Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

The real reason Trump allies are attacking Mueller
Politico | Darren Samuelsohn | 12/19/17

Sowing public doubt about the special counsel's Russia investigation can give the president cover for pardons, even if the investigation is allowed to proceed.

In the last week, investigators on Mueller's team have been publicly accused of being biased against Trump and of violating criminal procedure to get documents related to his transition. The purpose of the onslaught, according to people close to the White House, isn't to encourage the president to oust the special counsel, a move that could precipitate a crisis in the Justice Department and potentially a move to impeach Trump.

Rather, these people said, the goal is to sow public doubt about Mueller and his prosecutors in advance of upcoming criminal trials -- and to give the president political cover if he wants to start issuing pardons to any current or former aides swept up in the Russia scandal. ... Read more

Demoralized I.R.S. Faces Monumental Task With New Bill
NYT | Patricia Cohen | 12/19/17

The agency, upbraided for years by the Republicans, must now interpret the new bill. It has been struggling with a budget cut of nearly $1 billion since 2010, and a 23-percent reduction in personnel. ... Read more

Trump, upset about Gorsuch's criticism of his attacks on judges, talked of rescinding nomination
WashingtonPost | Ashley Parker | 12/19/17

President Trump has boasted that appointing Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court ranks high among his signature achievements. But he vented angrily to advisers earlier this year when Gorsuch called Trump's repeated attacks on the federal judiciary "disheartening" and "demoralizing," according to people with knowledge of the discussions. ... Read more

How much of a threat are Russia and China to the US?l | Aljazeera: Inside Story | 12/19/17 | 25:10

Author Brian Klaas: Is Trump an "aspiring despot" or a "bumbling showman"? Yes!
Salon | Chauncey Devega | 12/19/17

Author of "The Despot's Apprentice" on the "long-term corrosion of democracy" that won't end when Trump is gone

The presidency of Donald Trump has forced the American people to confront questions most of us had never before considered possible. What happens when a president has no respect for the Constitution and the country's democratic institutions and traditions? When a president and his allies consider themselves above the law, what is to be done? If a president creates his own version of reality by behaving like a political cult leader, what forms of resistance are effective -- or even possible? Is the president of the United States a fascist and demagogue who may be under the influence of the country's enemies?

Too many Americans believed their country to be exceptional and unique. This blinded them to the threat to democracy embodied by Donald Trump -- as well as other members of the extreme right-wing -- until it was too late to stop him from stealing control. Moreover, the rise of Trump's authoritarian movement (dishonestly operating under the mask of "populism") has both empowered and revealed the tens of millions of Americans who have authoritarian or fascist leanings. The threat to American democracy is deep; it will take a long time to purge this civic sickness and political disease from the body politic.

In an effort to understand the true dimensions of Trump's rise to power as a direct threat to American democracy, I recently spoke with Brian Klaas. He is a fellow in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics. In addition to writing columns and essays that have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, Foreign Affairs and numerous other publications, Klaas is the author of several books. His latest, published in November, is "The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy." ... Read more