King Rat- McCain Betrays his Own Party and the President, yet Again

Brain cancer or not, Viet Nam POW or not, Senator John McCain(R-AZ) is the absolute king of the Republican rats, who will stop at nothing to betray his own party and the first real Republican president since Ronald Reagan.

Flying into Washington late Wednesday afternoon, the senior senator from Arizona mounted his high horse once again to lecture the Senate and the nation about what is and isn’t proper in Senate deliberations…as if he knew. In his self-serving and puerile bombast, he got his digs into the president he hates and pontificated about what he sees as the need for the Senate to work together.

Interestingly enough, the only thing that on which the Senate has come together this year, is their ill-advised and constitutionally-dangerous imperative to restrict President Trump in the management of foreign policy, specifically with regards to Russian sanctions. This is nothing more than a direct slap-in-the-face to the president- one that is unprecedented in U.S. history. Further, he and other AntiTrump Senators, including Lindsey Graham(R-SC) and Ben Sasse(R-NE) have overtly threatened the president that it will be “the end of his presidency” if Attorney General Jeff Sessions is fired, once again undermining and usurping the power and prerogative that is constitutionally the exclusive domain of any sitting U.S. president.

Despite seven years of promising the American people to repeal and replace ObamaCare, seven Republicans (Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine, Shelly Caputo of West Virginia, Dean Heller of Nevada, McCain of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rob Portman of Ohio) opposed Senator Rand Paul’s amendment to repeal the Affordable Care Act in its totality, joining obstructionist Democrats who have vowed not to participate in any measure that would put an end to the worst domestic legislation in history… that was Wednesday night.

Then on Friday morning, July 28^th, it was McCain who ignominiously and dramatically threw a visceral thumbs down, joining Collins and Murkowski, to put the final nail in the “skinny-repeal bill,” which only sought to rid the ACA of its employer and individual mandates and medical device taxes. These senators, who all supported Hillary Clinton simply because she was not Donald Trump, are still sticking it to the American people because they remain angry about Trump’s victory in November.

In a word, betrayal- betrayal to their party, betrayal to the president and betrayal to the country.

Recalling the condescension in McCain’s speech on Wednesday, where he said:

 “ …stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television  and the Internet- to hell with them…”

Well, Senator John McCain, “to hell with YOU and the rest of the rats,” too many of whom propagate the Republican caucus in the United States Senate.

It’s high time to vote their sorry asses outta there.

 

-Drew Nickell, 28 July 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”

now available at Amazon

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A Progress Report and Note of Thanks to the Readers of Drew Nickell

Two years ago this month, we began an effort to expand the readership of our essays which are catalogued on http://www.drewnickell.com, and which have also been posted on Facebook and are now shared on Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, LinkedIn and Google.

In that time period, our 225 essays have been read over 8,000 times in 68 countries, across six continents- something that we would have thought absolutely impossible only a few years ago.

Drew’s webpage has attracted 4,500 subscribers and his number of Facebook friends has swelled to just over 3,000, with an additional following of more than 500.

None of this would have been possible, but for the support of you- the friends who have offered supportive and constructive feedback, and who have kindly spread the word of our efforts to provide honest commentary on the events that shape our lives.

To you, our cherished friends, we offer our sincerest thanks and deepest appreciation for all you have done at our behest.

As a token of our appreciation, we are reducing the price of the signed and personalized copy of our book, Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times by just over $5.00 per copy. Yesterday’s price was $25.99, and is now available to you for $20.95, which includes sales tax, packaging and postage within the United States.

We will also be having a book signing this Saturday, July 22, from 10AM to 4 PM, at the Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Virginia Beach, located near the Virginia Beach Town Center at 4485 Virginia Beach Boulevard, Virginia Beach, VA 23462.

We hope to see you there.

God bless each and every one of you for all you have done to support our efforts.

 

-Drew Nickell, 18 July 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”

now available at Amazon

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Senate Confirmation Hearings- What Isn’t Said (but REALLY is Said)

On Wednesday, July 12, 2017, Christopher A. Wray appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions regarding his nomination to become the eighth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His selection by President Donald Trump, to lead this embattled bureau, falls on the heels of James Comey’s firing in early May of this year.

There is little doubt as to his qualifications to lead the FBI, just as there was little doubt as to the qualifications of any or all of President Trump’s cabinet-level appointees, since the new president took office in January, 2017. By all accounts, Wray is a fine man, a distinguished professional and completely lacking in all of the dramatic flair and self-absorption that was the essence of Director Comey’s persona. In essence, he will prove to be the healing salve of an investigative agency that has grown far too political, given the apolitical nature of what the FBI is supposed to be. Once again, President Trump has hit a home run with this selection.

What has come to light during his confirmation hearing is the ironic nature of all such confirmation hearings in the age of Trump. Senate confirmation hearings are supposed to be designed to reveal the attributes, the strengths and, yes, the possible shortcomings of any given nominee- all in an effort to determine the suitability of such nominee, commensurate with the constitutional advice and consent function of the U.S. Senate. The irony is that, in the current administration, these hearings reveal far more about the senators asking the questions than they do the person being questioned.

While the mainstream media- the entire mainstream media- routinely refers to such hearings as “grilling,” a far more accurate depiction would be “inquisition,” something akin to the “Spanish Inquisition” farcical skits performed in the “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” television shows, broadcast on the BBC from 1969 through 1974. What is supposed to be non-partisan has become a partisan free-for-all, intent on scoring political points rather than uncovering the qualifications of a nominee.  In doing so, the political motivations and tawdry character flaws of the questioners are thus revealed in the nature of the questions being asked.

A cursory viewing of the questions asked by senators in Christopher Wray’s nomination hearing can be summed up as the questions tacitly, but not expressly, asked, based upon the three partisan factions of the committee’s members:

Democrats (all of them): “We hate Donald Trump, and we intend to seek his impeachment, hopefully with your help. Even though we have not as yet found any evidence of collusion or obstruction, will you help us get Trump by reporting back to us anything you see as evidence of our doubts as to his suitability to be president, and will you help us to destroy his family (i.e. Donald Trump, Jr.) if we cannot destroy the president, himself?”

NeverTrump Republicans (i.e. Senators Graham (R-SC), Sasse (R-NE) and Flake (R-AZ ): “We, too, hate Donald Trump. In our hatred of him, we need your help to bring him down by informing us when (not if) he asks you to do something that we would find offensive or that you will (not would) find unethical. Will you commit to come to us and tattle on the president anytime it would help us in our mission to avenge Jeb Bush by bringing Trump down?”

Remaining Republicans: “It really doesn’t matter who is president, and whether or not we supported Donald Trump’s election is beside the point. Will you commit to not referring to ‘investigations’ as ‘matters,’ will you let us know if the president or a future president has secret meetings on an airport tarmacs with the spouses of presidential candidates, and will you let us know if Bob Mueller is not getting the support he needs from the bureau?”

In other words, questions posed to fine men and women, by lessers who pretend to serve the country, but really are there to enjoy sumptuous free lunches in the Senate dining room and avoid the difficult tasks associated with legislation and serving the needs of the country which elected them in the first place.

In a word…pathetic.

 

-Drew Nickell, 12 July 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”

now available at Amazon

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Intransigent Futility in the Age of Trump

Following his second successful international trip, President Donald Trump has returned home to a political environment that has largely failed to come to grips with his own presidency. Despite what most reasonable (CNN and MsNBC, in particular, excluded) politicos, and even the most critical observers, have admitted was a transformational and altogether statesmanlike speech in Warsaw, Poland, the Trump bashers cannot seem to accept the fact that the new president has ushered in an entirely new direction in foreign policy.

This new direction, on the heels of Barack Obama’s “Blame America First” ideology, “leadership from behind”, “strategic patience,” and in the wake of a globalist new world order pursued by the last four presidencies of both Bushes, Clinton and Obama, Donald Trump has effectively reincarnated the spirit of Ronald Reagan’s “America First” approach to dealing with a world whose own interests are far different from those which would benefit the United States. For the first time in almost three decades, we now have a president who is willing to pursue our own national interests first, and who rejects the supposition that an American president should place global interests above and beyond that which is in our own national interests.

As President Trump so clearly stated in his Inaugural Address on January 20^th, 2017, he “was elected President of the United States and not president of the world.” Largely panned by globalists of both parties, the mainstream media and their fellow travelers in academia, all of whom reject American nationalism as some kind of fascist reincarnation of totalitarianism, the new president made it altogether clear that the age of American acquiescence to a new world order has come to a close. From his decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and his insistence that NATO allies honor their financial commitments to partially fund their own defense, to his intent to renegotiate the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and his refusal to further pursue the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), President Trump has proved to be a man of his word who will put America first and foremost in all his dealings with foreign governments.

This pursuit of placing America first precisely explains why Trump will never gain the acceptance of the internationalist elite- be they the European Economic Union, the Democrat Party, the NeverTrump establishment Republicans, career State Department apparatchiks, most all of the mainstream media (including much of Fox News, most notably Shepard Smith and Gillian Turner), anti-American academics and everyone else who seems to be bent on the destruction of his presidency.

Let’s face it…

Trump will never be able to placate or please his opponents in the Democrat Party, and most all of the Democrat Party will never accept either his election or his presidency. Even if he were to pursue their goal of universal, single-payer health insurance for all, they would constantly carp about Russia and their fantasy of his collusion with Vladimir Putin. Furthermore, they will actively or passively pursue his impeachment as an all-consuming stratagem.

Trump will never be able to win over the NeverTrump Republicans who have opposed him and his candidacy from the start. These include John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME) and many others. Waiting for their support would be as futile for President Trump as counting railroad ties while riding a passenger train. In short, they are globalist-internationalists and he is not.

Trump will never gain the respect, much less the acknowledgement of his fairly-won electoral victory, from a mainstream media who will never forgive him for defeating Hillary Clinton in the election of 2016. Until the very last day of Donald Trump’s presidency, they will continue to lie, misrepresent, spin and pursue stories based in opinion and not in fact, simply because he is the first president in history who refuses to kowtow to their libel and slander.

Trump will never find favor with an international community who so loved his predecessor, Barack Obama, for pursuing their interests over those of the United States, and who was so willing to fork over enormous amounts of our own treasury in the pursuit of policies and treaties which benefited them to our own detriment (i.e. The Paris Accord and the Iran “Deal”).

In essence, we have arrived upon the point of intransigent futility in any reasonable discussion of the Trump presidency, for the simple reason that despite what he says, does, tweets, accomplishes and pursues in the interests of the American people, the powers who so vehemently and irrationally oppose his very existence, have one goal- the end of his presidency.

Given all that, it is no wonder that the man tweets- how else can he or will he ever get his message across to the American people?

 

-Drew Nickell, 10 July 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”

now available at Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Bending-Your-Ear-Collection-Essays/dp/1633932907?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc

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Derangement and the Trump Presidency

Having failed to defeat Donald Trump in the Republican primaries and the 2016 general election, having failed to substantiate any claims that Russia successfully tampered with polling or that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to throw the election his way, having failed to prove that Trump obstructed justice in the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, all of the many forces gathered to overturn the 2016 election are now alleging that President Trump is mentally deranged, and thereby unfit for the office he holds.

This week, it was announced that no fewer than twenty-five House Democrats have initiated impeachment proceedings based upon Section 4, of the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which reads:

“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”

In other words, for these proceedings to gain any traction, Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of President Trump’s cabinet would have to conclude that the president is no longer capable of performing the duties of his office, put this in writing and submit it to Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI).

This is about as likely to happen as a free, fair and open election in North Korea.

Yet, such are the tactics of desperation and that which would support a collective clinical diagnosis of manic derangement and obsessive compulsive disorder, on the part of those who would support this action. Simply put, it is NOT the president who shows signs of derangement, but rather the psychological disorder of those who cannot come to grips with the political ascendancy of Donald Trump.

Into this lunacy one can add CNN, MsNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, most of the Democrats in both houses of Congress, a substantial number of NeverTrump Republicans, and a vast number of “deep state” political hacks who constitute many career apparatchiks in the Federal government. Add in the twenty-seven secretaries of the states who have now refused to turn over voter registration data, from within their respective states, to a bipartisan committee investigating reports of election fraud…and this doesn’t even include the lefty-looneys that dominate Hollywood and academia, alike.

What is the basis of their collective hysteria?

Tweets !

They say that Trump is not acting in a way that is commensurate with the proper behavior of a United States President. Well, in looking into some of that behavior of Presidents in the past sixty years, we find that:

President Harry Truman once threatened in a letter to a Washington Post reporter, to cripple that reporter who had panned his grown daughter’s piano recital;

President John F. Kennedy regularly swam naked in the White House pool with two young women (also naked) he called “Fiddle” and “Faddle,” and had numerous trysts with scores of women in the White House;

President Lyndon Johnson held impromptu press gaggles while sitting on the “john” doing…ahem…”big business”…ahem;

President Bill Clinton received fellatio in the Oval Office and inserted his cigar into…(we won’t finish the sentence), and groped an unpaid staffer, one Kathleen Willey who, having learned of her husband’s suicide, came to the president in tears, trying to obtain a paid position in the White House;

President Barack Obama insisted that there wasn’t a “smidgen of corruption” relating to the IRS targeting of conservative political activists   and is spending his post presidency going behind his successor’s back in his meetings with foreign leaders, trying to undermine President Trump’s foreign policy;

…and President Donald Trump tweeted what?

In other words, if a Democrat president behaves with reckless abandon, it is just “politics as usual” but if a Republican says or tweets something disparaging about a hostile, libelous and slandering reporter like Mika Brzezinski, or her like-minded fiancée Joe Scarborough, both of whom hurl unrepentant invective at him on a daily basis, that is grounds for the forcible removal of a duly-elected president.

Call President Trump crazy as you will, but the real crazies are the ones who can’t come to grips with his election, and that is what has become of political discourse on this the eve of the nation’s 241^st birthday.

Happy Independence Day.

 

-Drew Nickell, 3 July 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”

now available at Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Bending-Your-Ear-Collection-Essays/dp/1633932907?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc

Signed and personalized editions now available at my website:

http://www.drewnickell.com

Follow my postings on the RSS feed: http://www.drewnickell.com/?feed=rss2