Well, another whirlwind week of chaos in our nation’s capital, much of it caused by President Trump, whose jaw-dropping actions and utterances continue with mind-numbing predictability.
Earlier this week, the Washington Post’s Dana Millbank mused on all the predictions Trump has made through the years — and whiffed.
“With the assurance of Jeremiah, the clairvoyance of a seer and the prolificacy of a bookie, Trump has peered into his crystal ball and foretold visions of all description: He would have a “tremendous summit” in Hanoi with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. House and Senate negotiators would not agree on border spending. Republicans would win the midterms in a “giant red wave.” Stocks would crash and violence would ensue if Democrats won. His Helsinki meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin would produce “big results.” The economy would grow at more than 5 percent . Guam’s tourism would increase tenfold. And on and on.
…History already looks unkindly on Trump’s predictions that Marine Le Pen would surge in the French election, that Obamacare would be quickly repealed, that North Korea wouldn’t obtain a missile capable of reaching the United States, that he would pay more in taxes after his tax cut …”
Some advice: Don’t take stock tips from — as Esquire scribe Charles Pierce has dubbed him — El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago.
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The Senate passed a resolution Thursday to overturn President Trump’s declaration of a phony national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, with 12 Republicans joining all Democrats to deliver a bipartisan rebuke to the president.
Of course, Sens. Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer, still sans spines, refused to support the measure.
Simply put, this is a constitutional crisis and Sasse and Fischer couldn’t muster the courage to do their jobs for the people and the country.
Sasse’s subservience was not lost on the aforementioned Mr. Pierce.
“Among the Republicans who folded on their constitutional duty were Very Concerned Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina …
And it’s a good thing Sasse is a Very Concerned Serious Person, because his statement explaining why he rolled over reads like it was written by drunken coatimundis. He wants Congress to regain the powers it has surrendered to the Executive, but not this way, or something.”
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Thursday marked the 50th anniversary of LTJG Bob Kerrey, of U.S. Navy SEAL Team ONE, losing his leg in combat during the Vietnam Conflict.
Because of his actions that day, he received the Medal of Honor. He later became governor of Nebraska (1982) and U.S. senator (1988).
Thank you for your service, Senator Kerrey!
Read his Medal of Honor Citation here.
It’s worth your time.
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Just a reminder that the NDP’s Salute to State Senators is coming up on April 8.
The event includes dinner, drinks and live music with Mike and Kerry Semrad of the Bottletops. The rockstar theme, “For Those Who Write The Bills, We Salute You,” celebrates our rockstar State Senators!
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The Lincoln Journal Star’s Don Walton had an interesting take on the defeat of Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks’ bill to prohibit LBGTQ discrimination.
“A vote on the legislative proposal to ban employment discrimination in Nebraska based on sexual orientation or gender identification showcased dramatic differences within the Legislature based on gender and party identification along with a sharp rural-urban divide.
A 26-16 procedural vote effectively killed the bill by removing it from the legislative agenda.
Ten of the 16 senators who voted to keep the bill alive were women.
All of the 16 are registered Democrats.
All but one hailed from metropolitan Omaha or Lincoln.
After a 2018 general election that saw Omaha and Lincoln voters part company with most of the rest of the state in determining who should be U.S. senator and governor, that legislative vote was another indication of the emergence of two Nebraskas.”
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We finish up this week as we began, with Trump, in a rendering by Mike Luckovich of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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IMPORTANT DATES
March 17: Lancaster County Democrats Patriots’ Dinner
March 29-31: State Central Committee Meeting, Trainings and Caucus Meetings
April 8: NDP Salute to State Senators
April 9: City of Lincoln Primary Election
May 7: City of Lincoln General Election
