Author: Michael A. Ventrella

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Hoping for Impeachment

Yeah, we’ve been through worse. We had a civil war and survived. But just seeing what Trump has done to our great country already has depressed me to the point where I just don’t even feel like thinking about it, much less writing about it on my blog.

So there hasn’t been an update in a while. loser

The good news is that the Republican establishment doesn’t like Trump either. All we need are a few Republicans to vote for impeachment — there are plenty of grounds, especially if they use their power to subpoena his income tax returns — and he can be removed.

We end up with Pence, but at least he is competent. I think.

I can imagine Ryan encouraging an impeachment, thus placing Pence in power. Oh, look, now there’s an opening for Vice President. Speaker Ryan, are you available?

Will this happen?  Not sure. But I can pretty much bet that it has at least been discussed in Republican circles.

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Republican standards

2008:

We are the Republican party.  We proudly stand for:

  • Fiscal responsibility
  • Family values
  • Strong Christian values
  • Respect for tradition and the law
  • Experience in government
  • Respect for women
  • A health care law requiring everyone to buy insurance

2016:

Just kidding!

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Editorial cartoon: Unfit

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Clay Bennett

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Trump is a terrible person

There have been Presidents I didn’t support, because they had policies I disliked. And some were terrible Presidents, too.

Trump, on the other hand, is a terrible person. I wouldn’t want him to be manager of the local Dunkin’ Donuts, much less leader of the free world. Terrible, evil people should not be “given a chance.” They should be opposed at every step.

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Editorial cartoon: It’s a ball!

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David Horsey

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Trump and the Hookers

Let’s assume the current rumors about Trump and the hookers is false (which it probably is).

Can I still revel in the schadenfreude of the whole thing — that a man who spent the last eight years pushing lies about Obama not being born in America now has to deal with his own fake news stories? That people are believing this even though we currently don’t have any proof of it at all?tad-quote

And, just in case they are true, allow me to say this:

Remember when I blogged “Look, the issue isn’t the word ‘pussy’ it’s the word ‘grab.'”?

In this case, the issue isn’t the words “golden showers” — it’s the word “hooker.”

Seriously, the words “President of the United States of America” and “hooker” should never appear in the same sentence.

(By the way, “Trump and the Hookers” is a good name for a band.)

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Editorial Cartoon: Trump News

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Garry Trudeau

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We, the People, rejected you. Stop lying about it.

Look, Trump people. We rejected you. We rejected you by a large amount — almost 3 million votes. On the chart of “winners” of our elections, Trump is the Biggest Loser. The next on the chart is George W. Bush, who lost by half a million.

The people said loudly and clearly that they don’t want you or your policies. loser

You only won because of an ancient loophole we’re stuck with — something that should have been removed long ago.  This is like a baseball team getting the most runs but losing the game because of a 100 year old rule that says that the team who has the best uniform wins, decided after the game by a group of people who are biased in favor of one team.

That is nothing to be proud of, and it is certainly not cause for you to lie and claim that you have a mandate to destroy everything the majority of Americans specifically voted against you not to destroy.

If there is a mandate, it is for the exact opposite of what you claim.

But then again, look at your leader — a lying ass who only cares about himself, who has spent his entire life cheating the system to get what he wants, by declaring bankruptcy as a business strategy and by suing everyone until he gets his way. What did we expect, huh? Of course you have no problem with abusing the system to serve yourself.

And the saddest thing is this:  You don’t give a damn. You’re proud of your dishonesty. You’re more than happy to screw over the majority of Americans as long as you get what you want. Hell, that’s basically the platform you ran on.

So don’t act all surprised that we say “Screw you, we didn’t choose you.” And don’t act all pure and innocent when we point out that America rejected you.

We’re not poor losers — we’re the winners. You got off on a loophole, you weaselly bastards, and there’s no way to spin that into support.

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Editorial cartoon: Ethics? What’s that?

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Steve Sack

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Driving under the Influence of Marijuana and the state of the law

Here in Pennsylvania, medical marijuana is about to become legal, so clearly our legislature will have to address that with the DUI laws which currently prohibits any amount of marijuana to be in your blood when you drive, even if you smoked it weeks earlier. So far, they’ve done nothing. It may take a few appeals from defense attorneys like me before that happens.

Years ago, that law was challenged but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that since marijuana was illegal, and since driving is a privilege and not a right, that you could be charged even if the amount in your system was minimal.marijuana-laws

I’ve been waiting for a client to come in and tell me she smoked in Colorado or somewhere else where it’s legal and then got pulled over in Pennsylvania days later and charged with a DUI for marijuana. I could then argue that the first part of the argument for our DUI laws was invalid because the marijuana was legal at the time smoked.

Realistically, though, if you’re not under the influence of it days later, you probably wouldn’t get pulled over anyway since you’re not showing any signs of being under the influence. A cop can’t demand you take a blood test without some sort of reasonable suspicion that you’re under the influence, even if you look like a stoner.

Where it still comes into play, though, is in situations like this: Let’s say you have had a beer and the cop smells alcohol on your breath and then makes you take a blood test. The blood test shows that your Blood Alcohol Count is .07% which is legal and under the DUI limits but the test also shows a presence of marijuana that you smoked days earlier. Now he can charge you, and in Pennsylvania the presence of drugs carries a harsher penalty than just alcohol. Technically and scientifically, you were “under the influence” of neither but legally, you were for marijuana. And that’s where the problem lies.

Remember that even when marijuana becomes legal, it will still be illegal to drive under its influence. Hell, it’s illegal to drive under the influence of cough syrup if it affects your driving.

Even in Colorado, you can’t drive while under the influence. However, their law (as I understand it) says what the limits have to be in your system, just like the law does now with alcohol. A small amount isn’t enough.

I bring this all up because of a recent decision in Arizona that held that simply having marijuana in your system is insufficient for a DUI conviction absent a showing of some sort of driving impairment. In other words, even if the amount shows that you just smoked it, if there is no evidence that your driving was impaired, you can’t be charged.  (This is unlike the “per se” alcohol laws that say if you have more than .08% in your system you can be charged even if your driving was perfect.)

Ironically, I have mixed feelings on this, as I have previously argued in favor of lowering the Blood Alcohol levels from .08% to .05% as it is in most of the rest of the world (as long as the penalty is non-criminal and minor). I personally believe that there should be a level for marijuana as well, even though I don’t know what that level should be.