|
THE DON JONES INDEX… |
GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED |
|
12/24/19… 16,574,71 12/17/19… 16,578.79 6/27/13…
15,000.00 |
|
|
(THE DOW
JONES INDEX:
12/24/19…28 267.16; 12/17/19…28 267.16; 6/27/13… 15,000.00) |
LESSON for
December 24, 2019 – RING OUT the OLD!
The holidays are – at once – brutally elongated and jammed up tight
against one another. Black Friday, which
began, last year, a few days before
Thanksgiving swelled to a Black All Week, beginning a few days before
Halloween. Events also piled atop one
another like bulging Santa bags of good cheer and grief while Don Jones was divided among himselves; the
only American common was… shopping.
Buying stuff.
On credit.
The President and his supporters said that the economy was booming,
the leading indicators said so too (but with a lot of
asterisks). The Dow reached record
heights, several times, homelessness was also up, but joblessness was
down. (One of those asterisks… does the
Bureau of Labor Statistics count the jobs created, or the people who might be
holding down two or three of these part-time positions?)
2018 wobbled to a close
more divided than 2017, inasmuch as the midterm elections ejected a Republican
majority from the House of Representatives, replacing it with a bunch of 1)
angry young Socialist or 2) cautious Red State moderate Democrats. Washington became an out-of-control
merry-go-round… or perhaps one of those game shows that boinks
contestants out every week.
In our final Index, we noted the cashiering of yet another Trumpster. “Now, it’s the
turn of Gen. “Mad Dog” Mattis – the last of Djonald Unchained’s
military-based adults to step out of the playroom and shut the door behind
him,” we noted, asking “What next?”.
What came next were a lot of things, but no more career military
officers in the Cabinet – a bad thing given a petulant President in need of
parental authority to steer him away from the crazy, but a good thing inasmuch
as any overt power grab would probably not be backed up by the armed force of
armed forces.
Then again, we now have… (whoosh!) SPACE FORCE! (whoosh!)
Now, again… with Christmas and New Years’ Day both falling in the
middle of the week… let’s tiptoe back in time (the way that the kiddiecam’s most creepy and notorious hacker invites
toddlers to join him among the tulips as he places his tulips on their…
CENSORED!) To wallow in the debris of a
damn good year for the one percent, a fair-to-middling ride for the rest of the
Joneses (with, of course, the usual exception of mass shooting and tornado
victims and lottery winners).
See the highs and
lows of 2018 as Attachment Two. Now, let’s go over what the first half of
2019 brought us… and how those developments developed into what we have today…
the momentous and the absurd, the troublesome and the tasty, the quick and the
dead, the Dow and the Don.
JANUARY – Jan. 1 – 23,327.46;
15,749.43 (Revised: 16,347.38); Jan. 8 – 23,531.35; 15,712.43, Jan. 15 – 24,065.59; 15,730.21 (Revised:
16,330.96); Jan. 22 – 24,404.48, 15,695.00 (Revised: 16,294.36); Jan. 29 – 24,570.96,
15,700.71 (Revised: 16,299.77).
January 1, 2019 – LEST AULD ACQUAINTANCE be
FORGOT! – 2018 in review. (See Attachment Two) National Security
for Times Square balldrop bans umbrellas in pouring
rain.
January 8, 2019 – SHUTDOWN SMACKDOWN! – “Tonight, Donald J. Trump, 45th
President of the United States, took to the airwaves (resulting in the
cancellation or pushback of episodes of Ellen’s Game of Games and the FBI) to make
a direct appeal to Don Jones to pressure his Senators and Representative into
allocating 5.7 billion in Federal funds to build a wall across the border with
Mexico, and to justify his shutting down of some (not all) of the government
until he gets his way.” Also: Dow up sharply. Talking toilet invented.
January 15, 2019 – MARTIAL PLAN? – “DJI Contributor Emeritus, CNC Board Member,
former Congressman and Independent Presidential Candidate Jack “Catfish”
Parnell has revised his stance and now supports building Donald Trump’s wall
across the Mexican border after conversations with youth groups in Los Angeles
last night.
Build the wall!” the candidate told local media. “Build it fast and build it now!”
When asked “Why?” Parnell gave a one-word answer…
“Banksy.” (the
graffiti art on Trump’s wall could be worth millions) Also: POTUS welcomed the
victorious Clemson football team to an honest-to-goodness White House Banquet
of Big Macs, fried chicken and pizza and fries piled on a table! Will a National Emergency or declaration of
Martial Law automatically end the shutdown (and what could be
the collateral damage)? Illinois
denies permit for R. Kelly concert.
January 22, 2019 – BILBARR the BARBARIAN! - Bad
things
come in threes for President Trump… the government shutdown stumbles forward,
the Mueller investigation’s big wheels grind on and an angry Congress,
hungering for blood, is presently considering the qualifications of one-time
Bush I boy wonder William Barr for Attorney General. Rockers KISS and Bon Jovi offer free food to
striking government workers.
January 29, 2019 – STAY of CHIEF EXECUTIVUTION! – “On Sunday President
Donald Trump waved the white flag as Nancy… uh… penetrated him with the
extended right arm of the Statue of Liberty while Chuck stood on the sidelines,
giggling. The Shutdown Crusade has come
to an end not dissimilar to the conclusion of Custer’s adventures at the Little
Big Horn.” Roger Stone exposes the
tattoo on his back before heading off to court.
FEBRUARY – Feb. 6 – 25,411.52;
16,236.16; Feb. 12 – 25,053.11; 16,242.03; Feb. 19 – 25.891.32; 16,264.71; Feb. 26 – 26.057.98;
16,264.40
February 6, 2019 –IN the YEAR of the PIG! – “Donald J. Trump, 45th
President of the United States, finally gave his much-postponed State of the
Union address before a newly-elected, hostile Congress with grimacing Nancy
Pelosi elevated above his shoulder like Snoop Doggy Speaker pretending to be a
buzzard…” on the occasion of the Chinese New Year…” Post-holiday unemployment was sharply up, the
weather outside was frightful and the Patriots beat the Rams 13-3 in a
dull-as-dust Superbowl.
February 12,
2019 - HYPER-LINK’N! – “A lot of people… not
all of them from below the Mason-Dixon line… back in the day did not like Lincoln…” case in point,
blackface horrorshow in Virginia. Elizabeth Warren fingered for fraud in using
Native American affirmative action to enter the Texas Bar. Oscars still no-host.
February 19,
2019 - GUNS n’ ROSES! – “February 14th will also take on the additional burden of being that
date remembered as representing the massacre of 14 students and three coaches
(one also a teacher, two were school security) at Marjorie Stoneman
Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida.”
The stock market was hot as a pistol, gasoline prices plummeted and our
lifelong (?) allies, the Kurds, storm the last ISIS redoubt. Jussie Smolett’s
lynching case starts to unravel.
February 26, 2019 - TAX the ROBOCALLS! – “Let us
presume, as does Rep. Parnell, that a penny tax on the trillion calls Don Jones
makes in an average year will cost him/enhance the government ten billion
dollars. Taxing mobile calls at five
cents will raise $50 billion, putting the squeeze on consumers to the extent of
a dollar a call (400% of the average yearly payout to the phone companies) will
wipe out the yearly deficit in and of itself.
“Now that would be
oppressive, so let’s scale back the tax to two cents which, in the average
year, would raise 20 billion.” Trump
changed his mind, will leave US troops in Syria. Girl Scout cookie season begins. Couple kicked off Royal Caribbean and
stranded penniless in Mexico after medical emergency.
MARCH – March 5 – 25,806.63; 16,259.89; March 12 – 25,650.88;
16,374.26 March 19 – 25,887.38;
16,372.41; March 26 – 25,657.73;
16,383.68
March 5, 2019
– WAITIN’ on UNCLE JOE!– “ We all think we know Joe Biden, but do we?
We know the face, and the presence – the Vice
Presidency might be a slough of despond, but Uncle Joe mastered it for eight
years and with nary a slip save a few quips that were more or less accepted as
part of the package, as mostly consisted of a black President with whom most of
us could feel sort of comfortable and in a self-righteously tolerant way.” The Trump/Kim peace talks
in Vietnam fail, tornadoes kill 23 in Alabama. Iditarod dog race begins in Alaska, “support”
pit bull mauls child.
March 12, 2019 – AMERICA’S BROWNOUT! – “(B)illionaire and former New
York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 77, who had been considering getting into the race
for the Democratic nomination this cycle, dropped out of the race, as he did in
2008 and 2016. (See Attachment One) "While there would be no higher honor
than serving as president, my highest obligation as a citizen is to help the
country the best way I can, right now," Bloomberg wrote in an op-ed on the
news site he owns, Bloomberg News. "That's what I'll do, including the
launch of a new effort called Beyond Carbon." Hillary also declined, but Democrats shot
themselves in the foot when Ohio Senator and promulgator of the “Dignity in
Work” campaign, Sherrod Brown, surprised the experts and the uninitiated alike
by taking his name out of consideration for 2020.
Americans
started paying down their debts, but most of what they did buy was foreign, crashing
our balance of trade. Lawyers disputed
the meaning of “free range” eggs.
March 19,
2019 – SPACE FARCE! – “NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch and
Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin rode into orbit
aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket… on March 29, Koch and Anne McClain are
scheduled to conduct NASA’s first all-female spacewalk. Private sector competitor Elon Musk guested
on a podcast hosted by comedian Joe Rogan, where he sipped whiskey, brandished
a Samurai sword, and then took a long toke on a joint, provoking a massive and
massively expensive USAF investigation.
He may yet be banned from
defense contracting and Tesla goes under, but unemployment was down on 3/19,
though inflation was up – especially for gas.
Active shooters murdered 49 Muslims in New Zealand and a Turk retaliated
by shooting 12 in the Netherlands.
Donald Trump starts a one-sided Twitter war with John McCain who can’t reply, by reason of being dead.
March 26, 2019 - THE SPY who ****** ME OFF! – “After an interminable two plus
years, Special Counsel Robert Mueller finally completed his investigation of
President Trump’s purported collusion with the Russians – an investigation that
wandered into the misdeeds of various Trumpian
satellites and resulted in guilty pleas, convictions and prison terms for the
unfortunate flunkies…” but not the President himself, who celebrated by playing
a round of golf with Kid Rock. Patriots’ owner Robert
Kraft got a “massage”, his star tight end Gronk retired and Stormy lawyer Avenetti
was arrested for fraud.
Real estate sales skyrocketed – but not the house in
Texas, where 45 rattlesnakes were found.
APRIL – April 2 – 26,258.42;
16.411.25 April 9 – 26,341.02;
16.422.62 April 16 – 26,384.77;
16.394.56 April 23 – 25,657.73; 16.393.94
April 30 –
26,592.21;
16.394.17
APRIL 2, 2019 – MUELLER EXORCISED, TRUMP
EXONERATED… or?... BilBarr, the
Barbarian stated that the President had been “exonerated” of all charges – a finding
royally received by Trump and his base. Media
comments and transcripts included.
American trade deficit falls.
Guilty verdicts or pleas on Jayme Kloss killer, Charlottesville Nazi
auto-killer, Yale soccer coach (bribes) and the Washington state bridge-pusher
(2 days!)… experts dispute whether country song “Old
Town Road” is really country (because the singer is black?) and rock and roll
hall of fame castigated for electing two women and five male bands. RIP to rapper Nipsy Hussle, Mick (Jagger) is
sick with unknown illness and Batman turns 80.
April 9, 2019
– DON
JONES does DRUGS! – “Two months ago, governing.com (see
Attachment Two) surveyed legislatures in 41 states, all of which are fed up
with the costly costs of Big Pharma and are looking for ways to wrest some of
the decision-making authority from Washington.
“Democrats are blaming the price increases
that vastly exceed the inflation level or the average wage increases accruing
to Don Jones on corporate greed.
Republicans contend that the problem is Obamacare, and promise to repeal
the measure through the courts (ultimately through the Kavanaugh
Supremes) and replace it with… well, nothing.”
“As they say… a conservative is a liberal
who’s just been mugged, so too… there’s nothing like a Republican who’s just
been diagnosed with a “pre-existing condition”.
Strangely enough, both revenues and
expenditures were down. Mormons agreed
to baptize babies with gay parents.
South African rhino poacher killed by elephants, then
eaten by lions.
April 16,
2019 – AMERICA’S OILPIATE ADDICTION! – “(T)here is one
crushing addiction that every Don in America (with the possible exception of a
few homeless people under the bridges) possess… and that is addiction to
oil. Even the lucky bums are
tangentially guilty… without oil there would be no cars: hence, no roads and
therefore no bridges save a few leaky contraptions of ropes and wooden
slats.” April oil prices up 6.5%.
Notre Dame cathedral
burns. Tiger Woods in historic Masters
win. Eye candy junkies binge on Star
Wars 9 trailer and new Game of Thrones season.
April 23, 2019 - CRAZY RICH SOCIALISTS!– ”The Trump campaign (be it
eventually dubbed MAGA, KAGA, KAWA or whatsoever) has raised more than $30
million in the first quarter of 2019, edging out his top two Democratic rivals
combined, according to figures it provided to The Associated Press. Global News Canada reports that the
Republican National Committee, brought in an
additional $45.8 million in the first quarter.”
Bernie is richest Democrat, followed by John Delaney. Joe Biden is undeclared and unlisted. UK tabloids demand access to forthcoming
Royal Baby, warn of “Mockery!” if rejected.
Happy birthday QE2 – she’s 93
April 30,
2019 - IMPEACHMENTS and CREAM! – “Uncle Joe” Biden jumps into the 2020 fray, immediately holds
a fundraiser that raised as much money in a few hours as the vaunted Pete Buttigieg has in his whole campaign… by the time the
weekend ended, he’d socked away some thirty mil; almost as much as The Bern
(but less than half of what Avengers Endgame raked in on Thursday midnight
showings alone). CBS analyst Ed
O’Keefe’s question: do Americans want a “grumpy old man” campaign?… has been answered with a resigned “alright”. Avengers Endgame movie and Taylor Swift songs
drop and rake up record cash. Election
victor Netanyahu names Golan settlement after Trump, who snubs another
celebration of the lying correspondents
MAY – May 7 – 26,438.48; 16.465.65 May 14 – 25.374.99; 16.458.04 May 21 – 25.877.53; 16.475.81 May 28 – 25.877.53; 16.462.67
MAY 7, 2019 – THE PRESS GANG – “Friday, as Don Jones observed, or didn’t, was World Press
Freedom (or simply World Press… whatever) Day over there in Ethiopia…” (t)he
current sponsor, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) being a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris, their
cash crop, the Press Freedom Index as compiled by the RWB: (Reporters without
Borders).
“As usual, the freest media were to be found far, far from Africa, in a small,
elite tier of cold, European ministates…” Norway was
#1, followed by Sweden and the Netherlands.
The United States ranked 45th and falling, due to lying
social media and anti-social words and deeds by Donald Trump. The Misery Index takes a tumble as wages are
up and unemployment down. Maximum
Security wins Derby, then disqualified. RIP Chewbacca.
May 14 – RIDE the SNAKE! – While most good Joneses declare that they hate Socialism, three quarters
of them will also tell you that they want “…more equality, single-payer
healthcare, employer-paid childcare and parental leave, an increase in the
minimum wage, an increase in their wages
and all this with lower taxes and a still-lower inflationary toll.”
An impeachment “sometime after Labor Day, but before
Halloween” and subsequent acquittal and re-election is predicted, owing to the
voters continuing to make decisions with their “reptile brains” (seeking food,
fearing everything else). Gov. Cuoma blamed New York’s loss of the Amazon warehouse on
fears of gentrification. Investors
blamed higher oil prices caused by Iran’s attack on Saudi tankers for a
thousand-plus drop in the Dow… retaliating “patriots (probably not big
investors) burned a mosque in New Haven, Ct.
RIP to Doris Day = welcome to the world Baby Archie and welcome back to
freedom Anthony Weiner.
May 21, 2019 – EIGHTEEN MOTHS to GO!
– “The field of Democratic candidates for 2020 is mostly set…
at least the credible and barely credible ones (like Bill DeBlasio)…
the first quarter 2019 financial reports are in and the days to the first
debates are already dwindling down to a precious few. Uncle Joe Biden enters, sweeps the polls but
financial prospects are disappointing.
In all, twenty Donkeys are assessed and their celebrity endorsements listed
(indicted, later jailed Varsity Blue mom Felicity Huffman endorsed… and jinxed?... Kamala Harris).
Oil prices still rising, stupid criminals are still stupid and we bid
adieu to Game of Thrones and Big Bang Theory.
Hawaiian hiker survives 16 days
trapped at bottom of a ravine by eating berries and moths.
May 28, 2019 – COMMENCETRUATION CAMP
REDS and BLUES (Part One)! – “Within weeks… even days, perhaps… around two million freshly
minted college and university graduates (bachelor’s degree, more or less –
another million or so Associates and a smaller number of Masters and Doctors)
will put away their caps and gowns, box up their books and pencils (to use an
anachronism) and stumble out the door and into a bright new world that may have
a use for them… or not.”
Politicians, entertainers. Scientists… even a few
businesspersons… trekked to America’s politically correct universities to tell
the young folk what to do. Billionaire
Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg said that today (5/17) was a beautiful
day. "Find your passion," said actor Ken Jeong. "And if
you found your passion, as you graduate, let that evolve." “Deep fake” photographs proliferate.
JUNE - June 4 – 25,332.28; 16.460.22 June 11 – 26,048.51;
16.474.09 June 18 – 26,465.54; 16.477.86 June 25 – 26,548.22;
16.495.06
JUNE 4, 2019 – LET US PREY! – Franklin
Graham (Billy’s Boy) has risen up to slough off the burden of his namby-pamby
father and has initiated a National Day of Prayer for Donald Trump and against
His enemies.
“Like no President before him, Trump was under attack,
Graham said. From Democrats, from traitorous Republicans (like John McCain, whose
memorial ship some… other person… attempted to hide from the Japanese Emperor
with a cloaking device), the media, even powers and principalities beyond the
human realm.” He praised Project Blitz
(an alt-right playbook), God and guns; some peanut gallery Christians called
for jailing Obama for treason, but a a peanut on the
African-American Hinterland Gazette responded: “I'd pray for the possum who
knocked over my trash cans last night before praying for that piece of human
garbage.” And a
Roman revenant offered up an appeal to Jupiter.
God’s love did not extend to the falling Dow, nor to the
Virginia Beach sniper who racked up twelve random kills.
June 11 – COMMENSTRUATION CAMP
REDS and BLUES (Part Two)! – More bloviating
baccalaureates in their annual commence bacchanalia…
“‘Language is a
place of struggle. The oppressed struggle in language to recover ourselves, to
reconcile, to reunite, to renew,’” averred transgender actress/activist Laverne
Cox.
"(I)t was a relaxed thing here," singer Cindy Lauper who
attended, but did not graduate from Northern Vermont University.
“Throughout most of our American history it’s been pretty easy to call
yourself a Christian, but things are different now,” Vice President Pence said
at Taylor University. “Lately, it’s become acceptable, even fashionable, to
malign traditional Christian beliefs.” And then he... or, rather, his image on video... sojourned
down to Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University.
At Dickinson University, Pierce Brosnan... actor
and whale lover... said “James Bond could not take on
climate change alone.” Speechwriter
Peggy Noonan spoke at Notre Dame where she fondly remembered her old boss
Ronald “The Gipper” Reagan and excoriated “an entertainment culture from which the poor and
neglected are unprotected and which is devoted to violence and nihilism.” (Here’s lookin’ at you, Bondie!) Author Jerry Spinelli
praised “Winning!” But the real advocate
was President Trump at the Air Force Academy, who promised: "You’re going win so much you’re going
to get so tired of winning — but not realy."
Hillary Clinton, speaking
to Hunter College graduates at Madison Square Garden, touted the Mueller
investigation and reminded the audience
that on February 20, 1939, Nazis held a hate-filled rally at the arena.
Oprah, at Colorado College, told graduates graduates: “You will stand up!” (But nobody got a
car.) Harvard recruited the former Ostie and current primer minister
of a reunited Germany, Angela Merkel, who launched into a jeremiad against
“walls”, saying that: "Where there was once only a dark wall, a door opened."
To which, replied comedian and talk show host Bill Maher, “(L)et’s not kid ourselves, you’re not that special, and the
future belongs to China and our robot overseers.”
Out in the real
world, the Dow recovered,
and the Hong Kong government’s announcement that islanders faced
deportation to Beijing if they did not behave launched the first protests. America’s response was to conclude another
trade deal with the Chinese – then, after banning English classes for migrant
children, President Trump went to Europe for D-Day while Nancy Pelosi said “no to impeachment, yes to imprisonment,” while a sexy shooter who killed a giraffe said: “He was
delicious!”
June 18, 2019 – HIGH
SCHOOL POPULARITY POLL! – “(The) first week in July will be momentous – not
only in that debate winners will be preening, the losers (at least those for
whom the money has dried up) slinking back to their day jobs and the excluded
snarling and whining and gnashing their teeth, probably hanging on because they
can contend that the process is rigged.
“Which, of course, it is.
“What are the leadership leaders in the Democratic
National Committee obsessed with?
“Money!”
Tonight, Djonald Unchained officially kicks off his 2020 campaign…
at Disneyland! But
he has a problem. The polling data,
revealed for the first time by ABC News, showed a double-digit lead for Biden
in Pennsylvania 55-39 and Wisconsin 51-41 and had Biden leading by seven points
in Florida. In Texas, a Republican stronghold, the numbers showed the president
only leading by two points.
Quinnipiac University has for the first time conducted national
head-to-head polls matching up Trump and some of the leading Democratic
presidential hopefuls. None of the matchups is good for Trump. According to the WashPost,
Trump trails six wild donkeys by between five and 13 points, with Joe Biden
holding the biggest advantage and the lesser-known candidates — Sen. Cory
Booker (N.J.) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg — holding the
smallest leads.
Some gleanings from the future, on and off target, from
the peanut galleries at Politicaljack… “Check out this scumbag Hunter Biden:
Leaves his crack pipe in a rental car along with an Attorney General badge and
two DC drivers licenses, (g)ot kicked out of the
military for testing positive for cocaine. His ex says he blew all their money
on drugs and hookers. Left his wife for his dead brother's wife. Dude is CREEPY. I guess it runs in the
family… and the Conservative
Political Journal, which predicted: “Beto O’Rourke is slowly emerging as the
democrat’s golden boy for the 2020 primary. But, his freakish past may turn off
some people.”
War clouds loom as Iran accused of mining Gulf tankers and accelerating
nuclear bomb capacities. Feds bust 1700
pedophiles. OJ celebrates 25th anniversary of Bronco
ride by saying he’s got “a little getting’ even to
do.”
May 28, 2019 – RENT TOO HIGH! – “(Jimmy)
McMillan, an African American with formidable facial hair, black gloves and a
booming voice has asserted this in (New York) races for Mayor, Governor and…
with Vice Presidential candidate Vermin Supreme… for President. He has not yet thrown his hat into the ring
for 2020 yet, but… who knows?
“(T)he non-entities cluttering up the Democratic field as
will be on display tomorrow and Thursday have aired plenty of jibber jabber
about hard times and inequality, the disappearance of good jobs at living wages
for all but the inheritor class and some technological elites,” but, on housing
costs… deep, deep silence.
Half a millennium ago, untenanted land in rural Britain was known as “the commons” – perhaps for the common sort of
people thereon. This practice was
defended in 1649 by the “Diggers” and by 20 year old Kentish peasant and
founder of the “Common Treasury”, Jack Cade,
who mobilized a peasant mob and won several victories over Henry VI’s troops
before being finally vilified by Billy Shakespeare, apprehended and
beheaded. The Enclosure Act of 1801
finally enacted landlord hegemony in the old and new
worlds, forcing small landholders into the city factories to serve as badly paid
wage slaves or emigrate to America where cheap (Native American) land could be
found.
Time passed, the propertied class tightened the screws
until, starting in the 1960s, rents began rising faster than incomes. “Some of the many charts and graphs in Rentonomics
detail the rent/income index. From
parity in 1960 (100%) incomes were growing to 110% in 1980
to a peak of 130% in 2000 before falling back after the Bush recession to 120%
in 2010. Rents laped
past incomes to over
120% in 1980, 145% by 2000 and, contrary to incomes, jumped to 165% in
2010.” In the five cities where the best
jobs are to be found, the discrepancy is now even
higher.
Tomorrow and Wednesday, the twenty Democrats onstage
(five excluded for insufficiency of money) will have to… as
the saying goes… find a backbone.
Or grow one.
Or not.
Apropo: housing sales and valuations were way, way
up… which is reckoned as a good thing in the DJI, but
is not without hazard. Conservative
policies prevail: the good - Trump backs away from starting a war with Iran,
the Fed leaves interest rates alone, Memphis
nixes Graceland expansion, and the bad – Mister T. also promises to save old, smoky coal plants despite two
refinery explosions in two weeks. Wayne Newton shoots at a burglar – and misses.
THE
DON JONES INDEX
CHART of
CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000
(REFLECTING… approximately…
DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)
See a further
explanation of categories here…
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ECONOMIC
INDICES (60%) |
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DON JONES’
PERSONAL ECONOMIC INDEX (45% of TOTAL INDEX POINTS) |
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CATEGORY |
VALUE |
BASE |
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RESULTS |
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SCORE |
SCORE |
OUR SOURCE(S) and COMMENTS |
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INCOME |
(24%) |
6/27/13 |
LAST |
CHANGE |
NEXT |
12/17/19 |
12/24/19 |
SOURCE |
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Wages (hourly, per capita) |
9% |
1350 pts. |
12/17/19 |
+0.55% |
Jan. 2020 |
1,554.15 |
1,554.15 |
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Median Income (yearly) |
4% |
600 |
12/17/19 |
+0.05% |
1/1/20 |
714.69 |
714.69 |
debtclock.org/ 33,617 |
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Unempl. (BLS –
in millions |
4% |
600 |
12/17/19 |
-2.86% |
Jan. 2020 |
1,337.66 |
1,337.66 |
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Official (DC
– in millions) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
-0.05% |
1/1/20 |
583.21 |
583.21 |
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 5,782 |
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Unofficl. (DC
– in millions) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
-0.16% |
1/1/20 |
630.22 |
630.22 |
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 10,539 |
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||||
|
Workforce Participation Number (in millions) Percentage (DC) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.02% +0.01% |
1/1/20 |
285.56 |
285.56 |
In 158,700 Out 95,600 Total: 254,300 http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 62.41% |
|
||||
|
WP Percentage (ycharts)* |
1% |
150 |
12/10/19 |
+0.16% |
Jan. 2020 |
152.26 |
152.26 |
http://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate 62.39 |
|
||||
|
OUTGO |
(15%) |
|
|
||||||||||
|
Total
Inflation |
7% |
1050 |
12/17/19 |
+0.3% |
Jan. 2020 |
945.38 |
945.38 |
|
|||||
|
Food |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.1% |
Jan. 2020 |
272.31 |
272.31 |
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm 0.1 |
|
||||
|
Gasoline |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+1.1% |
Jan. 2020 |
255.76 |
255.76 |
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +1.1 |
|
||||
|
Medical
Costs |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.4% |
Jan. 2020 |
249.67 |
249.67 |
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.4 |
|
||||
|
Shelter |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.3% |
Jan. 2020 |
270.37 |
270.37 |
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm +0.3 |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
WEALTH |
(6%) |
|
|||||||||||
|
Dow
Jones Index |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.70% |
1/1/20 |
482.89 |
482.89 |
https://quotes.wsj.com/index/DJIA – 28,455.09 |
|
||||
|
Sales (homes) Valuation (homes) |
1% 1% |
150 150 |
11/26/19 11/26/19 |
-2.06% +0.15% |
Jan. 2020 Jan. 2020 |
199.89 240.73 |
195.69 241.09 |
http://www.realtor.org/research-and-statistics Sales (M): 5.35 Valuations
(K): 271.3 |
|
||||
|
Debt
(Personal) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.14% |
Jan. 2020 |
240.68 |
239.28 |
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 61,190 |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
AMERICAN ECONOMIC INDEX
(15% of TOTAL INDEX POINTS) |
|
|||||||||||
|
NATIONAL |
(10%) |
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Revenues (in trillions) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.03% |
1/1/20 |
404.13 |
404.25 |
debtclock.org/ 3,504 |
|
||||
|
Expenditures
(in tr.) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.07% |
1/1/20 |
228.95 |
228.80 |
debtclock.org/ 4,547 |
|
||||
|
National
Debt (tr.) |
3% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
+0.07% |
1/1/20 |
316.50 |
316.28 |
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 23,142 |
|
||||
|
Aggregate
Debt (tr.) |
3% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
- 0.04% |
1/1/20 |
340.67 |
340.52 |
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 74,356 |
|
||||
|
GLOBAL |
(5%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Foreign Debt
(tr.) |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.13% |
1/1/20 |
286.47 |
286.10 |
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 6,902 |
|
||||
|
Exports (in billions – bl.) |
1% |
150 |
12/3/19 |
+0.24% |
Jan. 2020 |
161.09 |
161.09 |
|
|||||
|
Imports
(bl.) |
1% |
150 |
12/3/19 |
-1.70% |
Jan. 2020 |
129.62 |
129.62 |
https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/ 254.3 |
|
||||
|
Trade
Deficit (bl.) |
1% |
150 |
12/3/19 |
-4.77% |
Jan. 2020 |
105.90 |
105.90 |
https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/ 47.2 |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
SOCIAL INDICES (40%) |
|
||||||||||||
|
ACTS of MAN |
(12%) |
|
|
||||||||||
|
World Peace |
3% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
=0.1% |
1/1/20 |
391.54 |
391.15 |
World reaction to impeachment muted; Trump’s BFF
Putin calls it “invented”. Another
Chinese spy busted breaking in to Mar-a-Lago.
Riots persist in the usual places… India, Italy, France, Hong Kong and
the entire MidEast.
US and UK in legal rassle
over deadly driver claiming diplomatic immunity. |
|
||||
|
Terrorism |
2% |
300 |
12/17/19 |
+0.1% |
1/1/20 |
211.16 |
210.53 |
Russian FSB
(ex-KGB) headquarters assailed by actie
shooter. Over here, another hits
Winston-Salem NC government offices. Drones
strike oil and gas facilities in Homs, Syria, Brother of 39ers backup QB C. J. Beathard killed in Nashville barroom brawl. |
|
||||
|
Politics |
3% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
+0.1% |
1/1/20 |
436.49 |
436.93 |
Claws are out at Debate-So-White as Booker, Castro
protest exclusion. Warren scolds Mayor
Pete for fundraising in a “wine cave full of crystals”; he retaliates against
“purity tests you yourself cannot pass.”
Trump plays nice – gives Federal workers Xmas
eve off and soldiers a pay raise.
States play naughty, purging voter lists and… here come the
lawyers. Pelosi plays mixed – inviting
POTUS to give his State of the Union Address February 4th, but
hiding Impeachment articles until Mitch MacCheese
authorizes witnesses at Senate trial. |
|
||||
|
Economics |
3% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
=0.1% |
1/1/20 |
433.94 |
433.51 |
Dow
hits another record height, but homelessness is up three percent. Ford to add 3,000 jobs. Fed Express hurting after Amazon bans
online sellers from using them… its called Monopoly. USDA hails Wakanda
as a trade partner. |
|
||||
|
Crime |
1% |
150 |
12/17/19 |
+0.3% |
1/1/20 |
225.04 |
224.36 |
Barber
shot for giving kid a bad haircut.
Cheating hubby poisons wife with eye drops. Texas woman accused of killing her BFF to
steal her baby. Gunfire proliferates:
3 shot at Montana casino, more at Oklahoma mall, Rhode Island old folks’ home
and 13 at Chicago funeral for prior shooting victim. Bad dog kills Utah woman, bad girl steals
and crashes Fresno plane, wedding crashers beat groom to death with baseball
bats. |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
ACTS of GOD |
(6%) |
(with, in some cases, a little… or
lots of… help from men, and a few women) |
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
Environment/Weather |
3% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
-0.2% |
1/1/20 |
285.79 |
285.22 |
Cold
wet weather predicted to moderate, no White Christmas except in US northern
tier states. Chicago temperature up to
50 degrees. But
the warmup will cause West Coast landslides.
Australia baking in record heat. |
|
||||
|
Natural/Unnatural Disaster |
3% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
+0.2% |
1/1/20 |
331.47 |
330.81 |
Travel
troubles, coast 2 coast . Plane crashes into icy pond – pilot rescued
via canoe. Buses catch fire at
LAX. Train derails at Harper’s Ferry,
W.Va. Carnival Legend rams Carnival
Glory in Cozumel. (And
they all spread measles!) NYC replacing building inspectors with drones. Architect killed by falling NYC hi-rise
debris. Grinches
warn… online toys KILL! Apartment fire
kills 6 in Vegas, whole Philly block destroyed by explosion. |
|
||||
|
LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE
INDEX (15%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
Science, Tech, Education |
4% |
600 |
12/17/19 |
-0.3% |
1/1/20 |
656.92 |
654.95 |
Boeing seeks Max distraction by launching Starliner
space shuttle with a passenger dummy… it fails, too. Cyber attack (not the weather) grounds Alaska
planes. 237M Facebook users hacked –
personal data ends up on the Dark Web. |
|
||||
|
Equality (econ./social) |
4% |
600 |
12/17/19 |
-0.1% |
1/1/20 |
684.35 |
683.67 |
Community denounces Utah kid for having gay parents. Dirty docs in Mass. refuse flu shots. Little green army men joined by army women.
Stephen Miller using ICE to hunt and deport immigrant children. Iowa woman hunts and runs down “Mexicans”. |
|
||||
|
Health |
4% |
600 |
12/17/19 |
+0.2% |
1/1/20 |
508.80 |
509.82 |
Nice Trump lights National Menorah, promotes
artificial kidneys and plans to legalize Canadian drugs, Experts say half the Americans will
be obese by 2030. Sick puppies infect
people in 13 states and hard boiled eggs blamed for
listeria outbreak. Viewers wish Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek well. |
|
||||
|
Freedom and Justice |
3% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
+0.1% |
1/1/20 |
544.79 |
545.33 |
“Squirmy” squirms out of Blanchard murder rap, leaving his friend to
face death penalty. So will five Saudis
fingered in fishy murder of journalist Khashoggi. New Orleans court eliminates mandatory
Obamacare clause – SCOTUS will rule, but after election. Another anti-robocall
bill passed, |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
MISCELLANEOUS
and TRANSIENT INDEX (7%) |
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Cultural incidents |
3% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
+0.1% |
1/1/20 |
451.67 |
452.12 |
Camila caballo exposed
as a racist. (A Cuban?) Denver radio host fired for wishing for
another school shooting to distract attention from impeachment. Miss Virginia wins Miss America, RIP auto racer
and moonshiner Junior Johnson. “Star
Wars” finale (175M) stomps “Cats” (6.5M) at box office, “Richad
Jewell” and “Bombsjell” also bomb. Burning Gator festival. |
|
||||
|
Miscellaneous incidents |
4% |
450 |
12/17/19 |
+0.1% |
1/1/20 |
456.09 |
456.55 |
History in action = 3600 year old Greek tombs and
mass graves from 1921 Tulsa massacre discovered. Bear jumps on car in national park. Holiday charity stories bring happy tears, holiday puppy scams bring sadness and disease (see
above). Some assassinates zebra on
Alabama farm… Donald Junior? Shock and
Claus ladies give waitress a $600 tip. First Christmas mass not at Notre Dame
since 1789 (a notable year in France).
Spanish “El Gordo” lottery distributes 2.4 billion. |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
The
Don Jones Index for the week of December 17th through December 23rd, 2019 was
DOWN 4.08 points. The Don Jones Index is sponsored by the
Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman and Independent
Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan,
Administrator/Editor. The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization,
as well as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell,
environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman
and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy
and Renaissance” and “The Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere
pawns in the web-serial “Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective
legal action against parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders. Comments, complaints,
donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com BACK |
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||
See further
indicators at Economist – https://www.economist.com/economic-and
financialndicators/2019/02/02/economic-data-commodities-and-markets
Attachment One – from various
Attachment Two – from DJI, 2018
JANUARY – We reviewed 2017 and noted that the government shutdown was quickly
solved. This year – not so!
·
FEBRUARY - Dow tumbles. Hipsee’s Nunes v. Comey on piss tape. McConnell replied:
“I’m stronger than mule piss”. Noel
Francisco becomes #3 man at Justice Department.
Where is he now? See this!
Where did Whittaker come from? With the Fed embarked on a campaign to
tighten monetary policy, the president has repeatedly attacked and has
reportedly considered firing Chairman Powell.
Carter Page has his fifteen minutes as accused Russian agent.
MARCH – House Republican
crime dog Devin Nunes’ report on Steele dossier
released, redacted and redacted. No
confirmation of piss. Pardoned
Republican activist Dinesh D’Souza’s movie flops and author J. D. Vance decides
against running for the Senate. Milo Yannopolous accused of promoting pedophilia – Al Franken of
groping a sleeping soldier. Donna Brazile went on television.
Hillary Clinton writes a book
APRIL - James Comey and Michael Wolff wrote more
books, Stormy Daniels wrote Full Disclosure, did a sex tour and lost her
defamation suit. World’s happiest country… Finland denied sweeping its forest
floors. Our April Fool’s
news correctly predicts Trump’s triumvirate of Mattis,
McMaster and Kelly (not to mention Flynn) put at ease but it’s Sessions, not
Rosenstein, who gets axed. Paul Ryan
also collects the scalp (or little hat) of House Chaplain Francis Conroy.
MAY - The economy is doing well, so
POTUS slashes CHIP medical care for poor children and rails against evil tech
barons (“The Four”) in their race to be the first valued at 1 trillion. Amazon thought to be leading the race to
build the JEDI supercomputer, despite Trump’s ire. JEDI remains mired in litigation – a
complaint by Oracle was dismissed, but a second protest, filed by IBM, is due
to be decided on Jan. 18, 2019
JUNE - President Trump off to Singapore to gladhand NoKo dictator Kim, then announces the formation of… SPACE FORCE! Melania wears a
cryptic trenchcoat.
Roseanne compares Obama advisor to a monkey and her show
goes on “hiatus”. Bill Clinton writes a book – fiction.
JULY - Brett Kavanaugh nominated for Supreme
Court. Tariff wars escalate… China and Canada angry.
Proposed retaliatory tariffs on US agriculture exports have pig famers in
Midwest squealing with rage. We propose
a tax on robocalls.
AUGUST - Apple topped Amazon in race to One Trillion but by the end of the year
had fallen
to fourth behind Microsoft, Amazon and Google… all under one trillion; death of John McCain
and ousting of CIA director Brennan brings a eulogy from Adm. William McRaven that elevates him to dark horse status in
2020. Post-Roseanne
media becomes a swamp of sequels, remakes and reboots.
SEPTEMBER - Don Jones asks:
who is the mystery leaker who leaked tales of turmoil to the White House? Still unknown! Trump hires Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer, and
he says: “The facts are not the facts.” The rich get richer, the poor stay poor and
are castigated for spending too much on luxuries and using too much
credit. George Papadopolous
gets 14 days and Bob Woodward
publishes “Fear”. Social media are
cleaning old school print and broadcast fake newsers’
clock… investigative reporting shrivels up and disappears.
OCTOBER - Kavanaugh confirmed despite parade of women scorned (including a ringer from
Stormy Daniels’ lawyer) and warns: “What goes around
comes around.” “I like beer!” the nominee swaggers defiantly. “I still like drinking beer. If everyone who ever drank beer in high school
was accused of sexual assault, it would be an ugly place.” Experts predict North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitamp’s “no” vote will cost her her
seat – and it did. The rich flock to see
“Hamilton”, which downplays his pro-slavery and anti-democratic views.
|
NOVEMBER - In runup to
roundup of midterm elections, an angry
man sends pipe bombs to Democrats.
Trump exploits “caravan” as issue and floats ordering the military to
shoot unarmed caravan children. House turns
blue in the face, Senate stays red in the face. Liberals promise two years of
investigations and no legislation – Republicans stick to their Wall. Sessions is purged – then hapless EPA
peculator Pruitt. California wildfires
destroy Paradise. RBG falls, breaks
ribs, causes liberal jitters. |
DECEMBER - Chinese geneticist He Jiankui claims
to have modified genes in newborn twins via CRISPR,
pronounced 'CrispAh' (for Clustered Regularly
Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). DJI
wonders if genetic manipulation might create superheroes (or villains) or maybe
long-term astronauts. The world condemns China and He (the geneticist) disappears. More purges: Chief of Staff Mattis,
UN ambassador Haley and Oscar host Kevin Hart.
French Yellow Vest protesters and stripey
pants diplomats in Poland walk back concern about climate change. The climate (fires, flood, freezings, broiling, earthquakes, volcanoes etc.) is not
amused.
Attachment Three –
from
Donald Trump via WashPost (w/annotation by reporter
Aaron Blake and 4,400 comments here)
President Trump sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a lengthy and scathing letter Tuesday, raising a litany
of complaints about Pelosi’s handling of the impeachment process on the eve of
the House’s expected vote Wednesday on the articles of impeachment against him.
The letter is chock-full of angry rhetoric and ominous warnings about the
impending doom of American democracy, and it is also
littered with false and misleading claims.
Below is the full letter, with highlights and analysis in
yellow via Genius. To see an annotation, click above.
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Madam Speaker:
I write to express my strongest and most powerful protest
against the partisan impeachment crusade being pursued
by the Democrats in the House of Representatives. This impeachment represents
an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by Democrat Lawmakers,
unequaled in nearly two and a half centuries of American legislative history.
The Articles of Impeachment introduced by the House
Judiciary Committee are not recognizable under any standard of Constitutional
theory, interpretation, or jurisprudence. They include no crimes, no
misdemeanors, and no offenses whatsoever. You have cheapened the importance of
the very ugly word, impeachment!
By proceeding with your invalid impeachment, you are
violating your oaths of office, you are breaking your allegiance to the
Constitution, and you are declaring open war on American Democracy. You dare to
invoke the Founding Fathers in pursuit of this election-nullification scheme —
yet your spiteful actions display unfettered contempt for America’s
founding and your egregious conduct threatens to destroy that which our
Founders pledged their very lives to build. Even worse than offending the
Founding Fathers, you are offending Americans of faith by continually saying “I pray for the President,” when you know this
statement is not true, unless it is meant in a negative sense. It is a terrible
thing you are doing, but you will have to live with it, not I!
Your first claim, “Abuse of Power,” is a completely
disingenuous, meritless, and baseless invention of your imagination. You know
that I had a totally innocent conversation with the
President of Ukraine. I then had a second conversation that has been misquoted,
mischaracterized, and fraudulently misrepresented. Fortunately, there was a
transcript of the conversation taken, and you know from the transcript (which was immediately made available) that the paragraph in
question was perfect. I said to President Zelensky: “I would like you to do us a favor, though, because our
country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.” I said do us
a favor, not me, and our country, not a campaign. I then
mentioned the Attorney General of the United States. Every time I talk with a
foreign leader, I put America’s interests first, just as I did with President Zelensky.
You are turning a policy disagreement between two
branches of government into an impeachable offense — it is no more legitimate
than the Executive Branch charging members of Congress with crimes for the lawful
exercise of legislative power.
You know full well that Vice
President Biden used his office and $1 billion dollars of U.S. aid money to
coerce Ukraine into firing the prosecutor who was digging into the company
paying his son millions of dollars. You know this because Biden bragged about
it on video. Biden openly stated: “I said, ‘I’m
telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars’ … I looked at them and
said: ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not
getting the money.' Well, son of a bitch. He got fired.” Even Joe Biden
admitted just days ago in an interview with NPR that it “looked bad.” Now you
are trying to impeach me by falsely accusing me of doing what Joe Biden has
admitted he actually did.
President Zelensky has
repeatedly declared that I did nothing wrong, and that there was No Pressure.
He further emphasized that it was a “good phone call,” that “I don’t feel
pressure,” and explicitly stressed that “nobody pushed
me.” The Ukrainian Foreign Minister stated very clearly:
“I have never seen a direct link between investigations and security
assistance.” He also said there was “No Pressure.” Senator Ron Johnson of
Wisconsin, a supporter of Ukraine who met privately with President Zelensky, has said: “At no time
during this meeting … was there any mention by Zelensky
or any Ukrainian that they were feeling pressure to do anything in return for
the military aid.” Many meetings have been held
between representatives of Ukraine and our country. Never once did Ukraine complain
about pressure being applied — not once! Ambassador Sondland testified that I told him:
“No quid pro quo. I want nothing. I want nothing. I want President Zelensky to do the right thing, do what he ran on.”
The second claim, so-called “Obstruction of Congress,” is
preposterous and dangerous. House Democrats are trying to impeach the duly
elected President of the United States for asserting Constitutionally
based privileges that have been asserted on a bipartisan basis by
administrations of both political parties throughout our Nation’s history.
Under that standard, every American president would have been
impeached many times over. As liberal law professor
Jonathan Turley warned when addressing Congressional Democrats: “I can’t
emphasize this enough … if you impeach a president, if you make a high crime
and misdemeanor out of going to the courts, it is an abuse of power. It’s your abuse of power. You’re doing precisely what you’re
criticizing the President for doing.”
Everyone, you included, knows what is really happening.
Your chosen candidate lost the election in 2016, in an Electoral College
landslide (306-227), and you and your party have never recovered from this
defeat. You have developed a full-fledged case of what many in the media call
Trump Derangement Syndrome and sadly, you will never get over it! You are
unwilling and unable to accept the verdict issued at the ballot box during the
great Election of 2016. So you have spent three
straight years attempting to overturn the will of the American people and
nullify their votes. You view democracy as your enemy!
Speaker Pelosi, you admitted just last week at a public
forum that your party’s impeachment effort has been going on for “two and a
half years,” long before you ever heard about a phone call with Ukraine.
Nineteen minutes after I took the oath of office, the Washington Post published
a story headlined, “The Campaign to Impeach President Trump Has Begun.” Less
than three months after my inauguration, Representative Maxine Waters stated,
“I’m going to fight every day until he’s impeached.” House Democrats introduced
the first impeachment resolution against me within months of my inauguration,
for what will be regarded as one of our country’s best decisions, the firing of
James Comey (see Inspector General Reports) — who the
world now knows is one of the dirtiest cops our Nation has ever seen. A ranting
and raving Congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib,
declared just hours after she was sworn into office, “We’re gonna go in there
and we’ re gonna impeach the
motherf****r.” Representative Al Green said in May,
“I’m concerned that if we don’t impeach this president, he will get
re-elected.” Again, you and your allies said, and did, all of these things long
before you ever heard of President Zelensky or
anything related to Ukraine. As you know very well, this impeachment drive has
nothing to do with Ukraine, or the totally appropriate
conversation I had with its new president president. It only has to do with your
attempt to undo the election of 2016 and steal the election of 2020!
Congressman Adam Schiff cheated and lied all the way up
to the present day, even going so far as to fraudulently make up, out of thin
air, my conversation with President Zelensky of
Ukraine and read this fantasy language to Congress as though it were said by
me. His shameless lies and deceptions, dating all the way back to the Russia
Hoax, is one of the main reasons we are here today.
You and your party are desperate to distract from
America’s extraordinary economy, incredible jobs boom, record stock market,
soaring confidence, and flourishing citizens. Your party
simply cannot compete with our record: 7 million new jobs; the lowest-ever
unemployment for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans; a
rebuilt military; a completely reformed VA with Choice and Accountability for
our great veterans; more than 170 new federal judges and two Supreme Court
Justices; historic tax and regulation cuts; the elimination of the individual
mandate; the first decline in prescription drug prices in half a century; the
first new branch of the United States Military since 1947, the Space Force;
strong protection of the Second Amendment; criminal justice reform; a defeated
ISIS caliphate and the killing of the world’s number one terrorist leader,
al-Baghdadi; the replacement of the disastrous NAFTA trade deal with the
wonderful USMCA (Mexico and Canada); a breakthrough Phase One trade deal with
China; massive new trade deals with Japan and South Korea; withdrawal from the
terrible Iran Nuclear Deal; cancellation of the unfair and costly Paris Climate
Accord; becoming the world’s top energy producer; recognition of Israel’s
capital, opening the American Embassy in Jerusalem, and recognizing Israeli
sovereignty over the Golan Heights; a colossal reduction in illegal border
crossings, the ending of Catch-and-Release, and the building of the Southern
Border Wall — and that is just the beginning, there is so much more. You
cannot defend your extreme policies — open borders, mass migration, high crime,
crippling taxes, socialized healthcare, destruction of American energy,
late-term taxpayer-funded abortion, elimination of the Second Amendment,
radical far-left theories of law and justice, and constant partisan obstruction
of both common sense and common good.
There is nothing I
would rather do than stop referring to your party as the Do-Nothing Democrats. Unfortunately, I don’t know that you will ever give me a chance to do so.
After three years of unfair and unwarranted investigations, 45 million dollars
spent, 18 angry Democrat prosecutors, the entire force of the FBI, headed by
leadership now proven to be totally incompetent and
corrupt, you have found NOTHING! Few people in high position could have endured
or passed this test. You do not know, nor do you care, the great damage and
hurt you have inflicted upon wonderful and loving members of my family. You
conducted a fake investigation upon the democratically elected President of the
United States, and you are doing it yet again.
There are not many people who could have taken the
punishment inflicted during this period of time, and
yet done so much for the success of America and its citizens. But instead of putting our country first, you have decided
to disgrace our country still further. You completely failed with the Mueller
report because there was nothing to find, so you decided to take the next hoax
that came along, the phone call with Ukraine — even though it was a perfect call. And
by the way, when I speak to foreign countries, there are many people,
with permission, listening to the call on both sides of the conversation.
You are the ones interfering in America’s elections. You
are the ones subverting America’s Democracy. You are the ones Obstructing
Justice. You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republic for your
own selfish personal, political, and partisan gain.
Before the Impeachment Hoax, it was the Russian Witch
Hunt. Against all evidence, and regardless of the truth, you and your deputies
claimed that my campaign colluded with the Russians — a grave, malicious, and
slanderous lie, a falsehood like no other. You forced our Nation through
turmoil and torment over a wholly fabricated story, illegally purchased from a
foreign spy by Hillary Clinton and the DNC in order to assault our democracy.
Yet, when the monstrous lie was debunked and this Democrat conspiracy dissolved
into dust, you did not apologize. You did not recant. You did not ask to be forgiven. You showed no remorse, no capacity for
self-reflection. Instead, you pursued your next libelous and vicious crusade —
you engineered an attempt to frame and defame an innocent person. All of this was motivated by personal political calculation. Your Speakership and your party are held hostage by your
most deranged and radical representatives of the far left. Each one of your
members lives in fear of a socialist primary challenger — this is what is driving impeachment. Look at Congressman Nadler’s
challenger. Look at yourself and others. Do not take our country down with your
party.
If you truly cared
about freedom and liberty for our Nation, then you would be devoting your vast
investigative resources to exposing the full truth concerning the FBI’s
horrifying abuses of power before, during, and after the 2016 election —
including the use of spies against my campaign, the submission of false
evidence to a FISA court, and the concealment of exculpatory evidence in order
to frame the innocent. The FBI has great and honorable people, but the leadership was inept and
corrupt. I would think that you would personally be appalled by these
revelations, because in your press conference the day you announced
impeachment, you tied the impeachment effort directly to the completely
discredited Russia Hoax, declaring twice that “all roads lead to Putin,” when
you know that is an abject lie. I have been far tougher on Russia than
President Obama ever even thought to be.
Any member of Congress who votes in support of
impeachment — against every shred of truth, fact, evidence, and legal principle
— is showing how deeply they revile the voters and how truly they detest
America’s Constitutional order. Our Founders feared the tribalization of
partisan politics, and you are bringing their worst fears to life.
Worse still, I have been deprived of basic Constitutional
Due Process from the beginning of this impeachment scam
right up until the present. I have been denied the most
fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution, including the right to present
evidence, to have my own counsel present, to confront accusers, and to call and
cross-examine witnesses, like the so-called whistleblower who started this
entire hoax with a false report of the phone call that bears no relationship to
the actual phone call that was made. Once I presented the transcribed
call, which surprised and shocked the fraudsters (they never thought that such
evidence would be presented), the so-called whistleblower, and the second
whistleblower, disappeared because they got caught,
their report was a fraud, and they were no longer going to be made available to
us. In other words, once the phone call was made public, your whole plot blew
up, but that didn’t stop you from continuing.
More due process was afforded to
those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.
You and others on your committees have long said
impeachment must be bipartisan — it is not. You said it was very divisive — it
certainly is, even far more than you ever thought possible — and it will only
get worse!
This is nothing more than an illegal, partisan attempted
coup that will, based on recent sentiment, badly fail at the voting booth. You
are not just after me, as President, you are after the entire Republican Party.
But because of this colossal injustice, our party is
more united than it has ever been before. History will judge you harshly as you
proceed with this impeachment charade. Your legacy will be that of turning the
House of Representatives from a revered legislative body into a Star Chamber of
partisan persecution.
Perhaps most insulting of all is your false display of solemnity.
You apparently have so little respect for the American People that you expect
them to believe that you are approaching this impeachment somberly, reservedly,
and reluctantly. No intelligent person believes what you are saying. Since the
moment I won the election, the Democrat Party has been
possessed by Impeachment Fever. There is no reticence. This is not a
somber affair. You’re making a mockery of impeachment
and you are scarcely concealing your hatred of me, of the Republican Party, and
tens of millions of patriotic Americans. The voters are wise, and they are
seeing straight through this empty, hollow, and
dangerous game you are playing.
I have no doubt the American people will hold you and the
Democrats fully responsible in the upcoming 2020 election. They will not soon
forgive your perversion of justice and abuse of power.
There is far too much that needs to be
done to improve the lives of our citizens. It is time for you and the
highly partisan Democrats in Congress to immediately cease this impeachment
fantasy and get back to work for the American People. While I have no
expectation that you will do so, I write this letter to you for
the purpose of history and to put my thoughts on a permanent and indelible
record.
One hundred years from now, when people look back at this
affair, I want them to understand it, and learn from it, so that it can never
happen to another President again.
Sincerely yours,
Donald J. Trump
Philip Bump contributed to this post.