Peter Macdonald Blachly

So…we know from Donnie Jr. and other sources that the Russians have a huge financial stake in the family “business,” with Russian oligarchs (crime lords) paying exorbitant prices for apartments and condos in Slimy Towers, and otherwise underwriting and shoring up the con man’s “empire.” So why would Republican Congressional leaders say that Trump family finances are “out of bounds” in the Russia investigation? Is not the old adage of “Follow the Money” the most important factor in determining whether or not the President is compromised (nice way of saying that he’s a Russian agent)? After all, no one seems to care that he is a heartless, philandering, lying, misogynist bully. (That’s not grounds for impeachment as long as he is willing to sign into law the perverse ideological economic and social agenda of the extreme right.) But having the President of the United States exposed as an agent of the Russian Federation…that might not sit so well even with his most ardent followers (though they would probably not believe it to be true no matter what evidence Mueller digs up). So it makes perfect sense that Republican “leaders” would try to block the one area of the investigation that will most likely show that collusion, complicity, and treason by the Orange Slime are very much at the roots of his Presidency. Can the swamp drain itself? These people shall live in infamy.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/26/politics/russia-republicans-trump-finances/index.html

What are the limits on Presidential Pardons? Following Gerald Ford’s infamous preemptive pardon of Nixon the Supreme court cited an 1867 Supreme Court decision during the Andrew Johnson administration which held that presidents have “unlimited” pardoning power. “It extends to every offense known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken, or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment,” If this interpretation holds, it means that the Liar-in-Chief could have any crime committed by ANYONE (death squads?) and preemptively pardon them. Such powers of tyranny cannot possibly have been intended by the framers of the Constitution, don’t you think?

As if our Democracy is not already in enough peril, supporters of the Liar-in-Chief are pushing him to immediately pardon ANYONE whom Mueller indicts. Can you imagine such brazenly criminal use of the Presidential Pardon? It’s one thing for a President to give a Pardon based on clemency and compassion and in cases of miscarriage of justice–but to use it as a tool to override the work of the Department of Justice and the Criminal Courts? Since the President’s oath of office is to protect and defend the Constitution, abuse of the Presidential Pardon to obstruct justice would most certainly be an impeachable office, don’t you think?

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/19/trump-russia-pardons-mueller-flynn-417094

Politico posted this today. Can you think of anything more “destabilizing” to the US political system than putting a lying, philandering, misogynist, psychopath into the Presidency? I’d say that Putin has achieved a most remarkable victory!
“Intelligence officials and experts have long said that Russia’s primary goal is to destabilize the U.S. political system. But the U.S. intelligence community has also unanimously concluded that, at the same time, the Kremlin favored Trump over Clinton in the 2016 election and clearly worked on Trump’s behalf.”

$3.99 or $0.39 per track for Promised Land? I need my friends to help me with an experiment. With so much free and pirated music on the web these days I thought that $.39 for a download or $3.99 for the whole album might provide some motivation for people to buy and listen to Promised Land. I’m going to try this for a week and see what happens.  You can download here right now .

Please take a minute and send me your thoughts on facebook at htps://www.facebook.com/PeterAlexanderMusic

I performed at a benefit for Veterans’ mental healthcare on Saturday (9/8/12) in Lewiston, and my friend Brian Patricks arranged for the video camera to be running.  I don’t know who was actually behind the camera, but the video and sound quality are exceptionally good.  http://youtu.be/nD5zPbKyWVQ.  This is the kind of gig that musicians will jump at, even though the audience was small.  It was a superlative room with professional sound provided by John Morrison Audio.  I’d do it again any time!  Also on the ticket, in a musical round robin were Brian Patricks, Shanna Underwood, and Kate Schrock.  A great night.