* Erik’s Editorial: The Guilty Parties Who Put American Democracy At Risk In The Name Of Donald Trump

US White House upside down (public domain).

I do not fault stupid people for making the stupid decision to elect Donald Trump in 2016.

I do fault smart people for making stupid decisions. These include:

1. Senators who voted to acquit Donald Trump in his no-witnesses-allowed impeachment trial, including primarily Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell:

* Impeachment of Donald Trump (2020-02-05)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Donald_Trump#Acquittal

* Mitch McConnell (2020-02-05)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell#Impeachment_trial

2. Members of the GOP who voted to disenfranchise voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – before, during, and AFTER the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol – including Paul Gosar (AZ-04), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jody Hice (R–GA-10), Mo Brooks (R–AL-05), Scott Perry (R–PA-10), Josh Hawley (R–MO), and Louie Gohmert (R–TX-01).

* 2021 Storming Of The United States Capitol (2021-01-06)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol

* 2020 United States Presidential Election Electoral College Count (2021-01-06 – 2021-01-07)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election_Electoral_College_count

3. Donald Trump’s cabinet, who could have invoked the 25th Amendment to remove POTUS at any time:

* Cabinet Of Donald Trump (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Donald_Trump

4. Social media, including especially Facebook and Twitter, for allowing their social networks to be used as platforms for hate speech.

* Donald Trump On Social Media (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_on_social_media#2021

5. Mainstream media, including especially CNN (on the left) and Fox News (on the right) for not doing their jobs – asking questions until they get answers – and allowing POTUS to lie unchecked.

* Veracity Of Statements By Donald Trump (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracity_of_statements_by_Donald_Trump

6. Lawmakers at all levels, for failing to fix bad laws and for failing to enact good laws. Changes that must be made going forward include:

Limiting POTUS power:

  • Executive order power must be limited.
  • All cabinet members (acting/interim/actual) must be confirmed by Senate.
  • Treaties and tariffs must be the role of Congress so that POTUS cannot engage in trade wars.
  • War Powers Act must be updated to limit POTUS power to deploy the military.
  • Special Counsel Act must be updated to make clear that POTUS cannot fire special counsel.

Writing better and new laws:

  • Impeachment Act of 2021, to define how impeachment is conducted, including the requirement to have witnesses.
  • Follow the lead of The Restatements Of The Law project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restatements_of_the_Law) and codify major SCOTUS cases, including especially Roe v. Wade.
  • Fix the Census.
  • Fix immigration.
  • Fix SCOTUS processes, such as limiting appointments to 2 per POTUS with the number of SCOTUS justices fixed at the number of Federal Circuits (currently 13).
  • Election reform, including who is qualified to run for POTUS and that tax forms must be disclosed to do so.

Just to name a few.

Stupid people, bad laws, and lies got us into this mess.

Smart people, good laws, and the truth can get us out of this mess.

LAW >> MAN.

#FailedPols
https://www.failblog.com/

Weeding Out States’ Rights: Jeff Sessions Rescinds Obama-era Marijuana Policy

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rescinded the legal marijuana policy put in place by the Obama Administration. The Obama-era guidelines, which include The Cole Memorandum and two other documents, established a policy of limited Federal interference in individual state laws regarding use of cannabis. Sessions’ move, in effect, reverses this policy, placing the enforcement of marijuana laws back at Federal discretion.

Currently, the use of medical cannabis, as recommended by a physician, is legal in 29 states. In 17 additional states, more restricted use of cannabis products with limited THC content is legal or decriminalized. Eight states have legalized non-medical use of cannabis. Sessions’ reversal of the Obama Administration’s policy no longer protects states from enforcement of Federal cannabis law.

This development is not simply about whether our representatives support or oppose the legalization of cannabis, however. Many see it as being about preserving states’ rights.

Looking backward, states’ rights were important to the likes of Jeff Sessions when it came to, for example, repealing portions of the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”). Then, Sessions and other Conservatives asserted that states, not the Federal government, should determine whether certain health care costs, known as Essential Health Benefits, should be covered.

Perhaps surprisingly, many Republicans are opposed to Sessions’ actions regarding Federal interference in state marijuana laws. Though Donald Trump supports Sessions’ move, stating that Federal Law on cannabis comes before states’ rights, several GOP leaders, such as Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), say that this stance “contradicts what Trump and the Conservatives stand for.”

Republican Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, who originally opposed legalization of recreational marijuana in his home state, has threatened to block all Justice Department nominees in response, saying that he is “incensed” at the Federal usurpation of states’ rights.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker, of New Jersey, states, “Before Sessions was confirmed, he pledged that this was not what he would do…It is a failure of this administration, who said, as our President did during his campaign, that he would honor what states are doing; it’s a betrayal (by) our Attorney General, who gave a commitment to at least one Republican member of this body; but most significantly, it will hurt America. It is ignoring a growing bipartisan consensus that the war on drugs has failed.”

We should note that, though Jeff Sessions has once again placed enforcement of Federal cannabis laws at the discretion of U.S. attorneys, he has not allocated additional funds or resources for that purpose. Many U.S. attorneys have already stated that they will not prosecute these cases.

GOP Senator Rips Sessions over Marijuana Policy | CNN [2018-01-04]

 

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) on Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Marijuana Policy Change | C-SPAN [2018-01-04]