Super Bowl Canceled by Refs

Senators: Give the President a Fair Trial

Call Witnesses . Require Documents . Deliberate. 

"…give me back the damn money that I’ve been paying you for so many years." — Donald Trump

From time to time, Salvador Rizzo, reporter for The Fact Checker, delivers a detailed analysis of false or misleading claims made by American political figures from both parties.

I think Rizzo's accounting of Donald Trump's December 18, 2019 rally in Michigan is especially noteworthy because,

A) in his two-hour speech, Mr. Trump made 179 assertions of fact, of which 120 ... two out of three ... were found to be false, mostly false, or unsupported by known evidence, and,

B) one of the most troubling moments in the speech came in a statement that is mostly accurate. 

Donald Trump told the crowd in Michigan:

I see a woman, Carolyn Maloney. I was with her. Her first race, I helped her. She was always so nice. Oh, thank you. Thank you. I made lots of contributions over the years. You know in New York, it’s like, purely Democrat, especially Manhattan. So, what happens? I make lots of contributions for years and years and years. ... ‘I raise my hand to impeach.’ Well, give me back the damn money that I’ve been paying you for so many years. Let her pay me back all the money.

Mr. Rizzo found confirmation from Federal Election Commission records that Donald Trump did, from 1993 to 2009, contribute $4,000 to Representative Maloney's campaigns — though his first donation was apparently after she was already in Congress, not during her first race.

Most important, to me, is the fact that Mr. Trump regarded those political donations as payments. He asserts that he was buying something from a Member of Congress ... that his $4,000, disbursed over 16 years, were payments to Representative Maloney.

As it turns out, he appears to believe he was buying a "no" vote on articles of impeachment:

"Well, give me back the damn money that I’ve been paying you for so many years. Let her pay me back all the money.”

What a bizarre and simplemindedly corrupt understanding of citizenship and governance.

Mr. Trump's boyish misjudgment in this matter dates from 1993, when he was just a 47 years-old with a dream and staggering debt.

But he asked for his money back last month, the day he was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives at age 73.

There is, as far as I can imagine, no good reason for a president of the United States of America to think as little of representative democracy as this man does. We will be well shed of him ... the sooner the better.

A question no one is asking: "What did he know and when did he know it?" 2-minutes-19-seconds

Why is no one asking, "What did he know and when did he know it?"

“There’s a reason no one has said, 'What did the President know and when did he know it?’ From  the  evidence you have  presented .... we know one thing, and one thing is clear: As it related to this scheme, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, knew everything.”  —  Rep.   Eric Swalwell, December 9, 2019

3Practices for Crossing the Difference Divide

On November 24, Brian McLaren met up with Jim Henderson and me for an online chat about crossing the difference divide. 

On November 27, our new book, 3Practices for Crossing the Difference Divide landed in paperback and digital tablet editions. 

Jim Henderson and I are awfully excited about this milestone in our rollout of the 3Practices.



3Practices for Crossing the Difference Divide is for people who are sad, angry, and apprehensive about important relationships being sucked into the vortex of the difference divide. It’s a book for people who aren’t ready to accept this as our new normal — where we have no choice but to write off relationships that mean a great deal to us.

The 3Practices are a map across the difference divide.

 — Practice One: I’ll be Unusually Interested in others

 — Practice Two: I’ll stay in the room with difference

 — Practice Three: I’ll stop comparing my best with your worst.

This book shows how you can:

1. Create a safe space for learning the 3Practices.


2.  Teach a simple skill people can take home and apply immediately. 

There’s lots more coming in 2020, including events, 3Practice Referee Training Days, and a webcast series featuring the whole of our conversation with Brian McLaren, alongside our interactions on crossing the difference divide with Peter Block, Aneelah Afzali, Todd Hunter + Karla Stephenson, and Wm. Paul Young.  

For now, head on over to Amazon and pick up your copy of 3Practices for Crossing the Difference Divide!

Brian McLaren Talks with Jim Henderson + Jim Hancock About Crossing the Difference Divide

Brian McLaren met up online with Jim Henderson and me to talk about crossing the difference divide. Here’s a three-and-a-half-minute clip of our conversation, including Brian’s very kind words about our 3Practices project. Here’s a link to our new book, 3Practices for Crossing the Difference Divide.

There’s more on the 3Practices at 3Practices.com.

So we can put you down as a ‘yes’ then...

Among the very best lines of the week, I thought, was Congressman Schiff saying that President Trump repeating "No quid pro quo" over and over again is his "I am not a crook" defense.

Ambassador Sondland put that to bed explicitly in his opening testimony on Wednesday November 20, 2019.

“I know that members of this Committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a ‘quid pro quo?’,” Sondland said. “As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes.” It got better — meaning worse, from there.

Read It Yourself | Am. Taylor’s Statement 10.22.19

Here’s a searchable PDF of US Ambassador Bill Taylor’s opening statement to Congress on October 22, 2019. [1]

It’s extraordinary.

In the present inquiry, this is not testimony drawn out of a witness by a prosector; this is Ambassador Taylor’s voluntary opening statement, before a single question has been asked — what he affirms under oath to the three congressional committees charged with sifting testimony to see if there is evidence of wrongdoing.

Were I seated on a grand jury empaneled to consider this matter, I think I would find this testimony compelling.

As I write, the impeachment inquiry committees are hearing testimony from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman….

[1] I downloaded the PDF image file of Ambassador Taylor’s 15-page statement to Congress from the Washington Post, then translated the document to a searchable PDF using the PDFity app.

I was careful, but I did not do a word-for-word comparison between the image file and the translated PDF, so it’s possible that errors may have been introduced during the translation. If you find anything I missed, I’ll be happy to make corrections.

A Sad Day at the Ballpark

It is a sad day when the president of the United States cannot attend a World Series game without getting booed. It is also a sad day when the president mocks the Constitution, bulldozes all political norms and commits a host of impeachable offenses. This may not be how we would like things to be, but it’s how they are.


— Eugene Robinson Washington Post. 10.28.19

The impeachment inquiry is in no sense a lynching

...and shame on you for saying it is.

“So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights,” Trump tweeted. “All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here — a lynching. But we will WIN!” —  @realDonaldTrump, quoted in the Washington Post, 10.22.19 https://buff.ly/32DA4iV 

“So yeah, this is a lynching in every sense,” Graham said at the Capitol. “This is un-American. I’ve never seen a situation in my lifetime as a lawyer where somebody’s accused of major misconduct who cannot confront the accuser, call witnesses on their behalf and have the discussion in the light of day so the public can judge.” — Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) quoted in the Washington Post, 10.22.19 https://buff.ly/32DA4iV

Sorry Mr. President, Senator Graham, et.al 

This the sort of thing only a white guy can say in 2019 America. So, one white guy to another...

This constitutionally prescribed impeachment inquiry is in no sense a lynching ... and shame on you for saying it is.

And, just to get ahead of you on the road you've apparently chosen: 

The impeachment inquiry is also not rape.

It is not molestation.

It is not assault of any sort.

It is not un-American in any sense.

(And we all know, it was never a witch hunt.)

Senator Graham, you know — though you demean your service in the Senate and as an officer of the court, and insult your constituents and the Constitution, by pretending to not know — that this inquiry is work that must be done in the House of Representatives to determine whether or not there will be a formal trial. You know very well how inquiries and investigations differ from trials. If an ordinary citizen needs to remind you of any of this, then you have a lot of explaining to do. If you are merely being disingenuous, to mislead the American people for partisan ends, then you have a lot of explaining to do.

What would you do if you had to report child abuse?

Do you have a friend who needs to know how to report abuse or neglect?

Sometimes, youth workers just need to know what to do first — what to look for, what to ask about, what to steer clear of in the early hours of a crisis. Right now, this one is free. Crisis HelpSheets | Square One in a Crisis https://buff.ly/2p1201i

On Hearsay, On the White House Driveway

 A Press Gaggle Joined in Progress

...and this ... what? — "reporter?" ... "analyst?" ... "subject matter expert? ... I don't know folks ... This person we never heard of claims that it "rained" ... but she was a thousand miles away at the time of the alleged "precipitation." A thousand miles away … maybe more.

All she has to go on, really, is secondhand sources who — she says — say it rained. So you'll ask her, "Did you get wet when it rained?" and she will have to say, "No, I did not get wet when it rained," which — doesn't that ... honestly — she doesn't know, folks ... she doesn't KNOW! It's all second-hand... She doesn't know.

So, we have to ask, "What is her interest in pushing this rain story?" What does she have to gain — what's in it for her? Her defenders say, "But she has people and measuring devices on the ground where the rainfall occurred." To which we have to ask, "Why?" Why would she have people in a place she doesn't live? Why does she need so-called "measuring devices" more than a thousand miles away? What is she up to? Something, that I can tell you. I don't know….

And she says -- get this -- she says "It rained there overnight" ...  "overnight?" I don't know, I was asleep, but I'm told it was completely dry outside. We have a thing called "Street lights," OK? And I have "people" of my own, and they tell me it not rain overnight. If you looked out your window when she says it was raining, know what you would have seen? Nothing. Street lights illuminating beautiful dry pavement ... dry sidewalks, dry everything.

"Oh, but she's a 'Meteorologist' they say. A "Meteorologist" ... I don't know if she has any firsthand knowledge about meteors, but she sure as hell doesn't know anything about rain, that I can tell you.

So, you tell me. Do you suppose it could be raining and not raining at the same time? I don't think so.

Another — and no one wants to talk about this — there's a story that she's trying to make it rain … maybe even actually making it rain in something called "local showers" ... I've — have you heard of local showers? I don't know, folks. What we have is a nasty woman getting rich while other people get wet — if we can believe her story ... which, by the way is all based on secondhand sources... It's all secondhand. We're going to be looking into that, that I can tell you. We're looking at a lot things, so we'll see what happens. But this whole -- I call it a "fake weather" thing — is just sad. I'll be releasing a detailed report on it in about four weeks ... three, maybe four, weeks.

OK, thanks everyone. You can all shout questions at my back while I walk away.

Lesson for the Ages

Teach your children

It is prudent to anticipate that someone 

who lies about most everything may be 

expected to lie about most anything.