* 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/

Mr. Trump Goes to Europe…and Disgraces the U.S.

Donald Trump spent his recent trip to Europe lobbing insults, make-believe “facts,” and worrisome statements that even some of the usual Trump supporters have called a disgrace. We can only hope that “disgrace” adequately describes the damage that has likely been done by Trump’s behavior abroad.

As if Monday’s meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin (and the press conference that followed) wouldn’t have been troubling enough for the United States, before that meeting even took place, a few other Trumpian nuggets disgraced the United States this week:

The Disgrace of the NATO conference

Trump started off his trip by insulting U.S. allies at the NATO conference in Brussels. Grossly exaggerating the amount of energy Russia provides Germany, Trump proclaimed that Germany is “totally controlled by Russia.” In reality, natural gas is the only energy resource Germany receives from Russia, and it comprises just 20 percent of Germany’s total sources of energy.

Demonstrating his lack of knowledge about current NATO agreements, Trump pressured nations to increase their defense spending to 4 percent of their GDP, claiming that this was in accordance with a 2014 formal agreement. President Emmanuel Macron of France confirmed that according to the  agreement, the goal for each country was 2 percent of its GDP to defense spending by 2014, not 4 percent. Again citing false figures, Trump inflated the actual U.S. contribution, as well.

In a press conference, spouting wildly inaccurate dollar figures, Trump claimed “The United States has been paying a tremendous amount, probably 90 percent of the cost of NATO.” Though Trump later amended the figure to 70 percent, he was still grossly exaggerating. The United States pays more than its share, but our payment is only 22 percent of the NATO common fund – not 90 or even 70 percent.

Trump’s disgraceful visit to the UK

Donald Trump began his visit to the UK greeted by throngs of protestors. Even so, he remarked that the British “like me a lot.”

While in Britain (one of our closest allies), Trump gave an interview with The Sun, a British tabloid, in which he criticized British Prime Minister Theresa May for, among other things, how she is handling Brexit. Though the audio recording of the interview with Trump’s disparaging remarks was broadcast globally, Trump denied making the remarks.

May reported to the BBC that Trump suggested that she should sue the EU rather than negotiating with them. At another point in his trip, Trump described the EU as a trade foe of the United States, singling out Germany as an example.

Trump also openly criticized London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, saying he’s “doing a terrible job,” and blaming Khan for the terrorist attacks on London. He went on to proclaim that immigration is “damaging the fabric of Europe.” One has to wonder if Khan’s ethnicity has anything to do with Trump’s comments.

The president ended his trip to the U.K. by visiting the Queen. Photographs show Trump, during the Inspection of the Guard at Windsor Castle, awkwardly walking around and in front of the Queen, appearing to be unaware of the disrespect he was showing someone who is not only a queen, but a 92-year-old woman.

Donald Trump, United States President, doesn’t appear to have a clue about decorum, diplomacy, or, for that matter, how to tell the truth. It would be entertaining, perhaps, if it were just a reality TV host we were assigning those buffoonish qualities to. But buffoonery doesn’t play well in the company of statesmen doing their work. As some Americans continue to put spin after spin on his words and actions, the disgrace of Donald Trump continues to accelerate globally.

Trump’s UK visit ends in controversy ahead of Putin meeting | Channel 4 News [2018-07-15]

London Mayor Sadiq Khan responds to Trump | CNN [2018-07-13]