Republicans were caught off guard by the administration’s decision to abandon a popular element of the Affordable Care Act — protections for people with preexisting medical conditions.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Monday, June 4, 2018
You Have Been Warned
If this is not a threat I don't know what is. King Emperor Trump's enforcer Giuliani is not talking "hypothetically" on if Trump could commit murder--against someone like Comey....or Mueller?--and get away with it.
The answer according to Giuliani is :yes" until Trump is impeached and then he could be charged with committing a crime. This is America in 2018. Be afraid friends. And again, Trump's brown shirt red MAGA hat goons and other human deplorables support this man. It is a political cult. Be wary of them too--especially if they are your relatives, neighbors, coworkers or others in your orbit. You are at risk. Matters are very dire and will only get worse. You have been warned.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Adventures in the Gilded Age
One of the leading gathering places during the Gilded Age in Washington D.C. was the home of Henry and Clover Adams. The great-grandson of John Adams and the grandson of JQA would ride for 2 hours a day, work on his history the United States for 5 hours, with the evenings given to dining in his home on Lafayette Square frequented by the high and mighty of the time. A product of her times, Clovis had to express herself as best she could without attracting too much public notice.
One night in 1882 General Sherman was a guest. He regaled everyone by recreating his march to the sea on the host's tablecloth.
Pushing battalions of silverware this way and that, the fiery general sent the rebel army clattering to the floor with the sweep of his bread knife. High entertainment!
"Well done, General," I would have said had I been there. Perhaps anecdotes about General Grant might have followed. We all know how General Sherman stood by General Grant when he was drunk, and Grant stood by Sherman when he was crazy. A perfect pair.
One night in 1882 General Sherman was a guest. He regaled everyone by recreating his march to the sea on the host's tablecloth.
Pushing battalions of silverware this way and that, the fiery general sent the rebel army clattering to the floor with the sweep of his bread knife. High entertainment!
"Well done, General," I would have said had I been there. Perhaps anecdotes about General Grant might have followed. We all know how General Sherman stood by General Grant when he was drunk, and Grant stood by Sherman when he was crazy. A perfect pair.
Trump's Lawyers Assert Dictatorial Powers
The Constitutional Crisis Is Already Underway
For most of Donald Trump’s presidency, the specter of a coming constitutional crisis has loomed over the Russia investigation. The newly leaked memo by Trump’s lawyers, obtained by the New York Times, suggests that such a crisis is not merely a likelihood, but that it has already begun.
The memo proposes several tendentious interpretations of the publicly available facts of Trump’s behavior, along with some legally questionable and amateurish citations of precedent. But the most important passage is its sweeping assertion of presidential authority.
“The President not only has unfettered statutory and Constitutional authority to terminate the FBI Director, he also has Constitutional authority to direct the Justice Department to open or close an investigation, and, of course, the power to pardon any person before, during, or after an investigation and/or conviction,” they write, “Put simply, the Constitution leaves no question that the President has exclusive authority over the ultimate conduct and disposition of all criminal investigations and over those executive branch officials responsible for conducting those investigations.”
They did indeed put it simply. The implications of this authority are breathtaking. Trump, in their view, has unlimited control to open or close any federal investigation.
Trump has been angrily tweeting demands that the investigation into him and his allies be halted, and that the Department of Justice instead open investigations into his political enemies. These tweets have been treated as the ravings of a blowhard who just happens to occupy the most powerful position in the world, yet is somehow merely blowing off steam. His lawyers are fully endorsing Trump’s right to do exactly the thing he is calling for. Trump’s lawyers are saying that he should be taken seriously and literally.
Should Trump’s legal case prevail in the courts — and the legality of such broad claims remains largely untested — it would confer upon any president, but immediately Trump, the ability to open charges against anybody the president wants to charge, and prevent investigations of anybody the president wants to protect, beginning with himself. This is l’état, c’est moi rendered as a formal legal case.
Indeed, the conclusion of the memo hints a even more expansive uses for the terrifying powers Trump has claimed. “Every action that the president took was taken with full constitutional authority pursuant to Article II of the United States Constitution,” they write, “As such, these actions cannot constitute obstruction, whether viewed separately or even as a totality.” Article II of the Constitution establishes the Executive Branch, which has numerous other offices, some quite powerful. The Internal Revenue Service lies within Article II. Trump’s lawyers would seem to believe the president can direct the IRS to open or close any tax audit of any figure the president wants to subject to, or protect from, scrutiny.
Trump cannot obstruct justice, according to his official legal stance, because justice is whatever Trump says it is. Before this is over, either Trump’s sweeping claim will survive, or the rule of law will, but not both.
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Gatsby
Adair asked me, "Have you read "The Great Gatsby?"
"Three times."
"You must like it."
"Rich, selfish people hang out and play verbal games. It has something to do with a green light and the American Dream, but I gave up trying to figure it out. That about summarizes it."
"Okay, then I can skip it."
Friday, June 1, 2018
Explanation, Please
Most of what I know about cars is from what happens when I need service. My '09 vehicle is plugging along with 128,000 miles but yesterday the AC was only putting out warm air. Turns out there was a leak, thoroughly explained and shown to me by the mechanic, which is a simple thing to fix. The big thing is the compressor, and it's okay. The mechanic might as well have been talking about dark matter in the universe or quantum mechanics, but even so, I like to have things explained to me even though I may not understand much.
Either
Either you believe in the rule of law and the independence and integrity of the Justice Department or you don't, and we know who doesn't.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)