The U.S. Constitution is Not the Bible

Jackie Calmes nailed it in the Los Angeles Times. The unwritten GOP planks of their campaign for the presidency and control of congress are:

Anti-abortion extremism
Pro-gun absolutism
Anti-LGBTQ activism
Book banning
Vote suppression
Election denialism

These are the issues that are dividing this country. There is apparently no compromise among the extreme loyalists. Perhaps Marjorie Taylor Greene’s suggestion that it’s time for a divorce should be seriously considered.

At the very least many of those people who register as an independent will be pushed into the Democratic Party.

Sadly many Americans treat the Constitution as if it is a bible. Their view is that whatever was written in 1787 and 1788 was a mandate that must be obeyed as if it was handed down by God. That is the reason the pro-gun groups treat their right to own guns as a right handed down by God. So even though there is Article V that defines the procedure those that believe they just cannot bring themselves to make changes. It has been amended 27 times.

President Donald Trump was Responsible for the January 6, 2021 Insurrection

Bennie Thompson January 6 committee chairman

The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol has concluded that former President Donald Trump was ultimately responsible for the insurrection, laying out for the public and the Justice Department a trove of evidence for why he should be prosecuted for multiple crimes.

For months, the Jan. 6 committee went back-and-forth over whether it would refer former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. On Monday, the committee didn’t equivocate.

The committee referred Trump to the DOJ on at least four criminal charges, including:

Obstructing an official proceeding
Defrauding the United States
Making false statements
Assisting or aiding an insurrection

It is truly sad that a president did not honor his oath.

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

§2383. Rebellion or insurrection Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

Will the Department of Justice prosecute Trump? If they do not it will mean that people of influence are not treated like the rest of us.

“I have no doubt that once the investigation proceeds and is concluded, if the evidence is as we presented it, I’m convinced the Justice Department will charge former President Trump,” chairman Bennie Thompson says on CNN.

Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution

A madman dreams of being the supreme leader of the United States. His children and grandchildren would go on to rule this country.

Donald Trump dreams of becoming president for life. No voting is necessary because he believes he is entitled to hold the presidency until the day he dies. The former President Donald Trump on Saturday evening doubled down on his calls to “terminate” the United States Constitution and restore him to power.

Like any dictator he says whatever he wants and he gets it. His admiration for Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong-un is because they have absolute power. Military parades are a sign of power and he wanted one in Washington D.C. but was told the tanks and other military hardware would tear up the streets and so he relented.

Trump’s problem is he seems to really believe that the 2020 election was rigged. He doesn’t know how it was accomplished but really doesn’t care. As a spoiled brat as a child who was given everything he wanted he just can’t accept reality.

There are plenty of adult Republicans who have told him to accept reality and move on but it is not a reality he will accept. Unfortunately there remains a large minority of Republicans who have bought his claims of victory. Kari Lake, the failed GOP candidate for governor of Arizona is the best example of someone who has bought Trump’s nonsense.

Can you imagine if Trump wins the election in 2024. What would happen four years hence? He would want to overturn the Constitution and run for a third term.

Sadly USA Today reports “Republican leaders mostly silent over Donald Trump’s call to suspend the Constitution.”

The success of Jack Smith and Merrick Garland are our best hope of saving this democracy.

Donald Trump “Give me freedom or give me death”

The former leader of the free world lashed out on Thursday at one of the prosecutors investigating alleged misconduct.

“This case should be dismissed immediately, and the large, highly paid and ‘prestigious’ accounting firm that we relied on to do their job, but didn’t, should pay us a fortune in damages,” Trump said.

As he often does, he labeled the investigation “a total witch hunt!”

Two minutes later, he returned to Truth Social to post the quote, “Give me freedom or give me death.”

Let’s give him death if that is required to sustain the American democracy. We could put him on the gallows that was built to hang Mike Pence.

What a delightful way to end Donald Trump’s efforts.

The gallows built to hang Mike Pence

Donald Trump Admires Authoritarians

At a rally on Saturday August 3 the former president described Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin as “fierce” and “smart” before anticipating the reaction from the media. He called both leaders “fierce,” adding that Xi is “smart” to rule China with an “iron fist.”

“He rules with an iron fist, 1.5 billion people, yeah I’d say he’s smart,” he continued. “Wouldn’t you say he’s smart?”

Xi, whose authoritarian tenure has been marked by an increase in censorship and mass surveillance, has been accused by Human Rights Watch of starting a “broad and sustained offensive on human rights” since he became China’s leader in 2012.

Imagine what a second term for Trump would be like. He would be taking revenge on those who opposed him. There would be no guard rails preventing him from withdrawing from NATO. Military parades in Washington D.C. would be the order of the day.

Donald Trump dreams of absolute power and our system of government could permit him to obtain his objective.

Donald Trump is Guilty of Treason

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant identifies three federal crimes that the Justice Department is looking at as part of its investigation: violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government records. The inclusion of the crimes indicates the Justice Department has probable cause to investigate those offenses as it was gathering evidence in the search. No one has been charged with a crime at this time.

In 1951, Julius and his wife Ethel Rosenberg were tried and convicted of espionage for providing the Soviet Union with classified information. They were executed in 1953. Their trial remains controversial today.

What do you suppose Donald Trump planned to do with that classified material? It is frightening to imagine what that classified information can mean to an adversary.

The politics of this situation could mean that Trump will never be tried for treason. Millions of Americans still believe that the 2020 election was stolen. The January 6, 2021 insurrection tells us that there are Americans who are willing to fight for Trump.

Can Attorney General Merrick Garland convince a majority of Americans that Donald Trump is guilty of espionage? Frankly I doubt it.

Trump should be executed but it probably won’t happen.

Destroying the American Democracy

The worship of Donald Trump has resulted in loyal Americans willing to destroy the American democracy. Many of those supporters of Trump are still in government service. Thus the destruction of phone records and email messages before the June 6 insurrection, during the insurrection, and days following that insurrection is no surprise.

The advocacy group American Oversight sought the texts through a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act, to learn more about the attack. The group requested emails, texts and calendar invitations for former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, his former acting chief of staff Kash Patel and former Defense Department general counsel Paul Ney.

“It now appears as if multiple federal agencies may have failed to preserve records surrounding the January 6th attack on the Capitol,” Heather Sawyer, executive director at American Oversight, said in a statement. “There are still too many open questions about the role of the Pentagon, Secret Service, and others before and during the attack.”

American Oversight says on its website that it is “a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog that uses public records requests backed by litigation to fight corruption, drive accountability, and defend democracy.”

It appears that there were and probably still are people in the Federal government that are intent on protecting Donald Trump and his lieutenants from prosecution related to the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

The Department of Justice will likely bring criminal charges against those who intentionally destroyed those records. The Guardian reports the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, has been asked to investigate yet another deletion of text messages and other communications by senior officials on 6 January 2021, this time by the Pentagon.

Trump’s Crimes Against the United States

The Los Angeles Times July 24, 2022 editorial defined some of Donald Trump’s crimes but not all. A Donald Trump trial could result in a civil war.

There is no doubt that Donald Trump is “guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding” but also plotting an insurrection, dereliction of duty and dishonoring his sworn oath when he took the office of president. He ought to be tried and convicted. Sadly millions of Americans still believe Trump won the 2020 election as evidenced on January 6, 2021 and are willing to take up arms. If found guilty, the country would experience a second civil war. His followers have demonstrated their willingness to do his bidding. There are an estimated 393 million civilian-owned firearms in the US and 20 million of them are AR-15 style rifles. Are those trying to uphold the Constitution prepared to go to war to retain this democracy?

An abridged version of this posting appears on the letters page of the July 26, 2022 Los Angeles Times.