Protect Our Children, Protect Our Communities

 

Again, our flags are at half-mast. Again, children are murdered for no other reason than for sport. Again, firearms are the weapon used to slaughter the young.

Fletcher Merkle, age 8. Leaves behind a mommy and a daddy.

Harper Moesky, age 10. Leaves behind a mommy and a daddy.

The two most recent children hunted down for sport while learning their ABC’s in the classroom. In total, there have been 148 children killed in school shootings since 1989. College students at study bring the total to 212.

We are horrified. We are saddened. We are angry…And then we become complacent.

Our lawmakers push speed dial to rush out their monthly texts conveying their “thoughts and prayers” and then just as quickly desert the issue, diverting our attention to the plight of the gas stove and gender identification, for example. It seems that while our children now practice duck-and-cover in case of a future school shooting, our politicians have established their own form of duck-and-cover.

Our leaders’ lack of attention to mass shootings in America is as horrific as the crime itself. This is a crisis, and yet our leaders do nothing in what the entire world clearly sees as America’s disturbing culture of gun violence and mass shootings unique to anywhere else on the planet.

70% of school shooters are teens who either attend the targeted school or once had. In the Catholic school shooting this month it was again a former student who shielded himself outside of the school, firing at his pint-sized targets through a window. What can be done beyond thoughts and prayers to help protect our children at school?

 Surrounding the schools with fencing and a security gate requiring visitors to request access could become a state and/or federally funded necessity. In a survey of America’s teachers, only 18% want to be armed as proposed by many conservative lawmakers. However, having armed security on campus makes sense to many. Increase the age to 21 for gun purchases. Parents who don’t secure their firearms to prevent the youth access to the weapon need to be held legally accountable.

Circling the wagons around our schools wouldn’t have protected the patrons watching a movie at the Aurora Theater, concert goers outside of the Mandalay Bay resort, shoppers at a Buffalo supermarket or clubbers at a Miami nightclub, however.  How do we protect all of us in any situation? We start by identifying the usual contributors: mental illness and guns.

Providing mental health care is essential, but it isn’t the lone factor considering that the Nashville school shooter was receiving mental care and that all countries have a mentally ill population – yet those countries don’t experience 1714 victims mass shootings in the past 25 years as we have had in the US according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government. So, what stands out as a difference between us and other nations? Our gun culture. We are only 5% of the world population, yet we possess 42% of guns in private ownership. That doesn’t equate into cataloguing guns as bad, but when it comes to one firearm, that weapon does need to be placed in a police lineup. 85% of deaths in mass killings are at the barrel of assault weapons.

The statistics suggest that more lives might be saved should this weapon favored by mass murderers be eliminated. Before proposing a ban, outline the benefits of the weapon vs the risks, and if there are conclusive risks, are there alternative firearms that could provide the same benefits? The risks are obvious: in the wrong hands it kills more people in less time than other weapons. For example, at a concert the gunman’s AR15 hit 925 people in less than ten minutes - 58 dead, 867 wounded. As for the benefits, there are far better alternative firearms for hunting – what good is shredding your venison -- and for home security the use of a rifle or handgun in your home is safer for your family and neighbors.

Would a ban work? It did from 1994-2004 when a ban was adopted and the number of mass shootings dropped 17%. When the ban was lifted, mass shootings tripled. Countries that experienced assault weapon mass shootings and then banned assault weapons have not had a mass slaughter since.

At a minimum, requiring universal background checks, gun registration and denying gun ownership to the mentally ill could go far to save lives.

There is evidence that stronger gun policies work. There is evidence that doing nothing has failed. A recent poll reports 71% of Americans want stricter gun laws and 62% want assault weapons banned. It is time our legislators ignored the tantrums of the minority and the dollars of the gun manufacturers’ lobbyists and paid attention to the death toll. Sadly, if you think your Congressman will act by conscience without your nudging, you are wrong. Legislation can be driven by you, if only you would make your voice heard.

Playing Hide and Seek with the Epstein File

 

Pssst. Donald…It ain’t working.

Donald Trump is in trouble. And Donald Trump knows it.

The Teflon Don, able to convince his followers to shrug off and ignore every scandal, every mocking of the handicapped and the unfortunate, every lie, every inconsistency, every act of stupidity, every law he has violated, the bragging of sexual assault and leading a violent attack on Congress to steal an election, has finally found himself sinking in a political tarpit …and his method of pulling himself from the tarpit is less than grabbing a rope to pull himself out but instead using a shovel to dig himself deeper and deeper.

That tarpit is the Epstein file and whether or not he is included in the file. Despite Trump’s claims that he is not, the circumstantial evidence says he is.

When asked if he ever observed Trump in the company of underaged girls, Jeffery Epstein’s response during a disposition was “though I’d like to answer that question…I am going to have to assert my 5^th, 6^th and 14^th amendment rights.” You have to think a “no” answer, if Trump was never engaged with underaged girls, would have been an easy response if that were the case.

In Trump’s own words, something he and Epstein had in common was that “he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” How young?

According to Trump in a Howard Stern interview, he acknowledged liking younger women but did have a line he would not cross: “…(not) like Congressman Foley, with 12 year olds.”

Trump bragged about walking into dressing rooms while teenage girls were undressed at his Miss Teen USA beauty pageants. “As the owner, you sort of get away with things like that.”

Trump was caught on tape lusting over an underaged girl as they each rode the escalator in opposite directions. A friend of Trump’s shared the story of how when they were playing tennis Trump mentioned to him that he found the teenage girl playing in a nearby court attractive and the friend had to advise Trump that the girl was his daughter.

Even with adult women he is immoral. He brags about sexually assaulting women. He was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman. Epstein shared that Trump would use Epstein’s Manhattan apartment to “f### his friend’s wives.” Epstein says when he asked Trump why he is obsessed with having sex with these women, Trump’s reply was “because it’s so bad.”

The question then, is how bad can “it’s so bad” be to pleasure him? One woman has said Trump and Epstein “raped” her when she was 13.

While Trump says he never visited Epstein’s island, in clarifying this he said “I have never had the privilege to visit.” It should be noted that it came out during Epstein’s legal proceedings that underaged sex also occurred in his Manhattan apartment. You don’t have to literally go to the island for Epstein’s services.

So how suspicious is it that Trump not only might have had inappropriate relations with underaged women but also in connection with Epstein? Trump and his administration’s own words and actions make it more and more suspicious.

His Attorney General Pam Bondi stated she had the Epstein file with all its damning evidence on her desk. She said she would soon be releasing it. But then Elon Musk tweets that the reason the file had been withheld is that Trump’s name is included in the file. Bondi’s eventual response to that: there is no such client list. It doesn’t exist.

Trump then fired the prosecutor in the Epstein case.

Trump, who pledged to his base who long sought the release of the files that he would release all the files once elected, now says it is all a hoax. A client list doesn’t exist. When his base objected and continued to call for its release, he condemned those in MAGA who keep pursuing the issue as “fools” and “losers” and instructed them to drop it. His daily obsession and anger with their pursuit for more information, as well as his practice of deflecting questions about the Epstein file by redirecting reporters to wild accusations against the likes of Barak Obama and Oprah Winfrey, only make him appear to be hiding something.

Trump insisted he knows his name does not appear in any Epstein file. Now we know that he was advised by the DOJ in May that his name appears in the file multiple times. That is how Musk learned Trump is included.

His explanation of a file changes frequently. It exists and has been hidden by Democrats because Democrats are listed. It doesn’t exist. It exists, but it is a fake file created by Democrats to frame Trump and Republicans.

On one hand he says no file exists and he has never seen a list of Epstein clients. But then he claims he has seen the evidence that certain Democrats have been on the island, including Bill Clinton “28 times.”

When it became obvious that the House had the votes to order the release of the files, Trump had House Speaker Mike Johnson cut the House off at the pass by closing Congress early. It will not resume for two months. What is happening during this pause? Trump has sent the Assistant Attorney General who served as Trump’s personal attorney during the Stormy Daniels case to meet with Epstein’s convicted partner in the sex crimes for private discussions.

What could be the objective of these sudden discussions? Given Trump’s history of giving pardons to convicted felons who agree to support him, is it unreasonable to believe a pardon is being discussed if she supports his claim that he was never involved?

So, what should happen when Congress returns? Any testimony by brothel madam Ghislaine Maxwell may now be questionable. She may lie in exchange for a pardon. But she can’t change the file itself and an unredacted file won’t lie. Congress must return to ordering the release of the file.

And if Speaker Johnson and Republican Congressmen refuse to do that? That is something they must answer for in next year’s elections.

Big Beautiful Bill or Big Bad Wolf?

 

The Big Bad Wolf is knocking at your door. Little did we know a few years ago that the Big Bad Wolf would be wearing a red cap.

I’m not referring to the MAGA capped Big Bad Wolf knocking on the doors of immigrants and those protesting Trump’s positions on Gaza, I’m talking about YOUR door.

Trump’s tax bill – which he has marketed as the “Big Beautiful Bill” – negatively impacts everyone in one way or the other.

Loss of net income for 20% of households. According to a study at Yale, the bottom 20% of wage earners will come out 2.9% less in net earnings, while the top 20% will experience a 2.2% increase. Meanwhile, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the top 1% on average will see their taxes reduced by $66,000 and specific case studies in Texas saw their top millionaires getting a tax reduction of $100,000.

Higher electric rates and energy shortages. The bill seeks to kill renewable energy in favor of coal and other fossil fuel which not only sacrifices our environment from clean energy to toxic pollutants, but it is also projected to impact your utility bill. To cripple expansion of clean energy systems, the bill puts heavy taxes on wind and solar energy projects and strips away tax credits for homeowners who switch to solar. Senator Brian Schatz (HI) points out that 80% of new capacity on the grid came from solar energy last year, and crippling renewable energy systems will “cost people - ratepayers - $60 Billion in this decade alone. Your electric bills are about to go up.”

Interest rates on mortgages and the cost of living can go up. A growing national debt risks increasing interest rates, lowering the country’s credit standing, weakening the dollar and increasing inflation thus increasing the cost of living.

According to the bi-partisan Congressional Budget Office that Congress depends upon for impartial and accurate fiscal analysis of proposed legislation, Trump’s bill is going to add $3.9 Trillion to our debt. This is due to extending Trump’s tax cuts to the billionaire class which itself is projected to amount to a loss of $4 Trillion in revenue. While a shell game is being conducted to suggest that cuts in services to the public could offset this lost revenue, huge increases in defense spending of $153 Billion which includes $25 Billion to fund Trump’s scheme to attempt a dome covering the continental US to shoot down incoming missiles coupled with multiple tax cuts overrides the cuts in services and results in massive debt.

Nursing homes can close. A study by Brown University reveals that 579 nursing homes may close because of the bill’s Medicaid cuts.

In-Home Health Care Services will be cut. Two studies indicate that 477,000 health care workers will lose their jobs due to Medicaid cuts meaning 477,000 disabled persons will not continue receiving their in-home care. They also estimate another 411,000 jobs associated with needed health care will be lost.

Rural hospitals are expected to close. Independent rural hospitals are on track to lose an estimated $465 million in total patient revenue due to the Medicaid cuts in the bill, or an average of $630,665 per hospital with according to one analysis puts 55 hospitals at risk of shutting down.

17 Million people will lose health insurance. The CBO estimates the bill’s changes to health insurance will cost 17 Million people their coverage. This includes cuts to Medicaid as well as removing the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies that made purchasing private health insurance affordable to many who are not eligible for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance.

Lower income families will lose food assistance. The CBO indicates all of the 42 Million households who depend on food subsidies will either see lower amounts of assistance or completely lose food benefits. An example is a single Multiple Sclerosis adult living on $900 per month. She receives $140 in SNAP to help with her food costs – which already falls short. She has been advised to expect that amount to be lowered once Trump’s bill goes into effect. 270,000 homeless are expected to be cut off. Breakfast and lunch programs provided at schools for children from poor families is being slashed or eliminated.

Less Opportunity to send our children to college. Today’s college students are dependent upon student loans. The bill changes eligibility requirements to loans eliminating some households who had previously been eligible; lowers the maximum amount that can be borrowed annually to $20,000 when the average cost is $39,000; and makes repayment of loans at a higher percentage of post-graduation income. The Student Borrower Protection Center estimates college will be costing these students an additional $3,000 per year.

Clean Energy is being put on the back burner. Tax incentives to assist people in installing clean energy alternatives in their homes are ending. Tax incentives to encourage investment and development of wind and solar energy are ending. War has been declared on electric vehicles: the tax incentives for production and purchase of electric vehicles are also ending.

Clearly the primary targets for increased wealth in Trump’s tax policy is the upper 20% of Americans at the expense of the bottom 20% in particular, with random shots at the middle class. Even more clearly is the growing autocratic power of Donald Trump who has the ability to drive Republican legislators into approving a bill that 59% of Americans wanted their legislators to reject.

And while Trump and the GOP removed safety nets for lower income households, the disabled and senior citizens, they include a safety net for themselves by postponing implementation of the Medicaid cuts until after the November 2026 elections, avoiding being held accountable by their constituents who will suffer.

Trump has huffed and he has puffed and he has blown our medical, financial, educational and environmental security down.

A General's Bitter Memorial Day Memory

 

Memorial Day. A day to remember and give our respect, thanks and prayers to those who sacrificed their lives to protect democracy at home and across the globe.

This Memorial Day we should also pause to consider what an American military hero, General John Kelly, shared with us about someone he closely served as chief-of-staff and who is currently hoping to become our president and commander-in-chief.

On Memorial Day 2017 then-President Donald Trump made the obligatory presidential visit to Arlington Cemetery in the company of General Kelly. There, in front of the grave of Kelly’s own son, Trump questioned why anyone would sacrifice their life in battle. “I don’t get it. What’s in it for them?”

One year later, according to General Kelly and three other staff members who were present, Trump insisted on canceling a scheduled visit to the American Cemetery in Paris to honor the Americans who gave their lives in liberating France. “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” He went on to refer to marines dying in France as “suckers.”

After returning from France, Trump asked Kelly to develop a military parade to demonstrate to the world the strength of America’s military hardware but advised Kelly not to include any wounded veterans in the parade. According to Kelly, the following conversation commenced:

“Look, I don’t want any wounded guys in the parade,” Trump insisted.

“Those are the heroes,” Kelly replied. “In our society, there’s only one group of people who are more heroic than they are – and they are buried over in Arlington.”

Trump didn’t care. “I don’t want them. It doesn’t look good for me.”

General Mark Milley repeats a similar experience. At an event honoring veterans, a veteran who survived war but his legs did not, was introduced to Trump. Trump was harsh with Milley afterward, “Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, see the wounded.” He ordered his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to never repeat that offense.

There was an early clue that Trump had no respect for our military heroes when on national television in 2015 he argued that John McCain, who, when a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam was offered the opportunity to be released from the POW camp because McCain’s father was an admiral, but refused the North Vietnamese offer saying he did not deserve preferential treatment over the other Americans in captivity, is “not a war hero…because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

While McCain did not defend himself against Trump’s remarks, he did defend a Gold Star family that Trump was being hostile towards in 2016 because the parents of a slain soldier were Muslim and they had made public they would not be voting for Mr. Trump.

“In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents. He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States – to say nothing of his entering its service. I cannot emphasize enough how strongly I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statement,” McCain said. “I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.”

But when our Republican Party, its officers and its candidates insist on supporting Trump to be their leader after Trump’s feelings about our servicemen and women who have given their lives so others might live in freedom have been a matter of record, how can they not be associated with such unpatriotic, uncaring thinking?

Those who smile when they see Trump hug the American flag and offer timely salutes may have difficulty questioning whether Trump can actually be this callous towards those who have fallen. They then need to consider those who have actually been in his presence who know firsthand. Here’s what Trump’s former communications director Alyssa Griffin says:

“Despite publicly praising the military and claiming to be the most pro-military president…Trump will fundamentally never understand service the way those who have actually served in uniform will, and it’s one of the countless reasons he’s unfit to be commander-in-chief,” she stated after giving examples of his failure in her presence to have empathy for those who serve and who have fallen.

This is all worth considering given in a handful of months we must make a decision on who is fit to serve as commander-in-chief.

Trump’s Secretary of Defense Mark Esper warns “I think he’s unfit for office. He puts himself before the country. His actions are all about him and not about the country.”

Having worked closely with Trump, General Kelly concludes that Trump “…is a person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about.”

And Trump being restored to the presidency?

“God help us” laments the general.

White is Trump's Favorite Color, Brown Not So Much

 

Finally, Donald Trump is allowing persecuted foreigners to apply and receive refuge in the United States. They began arriving this week. They arrived by jet. Some traveled first class. Their luggage by Louis Vuitton.

And they are white.

Wealthy South African’s peeved at their government’s new policy of redistributing land from extensive land holdings are fleeing what they consider unfair land programs and what their fellow South African Elon Musk sees as communism.

In crafting a more acceptable rationale for opening our borders to the white South Africans, Trump went to his spinning wheel and wove a tale of the South African government turning a blind eye to an excessively high murder rate of white farmers, or as Elon Musk defines it, “genocide.”

Truth is, an average of 20,000 murders occur in South Africa annually. Of those, white victims average a total of 58. An investigation concluded these murders are a result of burglaries and theft gone wrong – not a form of ethnic cleansing or racial revenge.

Why the redistribution? Because of South Africa’s past practice of apartheid. Whites in South Africa make up only 7% of the population yet own 73% of the land. That is because the white population benefited from apartheid whose policy prohibited the native black population from owing property. From the seeds of apartheid, large extensive agricultural operations owned by whites grew and blossomed.

Today’s black South Africans would like to farm as well. But they can’t. The whites own all the farmland.

Therefore, the government is trying to correct the situation and create opportunities and equality for the blacks who are locked out of the farming community by carving parcels from the larger farms and ranches.

Trump says that qualifies them for refugee status. Why? Here's a hint: because they're white.

Meanwhile a Latino who fled his country to escape threats of murder by a violent gang was handcuffed, deported and imprisoned in an El Salvadorian prison known as one of the world’s most inhumane by order of the Trump administration. Not only is he a reasonable candidate for asylum in the US, but he was also granted protection by a federal judge to reside in the US. He must report regularly to Immigration. He does. He must not commit a crime. He hasn’t.

It eventually surfaced that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should have never been deported, much less imprisoned. The Trump administration admitted that it was an unfortunate administrative error. Realizing this, a federal judge ruled that the administration must facilitate Garcia’s return.

That was before The Donald got directly involved. He ignores his administration’s original confession. He is ignoring the judge’s orders. He appealed to the Supreme Court to erase the judicial ruling that he must facilitate Garcia’s return, and he lost.

He has made up a story that Garcia has is a gang member and has a horrific criminal history. When countered that there is no proof that Garcia belongs to a gang, Trump presented a poorly photoshopped picture of Garcia’s knuckles with MS13 written across them in a clumsy tactic to fool the public. Trump says they are tattoos. Anyone who sees the picture can see it looks more like someone typed MS13 on the fist. Photographs of Garcia inside the El Salvador prison show the same hand with no such tattoo.

Trump has delegated the responsibility of keeping Garcia incarcerated and keeping the public misinformed about Garcia to Kristi Noem, Director of Homeland Security and of puppy killing fame. Noem has put Trump’s lies on the HS website turning it from a mere fib to propaganda. Her government website’s home page concentrates on its theme “100 Days of Fighting the Fake News” where she says Homeland Security is committed to countering information provided to the public by the press. She then feeds the public lies about Garcia:

She lies claiming two courts found him guilty of being a member of MS13.

She lies that he was ordered deported in 2019.

She falsely suggests he is a sex trafficker.

She falsely claims he beats his wife.

She falsely contends the Supreme Court did not rule against Trump; that the court ruling only requires the US provide transportation into the US from the border if El Salvador choses to release him and that it is a violation of international law for the US to facilitate his release.

Yet in an interview with ABC Television, Trump contradicts Noem acknowledging he can indeed secure the release with one phone call, “But,” Trump says, “I won’t.”

Garcia has no criminal background. He is not a gang member. He does not beat his wife. He was given protective status as he remains in the US by a federal judge. Another federal judge and a unanimous Supreme Court – a conservative Supreme Court where one-third of the judges were appointed by Trump himself -- has instructed Trump to seek his release. But he won’t. Why?

Here’s a hint: because he isn’t white.

Trump Declares War on Knowledge

 

Donald Trump has declared war on knowledge.

Two institutions crucial to any democracy are a free press and education. Both are targeted by Donald Trump for demolition. And both will certainly succumb to his heavy hand, giving up their rights, if they do not each unite with others in their fraternities.

No society can remain democratic and free without a free press. When authoritarians take power, their first act is to control the media. From Lenin sending in Bolsheviks with bayonets to seize control of Russia’s radio stations, to Mussolini shutting down Italy’s newspapers, to Donald Trump who had attempted to cripple the Free Press during his first term by discrediting the media as “fake news” and casting himself as the only person the public could trust for their information. Now in his second term, he’s going for the jugular. He is attacking on multiple flanks: intimidation with billion-dollar lawsuits; threats to jail journalists and producers; threats to scuttle media business ventures; threats to remove their licenses to operate.

He tested the waters with ABC, filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against ABC, with ABC backing down and settling for $15 Million hoping it would send a sign of cooperation to Trump. Trump liked the flavor of that, and now he is pulling lawsuits out of his holster like a villainous  gunslinger. CBS - a $10 Billion lawsuit. The Post - $3.8 Billion. The Des Moines Register is being sued for simply publishing their poll in 2024 showing that Trump was losing.

The ABC domino effect is causing media executives to make decisions that are not in the best interest of the press nor, as will be the ultimate consequence, American democracy.

CBS is pulling back on their coverage and potential criticism of the Trump administration. The controlling shareholder of their parent company Paramount Global, Shari Redstone, is nervous that Trump will use his influence to scuttle her sale to Skydance Studios which requires FCC approval. The resulting message to the news department to take off their journalistic gloves and put on mittens has resulted in the longtime producer of 60 Minutes to resign.

Paramount and CBS should not join ABC in the bunker. The American press must hold hands, unite and refuse to allow none of Trump’s threats to dictate their reporting of events. America already suffers from Right Wing propaganda networks such as Fox News and Newsmax masquerading as news agencies polluting their audiences’ minds with false information, but for the legitimate press to possibly not share the full story of events will deny the public all the facts they need to help them fully understand what is happening in our country. Incomplete news is as bad as fake news.

Equal in necessity for democracy to thrive is education. Like the press, authoritarians lunge at public schools and higher education to mold them into their likeness; to discipline them into following the teachings of the authoritarian government. Like authoritarians before him, Trump has targeted our schools – from supporting the banning of books in public schools and abolishing the Department of the Education, to dictating specific doctrine that universities must incorporate.

“I love the uneducated,” Trump once smiled. And he means it.

In this battle, Columbia University stepped into the shoes of ABC. The private university was told to adopt nine new policies which included restrictions on departments that address Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies; abolish the University Judicial Board transferring their authority to punish students to one individual; immediate expulsion or multi-year suspension of any student who participated in Anti-Israeli demonstrations; allow greater police authority to arrest future demonstrators; and changing their admissions procedures. If Columbia fails to implement these policy changes, Trump will order the termination of $40 Million in federal funding for research.

Columbia caved. But like in a “B” Western, when the local population first fails to stand up to the greed of the guys dressed in black, a hero rides into town and motivates the townsfolk to stand up to the bad guys. Harvard rode in on their white horse.

Harvard refuses to fall prey to extortion. They said no. Harvard standing tall inspired other universities to circle their wagons.  Hundreds of colleges signed a letter informing Trump that they will not give in to his authoritarian demands and they stand united. Trump responded to Harvard by freezing $2 Billion in funding. That money, said Harvard, goes to researching treatment for cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and other diseases.  That money, said the Trump administration, “is a gravy train.”

If we don’t all unite and become active, not only joining the press and educational institutions but uniting as one to denounce the entire laundry list of Trump’s unconstitutional actions, our silence and apathy will in essence have held the door open for an autocracy with Ronald Reagan’s shining light on the hill having gone dim.

 

A Constiutional Crisis

 

And so, it has happened. The Constitutional crisis has landed.

Two of the most important people responsible for overseeing the security and fairness of our elections during Trump’s first term are officially at risk of going to jail for doing nothing more than acknowledging that there was no fraud in the 2020 election and for pointing out issues within the Trump administration.

 Sebastian Gorka,  Trump’s current Senior Director of Counterterrorism, is calling for jailing any who oppose Trump.

The conservative Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Trump must facilitate the return to the United States an innocent Marylander who was arrested and packed off to a dangerous prison in El Salvador by ICE. Trump has folded his arms and refuses to comply.  

These are the acts of an authoritarian. This is not just the beginning of a Constitutional crisis, it is a Constitutional crisis

Donald Trump is seeking the arrest and potential imprisonment of two members of his first administration because they had confirmed that they told Trump in 2020 that the election was not rigged; that the election was fair; and that Trump lost to Biden.

Trump’s targets are Chris Krebs, Trump’s Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security, and Miles Taylor, his former senior aide at the Department of Homeland Security.

It was Krebs’ job in 2020 to oversee the election to make sure it was conducted fairly. After claims by Trump that the election was stolen, Krebs conducted an investigation. Krebs arrived at the following conclusion:

“…in every case of which we are aware, these claims (of fraud) either have been unsubstantiated or are technical incoherent.”

 It particularly infuriates Trump that Krebs testified before Congress during their investigation of the January 6 attack on Congress. Krebs not only repeated that the election was absent of fraud, but he also took public exception to Trump inflaming his supporters with his allegation that it was stolen before he sent them to ascend upon the Capitol. “Republican officials, senior officials, including the former President, lied to the American people about the security of the 2020 election.”

Ouch. Krebs is going to suffer for that candor.

Taylor is facing the same consequences. He not only vouched that in his position at Homeland Security he is positive there was no fraud, but he also later wrote an OpEd and a book highly critical of Trump. You can’t get away with both undermining Trump’s narrative about the election and criticize Trump. That’s more than he can stand. He too must be investigated and punished. Directly referring to Taylor’s criticism, Trump labeled Taylor’s examples as “all lies” and justifying police action against Taylor because “I think he’s guilty of treason.”

Under any authoritarian regime, to be critical of the authoritarian or to challenge that leader’s version of events is a crime. It is in North Korea. It is in China. It is in Russia. It once was in Germany and Italy. It is now in America.

While Krebs and Taylor’s personal liberty are at risk, Kilmar Abrego Garcia has already lost his. Inappropriately arrested and deported under false charges of being a member of the gang MS-13, he sits in the foreign prison under contract by Trump to accept deportees due to – the Trump administration admitted – an administrative error. This should be an easy fix. It would be…if it didn’t turn out that Trump is happy that he subtracted one more Hispanic from our population.

The Supreme Court came to the rescue. A conservative Court consisting of three Trump appointees ruled 9-0 that Trump must facilitate the return of the victim. But Trump won’t comply. Despite Constitutional requirements that he must comply as an essential part of our system of checks and balances, Trump instead is willing to go to war with the Constitution.

Beginning in his first week in office Trump has fired warning shots that a battle with the Constitution was imminent.   Trump threatened the Freedom of the Press by seeking to remove their right to operate, to jail journalists and producers, and filing lawsuits; he began action to end the Right to Assemble for those who demonstrate against his positions; has done away with due process; intimidates and makes threats against attorneys who challenge his positions; and seeks jail for citizens who either dare to be critical of him, release facts that contradict his narrative, or attempted to hold him accountable for crimes that evidence demonstrates that he committed.

But in defying the Supreme Court, he has fired the most devastating shot at our Constitution since the firing at Ft. Sumter. When he goes to war against the Supreme Court, he is going to war against the Constitution. When he goes to war against the Constitution, he has gone to war against our democracy.