Category: Politics

Absolute Necessities OR Noise Level Nonsense?

by James P. Shafer, posted in Bridges Not Walls, Defending the Constitution, Election, Emoluments Clause, Ethics in Government, Impeach Trump, Politics, Resist Trump

If YOU were suddenly given ultimate responsibility for the fate of the Free World, where would you choose to focus your time and attention:

Investigating the credible threat that a hostile foreign power posed to the validity of the election OR comparing the relative crowd sizes of your inauguration to those of your predecessors?

Learning all you could about how to harness the relentless forces of economic globalization for the good of the Nation OR harassing, insulting, and bullying the Nation’s closest neighbors and leading trading partners?

Laying the groundwork in infrastructure improvements, educational agendas, and legislative imperatives required to improve the entire Nation’s long term economic growth OR publicly haranguing and brow-beating a few large, successful, public companies over a (very) few thousand, mostly symbolic, jobs?

Listening intently to the dedicated public servants in ALL branches of government who have made it their life’s work to ensure the Nation’s well-being and security in an oftentimes hostile World OR Tweeting about the imaginary indignities inflicted on one of your adult children by the free market?

Building trust, credibility, and goodwill among the large majority of citizens who chose not to vote for you OR repeating baseless claims about massive voter fraud ad nauseum until even the minority who did vote for you wishes that you would just be quiet?

Honoring your oft-stated commitment to govern openly, honestly, and fairly by releasing your tax returns (as explicitly promised on several occasions) and divesting yourself of myriad business interests which constitute a blatant conflict of interest and which stand in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution OR callously labeling those courageous individuals who seek to hold you to those promises as liars and purveyor’s of “Fake News”.

Insisting that the individuals whom you appoint as your most trusted advisers adhere to the highest standards of honesty and integrity OR cajoling a spinelessly complicit legislative majority to turn a blind eye to your appointee’s many moral lapses and questionable judgments?

Reaching out to strengthen ties with trusted Allies around the World who share our values and ideals and who have stood by us for over 50 years OR publicly bashing the freely elected Leaders of those great Nations and the solid alliances they have forged with us in favor of the warped world view and kleptocratic regime led by a murderous and dictatorial tyrant?

Building on the noble traditions and democratic ideals upon which our Nation was founded over 200 years ago OR deliberately and systematically trashing those pillars of our democracy for your own narrow, personal interests?

Even the most casual observer of the chaos which has engulfed the U.S. Government starting with the inauguration on January 20 would readily acknowledge that the list above represents only a small fraction of the deadly serious issues which have confronted the country and the less than trivial diversions with which the trumpster has been obsessed during his brief time in office.

What is perhaps even more pertinent and problematic for the future of our Republic is this: If you put the above choices to your favorite five year old, I’d be willing to bet that they would have no trouble at all making the “right” decision in each case.

That our illegitimate leader obviously finds this level of discerning logic and level-headed judgement to be far beyond his (admittedly limited) mental abilities is perhaps the most damning evidence arguing against his continued occupation of the Oval office.

 

A = A (with apologies to Ayn Rand)

by James P. Shafer, posted in Defending the Constitution, Election, Emoluments Clause, Ethics in Government, Politics, Resist Trump

It does not sometimes equal “A” and sometimes equal “B”.

It does not equal “C” just because someone decides that they don’t like “A” very much.

It does not magically transform itself into “D” because that will generate more headlines.

No matter how loud or how long someone may insist that it is really “E”, it remains “A”.

Even if someone proclaims that he was elected as a visionary leader precisely because he was the only one to see it as “F”, it is still “A”.

When every short-sighted sycophant in the land joins the deranged visionary in proclaiming it to be “G”, eternally it is “A”.

When the Senators who have sold their hearts, minds and souls to that lunatic in hopes of riding his coattails to power deny their own senses and agree that it MUST be “H”, “A” is always “A”.

No matter how many well-intentioned Citizens renounce their capacity for rational thought and join in the demented chorus that This time it is “I”, “A” remains “A”.

 

To deal with facts rationally, you must first be able to recognize and accept them as facts. Failure to do so is a pretty good working definition of a madman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Clock is Ticking . . .

by James P. Shafer, posted in Defending the Constitution, Election, Emoluments Clause, Ethics in Government, Politics, Resist Trump

No sane person relishes the thought of watching the Failure of an American President.  No matter how hard fought the campaign was or how far apart they were on the issues, even Hillary Clinton, in her concession speech, had the good grace and the good sense to ask all Americans to give Donald Trump a chance to govern.

I respect both the sentiment and the hard-headed reality that it embodies.  Like passengers on an airliner travelling 600 miles per hour at 40,000 feet, our fate is now inextricably linked to the skills, judgement, and behavior of the person holding the controls.  So, the only sensible course would seem to be to wish him well and hope like Hell that he knows what he’s doing.

But, at what point does the natural inclination towards maintaining the status quo get overtaken and displaced by the equally natural instinct of self-preservation?

What if you saw that Pilot stagger on to the plane right after spending several hours at the bar without bothering to check the weather or perform any pre-flight preparation?  What if he bullied the passengers waiting in line and groped the flight attendants as soon as they boarded?  How confident would you be about the outcome of the flight if the Co-pilot was the only one with any flight training or actual experience flying an airliner?

At some point even the most white knuckled flyer would be forced to conclude that the best (and perhaps the only) chance for survival lies in rushing the cockpit and wresting the controls from the hands of the drunken lunatic that holds them.

After less than two weeks on the job, it is becoming painfully obvious that Trump is as ill-suited to his new responsibilities as that fictional drunk of an airline captain.  Instead of the fate of a few hundred poor souls on board, though, Trump has the fate of our nation and the survival of the Free World in his hands.

His list of “accomplishments” is as ominous as it is long:

  • Committing an impeachable offense the moment he took the oath of office by not divesting himself of his business interests as is required by the Constitution’s Emolument’s Clause.
  • Gravely insulted the fallen heroes of the Central Intelligence Agency by repeating his baseless claims about media bias in front of the wall honoring their sacrifice.
  • Alienated Mexico with his senseless demands that they pay to build his infamous “Wall” along our Southern Border.
  • Undermined the Nation’s confidence in the integrity of our electoral system by repeatedly claiming that he would have won the popular vote except for the fraudulent votes cast by millions of illegal voters
  • Appointed Steve Bannon, a known right-wing fanatic and political hack to the Principals Committee of the National Security Council.
  • Summarily fired the entire senior staff of the State Department.
  • Permanently tarnished the image and reputation of America in the eyes of the World with his unconstitutional executive order banning legal immigrants and legal residents based on their religion.
  • Summarily fired the acting Attorney General who refused to defend that illegal ban in court.

And that’s just a partial list after less than two weeks in office!

So the question that I pose, and it is directed particularly to those enablers of the Republican variety, is this: How long are you prepared to sit idly by and watch this unbridled maniac destroy all that is great and good about our country?

I understand and accept that the Republican party won the last election and is thereby entitled to the reins of power until the next election.  If we ALL don’t do something drastic and do it soon, though, there won’t be anything left to govern by the time the next election rolls around in two years.

 

 

We are either a Nation of Laws or we are History

by James P. Shafer, posted in Defending the Constitution, Emoluments Clause, Ethics in Government, Politics, Resist Trump

“Obedience to specific court orders is what keeps us from being a banana republic or fascist dictatorship. That’s a really big deal.” – Abner Greene, Law Professor, Fordham University in interview with Huffington Post.

When Trump was riding his father’s coattails and bank accounts to his bespoke fortune back in the early 70’s, he didn’t think the Anti-Discrimination laws applied to him.  It took a lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department to show him otherwise.

In 2005, when he started his now-infamous “Trump University” with the sole aim of bilking as many people as possible out of as much money as possible, he didn’t think that the laws against fraud and illegal advertising  applied to him.  His reluctant acceptance of a court approved $25 Million settlement in a lawsuit bought against him by 6,000 of those defrauded students proved otherwise.

Even before his inauguration Trump blatantly refused to abide by the strictures of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause.  Give his track record of disdain for similarly inconvenient laws in the past, this should come as no surprise to anyone.

Several Constitutional scholars have filed a lawsuit seeking to force Trump to comply with the law using the only methods that have been shown to work against the worst of his sociopathic instincts.  Many Democratic leaders and members of the (still) free press have publicly castigated him for his untenable defiance.

What is surprising, though, is the stone cold silence from members of Trump’s party (who claim to be the defenders of our Nation’s heritage of adherence to the Law), regarding this egregious transgression against our core beliefs and values.

Just this past weekend we, as citizens, together with the rest of the world were given a first hand lesson in the importance of Laws and the absolute necessity that no exceptions be granted in their application and enforcement.

When he did not encounter any serious opposition to his refusal to divest himself of his business interests in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, his next move was an even more brazen attack on an even more fundamental principle enshrined in the Constitution: Religious Freedom.

Despite the public protestations of his PR puppets to the contrary, it is clear that Trump has targeted a group of people for “special treatment” based solely on their religion.  And, still the pillars of the Republican establishment remain eerily silent while Trump’s assault on our Constitution gathers in brutal strength and ugly resolve.

To those politicians who are too afraid (or too focused on the winds of their own political fortunes) to stand up for the rights of the individuals targeted by Trumps tirade of hate and bigotry, you may want to start asking yourself:

At what point does your continuing moral cowardice disqualify you and your party as worthy participants in the Democracy that your standard bearer appears bent on destroying?  Where is the line beyond which you will no longer stand in complicit silence to the atrocities this small-minded man is committing in your name?

Rest assured that it is a question that I and many other concerned citizens will be asking with ever increasing urgency in the troubled times that lay ahead.

 

 

Are Some More Equal Than Others?

by James P. Shafer, posted in Election, Emoluments Clause, Ethics in Government, Politics, Resist Trump

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.

Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution is not some nefarious plot hatched by narrow-minded, bleeding heart Liberals intent on tripping-up our glorious new leader.

It was made an integral part of our Nation’s founding document specifically because the Framer’s of that document saw from personal experience how easily the loyalties and priorities of even the most honorable people could be swayed by the promise of personal gain resulting from official actions.

It has been part and parcel of the “job description” for every President aspiring to or holding our Nation’s highest office since George Washington.  Every one of those individuals, and most of their political appointees, have willingly complied with its strictures, often at great personal sacrifice.

As of January 20, 2017, we have, for the first time in our Nation’s history, a President who stands in blatant violation of this most basic of Laws as of his first day in office.  Although directly contradicted by some of the Country’s most accomplished legal and constitutional scholars, the man who would lead our “Nation of Laws” has unilaterally decided that THIS law, which he finds personally inconvenient, does not have to be obeyed by him.

There are many concrete examples illustrating why this particular Law is of crucial importance, especially given the situation in which we currently find ourselves:

As Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, Trump has the authority to order the men and women who VOLUNTEERED to defend us all into harm’s way.  Those individuals should not have to wonder whether his orders are based on the need to defend our Country or based on the need to defend their Commander-in-Chief’s business interests.

For those of us whose main contribution to our Country is the taxes we pay, we should not have to wonder whether the relative pittance most of us have to cough-up every April 15 will have to compete in our government’s eyes with the influence conferred by the (recently doubled) initiation fee of $200,000.00 at the golf resort in Florida which just happens to have the same name as our newly elected head of state.

Perhaps even more central to the argument, though, is this: Throughout our Nation’s 200+ year history, we have prided ourselves on the premise that All Are Equal Before The Law.  Richard Nixon tried (and dismally failed) to make the argument that “If the President does it, it’s not illegal”.  So the flimsy moral and legal grounds upon which Trump bases his claim of immunity have already been soundly rejected.

Are we now to make a “special exception” to one of the key pillars upon which the success of the American experiment in open and honest governance has rested for over 200 years?

No matter what your personal opinions may be concerning the course and outcome of last year’s election, I think any rational citizen would have to concede that Trump is now the President.  For the good of the country he should at least be given the opportunity to govern.  I am personally willing to give him that opportunity AS LONG AS he is willing to do so in accordance with the laws of our Nation.

To faithfully discharge the duties of the office and to uphold the very values he swore to protect and defend when he took the oath of office on January 20, it is a requirement of the Constitution (which is, after all, the highest law in the land), that he divest himself, immediately and completely, of ALL his business interests.

Failure to do so amounts to nothing less than the betrayal of the Office and of the trust placed in the new President by the millions of Americans who voted for him.

Friends, Neighbors, Countrymen . . .

by James P. Shafer, posted in Election, Politics, Resist Trump, Uncategorized

Let’s face it: a LOT of them (many whom I personally like, admire, and respect) voted for Trump!

Why?

If we are to have any chance at all of bridging some of the deep and daunting chasms that currently divide us, I think we have to try to understand the rationale behind the decisions made by those intelligent and well intentioned fellow citizens who viewed the same set of facts yet came to radically different conclusions.

I should probably disclose up-front that I proudly voted for Barack Obama twice and would have just as proudly voted for him a third time if that had been an option.  I did so because in each of those two elections I believed that given the choices available, he was the candidate best suited for the Presidency.  It was NOT because I believed wholeheartedly in all of his positions and policies.

As a matter of fact, I absolutely LOATHE Obama-care: it has personally cost me several thousand dollars in higher insurance premiums and deductibles while significantly reducing the level and quality of care I am able to afford.  I also think President Obama made several serious mistakes during his presidency.  The most egregious was probably the failure to back-up his “red-line” ultimatum when the butcher Assad used chemical weapons against his own people.

So, I really DO get the frustration that many Americans felt with the status-quo and their strong desire to fundamentally change the direction that the career politicians in Washington seem content to follow.  I was also fervently hoping for a strong, fresh, “New Face” to emerge as a viable candidate.  I was particularly impressed by  Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio and Michael Bloomberg, formerly the Republican Mayor of New York City and a “legitimate” self-made billionaire.

Had either one of these fine individuals emerged as the Republican candidate, my choice would have been very easy and very Republican.  Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.

As we all know, the choice came down to two almost equally repugnant candidates.  So – how did I make my own decision?

Well, during the course of the first presidential campaign that I can recall (at the ripe old age of six!) I asked my Dad why he decided to vote for Kennedy instead of Nixon.  I still remember his answer & his advice: “Always vote for the Man, not his positions and not his party”.  This was obviously way before a Woman could be considered as a viable candidate, but I’m sure he would have had no problem expanding his world view and his advice accordingly.

I have done precisely that in every election ever since.  Win or lose, I’ve never had cause to regret my choices.

In considering the only two viable candidates left standing in the 2016 election, I came to the conclusion that Hillary Clinton, flawed though she undoubtedly was, would be considerably less likely to do lasting permanent damage to the fabric and moral character of our Nation and its institutions.

Based on my knowledge of Donald Trump’s shady business dealings as well as his utter lack of any personal integrity, I viewed (and continue to view) him as an existential threat to the great and grand experiment in self-governance that we call America.

Just because a good many of my friends and acquaintances viewed the same set of circumstances but reached a completely different conclusion does that make them traitors, racists or “deplorables”?

Of course not.  As a matter of fact, given what is at stake here, I honestly hope that THEY were right in their judgement and that the analysis outlined above is dead wrong.

No matter how the national drama now unfolding before us works out though, we will NEED the best efforts and intentions of ALL American’s to heal the self-inflicted wounds that are now tormenting us and build a better, brighter future – together.

 

 

Die Hard Democrat Or Sore Loser?

by James P. Shafer, posted in Election, Politics, Resist Trump

Neither, actually:

As a matter of fact, in the nine previous presidential elections in which I have been privileged to cast my vote, I went with the Republican candidate four times, the Democrat four times and an Independent candidate once.  So, I think you can see that I am legitimately a “middle-of-the-road” type with no strong preferences for either of the political parties and no “hidden agendas” to pursue.

I think it is also worth noting that although my preferred candidate was not the winner in four of those previous elections, I had no problem at all accepting the results of those elections and lending my full support to the elected President.  Every single one of those previous 20+ candidates, of all political persuasions, clearly demonstrated in words and deeds their commitment to the Constitution and their genuine, unselfish desire to do their best for our Nation and ALL of its citizens.

To paraphrase the words of “Uncle Joe” Biden, I often questioned their judgement, but I never had cause to question their motives.

THIS Time, however, it IS different:

Throughout his campaign, during the transition, and even more stridently since January 20, Mr. Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his utter contempt for the lofty ideals enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.  The principles of Equality Under the Law and individual Liberty are either completely foreign to him or he has judged them to be unworthy of his time and attention.

His track record, stretching back more than 50 years, is highlighted by criminal discrimination against minorities, fraudulent business dealings and atrocious conduct towards women.  This history provides concrete proof that he lacks the strong moral character, unassailable integrity, and even the basic sense of decency that our Nation’s founder’s considered to be pre-requisites for any President.

The blatantly illegal and continuing conflict of interest between Mr. Trump’s many business holdings and his duties as our President cast serious doubt on his ability (or even his desire) to govern openly, honestly, and fairly.

Even more egregious is the increasingly obvious role played by Russia in thwarting the will of the American electorate and criminally interfering in our democratic process for the benefit of their “preferred” candidate.  In my view, this is the most troubling and the most damning of all the factors arguing against recognizing Mr. Trump as our Nation’s legitimately elected President.

In light of these circumstances, I believe it to be the duty of all concerned citizens to resist by all peaceful means this obnoxious “pretender to power” and his increasingly reckless policies.

This blog represents my best effort to do just that.