Tag: Grassroots

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Harris-Warren The Emergent Dem Power Ticket

The results of the popular #Dem2020Poll not only show a meteoric rise for Senator Elizabeth Warren but also that grassroots Democrats are very open to an all-female Harris-Warren/Warren-Harris ticket in 2020.

Yours Truly began running the popular #Dem2020Poll to gauge who grassroots Democrats wanted to win the 2020 Dem nomination for president way before the November 2018 midterm elections. As expected, there have been a lot of twists and turns as to who grassroots Democrats want to go up against Trump in 2020. In the beginning it was very clear that grassroots Democrats wanted Kamala Harris at the top of the Dem ticket with Joe Kennedy III as her running mate. This later changed to Joe Biden being the favorite, with Kamala Harris as his running mate. After the November 2018 elections, Beto O’Rourke became the favorite, with grassroots Democrats favoring a Beto/Harris or Harris/Beto ticket. Notice that whatever Dem ticket is hot at any given time, Kamala Harris is somehow always in the mix–something Yours Truly predicted from the very beginning—TeamHarris better pay Yours Truly for this expert punditry folks.

Yours Truly memorialized all these #Dem2020Poll twists and turns in this November 2018 post. Well it turns out that we have yet another twist—the Elizabeth Warren twist. In previous #Dem2020Polls, Elizabeth Warren did not perform well and was consistently unable to secure more than 10% of the total votes cast. Recently however, it’s a whole new story. Elizabeth Warren appears to have found her stride and is at this juncture one of the hottest names in the #Dem2020Poll. Yours Truly will leave it to the paid pundits on the Sunday morning talk shows to figure out the real reason behind Elizabeth Warren’s meteoric rise in the polls. Notably however, there appears to be a great appetite for an all-female Harris-Warren/Warren-Harris ticket so much so that they are crushing a Biden-Buttigieg ticket. Yours Truly didn’t see this coming.

Naturally, valid questions have been raised about the viability of an all-female Dem ticket going up against chauvinist Trump in rural and middle America, the tweet below serving as Exhibit A. Again Yours Truly will let the paid pundits on the Sunday morning talk shows wrestle with the viability of an all-female Dem ticket in 2020.

Bottom line, Warren’s 2020 stock is clearly on the rise. How higher up she goes remains to be seen. There’s still a lot of time from now until the Iowa caucuses and many other twists and turns are bound to happen before then. All Yours Truly can leave you with at this juncture is the famous Trumpian phrase, “We’ll see what happens.”

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You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

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Proof That Congressional Republicans Have Become A Criminal Enterprise


Ever since Trump became President, many have wondered why congressional Republicans have totally abdicated oversight functions that all their predecessors routinely conducted and Americans came to expect as the norm. The inaction as regards oversight by House Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s congress has struck most Americans as very strange and has spawned many conspiracy theories, the most popular one being that Russian President Putin has “Kompromat” on all congressional Republicans.

President Trump with Congressional Republicans

Well, courtesy of a bombshell article by The Daily Intelligencer, we now find out that congressional Republicans have actually compiled a secret list of things they have vowed to block from any congressional oversight requested by Dems–a sad and totally unprecedented move by U.S. members of congress.


The list of items GOP has vowed to keep away from any congressional oversight includes “election security and hacking attempts”, ” White House security clearances”, “Trump’s Tax Returns”, ” Trump’s family businesses”, among many others. Think about that, we currently have GOP members of congress whose stated mission is to hide from the public any wrongdoing by Trump and his administration–the aforementioned criminal enterprise.

Bottom line Dems and the mainstream media must start calling out congressional Republicans for totally abdicating their oversight functions. Its about time people started calling Trump’s GOP what it truly is–a criminal enterprise. What House Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell are presiding over in congress today goes way beyond what Americans would characterize as “politics as usual” and is borderline if not out and out criminal conduct.

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Dem Senators Heitkamp & Manchin Must Hold The Line On Kavanaugh


Ever since President Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court, the running narrative among mainstream media types has been that Dem Senators Joe Manchin(WV) and Heidi Heitkamp(ND) who are up for reelection this year, have no otherwise but to vote for Kavanaugh because Trump won decisively in both West Virginia and North Dakota in 2016.

Senators Heidi Heitkamp(D-ND) & Joe Manchin(D-WV)

In other words according to the mainstream media talking heads, it would be political suicide if the two Dem Senators from Trump-popular states opposed Kavanaugh’s nomination.

Recent events however suggest that during his confirmation hearings for the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, Kavanaugh may have lied under oath to Congress–a felony. This is such a serious issue that U.S. Senators need to get to the bottom of before casting their vote for or against Kavanaugh. Senate Republicans are working hard to hide from the public, documents that could prove Kavanaugh lied to Congress. Against this backdrop, Dem Senators Heitkamp and Manchin have a duty not to allow Senate Republicans to ram Kavanaugh through without proper vetting especially as regards to his potential felonious conduct. Simply put, Senators Heitkamp and Manchin must hold the line on Kavanaugh.


There is also such an egregious double standard surrounding what Senate Republicans are trying to do with Kavanaugh compared to what they demanded with Obama’s Supreme Court nominees Sotomayor and Kagan. This tweet by Sen Kamala Harris(D-CA) perfectly illustrates this egregious double standard.


Senators Heitkamp and Manchin should also be sympathetic to pleas by their fellow Senator Patrick Leahy(D-VT) who is desperate to get to the truth about Kavanaugh because it was him that Kavanaugh potentially lied to under oath. Senator Leahy deserves to know the truth about Kavanaugh.


Bottom line if Senators Heitkamp and Manchin vote for Kavanaugh without inquiring as to whether he lied under oath to Congress–a felony–it will be an exercise of extreme cowardice and quite frankly a dereliction of their senatorial duty to properly vet nominees to the highest court in the land. They must hold the line on Kavanaugh.

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Lindsey Graham Inciting Trump To Fire Sessions

Senator Lindsey Graham(R-SC)

Now that Trump has been implicated in criminal conduct by the Michael Cohen plea deal and is in danger of further exposure from the Paul Manafort case and a grant of immunity to his former chief accountant Allen Weisselberg, it appears the new GOP protective stance is to incite him to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a move that could end Mueller probe altogether.


Chief among his inciters is U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who was once regarded as a reasonable moderate and a check to Trump’s unconventional presidency. It appears according to media reports however that Sen Graham has done a complete about face and is now basically inciting Trump to fire Sessions in an effort to insulate Trump from the gathering storm that is the Mueller probe. So you ask “Wait @emolclause, how is Sen Graham inciting Trump?” Here’s why.

It is well known that Trump is a major consumer of cable TV news. Back in 2017 Sen Graham went on a cable TV show and said there would be “holy hell to pay” if Trump fired Sessions. His statements were correctly characterized by the mainstream media as a stern message to Trump to not even think about firing Sessions. The same Sen Graham has now taken to cable TV news this time saying Trump has a right to install a favorable attorney general. Sen Graham told reporters recently:”The president’s entitled to an attorney general he has faith in, somebody that’s qualified for the job, and I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice.”

There is no other way to interpret Senator Graham’s recent comments regarding AG Jeff Sessions other than he(Sen Graham) is sending a message to Trump that there will no longer be “holy hell to pay” if Trump fired Sessions–essentially inciting him to do so. Sen Graham’s surprise 180 degrees flip was best captured by this tweet by prominent women empowerment activist Amy Siskind


It appears at every turn when the public has gotten close to finding out the truth about Trump’s very questionable conduct with Russians, congressional Republicans have always stepped in to protect him and Sen Lindsey Graham appears to be the latest. As Yours Truly has repeatedly stated, and the Washington Post now agrees, Trump is not necessarily the problem but rather his abetting congressional Republicans like Sen Lindsey Graham.


Bottom line Senate Democrats and the mainstream media must confront Sen Lindsey Graham about his strange about-face regarding AG Jeff Sessions. Yours Truly wishes someone would soon pose Amy Siskind’s question to Sen Graham–“What does Putin have on you Senator Graham”?

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Why Is DHS Letting Local Election Officials Defend Themselves Against Russia?


A cyber security expert David Hickton recently made a startling revelation on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show that the Department of Homeland Security is apparently letting local county election officials defend their voting systems against the threat of hacking by Putin’s Russia. Think about that folks, while most Americans think DHS is the first line of defense going out there chasing down would be Russian hackers to prevent them from interfering in midterms 2018, we now find out courtesy of Maddow that Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s DHS has in fact left local county officials to defend themselves against the powerful military grade Russian hacking capabilities–a total travesty!


This is a very serious story that deserves the utmost attention by the mainstream media and Democrats. As Maddow correctly points out in the segment, it is foolhardy to expect that local county officials will have the wherewithal to withstand a highly sophisticated Russian hacking operation,  with all due respect to local county officials.

Bottom line Dems and the mainstream media must confront DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for leaving local county officials fend for themselves against the threat of Russian hacking when she knows or ought to know they cannot possibly fend off a highly sophisticated Russian hacking operation. Simply put Dems should demand Secretary Nielsen’s resignation if she does not make her DHS the first line of defense against Russian hacking in midterms 2018. Anything less than that would be an abdication of her sworn duty to protect the homeland against foreign threats.

The full Maddow segment is available here but the relevant clip is below

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GA GOP County Officials Plan To Close 75% Of Polling Stations In Black Area


According to a New York Times piece GOP election officials in Georgia plan to close 7 out of 9 polling stations in Randolph county, a predominantly black county that votes overwhwlmingly for Democrats.

The New York Times piece points out that the majority of residents in this majority black county are poor and therefore lack reliable transportation. Closing down more than 75% of the polling stations would require them to travel more than 10 miles to vote–a move that will almost certainly depress voter turnout.


It cannot also be left unsaid(and the NYT article catches it) that this shameful move by Randolph county GOP election officials is a direct result of decisions by the the Roberts Supreme Court which have rolled back Voting Rights Act provisions that required state election officials to get permission before making changes that affect how people vote. In essence the Roberts Supreme Court has literally given local state officials total control in election related issues, the result of which is this shameful episode in Randolph county, Georgia.

It also bears pointing out that Georgia, and its GOP Secretary of State Brian Kemp in particular, has long been in the crosshairs of election integrity advocates and this latest incident in Randolph county will only make things worse.

This kind of chicanery by state GOP election officials is quite common in southern states and Yours Truly has repeatedly called on the DNC to take action against GOP election officials in Texas who have packed unverifiable voting machines in Dem strongholds. The DNC is yet to move a finger.


Bottom line even though the article points out that the Geoegia ACLU is going after Randolph county GOP election officials, grassroots Democrats would prefer the DNC to be on the forefront of these fights. There’s no earthly reason why the DNC continues to stay in the sidelines while local GOP election officials are actively scheming on how to steal the Dem vote!!

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Trump Obstructing Justice By Yanking Security Clearances


In case you missed it, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow made quite an interesting (and troubling) observation regarding Trump’s revocation of former CIA Chief John Brennan’s security clearance and his threat to do the same to other former U.S. Intel officials. Maddow correctly pointed out that all the former U.S. Intel officials Trump wants to strip of security clearances are involved in the ongoing TrumpRussia investigation and at some point in the near future may be called in by the Mueller team to testify. Revoking their security clearances in a way hinders their ability to testify against Trump–essentially an obstruction of justice. The full Maddow segment is available here but the relevant clip is below

Maddow’s astute observation is very important because the rest of her mainstream media colleagues continue to characterize Trump’s troubling actions regarding security clearances as just “crazy Trump being crazy Trump”–an erroneous and dangerous assumption. The mainstream media should instead take Trump’s actions on security clearances very seriously because as Maddow correctly points out, it is all part of Trump’s larger effort to thwart the TrumpRussia investigation which is inching closer and closer to him and his inner circle, including his family.


Even more troubling is the fact that the GOP-led congress knows full well of Trump’s intent in regards to security clearance revocations but does absolutely nothing. Even Senator Susan Collins, once considered a reasonable moderate, appears to condone Trump’s patently un-American actions regarding security clearances

Bottom line, congressional Democrats and the mainstream media must call out Senator Collins and her congressional GOP colleaoues for condoning Trump’s actions regarding security clearances while knowing full well that Trump’s true intention is to obstruct the ongoing TrumpRussia investigation. Simply put Senator Collins et al are aiding and abetting Trump’s blatant obstruction of justice–conduct unbecoming of members of congress.

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Senate Dems Ready To Sue For Kavanaugh Docs


Yours Truly recently did a post on how Senate Judiciary Republicans are trying to ram through Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh while hiding crucial documents about his tenure at the George W Bush White House. Specifically, Republicans are working hard to hide from Senate Democrats, documents that will prove Kavanaugh lied to congress during his confirmation hearings for the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.


Well it appears Senate Democrats are now ready to fight for the documents in court. In a move that will surely thrill grassroots Democrats, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer today said Dems are ready to sue the National Archives for Kavanaugh’s full record if the organization does not honor the Dem FOIA request.


Hopefully this is not just a threat to sue by Senate Dems because grassroots Dems expect an all out warfare on Kavanaugh–or as they say in Twitter circles–#KavaNO!!

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Senate Judiciary Republicans Hiding Crucial Kavanaugh Documents


Republican Senators in the Senate Judiciary Committee are apparently blocking efforts by Democrats to get documents about U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during the time he worked for the George W. Bush administration as White House Staff Secretary for 3 years. At issue is whether Kavanaugh lied to Congress about his role in crafting the Bush administrations harsh interrogation techniques(torture) for terrorists.


When Kavanaugh appeared before Congress for his confirmation hearings to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, he denied playing any advisory role in the crafting of the torture techniques. After he was confirmed to the DC Circuit Court however, evidence emerged suggesting he had indeed advised the Bush administration on the torture procedures. Even more troubling, as a judge on the federal appeals court he heard cases that dealt with the same torture techniques he helped craft but he did not recuse himself, as any credible judge would

Naturally the Democrats in the senate judiciary committee are very interested in documents from the Bush administration that would settle the issue as to whether Kavanaugh lied to congress or not. Lying to congress is after all a felony and if it can be shown that Kavanaugh knowingly engaged in felonious conduct, he should not be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. As a matter of fact if this can be proven, he should never have been confirmed to the federal appeals court in the first place.

It appears the Republicans in the senate judiciary committee have realized that such a revelation–that Kavanaugh lied to congress–could torpedo his confirmation and as expected, have started a shameful stonewalling campaign.

According to the Rachel Maddow Show(clip above), GOP senators in the senate judiciary committee have stonewalled so much, that Dem senators have resorted to seeking Kavanaugh documents using Freedom of Information Act(FOIA) requests. As Maddow correctly points out, U.S. Senators have never been forced to resort to FOIAs in their quest for information. As a matter of fact, senate judiciary Republicans during the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan sought and received all documents related to her work under the Obama administration

Bottom line Dems must call out Republicans in the senate judiciary committee for stonewalling on the crucial kavanaugh documents. There is absolutely no excuse for their conduct given the fact that senate judiciary republicans sought and received all documents related to Justice Elena Kagan’s work in the Obama administration

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Cathy McMorris Rogers Admission on Mueller Probe Implicates Speaker Ryan

A secret tape recording of a fundraiser for 4th ranking GOP member of Congress Cathy McMorris Rogers captures her essentially admitting to the fact that House Republicans are primarily interested in protecting Trump from the Mueller probe, and not getting to the bottom of what Russia did in 2016.


While the public has suspected, even seen evidence of this for a long time now, it was quite breathtaking to hear such a high ranking member of congress essentially admitting that the majority party in Congress is essentially stonewalling a very serious investigation into Russian meddling in the  2016 U.S. elections.

It also bolsters the charge that has been levelled at House Speaker Paul Ryan since the Mueller investigation began–that he sits idly by as Rep Devin Nunes and other House Republicans openly obstruct the Mueller investigation–abetts their conduct. With McMorris-Rogers admission, the public does not have to speculate anymore about Speaker Ryan’s actions/inactions. It appears obstructing Mueller probe is an agenda fully endorsed by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep Cathy McMorris-Rodgers–Congressional leaders.

This is very serious in that it does away with the widely held notion that there are a few wayward GOP characters in Congress (Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan et al) who are acting independently to obstruct Mueller probe/protect Trump and suggests the entire GOP leadership in Congress is onboard with Mueller probe obstruction.

Dems must take Rep Cathy McMorris Rogers to task and demand that she comes forward and explain her actions. The same must be done for Speaker Ryan. Bottom line it is highly unlikely that Rep McMorris-Rogers would go along with a plan to obstruct Mueller probe if Speaker Ryan wasn’t in on it.

Dems and indeed the mainstream media(still a major let down) must take McMorris-Rogers and Speaker Ryan to task regarding their shameful conduct because they are Congressional leaders who ought to know better. Put another way the media’s emphasis should notbe on Rep Devin Nunes, but on Congressional leaders McMorris-Rogers and Speaker Ryan.

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