This Is Where Our Nation Now Stands–Treason And Another Cock-Eyed Glare From Sarah Sanders

Think of the enormity of this news.

I fully grasp that with self-generated chaos by Donald Trump there is a a seemingly endless number of stories to read and chase down.  In so doing the enormity of what is happening to the foundation of our nation is lost.  What is happening is akin to missing the trees due to the forest.

We all can see what will happen in the coming days.  The White House Press Secretary, with her cock-eyed glare, will try to spin this treason story away.  It will be another sham from the White House podium.

The shame of where we are now as a nation will not shock or concern the base Trump supporters.  It will be left to history to look back and try to gauge why roughly 35% of the nation was not concerned over a foreign power having such control over a national election and then access inside the White House.

For the majority of us, however, we feel the gravity of this moment.  And it makes us nauseous.

“‘Arguably, you sold your country out’: Judge admonishes Flynn ahead of sentencing”:

“A federal judge poised to issue Michael Flynn’s sentence on Tuesday blasted the former Trump national security adviser for lying to the FBI and questioned whether special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors could have tried him for treason. …

“‘All along you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser to the president of the United States,’ said U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan. ‘Arguably that undermines everything that flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out.'”

Come on Sarah, tell us what we read and hear are just all lies.  Tell us Trump is just misunderstood.  That law no longer matters.  That the sky is down and white is now black.  Tell us your soul was not sold out for what you now do.

Try to spin away the legal vise that is now tightening around the cesspool that is the Trump administration.

Try!

Just try.

Trump Says Political Criticism Should Be Reigned In, History Says No!

This weekend another unhinged and unconstitutional tweet was offered from Donald Trump regarding his dislike of a very funny and pointed Saturday Night Live skit.  What could possibly go wrong when a president tries to squash dissenting speech and opinion?

From Chapter 32, page 575 of Ron Chernow’s 2004 book Alexander Hamilton comes the answer.  In 1798 the uncontrolled Federalists in congress passed, among other measures, the absurd Sedition Act.  It took place on July 14 (my birthday) and rendered it a crime to speak or publish “any false scandalous, or malicious” writings against the US government or congress.  Those found guilty could have faced a $2,000 fine and two years in prison.

Obviously what Trump ranted over the weekend is fatally flawed in every way.  But the fact Trump did not know that such words were fundamentally flawed underscores, once again, one of the heavy criticisms I have of him.  It is the DUTY of a person in the Oval Office to know the laws of the land and the ideas of our Republic.

Here then is what resulted in the time of President John Adam’s quest for subservient behavior.

 

 

President Grant Arrested

Legal arguments are being suggested from all quarters about whether a sitting president can be indicted.  But there is no doubt a sitting president can be arrested.

Consider President Grant.

In 1872, while president, Grant was arrested at the corner of 13th and M streets in Washington. This was not a high crime, but it was — at least theoretically speaking — a misdemeanor.

The man who led the North to victory in the Civil War was busted for speeding in his horse-drawn carriage.

The story of his arrest — confirmed a few years ago by Cathy L. Lanier, who was then the District’s police chief — was told in a remarkable but obviously forgotten story in the Sept. 27, 1908, edition of the Washington Evening Star under the headline: “Only Policeman Who Ever Arrested a President.”

That policeman was William H. West, a black man who had fought in the Civil War.

“Since his retirement,” the story said, “he has decided to let the public know the true story of the arrest.”

The full story can be read here.

Concern About Kids (Following Bears Victory Over Packers)

I was looking back over the 13,000-plus postings on this blog and came across one written about another Bears and Packer match-up from 2011.  The foundation for the post still resonates.

James and I were out shopping  in a store that sold lots of various models of televisions.  Many of the TV’s for sale were showing an old Packer football game.   I think it was a repeat of the Chicago Bears game from a couple of weeks ago.

Two boys about 8-9 years of age were watching not far from where I was standing. At one point a tackle clearly had taken place. ( I was not watching the TV screens but looking at some other gadgets.)  One of the kids watching the game yelled, “Yeah, slam him to the ground!”

“Slam” just hit me as a real strong word from a kid about a mere football game.

It struck me both in terms of the word usage, but also the tone of his voice as way beyond what a kid his age should be feeling about a mere tackle in a football game.   If this is the tone and style of speech for a football game on TV what happens when the kid is agitated or angry?

Maybe I am too far removed from youth, (am 48) and maybe kids are far more aggressive these days.   But as James and I talked about it later we both felt it was the type of discourse that gets used around the home where this kid grows up that may be a large factor.

That there is too much violence from video games, movies, sports at times, and even from parents makes me concerned about the types of youngsters that we have to deal with in society.

I certainly feel that it takes a village to raise a child. 

Might it be time for the  ‘village’ to start weighing in more with the biological parents?

A Political Colonoscopy For Trump

A new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that six in 10 Americans say Donald trump has not been truthful about the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, while half say the probe has given them doubts about Trump’s presidency.

The poll, conducted a month after the midterm elections, also finds that more Americans want congressional Democrats to take the lead on policy for the country than the president or congressional Republicans and 43 percent approve of Trump’s job.

Americans should not fear.  The cavalry will soon arrive.  The House Democrats take charge in January.  What is coming for Trump will be nothing short of a very public political colonoscopy.

SNL Wonders In Hilarious Skit ‘What If Trump Were Never Elected?’

Saturday Night Live has a grand star-studded spoof which opened their show last night.  ‘What if Trump were never elected?’  Just in case the video does not work below here is the link that will make you howl.

1792 Or 2018?

There is no truth–obviously–that it is only in these modern times that our politics is filled with turmoil and frothiness.  (That statement, however, does not not dismiss that never before have we been lower in morals and ethics than we witness with Donald Trump.)

There were deep political factions from the very beginning of our republic which then led to parties.   The Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson split shaped a nation.  For the record, I am a Hamiltonian with a high regard for a strong central government.

But the reason I post comes from Chapter 48 of Ron Chernow’s Hamilton.   President Washington is in his second term but it is noted that the crux of his problem is that the generation of cabinet members was decidedly inferior to the first.   There was simply a dearth of qualified people for Washington to consult.

The plague of partisan recriminations had already diminished the incentives of people to serve in government.  Washington told Hamilton a woeful tale of trying to replace Edmund Randolph. “What am I to do for Secretary of State?” he asked forlornly, noting that four people has already rejected the post.

A fifth person will also turn down the job and Hamilton will write to Washington “the foul and venomous shafts of calumny” constantly being shot at government officials was the reason why.

It will take seven names before Washington finds Timothy Pickering for the position.

With that pick Washington, (in my opinion) makes the larger correct call and stops pretending that he could straddle the fence of the factions and in so doing aligned himself openly with the Federalists.

Dear reader, if you have made it this far into the post you are like me….interested in history.  Please consider the masterpiece of research and writing and pick up Hamilton. 

Reince Priebus To Star In JAG?

Reince Priebus, a former Chief of Staff to Donald Trump and a longtime Republican power broker, could join the Navy after a months-long process in which Defense Secretary Jim Mattis recommended him and a board of officers selected him as a reserve officer.

What makes this interesting is that earlier this year it was reported he was seen at Andrews Air Force Base talking with recruiters as he explored joining the Navy Reserve.  It was reported then he was considering trying to be an intelligence officer, or a JAG.

That is a long ways down from White House Chief of Staff.