* 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/

* AG Fired, Trump’s Monday Night Massacre, Language of Lying, Psychology of Narcissism (2017-01-31)

Top 6 Videos

Liberal, Nonprofit, and Uncategorized

Conservative

1. The language of lying – Noah Zandan (2014-11-03)

6,992,101 views

TED-Ed – “We hear anywhere from 10 to 200 lies a day. And although we’ve spent much of our history coming up with ways to detect these lies by tracking physiological changes in their tellers, these methods have proved unreliable. Is there a more direct approach? Noah Zandan uses some famous examples of lying to illustrate how we might use communications science to analyze the lies themselves. View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-language-of-lying-noah-zandan”

1. Trump adviser: Obama appointee betrayed her office, country (2017-01-30)

28,744 views

Fox News – “Senior adviser Stephen Miller tells Tucker Pres. Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama admin. holdover, because she refused to enforce Trump’s executive refugee and immigration ban – and was therefore betraying the Constitution #Tucker”

2. The psychology of narcissism – W. Keith Campbell (2016-02-23)

2,401,191 views

TED-Ed – “Narcissism isn’t just a personality type that shows up in advice columns; it’s actually a set of traits classified and studied by psychologists. But what causes it? And can narcissists improve on their negative traits? W. Keith Campbell describes the psychology behind the elevated and sometimes detrimental self-involvement of narcissists. View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-psychology-of-narcissism-w-keith-campbell”

2. Trump fires acting AG after she refuses refugee order (2017-01-30)

19,478 views

Fox News – “White House statement: Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, was weak on border and betrayed her office and her country.”

3. President Trump fires acting Attorney General Sally Yates after defying executive order (2017-01-30)

464,656 views

CBS News – “The White House relieved acting Attorney General Sally Yates of her duties after she told the Justice Department not to defend President Trump’s executive order on immigration. Creative Director of MediaDC Michael Graham and New York Times reporter Yamiche Alcindor join CBSN to break down the latest.”

3. Judge Robert Bork explains why he agreed to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox [in what became known as the ‘Saturday Night Massacre’] (2008-12-01)

1,984 views

Richard Nixon Library – “Robert Bork recorded interview by Tim Naftali, December 1, 2008, the Richard Nixon Oral History Project of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.”