S1P35 - Meanwhile

These are my notes for the Politics/News segment of the S3E13 episode the Two Old Guys Drinking Beer (2OGDB) podcast. In this episode, we talked about impeachment, the northern Syria clusterfuck, the killing of al Bagdahdi, Brexit, and Ukraine. Despite commenting on all those subjects, there were several important items from the past two weeks we couldn't get to. We have become used to the firehose of news that Trump generates but even by those new troubling norms, it has become almost impossible to keep up in recent days. These rough notes are of items from the two weeks. Many have links to the underlying news story and some have brief commentary/thoughts by me. Remember, these are notes for a podcast, not an edited blog post. Variations in fonts, spacing, and format may also occur due to changing apps of text. Still, you'll get the gist. 

Since 10/18/19

• Trump lies - Through 10/09, 13,434 lies in 993 days. 13.5/day average.
• Trump golf - 224 visits in 145 weeks. 105 confirmed rounds of golf
• Trump approval polls - as of 11/01, 54.4% disapprove, 40.0% approve
• Impeachment polls - as of 10/31, 48.1 support, 43.8% oppose 
• Latest WP-ABC poll has 49% impeach and remove, 47% no.
• Democratic polls - Biden up 9% nationally, Warren +8 in Iowa, Bernie +3 in NH, Biden +11 in SC
• Trump changes residence from NY to Florida. Probably for tax reasons. Maybe also because NYC hates him. 
• Where is that great deal with China?
• How is the denuclearization of North Korea going? Another missile launched 10/30. 
• How about Iran?
• How many Syrian Kurds have been killed or displaced?

National

• Trump decides hosting the G7 at Doral was a bad idea. 
• Still insist it was the best venue decided on without bias.
• 10/19 - Nancy Pelosi and others from Congress visit Jordan and Afghanistan.
• 10/20 Mulvaney says in a Fox News interview the president “still considers himself to be in the hospitality business.” Maybe being in the presidential business would be a better choice.
• 10/21 - US has withdrawn about 2,000 troops from Afghanistan in past year. No progress on peace treaty with Taliban
• 10/22 - William Taylor confirms to Congress that there was quid pro quo in Ukraine dealings. 
• 10/23 - Our alleged anti-corruption president is anything but. 
• 10/23 - Trump lifts sanctions on Turkey. Erdogan still occupies northern Syria.
• 10/23 - Trump Organization run NYC ice skating rinks remove Trump’s name. 
• Trump’s lawyers argue in court that he is immune from investigation and prosecution while in office.
• 10/24 - Tim Ryan drops out of the Democratic presidential race.
• 10/24 - Trump’s VA whistleblowers office fails. Just like everything else he touches. The irony, whistleblowers, and corruption.
• New Jersey threatens to revoke the liquor license of Trump’s Colt Neck golf club.  Could also affect his two other NJ clubs. 
• 10/24 - More Ukraine shit. Maybe also withheld trade privileges. 
• 10/24 - DOJ shifts its investigation of the Russia investigation from administrative to criminal. Now, this is a real witch hunt. 
• 10/24 - A federal judge holds Betsy DeVos in contempt in student loan case. 
• Tulsi Gabbard will not seek reelection to the House. Good. 
• 10/25 - DOD awards cloud computing contract to Microsoft over Amazon. Any Trump nudging there?
• 10/25 - The Trumps are considering selling their DC hotel. 
• 10/24 - Company with ties to brother Robert Trump get $33 mil government contract. 
• Giuliani butt dials NBC.
• 10/25 - The deficit grew $205 billion, 26% in last fiscal year.  Now stands at $984 billion. Up almost 50% since Trump took office.
• 10/25 - A federal judge ruled that the House Judiciary Committee can see some grand jury material from the Mueller investigation. 
• US abandons the Kurds but returns troops to protect the oil fields. Whose oil is it? 
• 10/27 - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed by US special forces.
• Of course, Trump made the announcement all about him and filled it with lies.
• 10/28 - GM, Chrysler, Toyota side with the Trump administration on emission battle. 
• 10/29 - A federal judge blocks Alabama’s abortion law. 
• 10/29 - Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testifies before House about the Ukraine call. He disputes the transcript. 
• Some Republicans and Fox News question his allegiances  because he was born in Ukraine. Migrated when he was 3.
• White House lawyers moved Ukraine transcript to a highly secured server.
• An NC state court again blocks GOP drawn House districts. Gerrymandering. 
• 10/30 - US economy grew at 1.9% in the third quarter. 
• 10/30 - The Fed cuts interest rates ¼% to 1.5 - 1.75%. 
• 10/30 - Twitter will ban political ads.
• 10/31 - White House National Security Council advisor Tim Morrison corroborates previous Ukraine testimony.  
• 10/31 - House votes to formalize rules for this impeachment inquiry.
• ISIS names new leader - Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi. Not real name and unknown.
• Trump and GOP talk of new tax cuts amid a trillion dollar a year deficit. 
• Will John Bolton testify?
• US added 128,000 jobs in October. Unemployment rate rose 0.1% to 3.6%.
• 11/01 - Warren’s Medicare For All cost $20.5 trillion more over 10 years, $34 trillion overall.

International

• 10/18 - Parliament again votes against Johnson’s Brexit deal. 
• 10/19 - Johnson asks the EU for an extension. An unsigned letter.
• 10/21 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unable to form a government. Benny Gantz now gets a chance.
• 10/21 - Justin Trudeau remains PM but Liberals lose majority in Parliament.
• 10/22 - Russia joins Turkey in removing Syrian Kurds.
• 10/22 - Boris Johnson suffers another loss in Parliament.
• 10/24 - Johnson threatens a December 12th election. 
• 10/29 - Parliament votes to hold an election on 12/12

Texas

• Texas elections 11/05. In Tarrant and Dallas counties, you can vote at any polling location, not just designated precinct. 
• George Will labels the retirements of Texas GOP House members as Texodus.
• 10/21 - Is Dennis Bonnen done as House Speaker?
• 10/22 - Bonnen won’t seek reelection to the House.
• Parker County is now a 2nd Amendment sanctuary county. Now six counties in Texas.
• Lockheed Martin get $34 billion DOD contract to build 478 F-35s
• Abbott and Paxton intervene in child gender transition case.
• 10/30 - Texas Democrats sue Texas over new voting laws restricting polling places. 
• Expect another dustup on FWISD new sex education plan. 
• New Bedford mayor Michael Boyter, Tom Burnett new council member

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