Precious bodily fluids by @BloggersRUs

Precious bodily fluids

by Tom Sullivan

Donald J. Trump, acting president of these United States, is in "precious bodily fluids" territory. Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, the mad Air Force general from Dr. Strangelove (1964), was also obsessed with conspiracy theories. Ripper believed fluoridation was a communist plot to impurify his "essence." Trump the germophobe is obsessed with proving Russians did not help him win election in 2016. Both were empowered to launch nuclear strikes.

A saner man would be focused on his reelection in 2020. Trump is trying to relitigate his unlikely last one.

Trump is out of his element. He never bothered to grasp the rudiments of his job, nor of the structure of U.S. government. He believes the courts should step in to forestall his day of reckoning. He believes he can lawsuit, bully and bluster his way out of impeachment by suing federal officials. Trump said in his press conference Wednesday [Timestamp 43:25]:

And just so you know, we've been investigating on a personal basis, through Rudy and others lawyers, corruption in the 2016 election. We've been investigating corruption because I probably will ... I was going to, definitely ... but I probably will be bringing a lot of litigation against a lot of people having to do with the corrupt investigation having to do with the 2016 election. And I have every right to do that...
Washington, D.C. is not Manhattan. Trump cannot just sic his attorneys on federal officials for doing their jobs.

In attempting to extort damaging information on a political rival from Ukraine, the acting president has been caught in a blatant abuse of power for which he himself has provided evidence and for which he has no defense. Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason asked Trump repeatedly Wednesday, "What did you want President Zelenskiy to do with regard to Joe and Hunter Biden?"

President Trump lashed out at @Reuters reporter @jeffmason1, who asked him what he wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to do when Trump brought up the business ties to Ukraine of Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden https://t.co/3aiSLeOfBL pic.twitter.com/AQF3dpkChs

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) October 2, 2019

Trump filibustered. When Mason repeated the question, Trump melted down. He accused everyone for corruption except himself. He behaved like a cornered animal.

Charles Blow writes, "Donald Trump is scared. And he is incensed that he is scared. And his only impulse is to fight like a thing near death: with everything he has, and by all means necessary."

New USA Today poll:

Americans support House *impeaching* Trump by 45-38

They support *Senate conviction and removal* by 44-35 (!)

Note: 30% of Republicans say pressure on Ukraine to smear Biden is an abuse of power.

And it's early. More will come out.https://t.co/nIaJRZgP7E

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) October 3, 2019

Trump's allies are grasping for any lifeline. They are giddy over a New York Times report that the office of Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, received notice of the whistleblower complaint before it was filed:
The C.I.A. officer approached a House Intelligence Committee aide with his concerns about Mr. Trump only after he had had a colleague first convey them to the C.I.A.’s top lawyer. Concerned about how that initial avenue for airing his allegations through the C.I.A. was unfolding, the officer then approached the House aide. In both cases, the original accusation was vague.

The House staff member, following the committee’s procedures, suggested the officer find a lawyer to advise him and meet with an inspector general, with whom he could file a whistle-blower complaint. The aide shared some of what the officer conveyed to Mr. Schiff. The aide did not share the whistle-blower’s identity with Mr. Schiff, an official said.

“Like other whistle-blowers have done before and since under Republican and Democratic-controlled committees, the whistle-blower contacted the committee for guidance on how to report possible wrongdoing within the jurisdiction of the intelligence community,” said Patrick Boland, a spokesman for Mr. Schiff.
Fox News and Trump allies on Capitol Hill hope to regain control of the narrative. They will flog this story for all it's worth to suggest Schiff did something improper. Indeed, Trump accused Schiff in his press conference of writing the whistleblower complaint. That the committee followed standard practice will matter not a whit.

I am told by spokespeople for both @SenatorBurr and @MarkWarner that it would be ***standard practice*** for intel committee to tell a potential whistleblower to hire counsel and file a complaint with an agency IG or the IC IG.

**Bipartisan. Both parties say this.**

— Olivia Gazis (@Olivia_Gazis) October 2, 2019

The Trump train is throwing bearings. White House officials trying to cover up the coverup have been instructed by a federal court to "preserve all presidential records." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is distancing himself from the president. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Washington Post Editorial Board believes, has "enabled the destruction of U.S. diplomacy."

Trump has dispatched consigliere Rudy Giuliani as well as Pompeo and Attorney General Bill Barr around the globe to find, fabricate, or coerce from other governments evidence that would discredit the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies about Russia's 2016 interference. They are chasing conspiracy theories that Ukraine did it. That an American president is desperate to clear Russia of wrongdoing must make Russian President Vladimir Putin smile.

Perhaps they'll get to the bottom of that whole fluoridation thing while they're at it.

Turn the volume up and listen to someone (sounds like Hannity) murmur "Oh my God" when Rudy seems to implicate State Dept in whatever this insane scheme is pic.twitter.com/MJClqxKy1v

— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) October 3, 2019

Even Fox News in unguarded moments knows the lunatics are running the asylum.