify as to when the Justice Department warned the Trump White House of Flynn’s possible illegal contacts with the Russian government.

Ms. Yates, was fired by President Trump. Trump claimed that Yates was fired because she refused to defend Trump’s first travel ban. However, that may not be the real motive for the firing. When you look at the timeline of the events President Trump’s claims become questionable.

Yates said that on 1/26/2017 she had a meeting with White House Counsel Don McGahn for the purpose of alerting the White House that the sitting NSA could be a danger to the country. The DOJ led by Yates, believed Flynn, was “compromised with respect to the Russians.”

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Keep Smiling Sucker

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Keep Smiling Sucker

D. S. Mitchell

I started writing the Calamity Politics blog to present the urgent political news of the day. I take pride in presenting current and meaningful issues in the hope of connecting with people that have similar political leanings. There is also a bit of silliness, now and then.

I want to be a supportive voice of the “Resistance”. I, like so many others this political season have become unbelievably energized by the election of Donald Trump. He defines everything I don’t want in a man; much less a president. I have never previously been ashamed of a U.S. president, but knowing that Donald Trump is the “face of America,” truly sickens me.

I am sure we can defeat this megalomaniac and his science rejecting policies and his Fossil Fuel Agenda. None of us can do it alone. We need to bind together. It is together that we can keep the heat on these thugs and hoodlums; by our sheer numbers. Whether by impeachment, implementation of Amendment 25, or some other means Donald J. Trump will be removed from office before the end of his term. That conviction keeps me writing, talking and networking every day. I hope all my readers make that their mission also.

Donald Trump is one of the biggest phonies in U.S. history and he is now President of the United States and I’m worried that he will make as big a mess out of the United States government as he did his own personal finances.

Donald Trump began working for his father’s real estate company in 1972 after graduating from the Wharton School of Business with a degree in Economics. From the beginning Donald was better at self-promoting than actually making any money. It is estimated that when Fred Trump, Sr died in 1999 Donald Trump inherited something in the neighborhood of 100-200 million dollars.

According to the Associated Press, if Donald Trump had done nothing more than place his inheritance into index funds his net worth today would exceed 13 Billion dollars. Estimates project his current net worth is far from that dazzling amount. So, after all the ballyhoo and boasting he is rich because he was born rich. He could have been stratospherically wealthy if he had done nothing. Funny, in a peculiar way.

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50 Trump Adjectives

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50 Trump Adjectives

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics is happy to announce that I, Editor-in-Chief, the only Editor-in-Fact, am going to devote the entire first political blog post of the day to a really nasty game.

The ‘game’ will not distract from my usual in-depth political coverage; that will come later. LOL. My regular readers know that the ‘in-depth’ description is probably a bit misleading.

I’m decently polite and tend to shyness. Rarely do I attack. But today, as I was driving back home from the Acupuncturist this morning, I started thinking about Donald J.Trump, 45th President of the United States, con-man, self-promoter and started tossing adjectives around in my head as I made the drive from Cannon Beach to Surf Pines.

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Butterflies and Memories

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Butterflies and Memories

D. S. Mitchell

A Public Warning

Back in 2016 more than 26,000 psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers issued a warning to the people of the United States. These mental health professionals were warning the public that, in their collective opinion, Donald Trump had a serious mental illness. They further requested the Congress remove him from office, based on Article 4 of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Damn Scary

OMG. Pretty, damn scary stuff, if you ask me. I’ve followed politics all my life, and the only other time I have heard people question a U.S. president’s mental health was during the late stages of the Richard Nixon’s tenure.  At that time stories of Nixon’s nightly drinking and paranoia was fodder for a frenzied media.

Sharing Something Beautiful

With all that said, you might think today I would stoke up the fires on that story, but because I’m in charge here, I am going to discuss a lovely short essay, by Jennifer S. Kushnier. I originally saw it printed in one of those little books you see at Hallmark card stores. You know, the kind. They are usually really small and have lots of cool art, quotes, short stories or essays.

Anyway, this little essay by Ms. Kushnier  reminded me of my childhood. When I was a kid, even in city neighborhoods there were plenty of vacant lots, some were quite big, really open undeveloped fields where beautiful things happened. Thank you Jennifer, your piece was lovely and charming.

Butterflies by Jennifer S. Kushnier

Jennifer began her essay with the lines, “All kinds of wildflowers prospered there, from ivory Queen Anne’s lace and purple Clover, to yellow Buttercups and Black-eyed Susan’s, to burnt orange Indian Paintbrushes and those light-blue flowers that seem to be so rare these days. To this field came dozens of butterflies.”

Island Life

That little essay takes me to another time, a distant point in my childhood. When I too was very young. At that time my family lived on a dairy farm on a picturesque island. Sauvie’s Island is an amazing piece of land caught between the Willamette River and the Columbia River in NW Oregon, about 20 miles west of Portland, Oregon. Most of the island is a huge wildlife refuge with a few farms, even today, in this busy industrialized time.

Protect What We Love

I can remember when the birds would take to the air, a sunny day went black. Today, on this protected island the sky will never be so full of birds that the sky is black with their bounty. How long before the Monarch’s will be gone forever, and the Wood Duck a mere memory? I think it is imperative that we challenge the Trump Administration at every turn as they push their fossil fuel agenda. It is dangerous for the environment. A threat to wildlife, a risk to our water supply. The gutting of the EPA could potentially poison everything we know and love. If you love the sight of a Monarch butterfly in flight, if you love the sound of a woodpecker, if you love the beauty of a Wood Duck floating on a pond, if you love the sight of an Eagle on the wing, you are not alone. Please, stand up, speak out, and stop the threat to all the wild places by the fossil fuel pushing madman.

Thank you Jennifer S. Kushnier. I have tried to find you but I have not seen anything else you have written, but this little piece was just perfect.

Trump’s Narcissistic Personality Traits

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Narcissistic Personality Disorder

D. S. Mitchell

Another Sunday

It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’ve planted several trays of spring flowers, and the yard at Calamity Politics is much brighter, and much more inviting.  If you are a new visitor to Calamity Politics, we are a progressive political blog that hopefully offers relevant news and engaging political chatter.  In addition to the chatter, I try to offer intelligent analysis and commentary on the news of the day.  Hopefully, readers will find the articles topical and informative.

26,000 Mental Health Professionals

Twenty-six thousand (26,000) psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers recently signed a petition stating that Donald Trump has a “dangerous mental illness, and is not fit to lead the United States.” Dr. John Gartner, formerly of  Johns Hopkins University, now in private practice, stated that he felt he “had an ethical responsibility to warn the public of Donald Trump’s mental illness.”

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Trump Slush Fund Scandal

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Trump Slush Fund Scandal

D. S. Mitchell

Inaugural Donors

After Trump’s election, the campaign asked for contributors to the Presidential Inauguration. Lo and behold, they collected the biggest Inaugural nest egg in history.  The total take, which was just disclosed by the Trump Administration in Federal Election Commission filings this week, totaled a staggering 106.7 million dollars. It was the largest haul in inaugural history. There were obviously some very happy Republicans.

Rachel Maddow Show

The Inaugural fund-raising was the lead story on The Rachel Maddow Show, the other night.  Rachel told her audience that there was an ongoing investigation. In fact, the investigatory group had tracked down a large number of suspicious donor names and phony addresses. According to the watchdogs, there were strange names, such as Katherine Johnson, NASA. Really? Not the Katherine Johnson made famous in Hidden Figures? NASA? I guess the recorder didn’t expect anyone to be checking those names and addresses. There were also several vacant lots listed as residences. Strange.

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