No Grand Jury for Bannon, will talk to Prosecutors - Trump Era

CNN - Politics: Reports " Steve Bannon has struck a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller's team and will be interviewed by prosecutors instead of testifying before the grand jury, two people familiar with the process told CNN. He is expected to cooperate with the special counsel, the sources said. "

Lets Get Real:

The elite press will not be happy, they wanted to see Steve Bannon go before the Grand Jury without his Lawyer.   The question is WHAT does Bannon know that could be of use to the special counsel in building a case against POTUS, it's generally agreed that the main threat to Trump is that the Counsel is looking at obstruction of justice, thus the sacking of the Director of the FBI.  Those that support Trump will argue that the President has the right to sack anyone he likes, that does not mount to obstruction of justice, that is up to the Grand Jury to decide.  This Russian investigation is running and running!!

Steve Bannon rebuffs Congress - Trump Era

BBC News: Reports " Steve Bannon, ex-chief strategist to US President Donald Trump, has refused to answer a broad range of questions at a committee hearing probing alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia.  "

Lets Get Real:

When Mr Bannon goes to the Grand Jury he will not be allowed to have his lawyer by his side when under questions by the Special Prosecutor, he can go out of the room to seek legal advice, but can not refuse to answer questions.   Thus it will be interesting to see who Bannon fears most, the long arm of the Trump or the Special Prosecutor.  The Bannon fall shows how you can be all powerful one minute and then having your collar felt by Justice Department. 

The Russian Connection - Trump Era

BBC News: Reports " Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to US President Donald Trump, has been summoned to testify before a grand jury, US media report.  "

Lets Get Real:

Steven Bannon was Trump's Chief Strategist during the 2016 election, thus would be able to tell the Special Prosecutor if there were any links between the Trump Campaign and Putin's Kremlin.   Since Bannon was fired, he has fallen quite far from the height of his power, POTUS stated that he had lost his job and mind.   It will be interesting to see how far Bannon helps Robert Mueller, how long can this investigation go along without pinning something on Trump, the Republicans in the Congress would not mind if Mueller was fired. 

Could the Democrats have really dumped HRC in 2016 ?- Trump Era

The New York Times: Reports " Donna Brazile, the former interim head of the Democratic National Committee, says in a new book that she considered replacing Hillary Clinton as the party’s 2016 nominee with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. after Mrs. Clinton suffered a fainting spell..."

Lets Get Real:

Although the elite liberal press always state that its the Republicans that are in mess over Trump, in FACT it's the Democrats who are in a civil war, Obama left the DNC with no money, thus they had to be funded by the Clinton Campaign, and then HRC turned out to be a poor politician, the people who did her book tour were better operators that her campaign staff.   There is no no new leader out there, the runners for 2020 are Senators Warren and Sanders and they are in their 70s.   In 2020 both Parties could have new leaders if Trump does not run for a 2nd term or he gets impeached  before then, one never knows, if the Democrats can retake Congress in 2018 then they might go for Impeachment just to keep their base happy.   One thing about US politics its fun. 

Why Hillary Clinton LOST in 2016 - What people told Gallup

CNN - Politics: Reports " Breaking it down by week, the dominance of the email scandal throughout the Clinton campaign is jaw-dropping. In the final weeks of the campaign, literally every word that registers with enough people to be visualized is about it: Email, FBI, investigation, foundation, reopening, scandal. "

Lets Get Real:

The Trump should not have bothered going after political dirt on HRC, she created her own scandal by having a private email server and not getting out in front of the story, in fact it took time for the Clinton Campaign to get the fact that the Clinton " Truth " about her email was not quite the truth as found by the US Congress or the FBI.   If your the Russians it works either way, you support Trump and expect better relations with the Trump in the OVAL.   While if HRC wins she has made sure that the Republicans will take months if not years to investigate her when it comes to her email server, thus undercutting her first term.  The Democrats if they are SMART will chose a  moderate next time, liberal as you like on domestic issues, but to the right when it comes to Defence and terrorism.   If the Democrats chose a liberal on domestic and international issues the Republicans headed by Trump or Pence will beat them again in 2020. 

The Russian Probe HITS the White House - Trump Era

BBC News: Reports " Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that a current White House official is a significant person of interest in the investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. "

Lets Get Real:

Thus are we heading for endless leaks, the appointment of a Special Prosecutor was suppose to make the investigation go quiet, thus we have the latest revelation, one can only hope that the Russian investigation does not take years and goes off on its own, very much like the Iran Contra Special Prosecutor.   The weekend in D.C will be full of gossip as to who is in the sights of the Russian investigation and that person's relationship to the Trump.   A President Pence starts to look like  a good idea. 

Trump on the Media - Trump Era

Guardian: Reports " Trump: 'No politician in history has been treated more unfairly' "

Lets Get Real:

Even in his own scandal Trump wants it to be the biggest, one can assume that Richard Nixon felt he has been treated unfairly, he had to resign, both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown must feel they have got and have gotten the short end of the stick, one due to Iraq the other to the economic collapse, while Bush 43 had to put up with a lot from the left after the failure to find WMD in Iraq.   The Trump White House needs a new Chief of Staff, someone who can put Trump in his place, can run WH as it should be run, Trump should ask former Secretary of State, James Baker to do the job he did for Reagan, that first term was seen as the best, also after Iran - Contra blew up the White House got a new staff that restored most of the Reagan Presidency, thus allowing Bush 41 to win 1988.   Also Trump can follow the example of Bill Clinton during Impeachment, he said every day that he was working for the American people, he got through his crisis by laying for a long time about the affair,  and giving the PR that his sole concern was the American people.   THE Trump Oval needs to control itself, otherwise it could forced out like Nixon. 

The Russian and FBI Update 2 - Trump Era

CNN - Politics: Reports " Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein denies he threatened to quit his post amid the firing of FBI Director James Comey and does not plan to resign. "

Lets Get Real:

This undercuts the LIBERAL message of the day that Deputy Attorney General is the last man that can hire a special prosecutor.   It is clear that the matter is complex, one day the DAG is seen as Trump hatched man, then the story comes out that he threatened to resign if the White House was not clear on who wanted to sack Comey.   Then Rosenstein says he did not threaten to resign over the matter.  It will be interesting to see how CNN and Fox news run with the story.  One can almost think they are on different planets when they discuss the issue, CNN uber liberal, while Fox news attacks the liberal media.  This blog is calling for a SPECIAL PROSECUTOR, not that it matters, we need end this mess, the US and the World has bigger problems. 

The Liberal Media smell blood - The Russian Probe - Trump Era

The New York Times: Has the following message for the US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein when it comes to the firing of the FBI Director, James Comey and the Russian Trump connection, the NYT wants a Special Prosecutor " Few public servants have found themselves with a choice as weighty as yours, between following their conscience and obeying a leader trying to evade scrutiny — Elliot Richardson and William Ruckelshaus, who behaved nobly in Watergate, come to mind. You can add your name to this short, heroic list. Yes, it might cost you your job. But it would save your honor, and so much more besides. "

Lets Get Real:

In this case the uber liberal NYT is right, the firing of FBI Director Comey shows that Trump has something to hide, what is the Russian connection between Trump and Moscow.  What are in the tax returns of Trump when it comes to Russia.  Did the Trump Campaign in someway have a connection with Russia, and can it be proven.   The great if is, what if there was no connection, and ALL this media anger is made up as they can not stand the thought of Trump in the Oval Office.  Those in the Trump Justice Department and FBI have to careful that they do not fall for the noise and find nothing there, this would drive the left insane.   And give Trump a free hand to fire anyone!!!

Does Hillary Clinton understand WHY she LOST? - Trump Era

Washington Post: Reports the following on the Hillary Clinton interview, " ...she did not assign any blame to her strategy or staff. Nor did she point to her own weaknesses as a candidate or the struggles by her and her team to understand the angry mood of key parts of the electorate. "

Lets Get Real:

It seems that HRC has started to believe her own press statements, it was the fault of the FBI, the Russians, men not wanting a woman President, she even thinks the press are the blame.   The real reason that HRC LOST was she was as unpopular or even more so that President Trump, the US voter did not want either as candidates but HRC was seen as part of the Establishment.  The Clinton Campaign has to look at how they manged to turn a Crowning event in to a loss twice, once in 2008 and later in 2016.   The common factor was HRC, she is not a good candidate, she gave the impression that the Presidency was hers by right, as if defending Bill Clinton over the years was a VIP route to the Presidency.   IF HRC really thinks the above is true then she has no chance in 2020 if she wants to run, the Democrats have given her two chances, and she has blown them twice, the Party can not afford another bad candidate. 

Hillary Clinton and the 2016 Campaign - The Trump Era

The New York Times: Reviews a new book on the Clinton Campaign, " ... the portrait of the Clinton campaign that emerges from these pages is that of a Titanic-like disaster: an epic fail made up of a series of perverse and often avoidable missteps by an out-of-touch candidate and her strife-ridden staff that turned “a winnable race” into “another iceberg-seeking campaign ship.”

Lets Get Real:

The 2016 US Presidential Election will go down in history, it was not meant to end like it did, it recalls that famous photo of President Truman showing the headline from a newspaper that stated that he had lost the election, he of course had won.   In 1960 there was the close election between Kennedy and Nixon, and the iffy ballots in two States, in 2000 Gore should have won but he lost Florida and did not win his own home State.   In 2016 nearly ALL the polls showed that Hillary Clinton would win, and become the first woman President.  Well in the end Trump won the rust belt States.  As a contributor on CNN stated that DATA does not vote, the Clinton Campaign thought it understood the election process and how to engage the voter, through tracking mass data, it was bad mistake to make.   The LIBERAL LEFT will always blame the Russians, or the FBI, what they can not see and refuse to see is the FACT that HRC was a bloody bad candidate, she thought she was owed the Oval Office by right, in fact the US voter said NO, and they said that NO in the rust belt States, thus the electoral college win of Trump. 

Why Trump WON in Syria and Why Obama LOST - Trump Era

Daily Mail: Reports " Trump's red line: Speed in which President launched airstrikes against Syria lays bare just how different he is from methodical Obama and his lack of action  "

Lets Get Real:

President Nixon once said that when the US does not lead other actors take up the space, the lack of action by President Obama when it comes to Syria shows why the US you not elected a person who is to clever by half.  A really clever person can talk himself out of doing anything, that leads to frozen action and others taking action.  One can only hope that President Trump knows when to ACT and when to keep quiet.   At least the West has a new Leader, the Trump Oval will not lead from behind.   Putin must be wondering if it was good idea to support Trump in the 2016 election. 

Trump and the FBI - Russian Links - Trump Era

Telegraph - Live Reporting: Reports the following, " Sean Spicer, the White House press director, has said that former associates of President Donald Trump's believed to be under investigation for links to Russia are "hangers on" with little real contact with Mr Trump. "

Lets Get Real:

Any LINKS are bad, let us recall that Watergate happened when a few Cubans were arrested breaking in to the DNC, from those links it lead to the Oval Office and the forced resignation of Richard Nixon.   BEFORE Democrats start to jump for joy lets recall that the Watergate investigation took two years, we shall see if the Democrats have the patience to wait, there might be a there there, of course there might not be a real strong link to Trump.   The Trump Court is large, thus this investigation will and could lasts for years, the fact that the White House Press Secretary is calling them hangers on is bad, let's see where the hangers on lead too.

Trump and Russia - Trump Era

Guardian: Reports " Trump-Russia collusion is being investigated by FBI, Comey confirms..FBI director tells House intelligence committee: ‘The FBI is investigating the Russian government’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election’ "

Lets Get Real:

Thus there will be more leaks about the FBI investigation of the links between the Trump Campaign and the Russians.   As noted by the article, the Republicans are stressing the illegal leaks while the Democrats are looking for Reds under the bed.   IF there is real information that the Trump Campaign broke the law the US Congress should set up a Select Committee to see where the information leads.   Thus far the Republicans have said NO, so it depends what the FBI digs up, a 5 second hell is not a conspiracy, the Democrats will press that, let see what the FBI finds.

Trump and the US Intelligence Community - Part 3 - Trump Era

CNN - Politics: Reports " High-level advisers close to then-presidential nominee Donald Trump were in constant communication during the campaign with Russians known to US intelligence, multiple current and former intelligence, law enforcement and administration officials tell CNN. "

Lets Get Real:

There are leaks and then there are major LEAKS like these, the intelligence community ( IC ) is leaking damaging information or allegations against the new Administration.   The President has a point, the release of this materials are very illegal, they are causing friction between the White House and the IC.   Either way Russia wins, the Trump Administration has to come down hard on these leaks, get the US DoJ to investigate and charge people, send a clear message out there, the Obama Administration was hard on leakers, placed a few in jail, well if its okay for Obama its is 100% all right for Trump.  The question is of course is there a there, are there real connections between the Trump Administration and Russia.

The Mexican Wall - Trump Era

Telegraph: Reports " Donald Trump to break campaign pledges 'by asking Congress for cash to build border wall, not Mexico' "

Lets Get Real:

This blog would argue that the US voter will not care who pays for the bloody Wall as long as a Wall is built, then the US can have real immigration reform and the granting of amnesty to those US illegally, all rights, but with the exception of voting, they did come through the back door.   Also the Trump Administration could tax US companies that have moved business to Mexico as a way to pay for the Wall, one has seen of late a lot of companies deciding to stay in THE US rather than pay any tax for goods being bought from Mexico for sale in the US. 

The Trump Administration and ObamaCare - Trump Era

CNN - Politics: Reports " Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Wednesday that repealing the Affordable Care Act was part of keeping promises Republicans -- including President-elect Donald Trump -- made on the campaign trail. "

Lets Get Real:

The New Trump Administration has to get health reform right, it can not throw people who have ObamaCare on to the streets, it would not be fair or good politics, they should take their time to get the right reforms and try to get some Democrats support the move.  On the whole the Republicans can expect the Dems not to be easy to work with when it comes to ObamaCare, its the only thing that Obama has on the domestic side of his terms.    The 2018 mid terms will start to become an issue by mid 2017, the reforms need to be done by the end of 2017.

Bill Clinton on Trump Voters and the FBI - Trump Era

Fox News: Reports " Former President Bill Clinton mocked President-elect Donald Trump’s intelligence, said “angry, white men” helped secure his victory and blamed FBI Director James Comey for Hillary Clinton’s November defeat during a spontaneous Q-and-A at a New York bookstore earlier this month. "

Lets Get Real:

The former President is not helping his wife or the country with the above remarks, we might share his view but the election is OVER, HRC has lost, the question is what next for the former First Couple.   The blog would suggest a short holiday, away from politics and then find something else to run for, Governor of New York, or back to the US Senate as a Senator from New York.   There is nothing like a new political fight to make the past the past, and then the old hound dog will have fun on the campaign, the former President has been off his game of late when it comes to elections, a new fight would make them both happy.

NO Hope - Michelle Obama - Trump Era

BBC News: Reports on remarks by First Lady Michelle Obama, " ..US First Lady Michelle Obama has struck a much less upbeat tone in her last TV interview before the family leaves the White House. "

Lets Get Real:

The above remarks do not help in bringing the US together after a tough election, in fact they can be stated to be self indulgent and a little on the egotistical side, the election of President Obama did not make the US a shinning city on a hill, it was that before Obama and will be after Obama, the above shows what can happen if you read your own press statements and think they are true.   The Obama Administration has been a disaster for US on the domestic front, thus with the case of ObamaCare and on the international front with the birth of Daesh in the Middle East and the deaths in Syria.  The election of Donald Trump is a rejection of the Obama legacy, that can be hard to take, no President wants to feel rejected.

The Russian hacking and the 2016 Election - Trump Era

Daily Mail: Reports " Revealed: How Obama warned Putin face-to-face to stop hacking the election - but is now under fire for botching response from intelligence experts "

Lets Get Real:

The most noise about Russian hacking the 2016 election is coming from hack Democrats who have not gotten over the result, TRUMP WON.   There have been a few Republicans who have stated that they want an investigation, but they were never friendly with Trump in the first place.   The US Congressional Committees need to have a tough and fast investigation in to the supposed Russian hacking, and the US should take some action against Russia while President Obama is in power and place Trump on the spot, does he support new sanctions or not.  The Russian bear must be laughing his backside off, the West under the leadership of Obama has been very weak.