So Rudy told an Atlantic reporter he couldn't meet her because he was flying to Vienna -- this is one day after the indicted Giuliani associates tried to leave the U.S. but got arrested instead. They had one way tickets to Vienna.

Trump of course says he doesn't know the indicted pair. When shown pictures of him with them and Rudy, he says so what? I have pictures of me with everyone. [More...]

Donald Trump wouldn't know a winning hand if it fell in his lap. He is now alienating members of his own party, the military and the world with his decision to pull troops from Syria as Turkey prepares to invade. Via Newsweek:

Donald Trump got "rolled" by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a National Security Council source with direct knowledge of the discussions told Newsweek...

....President Trump was definitely out-negotiated and only endorsed the troop withdraw to make it look like we are getting something—but we are not getting something," the National Security Council source told Newsweek. "The U.S. national security has entered a state of increased danger for decades to come because the president has no spine and that's the bottom line."

On the Syrian Kurds:

Turkey has long considered the Kurdish militia in Syria to be a terrorist insurgency, despite the United States providing military and financial aid to the group in its fight against ISIS, the Islamic State militant group. A battle with the vastly superior military of Turkey, a NATO ally, could drive the Kurds into the arms of Bashar Al-Assad, the Syrian dictator that Washington wants ousted, and by extension into an alliance with Russia and Iran, two U.S. rivals with forces in Syria.

[More...]

It's a beautiful fall day here, but hard to enjoy when our nation is like a rudderless ship flailing about in the ocean with a drunken captain at the helm. Trump may not drink alcohol, but he's drunk with his own vision of power and self-entitlement. I hope he is gone as soon as possible. The only fitting legacy for him is that he not be allowed to finish out his term.

Where are the sane Republicans who competed with him for the 2016 nomination? Can't one of them step up to challenge him in 2020?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

A federal judge in New York has ordered Donald Trump to turn over his tax returns to DA Cyrus Vance, rejecting Trump's argument that he is immune from criminal investigations.

The 75 page opinion is here

First, my best wishes to Bernie Sanders for a full and speedy recovery from his heart attack.

I don't think he will drop out of the race yet. He's got The Fever. He's a man on a mission. His life would lose meaning without his ability to take the stage and like John Reed (Warren Beatty) in Reds, spread his gospel to young voters.

Bernie, in my view, isn't really running for President, He knew that passed him by when Hillary got the nomination in 2016. This time around, he's trying to change the mindset of voters on the issues. He wants to be heard. He knows this will be his legacy -- the pied piper of a movement that won't succeed until way after he's gone, but when it does, he wants to be remembered as someone who was in the forefront, ahead of his time.

[More...]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today announced the House will launch an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump for trying to pressure the Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden.

The process is explained here.

Today, impeachment is a longshot that may or may not succeed, but tonight, no one cares. We're just dancing in the streets.

The case for impeaching Donald Trump got an uptick last week when news emerged that Trump tried to get the Ukranian President to investigate Joe Biden as he was considering whether to provide the Ukraine with a military aid package.

CNN reports:

[I]f Trump used his power to try to coerce a foreign leader into influencing US elections, it could precipitate the worst political crisis of a presidency that has been mired in notoriety from its first hours.

It would amount to a situation in which Trump's team, which according to the Mueller report expected to benefit from Russian election meddling in 2016, is now using the power of the presidency to incite collusion ahead of the 2020 election.

[More...]

I really will be back blogging soon. The TL kid and his wife had their second daughter last week -- she is the second TL grandkid. Here is big sister Karter meeting Reece:

And here is newborn Reece just a few hours old:

Last night I watched Netflix's "original series" The Chosen One. It's a remake of a Spanish series I wrote about here in 2015 called, "El Nino Santo" aka "The Holy Child". [More...]

Update: Here is the transcript.

The third Democratic debate will take place tonight in Houston. CNN says this is what to watch for.

CNN pints out the three leading Democratic candidates are over 70 years old? So is Donald Trump.

If the choices are really down to Biden, Sanders and Warren, I'd recommend Elizabeth Warren. I think she does have a chance of beating Trump because he is so offensive to so many women. I think only wealthy Republican women and underinformed rural women will vote for Trump.

I'd be okay with an Elizabeth Warren-Julian Castro ticket. I might even get excited about it.

Who would you like to see with the nomination at this point? Here's a place for your thoughts on tonight's debate and the 2020 election.

Looks like Dorian will continue through Friday. It's moving close to the Carolinas.

In other news, ISIS is using cows as suicide bombers.

I finally got everything moved into my new place on Saturday (after another round of help from the movers and Got Junk people.) Now I'm starting to unpack it all and figure out what stays and what goes. And catch up with work.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I know it is hard to believe but I am still moving. Every day I go back and forth from the old place to the new place and bring more Jeep-filled loads of stuff. I had the movers just do the furniture and that took four of them seven hours even though the places are four blocks apart. They worked hard and were very good. I have decluttered and downsized but it never seems to end. I gave away a ton of pots, pans, cookware, utensils, appliances, sheets, towels and even some art. I'm moving the rest myself.

Tomorrow is the second to last day -- You've Got Junk will come and haul out the king size bed, a couch , an armoire/dresser, solid wood bookcases, the dishes and glassware and everything else that's left. Wednesday the move-out cleaners will come and make the old place look beautiful.

I absolutely love my new place, in the next open thread I'll write why and post photos of the really pretty mountain and downtown views.

I have not watched much tv, or heard any news, so it will be some more days before I'm up to speed. In the meantime, here is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I am completely immersed in moving and will be until early next week. It could be a week before I'm back here, but I'll try to check on the threads a few times if I have internet.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.