If you were expecting a dissertation on the Nunes memo, forget it.  Nobody gives a shit about Carter Page including me.

Though I have to hand it to the Republicans.  Just like the magician at the carnival, the method involves a trick that plays with your head.

Republicans loathe unions and have been on a union busting mission since before Reagan took office. And to their credit they have been largely successful at it.

From 1960 to 2000 the percentage of workers in the United States belonging to a labor union fell from 30% to 13%.  The irony is that republicans like to harken back to ‘the good old days’ when there was a strong middle class but this was in large part because union wages provided blue-collar workers a shot at living the American dream.  Owning a home.  Buying a car.  Raising a family.  Welders, mechanics, carpenters all had union representation which held wages high enough to live a decent life on.

I remember when I graduated from high school in 1978, one of my best friends Vince Kirchmeier took a union job at Safeway as a checker and was making $9 an hour.  In 1978 that was a ton of money.  I chose instead to go the JC route and hopefully come out of that skilled enough to earn a living wage.  Two years later in 1980 I took a job at Boeing in Everett Washington for $7.50/hr.   It really made me think if my investment was worth it.  I was still behind Kirchmeier and I had just given up 2 years of my life to get educated.

For the most part, those union jobs do not exist for young people today.  They do not have that option in front of them.  It’s basically enter a college program at considerable expense and pray you’ll get your money back, or else something close to minimum wage.  Or the military.  There just isn’t a lot in-between.

In any case, republicans hate unions and some of their leading politicians have made careers out of busting unions.  Scott Walker comes to mind.

What’s clever about it is that Walker didn’t coin the term “union busting movement.”  Instead they came up with the “Right to Work” movement which basically starved unions of their dues and put them out of existence.

Right to work.  Sounds so…. innocent.  So righteous.

Similarly republicans are pulling off another sleight of hand move that will privatize everything including air traffic control – safety-be-damned – under the banner of “Infrastructure Plan.”  Pay close attention to the Infrastructure Plan because it’s likely we’ll have privately owned prisons where Jeff Sessions is a major shareholder.

Republicans held a retreat in West Virginia last weekend to discuss the road ahead.  There’s no shortage of issues facing the country.  The government runs out of money on Feb. 8th – just 6 days from now.  There’s DACA to deal with.  There’s infrastructure to build and a national opioid crisis.  What pray tell did they spend their time on at this retreat?

Given the massive tax cut to the wealthy that passed just after Christmas, republicans know we now have to address spending.  Just as we were warned, after gifting the billionaires more billions, now they are coming after medicare and entitlements.

But what’s step one in coming after entitlements?  Coming up with a clever name for it.  And they accomplished just that.  It’s no longer “Entitlement Reform.”  That’s too obvious that it will be cuts to the poor.  It’s now “Workforce Development.”  This has been Paul Ryan’s dream ever since he finished the last chapter of “Atlas Shrugged.”

So now we have a term for it that will sell quickly on Fox News.  As Republican consultant Frank Luntz aptly put it:

“Republicans are better at agreeing to a term and sticking to it.  There’s a simple rule. You say it again, and you say it again, and you say it again, and you say it again, and you say it again, and then again and again and again and again, and about the time that you’re absolutely sick of saying it is about the time that your target audience has heard it for the first time.”

That would certainly explain “Benghazi” and “E-mails”

Given how spineless the House Republicans are, I wonder if Trump gets convicted of obstruction and they fail to impeach, if that means he runs the country from his cell block?  That’d be a first.

I wonder if he’d be entitled to conjugal visits from Melania and/or Stormy Daniels?

I wonder if Melania would be busy on her conjugal visit day?

I wonder if Trump would get to keep his cell phone and thus be able to tweet from his cell block?

I wonder if Sarah Sanders would still be at the podium like, “it’s all good”

I wonder if he’ll shrink 2 inches at his prison physical and only be 73″ tall?

I wonder if Don Jr. and Jeff Sessions will be housed at the same prison or a different one?

I wonder if he and Manafort end up being at the same prison if they will have lunch together sometimes.

These things I have been pondering today.

Trump: Hey Don, want to participate in a little obstruction of justice with me?

Don Mcgahn: No, but thanks.

Trump: Drat

All that’s left is for Tom Cruise to put Colonel Jessup on the stand.

I’m often reminded of this quote from Abraham Lincoln:

“He who represents himself in court has a fool for a client”

If you watched any of the O.J. Simpson trial, the guy sat there for over 4 months with a stoic look on his face.  I’m positive he was simply following the instructions of his attorneys.  There’s this basic legal practice of not engaging in facial expressions, emotions, or reacting in any way.  No emotional outbursts.  Nothing.  Just sit there in your suit and let me handle this.  Failure to comply with this makes the attorney’s job more difficult, so clients are strongly advised to comply if they want the best chance at a favorable outcome.

It’s clear that Trump routinely ignores the advice of counsel.  I’m positive they told him to stop tweeting.  I’m also sure the reason he hasn’t had a press conference in almost a year has to do with his gaffe with NBC’s Lester Holt where he basically admitted obstruction of justice live, on the air.

Again tonight, just as Trump’s legal team is trying to figure out the best forum to get Robert Mueller’s special council the information it needs, Trump goes off script with the media and says “sure, I’ll testify under oath.  No problem.”  A few hours later, his legal team is cleaning up the mess putting out statements.  Ty Cobb:

“While Mr. Trump was speaking hurriedly before departing for Davos, he remains committed to continued complete cooperation with the OSC and is looking forward to speaking with Mr. Mueller.”

This Trump tweet was so egregious, his personal lawyer John Dowd had to claim personal responsibility for it because the ‘and the FBI’ add-on was self incriminating for Trump, admitting he knew Flynn lied to the FBI and still kept him on.

“I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI,” the Saturday tweet reads. “He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!”

When asked if he routinely tweets for Trump, Dowd replied “No, this was the one and only time.”  Not exactly a believable story.

This leads me to the conclusion that if Trump is removed from office, (which I think he will be one way or another), it will be because he is the WORST CLIENT IN THE HISTORY OF LAW.

Ordinarily one and done is a considered a rare accomplishment (see Ball, Lonzo).  But if you’re the POTUS, not so much.

As Kate McKinnon characterized it on SNL last weekend in her portrayal of Robert Mueller, “They didn’t leave us breadcrumbs.  They left us whole loaves.”

Here’s a link to the timeline that makes obstruction impossible to defend from a legal standpoint.  The end is nigh.

The short summary is, the Hastert Rule: 

The Hastert Rule, also known as the “majority of the majority” rule, is an informal governing principle used in the United States by Republican Speakers of the House of Representatives since the mid-1990s to maintain their speakerships and limit the power of the minority party to bring bills up for a vote on the floor of the House. Under the doctrine, the Speaker will not allow a floor vote on a bill unless a majority of the majority party supports the bill

Paul Ryan has a bit of a dilemma on his hands right now.  In order for him to resolve the #Trumpshutdown, he’ll need to break that Hastert rule.  Something he is loath to do.

With support for a short-term resolution for DACA recipients near 85%, getting a majority of The House to pass protection for DACA workers is simple math.  The problem for Ryan is, it would almost certainly have to break the Hastert rule.   It would be fairly simple to appease House democrats and persuade a handful of Republican congressmen on a solution to DACA, but the Freedom Caucus would start experiencing convulsions before the vote even hits the floor.  Oddly enough, about the only one who recognizes this at the moment is Lindsey Graham.  His odds of convincing his peers towards accepting a yes vote and moving on are slim to non-existent.

However if Ryan sticks to the Hastert rule, he’s also screwed because the House is currently filled with ultra conservative wing-nuts.  Any legislation they deem acceptable couldn’t possibly assemble 60 votes in the Senate.  This even discounts the Stephen Miller effect, who Graham is currently grousing about.

Meanwhile, president Bone Spur is advocating what Mitch McConnell knows to be political suicide – The Nuclear Option.  Donald Trump on Twitter:

Great to see how hard Republicans are fighting for our Military and Safety at the Border. The Dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked. If stalemate continues, Republicans should go to 51% (Nuclear Option) and vote on real, long-term budget, no C.R.’s!

No way does Mitch McConnell want to go down the nuclear path with the mid-terms just 10 months away.  If he changes the rules, the republicans get the benefit for 10 months but if they manage to lose the Senate — which is a real possibility — he just handed over all the power to democrats who will only need 51 votes to pass legislation on anything, indefinitely.  Based on his own words, I do not see him complying with Trump’s wishes.  The only benefit would be a short-term one for Trump and McConnell is too smart to take the bait that.

I do not see an easy way out of this one.  Nobody likes egg on their face but someone is going to end up with a face plastered with yokes.  Gosh darn-it it’s hard to actually govern.

Gosh it was nice to see senators Collins and Murkowski at work today praising just how hard everyone there was working towards a resolution to the government shut-down.  They just seemed so…. optimistic!

And knowing how honorable the Republicans are at keeping their word, I’m sure the talks would have happened anyway, even if Chuck Schumer hadn’t forced the issue.

I have never seem a party transition from obstinate to Kum Ba Yah in such a short period of time.  Miraculous, isn’t it?