Al Franken.

And, by association, it also defines the Republican Party that is letting this madman do whatever he wants to do, anytime he wants to do it, and to whomever he wants to do it to.

This is a first for America. Yes, we had a civil war in which more Americans died than in all our other wars combined. But neither Abraham Lincoln, nor Jefferson Davis claimed to be, or aspired to be kings.

But the madman occupying the White House is America's first would-be king, emperor, "great leader," "Big Brother," "living god," or whatever else he wants to call himself. He really does want to rule America, according to his own whims, for as long as he lives.

Of course, there are uneducated, misguided, ignorant Americans who love him because they don't know any better. Not to mention the neo Nazis, the white nationalists, the insanely greedy, and the countless elected Republicans who know exactly what he is and will follow him to the gates of hell.

There's nothing new about any of this except that this is the first time the maniacs have gained all the levers of power in America.

This may change in 2020 if we can survive until then. But even so, these past two plus years have demonstrated that their is nothing special about America. "American exceptionalism" was a myth that has been exploded in the past two and a half years.

If/when we regain the White House, and both houses of congress, changes must be made to ensure that demented people can never again take control of America. Amending the Constitution will be hard because they still control enough states to stop an amendment. Nonetheless, we must find a way to prevent another era of total madness. Passing laws won't be good enough because they can nullify them if they once again come to power.

Let me try putting this another way. Those mentioned above are a dangerous disease that will erase democracy from the face of the earth. We are playing by rules. They aren't.

So here's are the questions. How do we stop them once and for all? How do we ensure the safety of humanity? How do we forever block them from destroying us?

We have a dangerous/deadly/psychopath occupying the presidency.

We have a criminal Republican Party that will go along with any evil. Literally, ANY evil.

And we have a minority of hateful, vicious, incredibly ignorant people, who are now in control of America.

How did this happen? Gerrymandering, voter suppression, "lost" voter registrations, "lost ballots," physical intimidation, directing people to the wrong polling places, police (in some states) blocking roads to voting sites, laws against early voting, demanding to see long lost birth certificates, intentionally creating eight-hour-long voting lines, closing polling sites in "selected" districts ... damn ... do I really need to go on?

We know how countless black/brown/and "other" Americans are kept from voting, or having their votes ignored, "lost," or just plain stolen and shredded. We know how the Republican Party keeps a minority in power. We know that America is fucked until we can put an end to the criminal organization called the GOP and replace them with an honest, worthy opposition party.

And then add Russian interference into our elections, and what do we have?

We have a Republican majority that is, (with the help of our enemies), successfully fucking America, and trying to destroy the very concepts of democracy/individuality/personal choice/and freedom itself.

Those who vote to keep them in power are fools who are destroying their own lives. Those of us who vote against them are playing against difficult odds that we must overcome.

Perhaps, just maybe, if a massive number of us show up to overwhelm them at the polls, and therefore win the presidency, we will have pulled back a bit from the edge. But even with the presidency and the House, we won't win the Senate. Republicans have rigged more states than we can overcome at present. And that will prevent us from moving forward in so many ways. Especially in the courts. the Supreme Court included. (Remember that the Senate is controlled by some of the worst pricks imaginable.)

The road ahead of us is long, difficult, and probably very ugly. But no decent person can or should ignore it, avoid it, or give up and turn away.

I'll end this rant on a positive note. I believe that we, together, will eventually succeed in making the world a better place. Why? How? Call it "faith" or some such. I'm a devout agnostic, but my instincts and observations of the better attributes of human nature, lead me to believe that the laws of the universe are balanced, immutable, and perhaps even what we might call "sane."

(Edited for grammar/spelling)

We're seeing it up close and personal. It's been building for decades. And it has now come to the point where between 30% to 40% of Americans are eating shit and believing it's sirloin.

Germany, in the early 1930s, was an "advanced" country by most metrics. But during a period of a few short years, they plunged into barbarism. They turned from the future to the past. They embraced a self-destructive nationalism. They were manipulated by a small group of clever/malignant people who were seeking absolute power. And hatred of "The Other" was one of their major tools. -- Not every German bought into it. But enough did.

The majority of Americans denounce/reject Trumpism. But you don't require a majority to succeed. All you need is just enough people to buy the snake oil/drink the Kool-Aid/believe the well-packaged hate/spread the poison/become infected with the disease/despise their fellow human beings.

Not only can "it happen here." It's been happening here, in slow motion, for about 50 or more years. In short, John, Martin and Bobby are dead and Nixon's "Southern Strategy" has spread throughout the land to the ignorant everywhere. (Hatred, bigotry and ignorance don't recognize state lines.)

Perhaps the biggest lesson humanity can learn from this era is that bigotry/hatred outweigh self-interest. Those being hurt most by Trumpism are the MAGAs. Yet, they seem to have no problem fucking up their own well being, as long as they can "get the THEMS."

Does this tell us that hatred of "The Other" is stronger than self interest? I can't say for sure, but it certainly seems so. And if that's true, it makes humanity a suicidal species.

Disagree with this? Well, take a look at some old photos of what Germany looked like in 1945 after the civilized world bombed them into total rubble.

No one is going to bomb us back into the stone ages. But when/if another world war occurs, it will last for perhaps a few hours and then, humanity will be over. We will have turned out to be an evolutionary mistake.

Republicans refuse to learn from history. What about the rest of us? Have we learned? Do we finally "get it?" And the biggest question of all: What are we going to do about it?

The Republican propaganda machine.

For the past three or four decades, the Republican propaganda machine has established how the country, and tens of millions of uninformed Americans, view Democrats.

Hilary was demonized from the moment she set foot in the White House in 1992. The GOP machine spent 24 years attacking her and turning her into "A horrible witch/bitch who must be hated." That's why she lost. And, yes, Russia, gerrymandering, and "lost votes" helped, but it wouldn't have worked without that built-in hatred.Those who hate her can't tell you why they hate her. But they just know they hate her.

Obama was demonized by the "birtherism" bullshit. He's the only president to ever have to present his birth certificate, and then it was called a fake. Forcing the president of the United States to show his birth certificate? I'd say that's a pretty powerful propaganda steam roller.

And at this very moment, Robert Mueller is in their cross hairs and they're trying to turn him into a horrible, lying, piece of shit before he appears to testify in front of congress. And who knows? They may succeed.

The majority of Americans really don't pay much attention to politics until it's pretty close to an election. But they hear the background noise, the rumors, the lies, and they just aren't informed enough to know they're being manipulated.

The Democratic Party has had its collective head up it's ass for those past three or four decades. They've let the Republicans control the story line, the images, the views, the way people think. And now we are on the edge of American fascists running everything because the Dems, we, didn't counter them, attack them, stop them.

Until the Democratic Party as a whole recognizes that they're up against a ruthless, lying, dug-in enemy who intends to win at any cost, nothing will change.

The Republican Party has declared war on the Constitution, and therefore, America. So what are we going to do about it? And when are we going to do it?

My biggest fear is that it may be too late.

You know that voters have very short memories. And you are therefore trying to push impeachment of Trump off as long as you can, and as close as possible to next year's election. After all, the more unpopular he is, the better chance the Dem candidate will have of winning.

But here's one major problem with your plan. The damage that Trump does on a daily basis is going to take decades to repair. Therefore, each day he is in power adds that much more damage to our democracy.

You really need to reexamine your determination to delay impeaching him as long as possible. My guess is that you believe that Trump is becoming so despicable to so many voters, that public opinion will make it impossible for the Republican Senate to not throw him out when it's their turn to act.

Put simply, you're stalling to let more people see that he's a con man, an immediate danger, and a cruel, malicious prick.

But here's a bit of reality. If Trump hasn't already reached that point, (and beyond), it just ain't gonna' happen. Forget your pipe dream that a majority of them will desert him.

In the meantime, Congressional Democrats, and who knows how many millions of Dem voters, are screaming for his impeachment. So how are you going to handle that?

The Nixon comparison is meaningless in many ways. But there is one lesson that can be learned.

When the Nixon impeachment began, it was a given that the Republicans in the Senate would never convict him. Yet, the facts and the really ugly crimes that came out during the House hearings, put the Senate in a position in which they had to go to him and ask him to resign.(Rather than fuck themselves in the next election by having to convict and remove him.)

That's not today's world. It's possible that Trump could rape a nun on TV and it wouldn't matter. The crazies, the fearful, and the haters would find a way to justify it and stand by him.

Time has run out, Nancy. This horrible creature must be removed from office by any and all means. But those means are in your hands. Impeachment is the last resort. If not you, who? If not now, when?

All I can add to this is that I am projecting my own opinions onto Nancy Pelosi's actions, and I am coming to my own conclusions. If you have a different explanation of her actions or lack of actions, let's hear it.

Want to pay more for your underwear, your jeans, your shirts, your shoes, and hundreds of everyday things you buy? And even if items are not made in Mexico, American sellers will raise the prices on all equivalent items made elsewhere. After all, why pass up an opportunity to fuck Americans who are stuck buying necessities.

There are many thousands of reasons that Trump, and the Republican Party need to just go away and get out of our lives.

It's so ironic that many people who consistently vote for them are getting fucked beyond belief. Yet, they don't/can't "get it." It's possible that this form of ignorance is an unrecognized disease.

To be a Republican in today’s world, you’ve got to be a really shitty human being.

They’re not just people with a different legislative agenda. They’re not just people who have differences with us on the role of government. They don’t care about a functioning government, or about democracy, or decency, or the well being of others, or about anything other than their own power and wealth.

And the tools they use to con the various factions of rubes into voting for them are a perverted form of religion, love of guns, hatred of abortion, white supremacy and permanent war.

The majority of people have seen through them long ago. But majorities no longer matter due to gerrymandering, multiple voter suppression tactics, and a huge propaganda machine.

Think what a miserable person you’d have to be to live by the words: “I’ve got mine. Fuck everybody else.” This is not to say that all Dems are “saints.” But today’s Republicans are truly malignant people, predators, and our deadly enemies. We forget that at our peril.

But what's more fucked up is the audience at CPAC that stood, and applauded and cheered him.

Someone really needs to explain to me the difference between that crowd, and those who cheered and adored Hitler during his torch lit rallies where the highlight was burning books.

This is frightening. And anyone who doesn't see it and recognize it for a fascist rally is a fool.

This is how it starts. This is how it begins. It doesn't take a majority. It just takes a minority of fanatics.

And the next thing you know, your country is gone. And whenever you go out, some uniformed thug will stop you and say "Papers please."

Am I being an alarmist? Watch the video of that CPAC rally where the orange madman spoke for two hours and was cheered from moment to moment. Then tell me what country you think you're living in.

Republican questioning during today's hearings with Cohen, were disgusting.

What was going on was obvious. Democrats were asking questions to reveal the truth. Republicans were asking questions that avoided any references to Trump. All of their questions were intended to show that Cohen was a swine.

Here's the reality. The Republicans on this committee, along with all the other Republicans, are going to protect their orange Fuher till the bitter end.

This brings to mind the Nuremberg Trials where the top echelons of Germans were put on trial for their crimes.

Many say this isn't the same thing. Really? Kidnapping children at the Mexican border seems like a crime against humanity to me. The fact that people have died in the custody of ICE seems like crimes to me.

Are we talking about millions of deaths? No. But when you let that first death go without comment, millions could follow.

Today, the Republican Party once again showed us who they are.