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Trump

Insurrection most foul

January 12, 2021 By Tom Sadler

I’m still having a hard time finding words to express my outrage over the horrifying events of January 6 in our nation’s capital. Until I can, Michael Gerson’s column, The U.S. must punish sedition — or risk more of it, in The Washington Post, will suffice. He captures much of what is going through my mind at this moment.

First and foremost, the murder of United States Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick defines the outrage I feel. Gerson writes of it:

One moment captured on video stands out to me for its brutality and symbolism. An insurrectionist pulls a police officer down the steps of the Capitol, where he is stomped and beaten with the pole of a U.S. flag. The crowd chants “USA, USA.”

Gerson notes that Republican appeasement to Trump and his sycophants has lead to what we witnessed on January 6. The path forward is clear.

Stopping this rot in the political order will require accountability. That begins with the president, who deserves every legal and constitutional consequence our system offers. He should be impeached for sedition. He should be prevented from holding any further elective office. He should be stripped of all the perks of the post-presidency. He should be prosecuted for insurrection against the U.S. government.

Those appeasement should come at a price.

But the responsibility does not end with a single man. Many elected Republicans enabled the president’s political rise. Trump could only attempt the occupation of the Capitol because he had already occupied the Republican Party — in that case, with little resistance. Elected Republicans who cheered that takeover deserve to lose, and lose, and lose, until their party is either destroyed or transformed.

As Gerson notes in his title, this sedition cannot go unpunished or it will continue.

Never Seen an Editorial Like This

December 17, 2017 By Tom Sadler

USA Today’s editors has some strong words. I have never read anything  like this before from an major news paper.

“A president who’d all but call a senator a whore is unfit to clean toilets in Obama’s presidential library or to shine George W. Bush’s shoes: Our view”

“This isn’t about the policy differences we have with all presidents or our disappointment in some of their decisions. Obama and Bush both failed in many ways. They broke promises and told untruths, but the basic decency of each man was never in doubt.

Donald Trump, the man, on the other hand, is uniquely awful. His sickening behavior is corrosive to the enterprise of a shared governance based on common values and the consent of the governed.”

Source: Will Trump’s lows ever hit rock bottom?

Opinion | John McCain: It’s time Congress returns to regular order

September 1, 2017 By Tom Sadler

Our shared values define us more than our differences. Lawmakers should heed that lesson.

We must respect his authority and constitutional responsibilities. We must, where we can, cooperate with him. But we are not his subordinates. We don’t answer to him. We answer to the American people. We must be diligent in discharging our responsibility to serve as a check on his power. And we should value our identity as members of Congress more than our partisan affiliation.

Source: Opinion | John McCain: It’s time Congress returns to regular order

Donald Trump & Congressional Republicans’ Choice: Party of Lincoln or Sycophants? | National Review

August 26, 2017 By Tom Sadler

Yesterday, the New York Times and the Washington Post both dropped stories that set Twitter aflame with speculation and outrage. The Times reported that “President Trump’s lawyers and aides are scouring the professional and political backgrounds of investigators hired by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.” The reason? They’re looking for conflicts of interest that could disqualify members of Mueller’s team, and might even be building a case to fire Mueller. At the same time, the Post reported that Trump “has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe.” In other words, it appears as if all options are on the table to block or disrupt the Russia probe. Indeed, the conduct of Trump surrogates looks like an effort to “prep the political battlefield” for a major move against the special counsel. For example, here’s Newt Gingrich last night on Fox News, discussing Mueller’s alleged conflicts of interest: .@newtgingrich: “The Mueller investigation has so many conflicts of interests, it’s almost an absurdity.” #Hannity pic.twitter.com/F4T8GZrTVX — Fox News (@FoxNews) July 21, 2017 Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow, my friend and former boss, denies that pardons are being discussed, but the Times and Post reports — combined with Trump’s own attacks on Mueller and Attorney General Jeff Sessions — point toward potential dramatic developments in the probe. Yes, the president may very well try to fire the special counsel. He may try to force out the attorney general. He may grant mass pardons to family members and close aides. While I think it’s unlikely, he may even try to pardon himself. If he does any one of these things — much less several in combination — the GOP will have to decide, once and for all, if it is an American political party or a craven, fearful instrument of Donald Trump’s personal brand. There are very few true-believer Trump allies on Capitol Hill. Sure, there are many folks who are genuinely impressed with the man’s electoral victory and admire his intense connection with his base, but even most of them would admit that he was their last choice in the primaries, that they voted for him because they considered the alternative to be worse, and that the main attraction of his presidency is the chance to pass conservative policies and confirm conservative nominees. They don’t trust him and they don’t like him. But — and this is important — at some level many of them fear him, or at least fear what he could do to their careers. Fear is a powerful motivator. Here we are, six months into his first term, and aside from the Judge Gorsuch nomination, meaningful conservative victories have been few and far between. Scandals and self-inflicted wounds abound. Planned Parenthood is still funded, Obamacare is still alive, and tax reform is still mainly a pipe dream. Trump has proven that he can and will blow up any and all news cycles at will. He’s proven that he sees loyalty as a one-way street: “You’re for me, and I’m for me.” No matter your record of previous support or friendship, you must do what he wants or face his public wrath. Yet still the GOP wall holds. Already Republicans have proven their capacity to defend conduct they’d howl about if the president were a Democrat. Trump has lost a campaign chair, national-security adviser, and foreign-policy adviser as a result of deceptions or problematic ties to Russia and its allies. His campaign chair, son, and son-in law took a meeting with Kremlin-linked Russian officials in furtherance of a professed Russian-government plan to help him win. He impulsively shared classified information with the Russian ambassador to Washington. He fired FBI director James Comey, unquestionably misled America about his reason for doing so, and trashed Comey’s reputation in front of our Russian foes. He and his team have made so many false statements about Russia that an entire cottage industry of YouTube videos exists to chronicle them. Democrats and the media have of course overreached as well, providing ample fodder for those who want to retreat to a position of pure partisan criticism. But one must ask: Is there a line that Trump can’t cross? Does the truth matter, or will the GOP act as his defense attorneys all the way to the bitter end? It’s safe to say that not one Republican officeholder ever thought they’d be defending conduct like Trump’s. It’s also safe to say that not one ever thought they’d do so for such meager political gains. Nor could they have imagined fearing mean presidential tweets or crude presidential insults. Yet here we are. Trump commands his legions, and GOP careers seemingly hang in the balance. Call me pessimistic, but we’re moving toward a political reality where GOP silence and loyal GOP defenses may lead Trump to believe he can do virtually anything and escape accountability. The GOP is enabling his worst instincts. After all, Democratic rage is meaningless to him, and he re

Source: Donald Trump & Congressional Republicans’ Choice: Party of Lincoln or Sycophants? | National Review

Peggy Noonan | Columns, pieces and posts

August 26, 2017 By Tom Sadler

Columns, pieces and posts

Source: Peggy Noonan | Columns, pieces and posts

Trump flirts with impeachment if he threatens Mueller – LA Times

August 26, 2017 By Tom Sadler

Let the special counsel do his job.

Source: Trump flirts with impeachment if he threatens Mueller – LA Times

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