Here are my observations and opinions on selected news of the day.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA), aka “The Mannequin,” known for his inability to pass up a camera or microphone with an opportunity to charge the Trump campaign with Russian collusion, must have sent a shock wave through the media and intelligence community Sunday when he confessed that “Democrats don’t have enough evidence yet to say that he (Trump) has committed a high crime and misdemeanors.”

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Swalwell said there is not enough evidence yet to bring impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Surely, his remark “We don’t want to be as reckless with the facts as he is,” had to cause some viewers to pause and catch their     breath.

Maybe he should discuss that with his colleague Al Green (D-TX), who as I reported in my last post, said that the president could be impeached without having committed a crime.

THEN THERE’S billionaire Tom Steyer, who has poured millions of dollars into his campaign to get President Trump impeached. In his Wall Street Journal op-ed Monday – “Republicans, Save Your Party by Impeaching the President” – he wrote, “If Americans across the political spectrum demand his removal, we can force him out.”

Steyer cites the claim of the organization Free Speech for People, who he no doubt funds, that they have identified nine impeachable offenses, ranging from “intended obstruction of justice to his abuse of the pardon power.” He also warns that “this president puts our democracy at risk and our values under siege;” all without citing any criminally legal offenses.

THE LEFT-LEANING AXIOS, again credits an unidentified “outside Trump advisor,” saying that when you add it all up, he’s (Trump) “losing the midterms in spite of a strong economy.”

YOU’VE HEARD THEM, those who suffer from “Trump derangement syndrome (TDS),” who are so determined to bring down his presidency that they seem to have no realization of the embarrassment they bring upon themselves.

When one charge, like Russian collusion, fizzles out, they grab for another; like his propensity to lie.

The charges come from the usual suspects, the Washington Post and The New York Times, but also college professors and members of the medical community, chronicled in an insightful piece written by Lee Edwards, a distinguish fellow at the Heritage Foundation, in the Federalist.

The Washington Post reported that President Trump made 3,251 “false or misleading claims” during his first 497 days in office, for an average of 8.5 “falsehoods” a day. But who’s counting?

The New York Times published a definitive list of “outright lies” during the president’s first ten months, a daily public lie for the first 40 days of his presidency.

A George Mason University professor of government wrote that the president’s “narcissistic lies” vastly exceed the lies of previous presidents.

But “Is Donald Trump the most pathological liar of the modern presidency?,” Edwards asks, as he relates that the media rarely report that, in truth, all presidents lie.

President Kennedy lied about more serious things than Trump’s embellishments of his wealth, girlfriends of decades ago or the size of his inaugural crowd. Kennedy denied his many extra-marital affairs, the non-existent “missile gap” while covering up facts of his health, Edwards states.

There were President Nixon’s monumental lies and cover-ups that forced him to resign. There was President Reagan’s lesser cover-up about Iran-contra, President Clinton’s lies about sexual relations with an intern in the White House, and President Obama’s repeated lies about ObamaCare, Fast and Furious, the IRS Scandal and Benghazi.

“Trump is not guilty of any lie, falsehood, fabrication, false claim, or toxic exaggeration that equals the lies of one past president,” says Edwards, adding that most Americans can see the difference between an out-and-out lie and self-evident hyperbole, even if the mainstream press and Trump’s political opponents cannot or will not.

Meanwhile, those same mainstream newspaper and television networks haven’t developed a list of President Trump’s accomplishments, promises made and promises kept.

ANOTHER WACKO IDEA – Robert Reich, former secretary of labor under President Clinton, currently a purveyor of leftist views at UC Berkeley and a TDS sufferer, writes that the Trump presidency should be annulled. Like a marriage.

Regarding the prospect for impeachment, Reich says, “I don’t believe it for a minute.” Assuming that the Mueller probe finds overwhelming and indisputable evidence that Trump conspired with Putin to rig the 2016 election, and the rigging determined the election’s outcome, Reich says, “Trump’s presidency is not authorized under the United States Constitution.”

“Impeachment would not be enough … because it would leave in place his vice president, White House staff and Cabinet, as well as the executive orders he issued and all the legislation he signed, and the official record of the presidency.

“The only response to an unconstitutional presidency is to annul it.  Annulment would repeal all of it.”

TWO ANTIDOTES FOR TDS – Consumer confidence rose to the highest level In nearly 18 years, revealing that their assessment of current economic conditions. The index rose to 133.4 in August, up from 127.9 in July. It was the highest reading since October 2000 when it hit 135.8.

In addition, a Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll revealed that 59 percent of registered voters agree with President Trump’s revocation of John Brennan’s security clearance.

Former Hillary Clinton advisor Mark Penn believes “there would definitely be support for a wholesale policy revoking clearances.”

WE KNOW THAT THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN and the DNC paid for the infamous Russian dossier through the law firm Perkins Coie that was used by the FBI to gain surveillance warrants from the FISA Court.

While doing some research, I came across a piece former DNC head Donna Brazile wrote for Politico last year, “Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC.”

“As Hillary’s campaign gained momentum, she resolved the party’s debt and put it on a starvation diet,” wrote Brazile, “It (the DNC) had become dependent on her campaign for survival, for which she expected to wield control over its operations.”

During a May 31, 2017 conference appearance, Clinton said, “I had to inject money into it, the DNC, to keep it going.” Records show the campaign paid Perkins Coie $5.6 million for legal fees between June 2015 and December 2016, another $3.6 million for “legal and compliance consulting.”

Of course, no one bothered to tell the FISA Court judges about this.

LATE NEWS – Two Trump-endorsed candidates in Florida – Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis – won by wide margins last night, while Trump favorite Martha McSally won to contend for ‘the Flake’s’ Arizona senate seat in November.

          May God bless the United States of America.