RUTHFULLY YOURS

Former congressman and Hawaii governor Neil Abercrombie, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports, has called for Democrat presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard to resign “the sooner the better” following her vote of “present” on the articles of impeachment against President Trump.

Abercombie is co-chair for the campaign of Kai Kahele, a Democrat running against Gabbard, and the former governor cited Gabbard’s missing votes “on everything” as the reason for his resignation call. On the other hand, fallout from the call has focused on Gabbard’s impeachment stand.

“Throughout my life, whether through serving in the military or in Congress, I’ve always worked to do what is in the best interests of our country,” Gabbard explained last week. “Not what’s best for me politically or what’s best for my political party. After doing my due diligence in reviewing the 658-page impeachment report, I came to the conclusion that I could not in good conscience vote either yes or no.” That aside, Tulsi Gabbard has been a target-rich environment since October, when she made her most controversial statement.

“Trump won the election in 2016,” Gabbard said in the CNN debate that turned out to be more of an impeachment inquest and socialist shout-out. In effect, Tulsi Gabbard was saying, “Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016,” a clear violation of the Democrat speech code. The former First Lady had been repeating the claim that she defeated Donald Trump, telling PBS “Obviously, I can beat him again,” and that she was panting for a “rematch.” With Tulsi Gabbard, as with Trump in 2016, Clinton saw the evil hand of Russia at work.

“I’m not making any predictions,” she told POTUS 44 retread David Plouffe,  “but I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate,” a clear reference to Tulsi Gabbard.  “She’s the favorite of the Russians,” Clinton said, “They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.” Plouffe closed out the interview citing Hillary’s “belief that Tulsi Gabbard is going to be a third-party candidate, propped up by Trump and the Russians.”

The former First Lady and Secretary of State cited no evidence for her claim and the Russian bots and such proved elusive. Even so, Clinton’s charge became the new party line for the Democrat-media axis. “If Tulsi Gabbard runs,” tweeted POTUS 44 UN boss Samantha Power, “it would be a huge windfall for Trump, Assad, Putin, Xi.” For her part, Gabbard noted that the New York Times and CNN were also claiming she was a “Russian asset.” This, she said, was “completely despicable.”

Before the impeachment vote, Democrats had been calling for revival of the Mueller report, which focused on Russian collusion. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proclaimed “all roads lead to Putin” and “this has been going on for 2 1/2 years.” California Democrat Eric Swalwell, told reports the latest report on the Ukraine inquiry “ shows that a leopard doesn’t change his spots.”  Democrats have not changed their spots, and now mount a multi-front surge.

As she refused to send the articles of impeachment to the house, Nancy Pelosi called Sen. Mitch McConnell a “rogue leader,” adding, “frankly, I don’t care what the Republicans say.” In similar style, Pelosi had previously called President Trump an “imposter,” and as Pelosi withholds the articles from the Senate, putting a trial on hold, Democrats are calling for yet more articles of impeachment.

Over in the Senate, Dianne Feinstein has remained rather quiet on impeachment. That marks a contrast to her performance with Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Feinstein, a favorite of Communist China, scripted the smear show starring Christine Blasey Ford. Kavanaugh gained confirmation but in March Elie Mystal writes a piece in The Nation headlined, “The Time Has Come for Democrats to Impeach Brett Kavanaugh.”

The Democrats believe that under Donald Trump the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government are all illegitimate. When their own presidential contender Tulsi Gabbard acknowledges that Trump won the election 2016, and declines to vote for the president’s impeachment,  a fellow Democrat calls for her resignation. The military veteran shows no signs of stepping down, and the campaign against her has reveals the Democrats’ defining dynamic.

As socialists Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders surge to the fore, the so-called “blue dog” Democrats, allegedly dedicated to fiscal conservatism, are an increasingly rare bread. The party is now dominated by those who, in the style of a junkyard dog, bark at anybody and everybody. In that role, the junkyard dog Democrats guarantee escalating conflict down the road.

With the 2020 election less than a year away, U.S. Attorney John Durham continues a criminal investigation into the origins of the Russia hoax, and he wants to know what John Brennan, a former CIA boss and Gus Hall voter, was up to during all that intrigue. As the duly elected President Donald Trump likes to say, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.