Tag Archives: donald trump

All Posts, American Foreign Policy, Congress, Russia and Trump

A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CAN NOT STAND

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The title of this column came to mind as I observed events of the past few days.  Jesus taught that lesson.  President Lincoln used it to explain why America could not survive half slave and half free.  Our house is perilously divided by mistrust.

A private espionage company, owned and staffed by retired British MI6 agents, produced a report alleging collusion, payments and sex scandals between President-elect Trump, his team and Kremlin officials including Vladimir Putin.  The report suggests that the Russians have succeeded at three goals, helping Trump win the election, getting information that can be used to blackmail him, and undermining the confidence of citizens in American democracy.  The report has been in the possession of the FBI and some news organizations since October, 2016.  US intelligence agencies did not mention it in the public version of their report on Russian involvement in our election, but they did provide a summary to President-elect Trump and President Obama.

Then on January 10, 2017 BuzzFeed, an online news organization, published the document. Donald Trump angrily denied all of the accusations, blasted the report as “fake news” and suggested that it was leaked by American intelligence agencies to embarrass him.  The US Director of National intelligence denies that.

In another example of mistrust, the FBI’s on then off then on-again investigations of Mrs. Clinton aroused suspicion of her and suspicion that the FBI was intentionally influencing the election.  FBI reports affirm that Russian operatives stole confidential information from American (Democratic Party) computers and used it in an attempt to influence our election.  In-arguably, the FBI Director relied on information thought to be stolen from Americans by Russian spies as a basis for publicly reopening the Clinton e-mail investigation at a critical moment in the campaign.

We don’t know whether the FBI investigated allegations about Trump and the Russians.  By talking about the Clinton investigation but not the Trump allegations, our FBI Director may have (intentionally or not) aided the Russian effort to influence our election.

I don’t know the whole truth about any of these matters and neither do readers of this column.  But I do know that there are millions of Americans ready to believe the worst about other Americans. Neither presidential candidate was trusted by the majority of Americans.  Many of us, like our President-elect, trust our intelligence agencies only when their reports confirm what we already believe.  Our trust problems extend beyond the federal government to other fundamental institutions like courts, police and public schools.

The corrosion of trust in American institutions and leadership is a slow and insidious process nourished by public officials who mislead us or lie to us.  Lies or deception by Presidents and other officials were used to generate support for the Vietnam War, to secretly and illegally sell arms to Iran then divert the revenue to support right-wing militia groups that overthrew the government of Nicaragua, and to support the Iraq war that destabilized the entire Middle East.

Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”  Our house is divided against itself, and that makes us nearly defenseless against efforts like the Russian intervention in our election.  A free, democratic nation relies on the integrity and trust of its institutions, officeholders and citizens.  That is where our dangers and opportunities lie.

Here are a few ideas that might help us recover trust.

  • The congress should commission a full not-partisan investigation with subpoena powers and report  findings to the public.
  • Voters in both primary and general elections should consider the candidate’s integrity and character as absolutely vital credentials. Imagine where we might be today if our general election had featured Lindsay Graham or John Kasich against Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders.  Roughly half the nation would still be unhappy with the outcome of the election, but maybe fewer Americans would see our President-elect as the enemy.
  • A law should be passed making it illegal for any government official to intentionally lie to or mislead the public. The penalty for violations should be termination of employment or removal from elected office.
  • The Senate and Donald Trump should insist that all cabinet nominees complete their ethics reports and background checks before Senate committees vote.
  • Trump should release his tax returns immediately to shrink the cloud of suspicion hanging over him.

If you have more or better ideas, it’s time to share them.

Click green links above for background information and documents.

The new report alleging collusion, payments and sex scandals is also here 

If it’s accurate, this one is a bombshell:  BBC coverage of the report and its credibility.

The declassified version of the intelligence agencies report to Trump and Obama is here.

 

All Posts, Constitution, justice

POPULISM VS THE CONSTITUTION

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“The Constitution says what it says, and it doesn’t say anything more.”   “The judge who always likes the results he reaches is a bad judge.” –  Recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

“(The President) shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Judges of the Supreme Court…(and)  shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.” –  US Constitution, Article II, Section 2

“Except when it would make us unpopular with our constituents or donors” – This is not a quotation.  It is a conclusion based on the behavior of elected officials.

President Obama says that he will follow the constitution and do his job by nominating someone to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Judge Scalia’s death.  Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell says that he will not allow a vote on any candidate nominated by President Obama.  McConnell is backed by other Republican leaders who have pledged not to meet with nominees or hold hearings to consider them.  They argue that the nomination should be delayed until after the next Presidential election so that voters can influence the matter.  But voters have already spoken.  We elected a Republican majority to the Senate and a Democrat as President (twice).

In this matter the President is following the Constitution and Senate Republicans are not.  Republicans accurately respond that Democrats have done similar things, including seeking to delay nominations to the Court until they had a chance to win a Presidential election.  We could reasonably ask leaders of both parties, “Didn’t your parents teach you that two wrongs don’t make a right?”

Which ones have been doing their jobs and serving the nation?
Which ones have been doing their jobs and serving the nation?

The behavior of both parties is particularly onerous when they attempt to manipulate the composition of the Supreme Court in order to influence its decisions on specific issues.  Most Republican officeholders interpret the Constitution as allowing state or federal laws that ban all abortions while Democrats think it protects the rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies.  The battle lines over marriage equality, regulation of gun ownership, immigration and other social issues are drawn in approximately the same place.

On each side of our hot social issues there are powerful advocacy groups with vocal supporters demanding that elected officials do whatever it takes to win the day.  They often insist that office holders ignore constitutional obligations if that will help their cause.  Anyone who doesn’t comply is likely to face well-funded opposition in the next primary election.  That is how populism works.

Populist behavior is as old as our nation and its constitution.  President Andrew Jackson and the Congress provided an early and extreme example.  The United States agreed by treaty that The Cherokee Nation was independent, with its own legal boundaries but white settlers (illegal immigrants) persisted in occupying Cherokee land.  When Cherokees removed some white settlers forcibly, they demanded military protection. Then gold was discovered on Cherokee land and the problem quickly escalated.  States passed laws banning meetings of the Cherokee legislature and argued that the federal government had no right to intervene in state affairs. The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokees but American voters and powerful interest groups wanted the gold and the land.  President Jackson, with support of the Congress, defied the Supreme Court and allegedly said of the Chief Justice, “John Marshall has made his decision.  Now let him enforce it.”  Jackson dispatched the Army to remove the Cherokees from their land, sending them on a journey to Oklahoma that we now call the “Trail of Tears”.  If ever there was a time when a Congress should properly have impeached a President and removed him from office, this was it.

When you hear the word “populist” used to describe a politician, it may refer to someone who will do whatever it takes to implement the will of his hard-core constituents, even defying the Constitution, courts, and laws to the extent that he can.  Andrew Jackson, George Wallace, Joe McCarthy, and Donald Trump are a few examples.  They are very dangerous because they are willing to sacrifice the principles of a free nation on the altar of one special cause if that will get them elected.  If you notice one of them running for office, I hope you’ll vote for someone else.  I plan to.

CLICK BELOW

to hear Harold Thom and the Cumberlands sing the story of Cherokee Chief Junaluska,  who saved Andrew Jackson’s life then lived to regret it after walking The Trail of tears.