* 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/

Trump’s End to the Federal Government Shutdown: Concession or Win?

Was Donald Trump’s temporary “deal” to end the federal government shutdown a concession to Democrats, or was it a win for the GOP? That depends on how it’s spun. On Friday evening, January 25, Trump signed a bill to end the five-week government shutdown, and Trump himself appears to claim this action as a win, not a concession.

“This was in no way a concession,” Trump tweeted. “It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races!”

Trump not only denies that he has made a concession, he appears to take on a position of concern about the well-being of the 800,000 federal workers who were impacted, implying that if not for the Democrats, the longest government shutdown in history would not have occurred, and federal workers would not have been furloughed or required to work without being paid.

Many Americans remember, however, that it was Trump who, on national television, proclaimed that he would “own a shutdown” if it occurred. When Trump and Democrats reached an impasse on funding for a wall on the U.S. – Mexico border, the shutdown went into effect the next day. It occurred because Trump had asked for $5.7 billion to be added to new legislation for federal spending, which would need to be passed before the previous spending legislation expired on December 21.

At the urging of Democrats, and after at least two paychecks were missed by the federal employees affected by the shutdown, Trump agreed to sign a bill to re-open the federal government for three weeks while House Democrats and Republicans attempt to work out a deal regarding U.S. border security.

As Shaun Hannity sees it, Trump “right now holds all the cards…He will secure the border one way or another.”

The spin continues, as Trump slithers around just what “border wall” means to him. The government was shut down as a result of Trump’s unyielding insistence on funding for the physical border wall he campaigned on, and Democrats’ refusal to support it. Now, however, Trump says this:

“We do not need 2000 miles of concrete wall from sea to shining sea. We never did. We never proposed that. We never wanted that, because we have barriers at the border where natural structures are as good as anything that we can build.”

Perhaps Trump thinks his by now well-known tactic of “I never said that, and if I did say that, it’s not what I meant” demonstrates that he is the only rational party in the wall discussion. Perhaps he’s hoping that as he ends the government shutdown, Americans will somehow have forgotten the definition of “win.”

Anderson Cooper: Trump tries to redefine victory to avoid losing | CNN
[2019-01-25]

Graham reacts to Trump’s announcement of deal to end shutdown |
Fox News [2019-01-25]