A "Perfect" Acquittal.

The United States Senate has acquitted President Donald Trump on two counts of impeachment, both on party-line votes (if you don't count Mitt Romney).  On Article 1, which is Abuse of Power, the verdict was 52-48 not guilty.  On Article 2, which is Obstruction of Congress, it was a 53-47 not guilty vote.

It was all a foregone conclusion.  When you have a Senate trial presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, you should have expected better than a glorified mock debate between Democratic House managers (led by Rep. Adam Schiff) who argued Trump's guilt and White House attorneys who, not unlike Don Draper, tried to sell the Senate (and TV viewers) on the idea that the President did nothing wrong in convincing Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son's alleged involvement in an oil company there.

Of all the scandals Trump had allegedly been involved with before and during his presidency, the Democrats decided to try him on Ukraine.  That's like trying to nail Al Capone for tax evasion, or O.J. Simpson for robbing a Nevada casino instead of murder.

As it turned out, Trump shut it all down.  No testifying from witnesses who worked for him.  No incriminating documents, even if all that was illegal or constitutionally questionable.  Even John Bolton, the former National Security Adviser whom everyone wanted to hear from, would rather be cashing checks from a book deal than testifying.  So no witnesses and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell keeping his fellow Republicans in line (again, if you don't count Romney) saved Trump from being the first President to get thrown out of office without the voters' help.

Now Trump stands alone.  Impeachment (which he has long considered a hoax) may have earned him nothing more than a slap on the wrist.  He got the benefit of Republicans who behaved like clueless, yet protective, parents trying to discipline a rebellious child who thumbs his nose at society.  Not for nothing was Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday turned into a partisan reality show farce, which made House Speaker Nancy Pelosi so disgusted that she tore up her copy of the speech.

Now that the impeachment drama (of sorts) is over, it's time to turn our attention to the 2020 elections.  Trump is enjoying the best poll numbers of his presidency (which isn't saying much).  The Democrats aren't having much luck in deciding who their front runner is, especially after a monumental screwup in tallying the Iowa caucus votes.  As of 2/5, with 97% of the precincts finally rolling in, CNN reports that Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are running neck and neck for the lead in the state's delegates.

Trump is the 800 lb. gorilla in American politics.  He thinks he can do no wrong, because his enablers and supporters have made sure nothing ever will.  But even King Kong has to come down from the Empire State Building sometime. We'll have a better idea come November.

The Grammys: In The House of Kobe, The Show Must Go On

The 62nd Grammy Awards went on Sunday night, hours after former basketball star Kobe Bryant and nine others went to their deaths in a helicopter crash outside of Los Angeles.  The event was held at the Staples Center, where Bryant had long starred for the NBA Lakers.  His presence was felt by the two uniforms numbered 8 and 24 hanging in the rafters.

Alicia Keys, who did her best to host the proceedings on the CBS telecast, did so in a manner that resembled a new age life coach trying to make sense to viewers in the wake of tragedy and Kobe shout-outs.  Oh yes, she sang and played the piano too.

Billie Eilish was the big winner, taking home the top four prizes:  Best New Artist, Album of the Year ("When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?"), and Song and Record of the Year for "Bad Guy".  Nobody has done that since Christopher Cross four decades ago. (Anyone here remember "Arthur" and "Ride Like The Wind"?)  Eilish is 18.

Lizzo, the ubiquitous presence from TV commercials who spent enough time in Minnesota to qualify as an honorary citizen, didn't get as many Grammys as some had thought.  But she did get three, including Best Pop Solo Performance for "Truth Hurts".  Maybe it's that Minnesota Vikings reference . . .

Not a word was uttered during the telecast about Deborah Dugan, who was briefly Recording Academy president before being let go for allegedly being a "toxic" influence in the work environment there.  She fired back with an EEOC complaint, alleging conflict of interest, racial discrimination and sexual harassment within the Academy.

But there was plenty of room in the three-and-a-half-hour telecast for a lengthy musical tribute to outgoing TV director Ken Ehrlich, an all-star cast performing a number from "Fame" that served as a plug for the Academy's music education program.  Yes, it was one of those "only at the Grammys" moments Ehrlich helped put together over the past 40 years.

As the first month of 2020 comes to a close, the future of music according to the Grammys appears to be a green-haired teenage girl honing her talent in the bedroom with her brother, turning out songs of depression and climate change.  Which, when you think about it, is a reflection of the world we live in now.  Losing Kobe Bryant on a day of celebrating music is another.

We Interrupt This Impeachment. . .

Stung from the reality of being only the third President of the United States to be impeached by the House of Representatives,  Donald Trump reacted like he has at any other time in his unconventional administration when confronted with shots to his ego.  Only instead of ranting on Twitter, he came close to starting a war.

As the new year of 2020 dawned, U.S. airstrikes succeeded in killing Qasem Soleiman, who was major general in the Iraqi armed forces, in a missile attack. 

As soon as Iranians finished mourning their assassinated general while shouting "Death to America", which is what they have been doing since becoming an Islamic republic 40 years ago, the world waited to see what they would do next. The response came on Tuesday when they bombed American military bases in Iraq, leaving behind--amazingly enough--no casualties. 

It was then that the Iranians decided to close the matter if the Americans were willing to do the same.  Trump, content to claim victory by killing who he thought was a danger to U.S. security, agreed. 

It's no secret that Trump doesn't get along with the mullahs of Tehran.  The President has pulled out of a nuclear treaty because of Iran's alleged cheating, then sought to keep its citizens from emigrating to this country. If that wasn't enough, Trump could always issue more economic sanctions. 

For now, the United States and Iran are not at war. Not when there are still American troops "advising" in Afghanistan. But that could change, so we're told, if Iran starts kidnapping U.S. citizens still living in Tehran, makes cyber attacks, or uses other forms of terrorism. 

Of course, Trump has other fish to fry. He's got a possible trial going in the Senate that could help determine whether he keeps his job or not, but majority leader Mitch McConnell wants this over with without so much as hearing from witnesses. So the question is what kind of distraction will the president try to spring next?

The 2010s Before and After

The second decade of the 21st century is about to end without anyone giving an adequate name for it.  Yet you could say it was really two halves of one decade split between President Barack Obama's administration and the election of Donald Trump.  So many other things outside of politics have had just as much of a divide between then and now.  This is what we're going to highlight in our end-of-the-decade review.  Here goes.

Donald Trump
Before:  "The Apprentice" TV host.
After:  Impeached President of the United States

Barack Obama
Before:  President of the United States.
After:  Elder statesman enjoying retirement.

Michelle Obama
Before:  First Lady
After:  Best selling author and speaker.

Hillary Clinton
Before:  Secretary of State under Obama.
After:  Defeated 2016 presidential candidate with three million move votes than Trump.

The Economy
Before:  Coming out of the Great Recession.
After:  Doing better for everyone but the 99 percent.

War and Peace
Before:  Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After:  Troops pulled out of Syria, but still in Afghanistan.

Gun Violence
Before:  Sandy Hook and Trayvon Martin
After:  El Paso, Parkland, etc, and protests against violent cops.

Immigration
Before:  Open borders
After:  Border walls and children in cages.

Same Sex Marriage
Before:  Outlawed.
After:  Getting used to two husbands and two wives.

Climate Change
Before:  Urgent but manageable.
After:  All but inevitable after regulations weaken.

Politics
Before:  Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street.
After:  Trump's base and Never Trumpers.

Retailers
Before:  Sears, JCPenney, Toys R Us, Target, Walmart
After:  Amazon

Technology
Before:  iPods and iPads, Bluetooth, drones
After:  iPhone 11, driverless cars, streaming TV

Marijuana
Before:  Outlawed
After:  Some states allow it.  Federal government still doesn't.

The Royal Family
Before Marriage:  Kate Middleton was a clothing buyer for her family's business.  Meghan Markle was a TV and movie actress.
After Marriage:  They are now the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Sussex, in that order.

TV
Before:  "Mad Men", "The Big Bang Theory", "Breaking Bad", "American Idol"
After:  "Game of Thrones", "Veep", "Stranger Things" "The Voice", "The Masked Singer".

Late Night Talk Show Hosts
Before:  David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart.
After:  Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Kimmel and Trevor Noah.

Network Evening News Anchors
Before:  Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and Brian Williams.
After:  David Muir, Norah O'Donnell and Lester Holt.

Movies
Before:  "The Social Network", "Despicable Me", "The King's Speech", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".
After:  "Star Wars:  The Rise of Skywalker", "Avangers: Endgame", "Frozen 2", "Toy Story 4", "Joker", "Bombshell".

Pop Music
Before:  Lady Gaga, Adele, Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, Kanye West, and "Call Me Maybe".
After:  Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Lizzo, Drake and "Old Town Road".

Died in 2019
Danny Aiello, Marie Fredriksson, Paul Volcker, Rene Auberjonois, Juice WRLD, Ron Leibman, DC Fontana, William Ruckleshaus, Gahan Wilson, Michael J. Pollard, Rudy Boesch, Robert Evans, Bill Macy, Robert Forster, Marshall Efron. Rip Taylor, Ginger Baker, Dihann Carroll, Jessye Norman, Barron Hilton, Sander Vanocur, Cokie Roberts, Phyllis Newman, Ric Ocasek, Eddie Money, T. Boone Pickens, Carol Lynley, Valerie Harper, Peter Fonda, Toni Morrison, DA Pennebaker, Rutger Hauer, David Hedison, Paul Krassner, John Paul Stevens, Johnny Clegg, Rip Torn, Ross Perot, Arte Johnson, Lee Iacocca, Tyler Skaggs, Judith Krantz, Gloria Vanderbilt, Alan Brinkley, Franco Zefferelli, Dr. John, Don Fraser, Leon Redbone, Claus von Buehlow, Georgie Ann Geyer, Herman Wouk, IM Pei, Tim Conway, Doris Day, Peggy Lipton, Jim Fowler, John Singleton, Richard Lugar, Henry Bloch, Georgia Engel, Earl Thomas Conley, Charles Van Doren. Ernest Hollings, Dick Dale, WS Merwin, Hal Blaine, Jan-Michael Vincent, Luke Perry, Katherine Helmond, Andre Previn, Stanley Donen, Peter Tork, Karl Lagerfeld, Patrick Caddell, Lee Radziwill, Albert Finney, Rosamunde Pilcher, Michel Legrand, Russell Baker, Kaye Ballard, Carol Channing, Sylvia Chase, Christine McGuire, Daryl Dragon. Bob Einstien, Don Imus, Sue Lyon. Lee Mendelson, Bob Kingsley.

Trump's Impeachment Trot

As the Thanksgiving weekend approaches and people are dreading the inevitable political conversations with long-lost relatives, President Donald Trump is celebrating the holiday by pardoning a turkey and signing a law that makes animal cruelty a federal crime.

That's interesting because (A) the Trumps haven't adopted a pet like most other Presidents, (B) it reminds us that in this country animals are treated much better than the migrants who are sitting in cages along the U.S.-Mexican border, because Trump considers them lowlifes first and people second, and (C) outside of the Republican Party and his beloved base, most of America thinks the President already is a turkey.

Trump needs these holiday distractions to steer folks away from the real story, which is his impending impeachment.  The House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Democrat Adam Schiff of California, concluded its public hearings last week.  It made for interesting television if you didn't already know which side you're on.

The former diplomats and military personnel who testified to the committee did a great job of throwing the President and White House counsel Rudy Giuliani under the bus, describing in great detail how they overheard a phone conversation between Trump and the president of Ukraine.  It was allegedly about Trump asking a little favor in seeking a little intel on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son's business dealings in that country.

Dramatic, yes.  Complete, no.  Because of the President's refusal to allow any of the main players to testify. all we got was hearsay evidence from second-tier officials who were being pushed aside by the White House.  Nor did we hear from The Whistleblower, whose anonymity was jeopardized when Trump started sniffing around that person's identity.  Nevertheless, Schiff and the other Democrats seem to think they have enough evidence to warrant an impeachment.

As the torch passes to the House Judiciary Committee next week, there will probably be more revealing testimony about misdeeds in Ukraine.  Maybe this time bigger names like John Bolton, Dan McGahn, or even Giuliani will put in appearances, should the courts decide that way.  After that, we should have some kind of impeachment vote.

But back to the turkey Trump pardoned.  If the President is willing to do that for a creature that might have ended up on somebody's dinner table--even if it's just for ceremonial purposes, then he can hope his successor can do the same thing for him should he ever get kicked out of the White House.  By Congress or the voters.

In One Year

Twelve months from now, barring unforeseen circumstances, Americans will go to the polls to choose whether they want to keep the President they have or trade him in for a different one.

We are usually told that the next election will be the most important in the history of the United States of America.  Due to the events of the past four years, that statement is more important than ever.

President Donald Trump, who will likely be the first impeached (and acquitted) leader ever to run for re-election, will depend on the goodwill of his loyal base and the fealty of the Republican party to help him win a second term.  Not to mention the short memories of voters who ignored the Mueller report and don't know what in heck "quid pro quo" means, while changing the channel during the televised impeachment hearings with House Democrats questioning anyone they can convince to testify without incurring Trump's wrath.  Other than that, Trump's in big trouble.

With a couple of months left before the primaries and caucuses begin, there are still at least ten Democrats who want to take on Trump.  Of those, there are only four candidates who have enough staying power in the polls to be considered for nomination:  Former Vice President Joe Biden, Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana.  For what it's worth, all four of them would beat Trump if the election were held right now, not a year from now.

And because the election is a year from now, we can expect plenty of mudslinging from both sides on the campaign circuit, and through social media and TV.  But there is an outside possibility that the GOP-dominated Senate might actually grow a spine and kick Trump out of the White House.  Then the Democrats have a new problem--how to run against Mike Pence.

That's why the next twelve months are so important.  Impeachment or no, it is still up to the voters to decide.  Unless, of course, Russia decides to put its thumb on the scale again.

Trump: Rants and Broken Promises

With a simple phone call to one of his favorite dictators, President Donald Trump gets himself involved in another international incident that could be considered impeachable.  It isn't enough that he called the leader of Ukraine to ask for some dirt on the son of his possible Democratic rival in 2020.  He also took time out of his busy day to inform Recep Erdogan, the president of Turkey, that he's pulling American troops from northern Syria.  This move would drive their former friends the Kurds into the arms of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, while all those prisoners from the Islamic State are now free to cause trouble wherever they want.  Which makes it OK for Turkish troops to cross the border into Syria and (it is feared) slaughter Kurds, while Trump can sit back and say he brought home the troops.  Only to send them to Saudi Arabia instead.

About the only thing Trump accomplished out of all this is that he's managed to make both parties--Democrats and Republicans (you know, the ones who would rather kiss up to the President than stand up to him)--agree to condemn the President's abandonment of the Kurds and selling out to Turkey (which at last report was still a member of NATO).

This isn't the only time Trump's broken promises have resulted in America abandoning the power and prestige they used to have around the world, and it's going to be quite difficult to get it back if he ever leaves.  He's launched trade wars, canceled treaties concerning Iranian nuclear weapons and climate change.  All so he could brag to those who jam his campaign-style rallies held in basketball arenas how much he's making America great again, while at the same time ranting and tweeting about how poorly he's treated by those who did not vote for him.

This is all a distraction, of course, from the ongoing House impeachment inquiry into Trump's alleged request to Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden's son Hunter's business connections.  Thus far, the inquiry has been muted because (A) the White House won't let witnesses testify, (B) subpoenas have been ignored, and (C) the few who have been willing to talk have done so behind closed doors.  Only Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, seems to know when the time comes to get serious about impeachment hearings.

Trump's apparent strategy of neutralizing Biden and his son (who has since announced he won't be working for overseas companies for the time being) has had an effect on his presidential campaign.  Biden's place as the front runner for the Democratic nomination--months before the primaries--has been taken by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in the opinion polls.

No matter how much Trump loses friends and alienates people around the globe, rants and raves before adoring audiences, and Fox News tries to keep him from hearing of poll numbers indicating a growing number of Americans are tired of him and want him out--even if he has to be thrown out of the White House, the election is almost a year away.  Who knows what will happen by then?