In Search of Something Nice to Say

   Mother looked up at me. "Son, it's been way too long since you said anything nice about Donald Trump," she said.

   I told her I just didn't have anything to say -- nice, that is.

   "You need to try," she said. "You need to love everyone in this world, and that would include the Donald. I just don't know how else you are going to show any love for him if you can't figure out something nice to say."

   "How about if I just said I loved him?" I asked.

   "That's a start," she said. "But if you say something positive about him, that might be even better. People who love others say nice things about them."

   "Let's see. He did give a good Christmas message, from what I hear," I replied. "And, I love Christmas messages."

   "He always gives good talks, doesn't he?" Mom said.

   "Hey, that's cheating," I said. "You're taking away good things I could say by beating me to them."

   "And, he presents himself in such a way, that a lot of Christian leaders back him. So, there must be something there," she said. 

   "What do you think about the way he treats people at the border?" I asked.

   She ignored my question.

   "Well," I said. "The economy might still be doing pretty good. And, he does seem to be a fan of Israel. Now, on climate change . . ."

   She gave me another mean look, and I knew she was going to tell me it was my bedtime.

Whispers behind your back are silent, but it is only when they are forced into the light of the day that they are silenced.

-

Former Ukrainian Official Olena Zerkal's Testimony is Explosive

  Ukraine's former deputy foreign minister Olena Zerkal has stepped forward to reveal Ukraine did learn of a freeze on military aid to that country as early as July. President Trump's telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took place July 25.
  This news story broke Dec. 3, in the New York Times. The impeachment was Dec. 18, so this news would have came in time to be included in the House's proceedings.
   Today is the first time I have heard this news. As a person who has followed the impeachment reasonably well, how did I miss this? Was the news covered well by our media? I word search, but do not find anything other than the NY Times article, and an overview of the NY Times article by Axios, and a Washington Post article that way down in the story makes reference to the NY Times article.
  Square this news with news that broke about a week ago. An email released through a Freedom of Information inquiry showed a White House official making it official that funds were to be held back. The timing of the email? It came immediately after the Trump-Zelensky phone call -- maybe 90 minutes after the call was concluded. This coincides with Zerkal's testimony. She says when she learned of the freeze, she asked for a July 30 meeting with one of Zelensky's aids.
   Zerkal resigned her post in late November in protest of the government's back-channel diplomacy with the Trump Administration and with Russia.
   Zerkal also told the NY Times that the Zelensky Administration blocked a trip she wanted to make to meet with members of Congress. This further adds to evidence of a cover-up on both sides of the Atlantic, as the email the day of the phone call specified that the freeze on military aide was to be kept under wraps.

A nation supposes its great when it supposes morals do not matter.

 But, when it loses its morals, it is its greatness that does not matter. 

Nations rise with their morals

 and fall without them. 

Is President Trump Leading Us Up, or Down?

   The rise and fall of nations comes with the leaders they have. Hitler in Germany. Fidel Castro in Cuba. The list could go on and on.
  One of the most impactful presidents we have had? . . .  Donald Trump.
  You would ask if he is leading us up, or leading us down. In terms of prosperity, are we going up or down? And, in terms of morality, unity, diplomacy, and international esteem?
   How about freedom, and how about justice?

 Wisdom enjoys the wisdom of others. 

Pride enjoys only its own.

The Senate Should Stick with the Sixth Amendment During the Trial

   Is our Constitution imperiled? Are we throwing it aside? Is the Senate?
   Impartial jurors? Have they said they will do whatever the president -- the defendant -- wants? What does the Sixth Amendment say about whether the Senate should conduct the proceedings in the way and manner the president tells them to?
   Will witnesses be allowed? How can you have a fair trial, how can you expect to get evidence against the president if no witnesses are allowed? Now, shouldn't we be concerned with what the Sixth Amendment says about this? Do we honor the Constitution? We are big on the Second Amendment, but no so much a fan of the Sixth?
   Read, then, the Sixth Amendment:
   In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
    The House impeachment proceedings were more of a fact-finding mission, although elements of trial certainly were present. Still, of the two, the House event was more the investigation, and the Senate event more the trial. I do not know that that means it would not have been good to do the things mentioned in the Sixth Amendment in the House proceedings, but I do know some of those things are not found in many investigations in our land, and I do not know that the Sixth Amendment applies to investigations.
   As the proceeding move to the Senate, however, this Sixth Amendment should surely be applied. This is the trial. It should be speedy and public. It should be impartial, as opposed to the senators allowing their biases as Republicans or Democrats to sway and influence them. It should be held in the place where the alleged crime was committed, of course, so that means no more than in the U.S. It should include a thorough introduction of the nature and causes of the accusation, so the defendant can squarely defend himself. It shall provide the testimony of witnesses witnessing against the president. To me, this seems to have been placed in the Constitution to prevent government from rendering a decision with no regard to evidence. It (the Senate hearing) should include witnesses who speak in defense of the accused, as well. And, it should include a lawyer for the defense.
  On the part about being allowed "to be confronted with witnesses against him." Does that include the whistle-blower? I think of public tipsters who tip off law enforcement officers to crimes. Sometimes, they do not participate as witnesses. Sometimes, they are afraid of the accused, and sometimes they do not have so much evidence, anyway, that they have to serve as witnesses.
   I have suggested, in the past, that the Sixth Amendment dictates that the whistle-blower be a witness, even if he is in a different room and his identity is protected by scrambling his voice so it cannot be identified. Upon considering that tipsters -- whistle-blowers -- often do not testify, I now wonder. I now tend to thing he should not be required to testify if he doesn't have sole possession of  evidence critical to the trial. Inasmuch as the whistle-blowers witness has been said to be hearsay and second-hand, perhaps his witness is not critical and he or she should not be required to participate.
   We should also consider the part where it says the defendant shall "have the assistance of counsel for his defense." What if the president does not want witnesses on his behalf? What if he feels he does not want to dignify the proceedings by going that far? The Sixth Amendment simply says he shall "have a compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor." It does not require that they speak if the defendant doesn't want them to.
   And, what if he wants them to speak of Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, or maybe even of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton? What if he tries to turn his trial into a trial of others?  Largely, this isn't covered by the Sixth Amendment. However, it does provide that he be allowed witnesses on his behalf. Let him bring in the witnesses against Biden (or Hillary and Obama) if, with each such witness, he can show how this applies to whether he should be found guilty or not guilty. From what limited knowledge I have, I believe that is all House leaders were asking when they held back on allowing Trump the witnesses the Republicans wanted.
   I suggest we should see many ways this impeachment / trial-for-removal-from-office process has imperiled our Constitution. It (the Constitution's Sixth Amendment) is being tossed aside by the Republicans. You can say both parties are guilty, but I wonder. Go back and consider on what we have covered above. If the impeachment proceedings are to be considered the investigative part of the process, what blame remains with the Democrats?
   Still, if they have fault, let us consider it. I might not have been perceptive enough to think of everything.

The Arrest of Miles Bellinger in the Wild, Wild West

   "You can't haul me in!" Miles Bellinger cried. "It's wrong! I didn't murder him! I didn't! I'm one of the good guys! You need me to fight against all the villains we have around here!"
   The deputy didn't reply, just stood waiting.
   "Wait!" Bellinger said. "You mean to tell me you are going to arrest me ahead of that democrat, Karen Clinger? You know she gunned down a half dozen folk! You can't just let those murders go unpunished! You've got to go out and arrest her!
   "Who says I committed this murder, anyway? Who is my accuser? I've got a right to know who he is. He's a liar! a cursed, cursed liar! What's his name, anyway?!"
   The deputy reached forth the handcuffs to put them on Bellinger.
   "No. You're not going to do that until you tell me who it is that's lying!" Bellinger shouted. "I have every right to know who he is. He's guilty of all kinds of crimes for doing this to me!"
   The deputy couldn't tell Bellinger who had called the police to tip them off. When tips come in, it doesn't work that way.
   "And, this guy I supposedly shot," Bellinger said, "do you know anything about him? Do you realize who he was? He was the most corrupt person in the county. He killed Marv Wilson. Oh, I'll confess I was looking into all he was doing -- all he was up to. I wouldn't be an American if I didn't do that. Your're going to arrest me for checking into his murdering Mary? That's not right! That's not American! I'm the good guy here! He killed Mary Wilson!"
   "Word is," said the deputy, "you were hiring a private investigator to tail him around, to look for things he might have done wrong. And, word is, he was going to run against you in the upcoming election. Did you -- as word has it -- go about hiring an investigator?"
   "Oh, I asked him to do me a favor," Bellinger said. "That's all. I reminded him of everything the county has done for him, and asked him to do us here in the county a favor."
  "Yeah. He's on county assistance, isn't he?" the deputy asked. "And, you were elected as our guy to run that program. I've heard you cut off giving him any help."
   "You can't prove that," Bellinger shot back.
   "Listen," said the deputy, "you are going to have to face the judge on all this. And, there'll be a jury. For what it's worth, the people in this county love you. Anybody on that jury is going to set you free. They don't want the election to be overturned. And, I'll go ahead and tell you the judge was in to see me as soon as he heard you were in trouble. He told me he's on your side. He said he's not even going to let any witnesses testify against you.
   "Just, for what it's worth."
  Off in the distance, someone was listening. A real American. He bowed his head and started to walk away as the conversation between the deputy and Bellinger ended. "For what it's worth?" he whispered. "If this is American justice, it isn't worth much -- not much at all."

   : 


 

 Death scars the living 

more than those who die.

Perfection is more in seeing your imperfections than in assuming you do not have any. 
-

More perfect is the person who sees his imperfections

 than the one who supposes he doesn't have any.

The perfect person is the one 

buried in his imperfections, 

but still trying to dig his way out.
-- 

The perfect person 

is not the one who does everything right,

 but the one who tries to do everything right. 

In being nothing about Christ, Christmas can be everything about Christ

  We Christians sometimes want Christmas to be about Christ. Well, we always do. But, what if we allow it to be just a holiday, with nothing to do with Christ, for those who want it that way?
  This is Christianity: Tolerance, patience, love for others -- and caring for those who are different from us as well as those who are the same as us. Love thy neighbor? Not all of them are Christian. Being inclusive? Let others celebrate Christmas the way they will.
   For us, Christmas can be about Christ. But, I believe we should welcome others to this day, as well. If we mention not a word about Christ with them, as we celebrate, so be it. In being nothing about Christ, Christmas can be everything about Christ, for showing love for all is what Christmas is all about.

We Must See Difference Between Right and Wrong, or be Led Astray

   So many things can be viewed as bribes, and technically are. When you tell your children you'll give them candy if they'll go to bed, that is bribery -- quid-pro-quo version. We will be laughing at the Dems all day if we equate all forms of bribery with what President Trump did. Still, the founding fathers did have something in mind when they placed in the Constitution wording saying a president shall be removed from office by impeachment if he (or she) is involved in bribery.
   My thought is, When you ask someone to do something they shouldn't be asked to do in the first place, that is wrong. When what you are asking them to do is wrong -- because it is a sin or immoral or whatever -- this becomes the form of bribery we should be speaking of.
  Nancy Pelosi is not wrong to be demanding justice. All she is doing is demanding a fair trial. That is not wrong. To equate her asking for justice to President Trump asking for dirt on a political opponent is to not be able to tell the difference between right and wrong. The English language needs two words to distinguish the difference. But, it doesn't have two. The word "bribe" is used for both, but that does not mean we should not be wise enough to discern one is moral and one is not.
   If our knowledge of what Joe Biden did is correct, he bragged of withholding money because the Ukrainians were not investigating enough. Did you get that? Not investigating enough. He sought to end the corruption. That is not a wrongful act. Now, if he was withholding the money because his son's company was being investigated -- as many are saying -- then it does become a bribe of the wrong variety. As of now, there is no evidence of that. As of now, it remains a false accusation. Perhaps the FBI or CIA could investigate and either clear Biden's name or discover bribery of the wrong variety was involved.
   No matter how much our President insists what he did was right, we should be able to see though clearly and know that if you take taxpayer money and withhold it until Ukraine finds dirt on a political opponent, that is wrong. If you use your power as president to get political dirt on your potential opponent in the upcoming election, that is wrong.
   We will be led astray, as a nation, if we let those who cannot see the difference between things that are right and things that are wrong confuse us about the two.
 

Truth's manners 

do not reject the voice of others.

A lie, for clothes,

 wears those of truth. 

A lie will believe its own voice,

and shout down those of others.

A lie will never listen

 for it supposes it already has the truth.

A lie knows that to remain,

 it must continue to lie. 

Devils court you not because they love you,

but because they'd love you to love them.

Once a lie gains entrance, 

it knows it must keep on lying 

to remain.

You must learn to read the shadows 

if you are ever to survive the night.

-

A lie will look all the evidence in the eye

 and tell you there is none.

Lies have for heroes 

those who get away with them.

 A lie lingers not to say goodbye, 

 but to say, I'll be back again. 

Having Witnesses is Inherent in a Trial; Why Oppose Them?

  Washington Post, Dec. 23:  "Congress headed toward a long standoff over the parameters of the Senate trial of President Trump as all sides dug in Monday, with Democrats demanding documents and witnesses while Republicans mocked the House delay in transmitting the impeachment articles across the Capitol."
   Democrats are demanding documents and witnesses? Since when is it wrong to demand that witnesses be allowed in any trial? Is this happening in America? Doesn't a trial, almost by definition, have witnesses?
  In this encounter between the R's and the D's, I must side with the Democrats. Where does the idea even come from that there shouldn't be witnesses? Of course there should. It's a trial, isn't it?

Lest it Go Unnoticed, the Results Would be Tainted by Money

   Lest it go unnoticed, if you tell someone desperately in need of your money that you will give them the money only if they do an investigation for you, they are going to be smart enough to realize you want that investigation to come back with the desired results.

  The investigation becomes tainted. The money is waved in front of your face so that you will find guilt and fault, not that you be even-handed. In America, we don't do investigations this way. Or, we haven't till now. But now we have President Trump coming along and doing this and we say it is all okay. It never really happened. Where's the evidence? Democrats are doing much worse. 

   Truth doesn't crawl away. What has happened has happened. I would that we would not be so blind to truth. I would that we not see it as right that the results of an investigation be tainted by money dangled to get the desired outcome. Justice should not be bought and sold. Not in America. 

In Less than Two Hours After His Call, Trump was Cutting off the Funds

   Less that two hours after President Trump's phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the following order was issued by Mike Duffey, the White House official in the Office of Management and Budget:
  "Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration's plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process."
   Further, the email said: "Given the sensitive nature of the request, I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute direction."
  The email just came to light -- after the impeachment -- as a result of an FOIA request from the Center for Public Integrity, which published its piece Friday.
  This does not discount that a hold on the funds was not already in place. In fact, that a hold on funds was already in place makes it all the more intriguing that about within hours of the call between the two presidents, the White House doubled down on the hold.
  An honest trial in the Senate will allow this email to be read and entered in the record and used as evidence. If the trial is to be honest, fair, and in search of justice, Duffey will be called in to testify on both the email, itself, and on all other knowledge he has of whether there was a tie between the president's asking for an investigation concerning a political opponent and the release of money for military aid.
   Honesty is not always a providence of our leaders, whether that means our senators or the president, himself. How the senators treats this piece of evidence is yet to be seen. And, President Trump? He did not release this in the name of being honest and open, but rather specifically asked that it not be released.
   How big of news is this story? To me, it is explosive and should be the lead in papers across the country. Will pick up my paper tomorrow morning and see. I did not see a direct piece in the list of major stories when I looked for it on MSN today.
   Why? We speak of the news being biased. I don't know that I agree. But, I wonder if that accusation is prompting them to retract from overly playing articles that might be damaging to the president. The press is being intimidated, and the president is reaping benefits from that intimidation.

 

We Need to See this to Know the Difference Between Right and Wrong

  The refrain is never-ending. When asked whether President Trump committed bribery, his defenders point to Joe Biden, and his openly saying he withheld money, saying it wasn't coming until a prosecutor was removed. He bragged about this bribe, no less.
   There are differences. Trump was asking someone to look up corruption on a political opponent. It amounted to a call for dirt on Biden. Senator Mitt Romney has pointed out that it wasn't exactly like there was anyone else Trump wanted investigated, just a political opponent. Of all the people associated with Burisma, Trump was only concerned about Hunter Biden, son of a political rival. If you are really concerned about justice, you seek to find it not just on political opponents.
   And, therein is the point Trump's supporters perhaps are not grasping. In his search for corruption, he was looking only for the corruption of a political opponent. He singled that out. That has every indicator that this was all about politics and about being re-elected and not really about seeking justice and ending corruption in Ukraine.
   Biden's bribery -- if you want to call it that -- called for getting rid of the investigator because he was not investigating enough. Trump supporters suggest it was because the investigator was looking into corruption at a company Hunter Biden worked for. No, not from all we know. Instead, Biden wanted the investigator fired not because he was looking into something, but because he wasn't looking into things -- he wasn't investigating.
   We can call a lot of things bribing. You offer your children candy if they will go to bed; That is a "bribe." People who can't make their way through semantics are going to be calling a lot of things bribery and not seeing why those things are any different than what President Trump did.
  The difference is that you are asking for something you shouldn't be asking for. You shouldn't be asking for dirt on a political opponent. You shouldn't be taking American tax dollars and telling the Ukrainians, I'm not going to give you this money unless you give me some dirt on one of my political enemies.
  Biden's bribe, on the other hand, was that he was going to hold back the money until they did something good, something that needed to be done for the betterment of humanity. There is a difference between leveraging money for that which is good and leveraging money for that which is not good. If we, as a society, are going to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong, we must be able to grasp this difference.








There are differences. Trump was asking someone to look up corruption on a political opponent. It amounted to a call to find dirt on Biden. Senator Mitt Romney has pointed out that it wasn't exactly like there was anyone else Trump was wanting investigated, just a political opponent. Of all the people associated with Burisma, Trump was only concerned about Hunter Biden, the son of a political rival. If you are really concerned about justice, you seek to find it not just on political opponents.

Falsehood sometimes avoids facing the truth 

by finding another face to look at

I consider all the discussion on President Trump, and of how his defenders will not answer the charges made against him, but rather say, What about Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama, or Joe Biden? They change the subject, perhaps believing that it is the subject. They look for another face to look at instead of facing the truth.

 For a pittance of truth, 

 we buy a pack of lies. 

Bless Speaker Pelosi for Fighting to Make the Process Honest

   Our utmost desire should be that the Senate proceedings do what they are intended to do. It is a trial, and how do you have a trial if you do not allow the evidence? How do you consider evidence if you won't even allow it to be presented? The proceedings become a sham. If in withholding the articles of impeachment, Speaker Pelosi is but asking that witnesses be called on to testify, how is that wrong? Make the Senators accountable to the evidence by requiring them to listen to it.
   Bless Speaker Pelosi for fighting to make the process honest. Shams of justice are for other countries, but not for America.

Is it Spin or Truth? Trump Says House did not Give Him a Fair Shake

  Is it spin, or truth? Republicans are upset with the way the House inquiry was conducted. President Trump tweeted, "So after the Democrats gave me no Due Process in the House, no lawyers, no witnesses, no nothing, they now want to tell the Senate how to run their trial."
  My understanding is that Trump, himself, was welcome to testify, but dodged the opportunity. My understanding is that all witnesses were welcome, on both sides of the question, as long as they had to offer something on the charges at hand, as opposed to on separate (though related) issues, such as the Bidens. Lawyers? I don't know what role lawyers have played in impeachment inquiries, in order to say whether Trump should have been allowed to have one present. Did he ask for one to be allowed to testify? My thought is, Just as the president, himself, declined, even so, the President also would not have allowed a lawyer to go before the House to testify concerning the charges, and to face those charges.
  My thought is, The accusation that the trial was not fair is spin, not fact. It is declining to participate, and then yelling at the other side for not letting you participate.

Truth can take genius to find,

but to recognize it takes only humility.

Those who process opinions as facts

 tend to be intolerant of others' opinions. 

Those who process facts as opinions 

are often quick to reject the truth. 

Dark Times for America

  These are dark times for America. The Civil War was dark. Other moments have been dark. How we rank this, I do not know.
  But, I wonder if our nation has ever been so assaulted, so imperiled. I wonder if it has ever turned to the dark side so much.
  A leader who would send those who oppose him to jail. This is almost the very definition of a dictator. A nation with so many people dismissing and rejecting the regular media -- as the president tells them to do -- and turning to the fables he offers them.
   Have we turned to the dark side? We say we do not care what his morals are, as long as he brings us prosperity. More than that -- most serious -- we watch as he withholds foreign aid to a nation, giving it only on exchange for that country promising to dig up dirt on a political opponent. And, we find no fault in that?
   Rather than promising a fair and impartial trial, our top Senate leader promises to do whatever the defendant tells him to do, and promises he will not be impartial. Railroad justice? -- Not railroading someone into jail, but railroading them to safety. Railroading is the same, whichever side it takes. Justice in America has never been so assaulted.
   Dark times for America? The masses are buying into this president, following him almost with reverence, following him as he leads us off a cliff. We read stories of pied pipers, but we do not recognize them when their flutes play for us.

In the Day of President Trump, What a Field Day for the Heathen

   Back in the glory years of rock n' roll, Buffalo Springfield offered some political advice:
    Stop! Hey! What's that sound!
    Everybody look what's going down.
    What a field day for the heathen 
    (note: "heat," I believe is the word in the song, but I'll substitute "heathen.")
    A thousand people in the street
    Singing songs and carrying signs
    Mostly say, Hooray for our side.
    Fifty years later, a president named Trump comes along. And, it isn't long before the two sides are divided -- the pro-Trumpers and the anti-Trumpers -- carrying signs, saying, "Hooray for our side."
Who cares about justice. It's all about backing your side; That's all.
    What a field day for the heathen. Yes, what a field day for the heathen.
     Stop! Hey! What's that sound!
     Everybody look what's going down.


    

President Trump Remains Guilty, the Same

    Battle lines a-being drawn
    Nobody's right, if everybody's wrong.
   So sang Buffalo Springfield 52 years ago. We've a couple of sayings that go along with that: "There's enough blame to go around," and "Both sides are wrong."
   I think of the impeachment hearings, and of how the Republicans are suggesting the process has been flawed. The R's wouldn't say both sides are wrong. But, there are some who are watching all that's going on and thinking both sides are wrong. The look at what the Republicans are saying about it being a flawed process, and agree.
   Sometimes, though, the both-sides-are-wrong approach only serves to take attention away from what is wrong. Sometime, there is one side that is wrong.
   I do not know whether it is true, that the Democrats are not playing fair. I have not looked into it fully. But, I tend to doubt it. My take is that Trump has done wrong, and I hate to see his justice being circumvented by false charges that the process isn't fair.
   Battle lines are being drawn. And, just because there are two sides, doesn't mean they both have to be wrong. In this case -- to me -- the Republicans are definitely wrong. Their president is wrong in what he did. You can muddy the waters by firing back that the process isn't fair.
   But, he is guilty, the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5JCrSXkJY

One Glance Should Tell Us What President Trump has Done is Wrong

   I read the news of how President Trump would defeat every single Democratic candidate if the election were held today.
  And, I sorrow.
  It so seems to me, he should be impeached and removed from office -- and it seems this should be clear and simple-straight to Americans. It is so clear-cut, you do not need to call witnesses and go through a long process as the House has just done.
  Look at the basic fact: The president withheld funds from the Ukrainians in such a way it should have been abundantly apparent to them when he asked a favor, the military aid was what he wanted in exchange.  And, what did he want in exchange? What was the favor he was asking?
  Dirt on a political opponent.
  You use American taxpayer dollars to leverage someone to come up with dirt on a political foe -- and that isn't bribery?
   And, the Constitution makes it clear you are to remove such a president by impeachment?
   What has become of our nation? It does so seem that what is right and wrong is clear-cut. Yes, it seems if you are looking at what is morally right, then there is no question the president committed a cardinal offense. Taking taxpayer money, and using it to bribe someone to find dirt on a political rival is dead wrong. Drawing national policy toward another nation based on whether that nation helps you in an upcoming election is wrong -- unassailably wrong.
   You may argue he wasn't bribing. I'm sorry, but, if you withhold hundreds of millions of dollars, and then ask for a favor, and then release the money, you have no legitimate argument that it was a coincidence. You were responsible for that coincidence. You are responsible for your actions, and those actions play out as a bribe.
   Nor do you have good argument in suggesting Joe Biden was just as guilty of a bribe. From what we know, Biden was demanding that the Ukrainian prosecutor be fired because he wasn't investigating enough, not because he needed to be out of the way so he wouldn't hurt Joe Biden's son.
   But, if you do -- just the same -- maintain that Biden was demanding the money so he could get someone out of the way from hurting his son, then do your own investigation. You are president, which puts you over the FBI and CIA. Why not just ask the FBI and CIA to go in and investigate?
   There is no good defense for what Trump has done. All the cries of, "There is no evidence! Show us the evidence that he did anything wrong! Show us the evidence!" ring hollow.
  Forgive, my dear nation, America, but we should be able to take one glance at what has happened -- what President Trump has done -- and see how wrong it was.

Thanks to William Webster for Defending the FBI against Donald Trump

 I am grateful this day for a patriot named William Webster, a past director of both the FBI and CIA. His ringing defense of the FBI and its investigation of President Trump comes as our nation needs such a voice. It needs someone defending the FBI from an attacking president who speaks of some of its officers as "scum" and suggests that the FBI it is a broken institution.
  "The country can ill afford to have a chief law enforcement officer dispute the Justice Department's own independent inspector general's report and claim that an F.B.I. investigation was based on 'a completely bogus narrative. In fact, the report conclusively found that the evidence to initiate the Russia investigation was unassailable," Webster wrote in a New York Times op-ed Monday.
   The FBI investigations are being given spins by politicians that are unfair and inaccurate. Truth is being assailed. Truth being the object of a good nation, when these inaccurate spins are made, we should hope a voice somewhere is brave enough to come to the defense of truth.
   This is patriotism. This is wanting the truth to stand. This is helping that truth weather the worst. We live in a day truth cannot be seen, and is not accepted when it is, a day when love of party blinds the populace from seeing the truth.

No Where do I See More of a Likeness

  The scriptures speak of how a time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but will heap to themselves teachers, and shall turn from the truth and unto fables (2 Timothy 3-4).
  I do not know that what I will now refer to is a fulfillment of that prophecy. But, I can certainly see that there is a likeness. We live the last days, so we might look around, and see if anything is happening that fits as a possible fulfillment of the prophecy.
   Again, I do not say I am right, for I am a mortal and subject to the influences of my own biases, as are all of us. Nor do I know that even if this does have likeness, it is therefore the chief way the scripture is being fulfilled.
  This remains: It is striking to me, the same.
   There was a day when the news media strove to be even-handed, impartial. When Fox and all the conservative newscasters sprung upon the scene, this was new. I do not know whether their liberal counterparts beat them to it, but I believe the conservative-sided news outlets might have been first to this.
  Now, I look up at my Fox newscast, reading the writing flooding across the bottom of the screen, and there is no doubt the newscast is biased. I am told by my president, and by my friends, not to listen to the mainstream media. I am funneled toward Fox.
  I look around the world and what is happening in my day, and cannot see anything that more fits the description of what 2 Timothy 3-4 prophesied. Climate change is touted by our scientists. It is sound doctrine. And, there are other things that are sound that these conservatives will not endure. And, they have, indeed, heaped unto themselves teachers, and are turned from the truth.

 Truth embellished 

is but a lie.

 Justice we demand for ourselves. 

But, we often see it as unjust to give it to others.

Pride is the father of lies.

 Lies are swallowed 

by those who hunger for them.

A lie will look you in the eye

 and tell you its the truth. 

Lies come with hatred.

 Know them by their clothes.

A lie will swear to you 

that it is not a lie. 

A lie looks you in the eye 

and tells you it is not a lie.

A lie looks you in the eye

 and says you cannot see it. 

Stress is a strange thing.

 If you think that you've got it, 

that only creates more.

You must live with your mistakes,

 or you will not be able to live with yourself. 

The Popular Beliefs of the World Include Those that are Lies

   A lie stands, unless someone stands up to it. I think of the day we live in, and of the things that are said. I think of the beliefs that are popular, and think it right to express my own views about them.
  My own views? I certainly can be wrong about these things. Oh, I look at many of them and must confess I doubt that I am wrong, but, who knows. But, while I feel certain on some things, on others I stand more of chance of being wrong.
  Let me mention just a few of the things I perceive as being the lies of the world -- just a few.
  Shall we begin with climate change? I look at this issue. So much evidence is there that climate change exists, and is real, and is caused by man.
   And, yet the world scoffs.
   Another popular belief is that there is a Deep State. I have never had time to study it enough, to learn whether there actually is such a creature. But, I have studied some, and tried some to understand. Each time, I both go in and come out saying, What? What is this Deep State you speak of, and who is it? Can you point me to some faces, some people? Is it the Democrats? Is it just some Democrats? Who is it suppose to be?
  And, what of a One World Order? What of the UN? Are these things I should fear? Of the UN, I do not say it is perfect. I wonder if it takes wrongful positions at times. But, I look at it and can clearly see it is doing much good. To me, we should be able to look at what the UN is doing, and see that good. To take an organization doing good, and demonize it -- yes, I wonder where this comes from and who is behind the hatred. I think of a saying I came up with a few weeks back: Devils see devils where only angels fly. Oh, truly -- I confess -- I wonder if the devil himself isn't behind all this hatred of the UN.
   No, the UN is not perfect. But, I thank it for the good it does. I would be blind to truth to not see that the UN does so much good. And, I would be blind to gratitude to not be grateful for what it does.

  A lie stands 

unless someone stands up to it.

Here's the Evidence of Bribery in Trump's Phone Call to the Ukraine

  What evidence of bribery is there in President Trump's phone conversation with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy?  We may not have the full transcript, but Trump did release a redacted version. What evidence can be gleaned from it?
   There is much. Read on. Let's point it out.
  Is the flow of the conversation consistent with bribery? If the conversation, alone, does not spell out bribery, is it consistent with the charge, so that if you take all the evidence found elsewhere, it all fits together?
   Read on, and you might wonder if any other evidence is even necessary.
   Early in the conversation, President Trump makes a point to remind Zelenskyy what the U.S. does for that country.  "I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot.of time.  . . . the United States has been very, very good to Ukraine. I wouldn't say that it's reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine. . . ."
   We must guess that Zelenskyy was briefed in advance of what the situation was between the two countries. Elsewhere, he has denied that he knew the U.S. was withholding almost $400 million in military aid. In his response to what Trump just said, though, he makes a point to suggest his country is in position for more -- if it cooperates with whatever President Trump might want from him.
". . . The United States is doing quite a lot for Ukraine," Zelenskyy says. "I would also like to thank you·for.your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps. Specifically, we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes . . ."
   He makes it clear what he wants, and he makes it clear he is willing to cooperate in order to get it.
   So, President Trump then tells him what he would like Zelenskyy to do. "I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike ... I guess you have one of your wealthy people... The server, they say Ukraine has.it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation .. I think you're surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it's very important that you do it if that's possible."
   Zelenskyy's reply? "Yes it is very important for me and everything that you just mentioned earlier." What was mentioned earlier? All the things the U.S. has done for Ukraine, the military aid and such. So, Zelenskyy is saying that the investigation into Crowdstrike is important because of the military aid, and the things the U.S. does for his country. "For me as a President, it is very important and we are open for any future cooperation," Zelenskyy says.
   Open to any future cooperation? Does that not translate into, You do this for me, and I'll do that for you? Quid pro quo? You be the judge.
  "We are great friends and you, Mr. President, have friends in our country so we can continue our strategic Partnership," Zelenskyy says. "Strategic partnership"? They have discussed what each side needs to do. They haven't specified that that is what the partnership is dependent on, but it is the reflection of what they have discussed.  Zelenskyy then further makes it clear that he will investigate.  "I also plan to surround myself with great people and in addition to that investigation, I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly," he says.

 Lies fly 

on the wings of vultures.

Those who scoff and those who scorn

 are often those who lie. 

Hecklers laugh at wisdom

 and find humor in truth. 

Truth can be hidden by bringing out other truths. 

The ones that don't apply can overshadow 

those that do.

Truth gets lost in a sea of facts.

 A lawyer's lie asks you to prove you're right, 

and, if you can't, 

assumes it it right without any proof at all.

Falsehoods reign 

where false indignation rules.

When a lie wants conversation

 it speaks only to itself.  

 A lie supposes its the truth. 

Lies speak to other lies

 when they want company. 

If you are compelled to salute a flag,

 you just lost one of your greatest freedoms. 

Honesty isn't welcome

 in a house of lies. 

Don't share your heart

 with a person who hates it. 

 The wicked build themselves up 

by tearing others down.
-

When there's too many facts,

 they hide the facts that count. 

 Dreams come to drifters

 more than to those who have nothing 

to dream about. 

 Truth shuts its mouth 

when it knows it won't be heard.

Faith finds the truths

 that the faithless never see. 

Never let your shame

 be greater than your resolve 

to do better.
-

Truth is not revealed

 to those who reject it.

Remorse has release

 only in repentance. 

 Deceit makes its own plans

 when other plans are right. 

 Of all those who believe in God, 

Lucifer might be first.

Does the Ukrainian Call have any Evidence of the Possibility of Bribery?

   Sometimes, too much information can leave us swimming in a sea. I would that the House members would go back to the transcript, and zero in on pertinent things that were said. I do not have time to completely break it down, but that is what should be being done: The members of Congress should be breaking down what was in the conversation. The phone conversation is just part of the record of what happened, but it is a key part. It doesn't contain quid pro quo, but does it fall in line with the possibility of bribery? Here are some excerpts from the call.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: ". . . I will say that we do ·a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot.of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than.they are . . . the United States has been very, very good to Ukraine. I wouldn't say that it's reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine. . . ."

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  ". . . the United States is doing quite a lot for Ukraine. . . . "I would also like to thank you·for.your great support in the area of defense. We. are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes . . ."

PRESIDENT TRUMP: "I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike ... I guess you have one of your wealthy people... The server, they say Ukraine has.it. There are a lot. of things that went on, the whole situation .. I think you're surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they. say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it's very important that you do it if that's possible."

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY: "Yes it is. very important for me and everything that you just mentioned earlier. For me as a President, it is very important and we are open for any future cooperation. . . . We are great friends and you Mr. President have. friends in our country so we can continue our strategic Partnership. I also plan to surround myself with great people and in addition to that investigation, I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations.will be done openly and candidly .. That I can assure you .."

PRESIDENT TRUMP: "Good because I heard you had a prosecutor who· was very·good and he was shut down and that's really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor bf New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. . . . The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in .the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to_let you know that. The other thing, There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you ·can look into it ... It sounds horrible to me."

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  ". . . the next prosecutor .general will be 100% my person, my candidate, who will be approved, by the parliament and will start as a new prosecutor in September. He or she will look. into the situation . . ."

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  ". . . Your economy is going to get better and better I predict. . . ."

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY: "I also want to ensure you that we will be very serious about.the case and will work on the investigation. As to.the economy, there is much potential for our two countries . . ."

Bribery Should be a Charge

   To me, the House Judicial Committee should have charged the president with bribery. They err by not doing so. The Constitution is specific. It calls for impeachment. It says if the president commits bribery, he shall be removed from office by impeachment.
  We revere the Second Amendment, but do not feel compelled to live by Article II, Section 4? If we honor this great document -- the Constitution -- then if it says the president shall be impeached and removed from office for bribery, then we impeach him and remove him from office if he commits bribery.
   Did the president commit bribery? Was it he, himself, or others who speak for him who have said there was no quid pro quo? They didn't have quid pro quo back when the Constitution was written, so that doesn't matter. By making that it wasn't quid pro quo your defense is somewhat of an admission that something was going on.
    And, the money was held back. Does anyone deny this? I believe it is well documented. Yes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did deny that he was aware the money was held back. I will only wonder how much sense that makes. You are president of the country. You need the $400 million and it isn't coming, and no one bothers to tell you? Somehow, you are unaware? Zelensky can say he wasn't aware, but, no, I'm not quick to buy that.
  So, you get on the phone and talk to President Trump. He says he wants you to do a favor for him. He wants you to look into a situation that connects to a political rival of his, Joe Biden. What he is asking for amounts to seeking dirt. He is holding back taxpayer money in exchange for dirt on a political opponent he might face in the upcoming election.
   How is that not wrong? How is that not bribery?
   Yes, a lot of things can be called "bribery." You can tell your kids you will give them candy if they will go to bed. The word can, indeed, be used to call that bribery. But, be mindful that even with that said, it remains the founding fathers specified that the president shall be removed from office if he commits bribery. What did they have in mind? If a president were to withhold taxpayer money in exchange for dirt on a political opponent, would that qualify?
   I believe it would.

We listen to lies 

when our ears take pleasure in them.

Truth must be wanted

 or it will never be heard.

The wicked seek to diminish others 

in order to add value to themselves.

Wickedness seeks to diminish others 

in order to add value to itself.

The suggestion of failure

 only hastens it. 

Learn to live with your mistakes,

or you will never be able to live with yourself. 

Others may not be able to live with your mistakes,

but you must, or you will not be able to live with yourself.

 Mistakes are you ticket to humility. 

Always cash them in. 
-

We live in a lawyer's world, 

where everything you say can and will be 

used against you.

Settling differences 

is more important than settling debts.

Free Speech is Under Siege in the Trump Administration

 President Trump, or former President Obama -- which is worse with regard to free press and free speech?
  I gave it tentative study and thought tonight. From what study I did have, I would say Trump has been worse. Obama did oppose Fox News. He did skip them, when giving interviews. But, Trump has gone beyond just not granting interviews. Did Obama ever revoke anyone's press credentials once they had them? Did he ever ban them from Rose Garden interviews as Trump has done?
   Now, while Obama did fight with Fox News, that is one channel. Trump has taken on the media, as  a whole, suggesting the media in general are enemies of the people. I believe he has called on America to abandon the media -- to not even listen to them. And, if he hasn't, his backers have.
  I read how Trump is shattering Obama's record of prosecuting journalists under the Espionage Act. Shattering.
  I think of his efforts to silence dissent. James Comey should be prosecuted. it is said. It is common for our 45th president to silence those who speak against him by calling for investigations of them. Oh, I believe in investigating things that are wrong, but what a list? If you question Trump -- the government -- you run the danger of being investigated and charged with a crime.
  I think of the whistle-blower, and how Trump suggested his lawyer might be guilty of treason. How chilling to the thought of speaking out against government is it if you know you might be charged with treason?
   And, I think of Colin Kaepernick and the NFL protesters. I think of the intimidation and restrictions placed on them to where few are left protesting. In America, the right not to bow down to government was once sacrosanct. You bowed down to kings and you saluted dictators, but that was in other countries. In America? Not so much.
   In America, there was freedom. Can we not see, though, that Trump has brought an erosion of the right to speak against government, of the right of a free press, and of the right to free speech?

Do We not See the Erosion of Our Freedom?

When the day comes that freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of believe is lost . . . When a president allows to speak only those who do not oppose him, who bow down to him, so to speak . . . Can we not see how the president is eroding our freedoms, our right to dissent, our right to speak out? America was once (short years ago), much more about freedom. Now it is almost, Hail the king, or be tossed in jail. Some of his critics have, indeed, been told they should be tossed in jail. James Comey comes to mind. Are we are so lost in our love of President Trump that we fail to see what he is doing to our country and to our freedoms?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/nato-conference-is-canceled-after-us-ambassador-barred-a-trump-critic/ar-BBXXirX?li=BBnb7Kz

 Wickedness knows no rules, 

but often makes up its own.

 Whisperings behind your back 

never invite you to participate.

He had a little song about a cul-de-sac
And about turning around that day
And he made into a wonderful little book
And made into a play

But the turnaround street turned around on him
And the story took a turn of its own
And the tale of his turning around
Turned into one that he didn't own

A brief spin in the opposite direction
Is a wonderful thing, of course
But a permanent pattern of perfection
Comes only when God is the source

  A stumbling style, a reckless hope, a swinging at the wind
Sweat forms on my eyebrow as I stop and start again
  Shaking and shattered and shameful, I chase away devils that be
And I punch them one by one, lest they make a punching bag of me.
  All life is a lark and a lesson, and we're lucky to just learn a bit
But we only progress by fighting, and never quitting when we almost quit

Never quit when you almost quit, 

and you'll always get there when you almost don't.

You straighten out 

only by turning around.

  Make me a man
Who runs from sin
  Who tails when he sees it coming 
Even as a coward turns from the wind

  Then I'll be a brave soul
Marked by the courage to flee
  From that which others fall into
Which they succumb to and agree

The river of righteousness 

is filled with living water.

 In a crescent moon
Lays the Savior child
 Sleeping o'er the world
 -- The peaceful o'er the wild

 The hat hides not the man
Nor do the glasses on his face
 The soul that sits within 
Can look good and yet be base. 

Thoughts are not clear 

when anger is present.

You Must be Brave Enough to put Politics Aside

  When you take this matter of impeachment, when you consider whether the person occupying the highest office in the land is guilty of high crimes, you take a solemn responsibility.
   If you take pride in being an American, and of being elected of the people -- if you take your office seriously, and humbly, and with dedication . . . then, this is not a matter of being a Republican or Democrat.
   We should perhaps be ashamed -- not only of our leaders, but of ourselves. How have we fallen, as a people, that we let politics shade what should be a somber consideration. We are drunken by our politics, and left tottering and stumbling as a drunken person as we walk down the path ahead.
   At a moment like this, we are drunk.
   If our patriotism is greater than our politics, we will put the drink down. We will sober up. And, we determine to serve justice. If -- to us -- justice is what America is all about .we set aside our petty politics, we open our minds to the evidence, and we weigh the matters before us.
   Patriotism is not served by those who blindly follow a leader. It is served by a willingness to consider whether that leader has committed crimes. The downfall of a nation is in blind allegiance. At this time, it is in having party blinders on. If we wear blinders at this moment, our fall will be of our own making.
   If you are to be a patriot at a time like this, you must be brave enough to put politics aside.

  I would to have thy help, my Lord
I would to have thy care
  I would to have thy strength
In all the things I do and dare

The cold of a room 

should never come from the host.

Vanity always tallies a score 

to its own advantage. 

A sage loves another's wisdom, 

but a fool is full of scorn.

Sages sigh when their wisdom 

causes loss of breath.

House Members are Guilty of the Same Kind of Conduct

  I've a question: Are our politicians in the House guilty of the one of the same offenses we are investigating President Trump for? For him, it is an impeachable offense, so what of it, if the House members are doing some of the same thing?
  First, the President: He is accused of using his office to gain advantage in an election at the expense of national policy. Was foreign policy affected by his desire to have a political rival investigated? For, we perceive that that would be wrong. And, it does seem a definitive wrong that your own interest of of being re-elected should influence your decisions on foreign policy, even dictating them.
   So, what of our politicians? All their concern is for the election and standing of their party. Just as we should not be altering our judgments of what to do in the Ukraine to accommodate politics, so we should not be altering our judgments of what to do in an impeachment inquiry to accommodate our own personal politics. If letting your personal politics color your dealings with Ukraine is wrong, so is letting your own personal politics color your work on the impeachment.
   The concern of our leaders should be of a single mind: the welfare of our nation. It should be whether the Constitution has been violated. If the House members let the interests of their party outweigh the interests of the nation, they are as guilty as the president on that particular charge. They join in his corruption by saying such a thing is okay.

 When a demon speaks, 

his tongue gnashes at others. 

Imagining what is impossible

 can be imagining that it is possible. 

Know the demons by their gnashing,

for they have no quiet voice.

Know the demons by their gnashing,

 not their quiet voice.

A heart that beats for others, 

gains strength for itself. 

Of all the faults a person might have, 

the biggest might be in finding faults in others. 

The shadows that fall 

capture only the hopeless. 

 Not bowing to the government? Not saluting it? 
Freedom, then. This is what the soldier fights for.

   You might be forced to bow to a king, or to salute to a dictator; But, in America, if you do not stand and salute the flag it means but that you are a free person. We should not be looking to take this freedom away from NFL players or from anyone. Nor should we revile them; This is what freedom is all about.   

When we salute the flag, 

we salute the right of others not to salute it. 

Your worst enemies 

are the ones who rob you of your friends.

A gun is never kind;

 Even in its silence it threatens.

Satan works with a whip across our lips 

to silence us from speaking the truth.

Where Comes the Hatred of Soros and Gore?

   I once studied George Soros. I didn't find him to be such a bad guy. I think I should also study Al Gore, who is also much hated in our society.
   I wonder at the day and age in which we live, and how the world demonizes many who do good. Just because someone tells you someone is bad, doesn't mean you have to believe it. Truth is discredited the fastest by discrediting those who have it. George Soros is not perfect. Al Gore is not perfect. But, I perceive they are not the wicked people the world would have me believe they are, and they possess some truths the evil forces of the world do not want us to have.
   So, if you are against rumors, if you were brought up taught not to fall for rumors, and not to join in and spread them, why do you so easily fall for the hatred and rumors being spread against George Soros and Al Gore?
   Where do these rumors originate? Yes, I confess, I wonder if they are part of the disinformation the Mueller Report warns us about. Such things stir us up to anger, one American against another, and poison the wells of many good causes.
   I consider it sad commentary on our society, and on that of the 21st Century, that many who do good are hated of men. And, those planting the hatred so intimidate us that we are embarrassed to come to the defense of those who are falsely accused.
   Satan works with a whip across our lips to silence us from speaking the truth.

Truth is 

discredited the fastest by discrediting 

those who have it. 

The hands of a clock

 go faster than our feet can walk. 

The hands of time run faster 

than the feet of man.

The secrets of the universe 

are to be found within our own minds.