Below is today’s column in USA Today on the protests against President-Elect Donald Trump and why, despite having a house full of family members and friends who have come to protest Trump, I will not be joining them. Instead, I will be home with my kids as we have been in every inauguration – celebrating the peaceful transfer of power in our democracy and wishing the newly elected president (and our country) the best with an inaugural toast. I criticized Trump (and Hillary Clinton) during the campaign (and I will not hesitate to criticize Trump again for policies or actions that I disagree with). However, I find the claims of illegitimacy and attacks this week to be highly disturbing. I totally respect the right of people to come to protest Trump and his policies. However, there appears to be a concerted effort to delegitimize his presidency and create a type of political mythology about this election.
In this column I discuss that mythology and, more importantly, the meaning of the day of inauguration for many of us. Regardless of my criticism of both Trump and Clinton, I always knew that on January 20th I would raise a glass to the 45th President of the United States and wish him or her . . . and us . . . the best of luck in the coming years. It is a time when we reaffirm our commitment not so much to a politician but to each other. We reaffirm a common article of faith that, despite our disagreements and divisions, we remain one country joined by our belief in democratic transition and government. There is much to celebrate this week as a glance around the world at places like Gambia will readily confirm. Donald Trump will be the 45th President. Our President.
DONALD TRUMP IS OUR LEGITIMATE PRESIDENT
It is inaugural week and Washington is again the rallying point for hundreds of thousands of people. Indeed, my house in McLean, Virginia is hosting roughly a dozen people from Illinois and Florida. They are not, however, coming to celebrate but to protest. My brother Chris, his family, and various friends will be joining thousands protesting the inauguration and then will join the “Women’s March.” I will not be joining them. While I fully support their exercise of free speech and share some of their concerns, I believe that this week is about celebrating the 71st time that a democratically elected president has taken the oath of office (and our 58th formal inauguration). I was highly critical of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during the campaign. However, there is a time to protest and there is a time to come together, even if only for an inaugural ceremony.
Over 50 Democratic members of Congress have publicly announced that they will not attend the inauguration, including some like Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who has insisted that Trump is not the legitimate president. (Lewis and other members also boycotted George W. Bush’s inauguration in 2001 because they insisted that he was not the true elected president.) Ironically, many of these members were the same people joining Hillary Clinton in denouncing the “horrifying” notion that Trump or his supporters might not accept the results of the election. Clinton decried how Trump, by not stating that he would accept the results of losing, he was “denigrating — he is talking down our democracy.” That was when Clinton was viewed as a shoe-in. Then came election night.
After the election, Clinton joined others in challenging results in key states and Democrats began to question the legitimacy of the election — first due to the fact that Trump lost the popular vote and later based on Russian hacking of Democratic emails.
It is of course immaterial that Trump lost the popular vote in a system based on electoral, not popular voting. (For the record, I have long been a critic of the Electoral College.) Moreover, while references to the “Russian hacking of the election” have become common shorthand, the Russians did not hack the election. Emails were hacked and those emails were not faked or tampered with, as repeatedly claimed by DNC chair Donna Brazile. As recently confirmed by the intelligence report, they were real emails showing incredibly dishonest and corrupt practices. Although there is no question that the leak appears selective in targeting Democrats, Washington seems most aggrieved by the fact that the public was given a true insight into the false and duplicitous behavior that defines the establishment. However, according to a new CNN/ORC poll, the spin is not taking: almost 60% of voters do not believe the hacking determined the outcome of the election.
In the end, the protests are not about legitimacy. Trump is by any measure our duly elected and legitimate president. It is about a refusal to accept legitimate results. Even the title of “The Women’s March” is dubious.
While Bill Clinton insisted that his wife lost because Trump figured out “how to get angry, white men to vote for him,” the fact is that it was the Democratic leadership that secured the election for Trump. Despite long-standing polls showing that voters did not want an establishment figure, the establishment pre-selected Clinton, who is not only one of the most recognized establishment figures but someone carrying more luggage than Greyhound. She is also someone who had even higher negative polling on character and truthfulness than Trump.
More importantly, it is a well-maintained myth that Clinton was the candidate of women who overwhelmingly rejected Trump. Clinton pulled basically the same percentage of female votes as Obama did four years earlier. Indeed, Clinton actually did slightly worse this election than Obama did in the prior two presidential elections with women. She received just 54% of women’s votes while Obama received 55% against Romney and 56% against McCain. Trump handily beat Clinton among many groups of women. For example, 62% of white women without college degrees voted for him over Clinton. Even among college-educated women, Clinton only won 51%. She lost the votes of white women by a whooping 52-43% against Trump. It was her margin among black female voters (over 90%) that eked out an overall majority of women.
Moreover, Trump won basically the same percentage of white voters as Romney. Indeed, according to Pew Research, the percentage was virtually identical with Trump beating Clinton by 21 points and Romney beating Obama by 20 points. Clinton actually fell in the percentage of black voters. Trump outperformed Romney among black, Hispanic, and Asian voters. For example, despite all of the coverage of Trump’s illegal immigration comments, he received roughly 30% of all Hispanic votes.
The point is not to belittle the basis or numbers of opponents to Trump. Yet, there is an effort to establish a mythology that Trump was elected by white men and heavily opposed by women. Worse yet, there is an effort to portray him as some presidential pretender to the office. In reality, it is Democratic leaders who have abandoned tradition and denigrated our democracy by refusing to stand with the new president at his inauguration. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said she would not attend because she did not want to “contribute to the normalization of the President-elect’s divisive rhetoric by participating in the inauguration.” That “normalization” is called the democratic process. We are celebrating not a particular victor but the fact that there was a victor — a democratically elected victor followed by a peaceful transition of power.
So, I will not be with my brother and friends at the protests. I will be home toasting the 71st oath of office . . . and, yes, the 45th president of the United States.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
Around here we cancel hate speakers with bad weather:
http://mynorthwest.com/516150/far-right-speaker-sells-out-for-talks-at-wsu-pullman-uw/
But it also means I’ll miss the cello concert.
The first sentence is another indicator, in case we needed one, that the Associated Press is yet another institution ruined by liberals (it’s been given to questionable behavior for at least a dozen years or more).
Senseless.
This is an interesting reflection on the current situation: “…Ultimately, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the reality shows, the entertainment news, the surveillance society, the militarized police, and the political spectacles have one common objective: to keep us divided, distracted, imprisoned, and incapable of taking an active role in the business of self-government.
If “we the people” feel powerless and apathetic, it is only because we have allowed ourselves to be convinced that the duties of citizenship begin and end at the ballot box.
Marching and protests have certainly been used with great success by past movements to foment real change, but if those marches and protests are merely outpourings of discontent because a particular politician won or lost with no solid plan of action or follow-through, then what’s the point?
Martin Luther King Jr. understood that politics could never be the answer to what ailed the country. That’s why he spearheaded a movement of mass-action strategy that employed boycotts, sit-ins and marches. Yet King didn’t march against a particular politician or merely to express discontent. He marched against injustice, government corruption, war, and inequality, and he leveraged discontent with the status quo into an activist movement that transformed the face of America.
When all is said and done, it won’t matter who you voted for in the presidential election. What will matter is where you stand in the face of the injustices that continue to ravage our nation: the endless wars, the police shootings, the overcriminalization, the corruption, the graft, the roadside strip searches, the private prisons, the surveillance state, etc.
Will you tune out the reality TV show and join with your fellow citizens to push back against the real menace of the police state, or will you merely sit back and lose yourself in the political programming aimed at keeping you imprisoned in the police state?”
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2017/01/nothing-real-reality-tv-programming-masquerades-politics.html#more-65047
We just did that Jill. Why oh why do you leftists insist on acting like we moderate centrist Constitutionalists don’t exist. That bit the Left on the butt big time November 8th Where did you think those votes came from —thin air?
You misunderstand Jill’s writings, Michael.
Off topic but an odd coincidence…
Before the SCOTUS …
“Whether the sovereign immunity of an Indian tribe bars individual-capacity damages actions against tribal employees for torts committed within the scope of their employment.”
Lewis v. Clarke
Seriously, he wrote this story for USA TODAY andj re-posted here. At least y’all did not say that his relatives are being paid by George Soros.
The reason he wrote it is to remind all of us we did the right thing on November 8th by supporting representative democratic principals, the Constitutional Republic and The Constitution and there by finding out the ultimate source of power is not just citizens but self governing independent and free citizens.
The center is back where it should be in a Constitutional Republic – The Constitution. Ballots not bullets were the weapon of choice and tomorrow we celebrate a Second Independence Day having done our duty as Citizens over Government with Government as employees.
And it’s fun watching the European system drown in their own misery. Keep dividing them that trick works in two directions, keep educating, keep pointing out for us this was only the first battle and the fat lady hasn’t begun to warm up.
(No offense meant until we get to the Chief Clown of the Left who is now officially fatter than the island he lives on in Michigan.)
It’s a Joyful day living under the oldest and most successful Constitution in the history of the world.
As for the others? Lots of places to picnic snd the ants have gone on holiday.
So, let me get this straight:
Does Turley expect a medal for NOT joining in the protests that are going to surround the ceremony connected with the swearing in of our duly, elected President? An award for not participating in the ugly and malevolent behavior espoused by a minority of disappointed, delusional and disturbed societal misfits, intent on disrupting the calm and dignified transition of power? Wow. Talk about participation awards, or, in this case, lack of participation awards. The mere fact that JT feels the NEED and the necessity to even justify his acquiescence, by explaining his actions, or inactions, speaks to the depths to which many so-called intellectuals have sunk. There is now a need–a requirement–to justify one’s respect and deference for the rule of law and the process by which power is transferred from one elected official to another. It’s a tragedy that our society has devolved to the point where honest and law-abiding citizens now feel the compulsion to explain away their failure to degenerate into a member of a mob, devoid of all sense of propriety and decency. A world turned upside down.
bam bam, I think that maybe Professor Turley posted this as a safety valve of sorts – a forum to let off steam.
Just a sad commentary as to the pressing need, which now appears to exist, to openly and publicly defend one’s choice to uphold the rule of law and to desist from participating in an improper and defiant display of anarchy. While I support JT’s choice to respect this transition of power, never did I believe that a day would come when decent, law-abiding individuals would feel compelled to justify their refusal to involve themselves in mayhem and madness. A new low.
Ah but you answered the question if the left were decent people they wouldn’t be ‘left’ would they?
Moral evaluations are the last step in Objective evaluation and that does take ‘Being, Consciousness, Examination of the nature of things, evaluation and deciding useful or not and then is using whatever is being evaluated as to it’s natue moral or not.
It’s learned by following all the steps and always re-evaluating the good or possible good and most of all continuing to develop moral values.
…
THEN comes ethics and standards,,, and decency.
Is it possible to evaluate a subjective thought, idea, creative flash of brilliance? Of course.But it is not possible to assign as coming from fairy tale land on the other side of the universe in some other universe.
Reality is Reality. You should have listened to the Philosophers who developed the answer for 2500 plus years and not worn a $19.95 blind fold labeled Made In Berkeley.
Chrissake bam, The man has to live w/ family, colleagues and friends who all are left to far left. Give him, and us, a break!
He should, instead, lecture them on the irresponsibility of their acts and conduct, rather than finding it necessary to explain his decision to abstain from joining them in their folly. That’s the crux of it, Nick. That those, who do not participate in such absurdities need to defend themselves. Sorry you missed the concept. Usually those in the right don’t feel the need to make excuses or justifications. An obvious sign that things are turned around.
bam, I get your point. But, lecturing your family is never the way to go. I simply have empathy for the guy. JT is a judicious man. In a perfect world, you would be right. We are light years from perfect.
Light years, wow; I’m impressed.
Such a simple statement of mixed metaphors — it leaves tears in my eyes.
“Just a sad commentary as to the pressing need, which now appears to exist, to openly and publicly defend one’s choice to uphold the rule of law and to desist from participating in an improper and defiant display of anarchy.” — bambam
What improper and defiant displays of anarchy are you referring to, bambam?
I see a peaceful handing of power to a new administration, with some protests along the way. So be it; but it is far removed from anarchy.
Your superlatives always put the cart in front of the horse.
“. . . I believe that a day would come when decent, law-abiding individuals would feel compelled to justify their refusal to involve themselves in mayhem and madness.”
Anarchy, mayhem, madness — where?
Anarchy is the destruction of all government. Autocracy is a state of a totalitarian government One is the extreme of the right and the other the extreme of the left. So far I see no anarchist involved.
Talk to bambam; she is the one claiming anarchy.
Thanks for the two-bit lecture, though.
Speaking of putting the cart before the horse, why don’t you wait until tomorrow and, then, let me know how off base that my predictions were? How about that? Do you recall any predictions, which were publicly broadcast, that wild and unruly, protesting mobs were anticipated for Obama’s big day? It didn’t occur because this country wouldn’t have tolerated offending the Great One. No broad claims of having any obligation to fight against his tyranny, which we all endured for eight long and acrimonious years. With Trump, everything’s a go–every unbathed, unemployed crackpot with a drum, dreads, a loudspeaker and fleas will be trying to feel important and relevant by causing chaos tomorrow. Don’t like my choice of vocabulary? Simple solution, Rain Man. Don’t read what I write.
Again, paragraphs help the reader to consider the possibility that your writings are more than rants; but if you want to screed off — go ahead — just know that I don’t read monolithic blocks of doom and gloom.
Tomorrow will be what it is, and I apparently have more faith in the resilience of this country’s traditions and legal bindings.
Will there be idiots on both sides — yes. So what? The real work starts this coming Monday.
You need to read the definition of the word ‘tyranny’, bambam.
Maybe find some historical contexts where the word fits better than your current usage.
Don’t forget the concept of paragraphs while your at it.
I know that you see and hear things which do not exist, Rain Man, but please be specific–where did I use the word “tyranny” in any of my so-called rants? Huh? Learn to read and comprehend. I know, I know. Paragraphs and big words. They throw you. Perhaps I will supply you with more paragraphs once you begin to contribute some thoughts that are actually your own, instead of your typical m.o. of just dishing out rude and irrelevant comments pertaining to the thoughts of others? I won’t hold my breath, Rain Man. Your mostly rude and irrelevant comments contribute nothing to the discussion.
Right above, bamster:
https://jonathanturley.org/2017/01/19/why-i-will-not-be-joining-the-protests-against-president-donald-trump/comment-page-3/#comment-1579849
Your words, not mine; get a grip.
Get a dictionary for the words that send you into a tizzy. The Dollar Tree has them for a buck. Hopefully, you can afford to spring for one.
bam, You’re exponentially smarter and better than Jose/Goldie/Inga/Annie. Just give him/her a jab and then ignore.
I don’t ‘tizzy’ bam bam.
But did you see your use of the word ‘tyranny’ in your screed, the one I linked to right above?
Accept it; you wrote it.
Poor Nick. Doesn’t know where to turn; everyone is the same person in his mind.
How can such a clever boy be so consistently wrong?
I have mine, bam bam; acquired long ago and well thumbed.
Make some tea, settle down — read your own screeds.
I am offering my own opinions by pointing out the virulence of many — mostly yours here — though there are others not so rabid.
I personally don’t care about many things, as the tide of ignorance has long stranded the ships that used to sail above the depths.
I don’t mean the last six months, eight years, sixteen years; I mean a multiple generational loss of acceptance and forbearance.
This obviously escapes you while you wipe the spittle off of your keyboard.
Paragraphs are an effective way to frame written thoughts, bambam. You should try them sometime.
Jimmy Kimmel @jimmykimmel 4m4 minutes ago
“Voice in Trump’s brain as he bobs his head, pretending to enjoy The Frontmen of Country “what the f–k did I get myself into?”” Trump is going to get bored with gig and then we will get Pence.
I am so happy my former state of Wisconsin came through in the clutch and didn’t vote for Hillary. Those Cheeseheads can have common sense.
Cheese is brain food:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2110801/Could-eating-cheese-milk-make-brainier.html
mespo, Indeed. But those Cheeseheads balance the brain development w/ mass quantities of beer and brandy.
Maybe a replay of Super Bowl 45? I would like to see your Steelers beat the Evil Empire. My bride is an insufferable Packer fan. The normally reserved woman swears like a sailor, particularly during the playoffs.
You two should get a room.
Jose is a homophobe!!!
Jose:
nick and I have had plenty of heated dustups We can still be civil and discuss areas of common interest. There’s a lesson there.
Gotta get by the Patricheats first.
Even Tom Cotton who has been a political opponent of Obama’s praised him for his dignity in his personal life.
Nice of Cotton.
Richard Nixon had an orderly domestic life (and his daughters weren’t sullen adolescents and his wife wasn’t Material Girl). What he got for his trouble was articles by the likes of Judith Viorst and Wood-Stein trashing his marriage.
Judith Viorst? “The Tenth Good Thing About Barney” and “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”, Judith Viorst?
That Judith Viorst. Her husband was a prominent journalist associated with the WaPoo. She published one of those Sunday supplement articles with a title along the lines of, “Pat Nixon, the Ultimate Good Sport”. Wood-Stein promoted the idea that Pat Nixon was a melancholic lush who hated her life and had no one to talk to but Billy Graham. (Wood-Stein put this nonsense into the mouth of David Eisenhower, who surely knew his mother-in-law had three living siblings and could certainly rely on his wife and her sister).
Interesting. I had no idea she was anything more than a children’s book author. Amazing how all the rats are related and they never tell. I always thought Pat Nixon got a terrible rap.
I read Viorst’s book “Necessary Losses: The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies, and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow” some time back and it was very helpful at a particularly painful area in my life. Apparently she is a Freudian analyst.
Seriously? You call a person who committed murder and torture a man of dignity? He is a man who sold white phosphorous to kill Yemen civilians, yet he is praised. There is something so terribly wrong about this. He bragged about killing a 16 year old boy with one of his drones.
It simply appears that there is nothing Obama can do that is not a source of pride to Democrats. When you start praising people who commit atrocities you are greenlighting them to commit more. This is the legacy of Democrats to our nation, not resistance, not justice, just the worship of a very bad man and total acquiescence to that evil.
I bet you loved George Bush killing over 4000 of our soldiers in a false war!
emw,
You are very wrong. I spoke out and protested GWB. I personally asked the State Dept. attorney why Bush was not being arrested for war crimes. So, actually, I didn’t love this at all.
Really which war was that. But just to put he stastistics where they belong and love it when these left wing socialist fascist warmongers vote for something, cut and run after committing the troops then lie about it. Bight ME.
By the way EMW what did you do in the war? From the Time Almanac 2010
Casulties List sez (all figures are deaths of US Military Personnel
WWI 116, 708 deaths Woodrow Wilson Democrat the first Progressive
North Russia 424 Woodrow Wilson Democrat Progressive
The Banana Republic Wars. Casulties not listed FDR Democrat Progressive
WWII 407,316 Franklin Roosevelt Democrat Progressive
Greece Harry Truman Democrat Progressive
Korea 38, 576 Harry Truman Democrat Progressive
Cuba JFK Democrat Social Progressive Fiscal Conservative
Dominican Republic
Vietnam 58,207 Lyndon Baines Johnson Democrat Progressive
Grenada Reagan Republican
Panama Reagan Republican
Adriatic Wars such as Kosovo Clinton stated reason Genocide
Persian Gulf War 382 Bush 1st Republican
War on Terror 2001 part one 714 by 2010 and still in progress Bush gets the credit for that one up until Obama declared it won
Iraq War Part One 2003 Bush 4312 gets the credit unti OBama declared it over Then he moved troops to Afghanistan, Pakistan etc. BACK to Iraq again. Bush still got his share. About the same as the number of US Civilians killed inthe 9/11 bombing. EMW doesn’t care about that last figure.
Pakistan or War on Terror 2002 Obama
Iraq War Part Two Obama still in progress spread to Libya
Syria Obama still in progress
Obama only President to have started up a conflict on day one and still in progress on day last.
Total Casulties Who knows. Obamas Wars are not over yet.
However the bulk belong to wars and conflicts begun by not just Democrats but Progressive Democrats.
Add it all up EMW remark should be turned around. Were you happy with all the US deaths plus other deaths in wars started by the left?
Then there is the War Powers Act put into law by Democrat Congress and Democrat President. Number of times complied with Two both by Republican PResidents. Number of times complied with by Democrats? Zero.
Ratio of US Service personnel killed in conflicts or wars started by Democrats since WWII 18 to 1
A large drop off in very high casulties began in 1946. But the Korean War and the Vietnam Conflict still give the left wing secular progressive Democrats the lead in war mongering. Now add up how many they won?
Bight ME. You left wing war mongers have zero room to talk and that includes the right wing of the left aka RINOs.
How many days was that in uniform EMW?
How many days spent getting rid of the draft?
How many days spent protesting the suspension of civil rights since 2001?
We dodged a bullet with Hillary’s loss. Defense contractors gave here over three times as much money as they gave Trump. She owed them a lot of favors. And she was a proven warmonger:
So, we should have stayed out of WWII? And let Hitler conquer the rest of the world – before coming after us?
Jay S, if I were about to make a comment as dumb and non-sequitur as yours, I believe I would just turn my computer off. FFS.
He wasn’t called Stompy-feet McPointyfinger because he was a class act. Get real.
Presented without comment:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C2kID41UsAECUMh.jpg
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
PS: Manque’ is a really cool word! From wiki:
PPS: The above thingy about “manque’ ” is NOT a comment. 🙂
Winter hacks away at these old ladies and they will be falling down in droves.
Lots of the women that are going do yoga and they are in great shape whether they are young or old.
DC ambulance services are bringing in reinforcements from around the country to handle Life Alert calls. Lots of old, white women will be hitting the panic button and crying, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”
Just talked to some Richmond Police officers. They are sending a bus load of cops to DC to work the Inaugural. here’s hoping to few arrests and fewer idiots on the street.
That’s really funny, Nick.
What’s the; matter No Cornbread?
Hey, if Darren plans to clean up the sockpuppets around here, he might have to put you first on the list. Now as to Inga or Annie, I am not her. You appear to be obsessed with this Annie. Carry on if you must but you are wrong and Darren probably knows that.
Reblogged this on pundit from another planet.
I failed to see much criticism of Trump during the campaign by the way. I DID see lots of unfounded nitpicking about Clinton saying things that were technically TRUE such as the FACT that Clinton could legally claim bankruptcy after leaving office. Unlike Trump the Clintons did not use the bankruptcy dodge to get out of paying their bills. Then we have the FACT that Trump himself refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of OBAMA! Sorry, but I am not a Christian and will not forget nor forgive such a person and treat him with the respect he REFUSED to grant his predecessor. Most other candidates who have run for President observed some conventions of decency towards their opponents. Trump promised to jail Clinton as one of his first acts as POTUS. Is that part of our tradition too? Such behavior merits contempt and no legitimacy be given to him.
Will Prof Turley support jailing Clinton for all of her what TURLEY says is her corruption? Think that such rhetoric should be rewarded with normal conditions? I am not holding my breathe about him criticizing Trump for his massive number of outright lies and falsehoods. Instead we were treated to nitpicking bits of hints at corruption but not substantiated by fact on the part of Clinton. Then we have the massive corruption in the Cabinet members, and Trump personally. It is like a cop seeing a jaywalker and stopping him, while ignoring the murder on the other side of the street. Will we have a column about Trump Hotel’s lease being violated by Trump and the fact that nobody will enforce the letter of the law? This is a rather intriguing legal matter since he is illegally the leaseholder of government property while being a Federal office holder. The GOP congress will not impeach him or even force him to obey the law, so what will we do? Simply say that the law doesn’t apply to the President? When this column starts dealing with substantial matters, then it will be worth reading once again.
randyjet:
“Then we have the massive corruption in the Cabinet members, and Trump personally.”
***************
What cabinet members? What corruption? The retired generals who sailed through the process? The CEO of Exxon who (gasp!) knows Putin? Sessions who some claim flies the Stars & Bars even as he desegregates Ala. schools? Rick Perry? Ben Carson MD? Tom Price who made a whopping $300.00 on a claimed insider stock deal? You can’t just throw out “massive corruption” a la Teapot Dome and then scurry away.
Where is Trump’s corruption? A settled lawsuit? A golf course in Scotland? Some out of the shadows accusers of sexual assault years ago who’ve headed back under the rocks now that the election is over? A story about hookers and Moscow that only Mr. Magoo could believe in? Figuring it’s better to dialog with adversaries than shoot at them? Jaw-jaw versus war-war,as Churchill might say.
http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-mnuchin-trump-treasury-fails-to-disclose-100-million-in-assets-2017-1 And this Goldman Sachs dude is not the only one in the Trump cabinet that has a shady story.
He is a little dicey throwing out old woman and all.
Seig me no Heils Comrades. Try again in eight years or maybe sixteen. Never mind. The Democrats are no more. Some went to be regessive seculars, some green some New Democrats led by Donna Brazile etc some National Socialists, some International Socialists. The establishment just got it’s aristocratic neo feudalist ass kicked.
Now to business First things first. Get out the mops and the disenfectant. And….enjoy the day!!!
Remember
Quit Enabling ….check
Take Control ….. check
Make Changes …. a work in progress
Hoorah for Citizens Over Government and three cheers for the return of representative democratic principles the strong base of of a Constitutional Goverment.
As for the losers? Who you?
“When this column starts dealing with substantial matters, then it will be worth reading once again.” — randyjet
Yeah, the clickbait articles and chorus of ‘huzzahs’ following are feeble.
For example, Trump’s lawyers released a document last week titled: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND THE PRESIDENT. This white paper discusses the new administration’s interpretation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause; the site balkin.blogspot.com offering a quick take on the paper’s merits:
“In connection with last week’s press conference, Donald Trump’s lawyers have published a white paper on presidential conflicts of interest. With respect to the Foreign Emoluments Clause, the authors make at least three noteworthy claims.
First, endorsing originalism, they maintain that “the scope of any constitutional provision is determined by the original public meaning of the Constitution’s text. Here that text, understood through historical evidence, establishes that foreign governments’ business at a Trump International Hotel or similar enterprises is not a ‘present, Emolument, Office, or Title.’”
As Michael Ramsey notes, this embrace of originalism as the only suitable and definitive mode of constitutional analysis is a surprising and perhaps ill-advised posture for Trump’s lawyers to adopt in these circumstances. It is probably best understood as ideological in the sense Professor Ramsey identifies. . . .”
https://balkin.blogspot.com/2017/01/a-note-on-original-meaning-of-emolument.html
Of course, the regulars will complain at this post and tell me to go elsewhere, not understanding that I do; but every now and then I read this site hoping that it will discuss substantive issues, only to find the Georgetown Enquirer.
You’re kidding. I saw Trump getting hammered, and sometimes rightfully so, everywhere from MSNBC to Fox to stand up comedy internationally. You really didn’t see much criticism of Trump? No deplorables, no actors talking about him, no cute T-shirt slogans, no genitalia hats, no outrage that his talk of a rigged election meant he might not, gasp, accept the outcome of our holy democratic election process, no talk show topics?
In fact, one of the good things that I anticipate will happen is that the media will stop turning a blind eye to the OOP. Finally, we’ll have a dutifully suspicious army of journalists willing to shine the light of public scrutiny on everything the President does and Tweets.
My only conclusion is that you must have become so weary of all toxic politics, all the time, that you must have simply turned off the TV, not checked out any online news media, wore a go-away-from-me sweater with a zippered top to pull over your head when your friends walked by, demanded that all of the passengers on your plane refrain from discussing politics, never picked up a magazine, newspaper, journal, or mailer, and wore ear plugs at all time.
And, really, from the toxic back and forth politicking, I think that was a wise way to go. Wish I had thought of it.
Just to add a bit to your well written rejoinder.
Give them enough rope they hang themselves. That tax dodge was put into place by Democrat majority congress, signed into law by Clinton and used by Clinton and the NY TImes and THEN Trumps CPA’s and tax lawyers followed suit. Clintons still under investigation farce of a Foundation is folding after moving it’s money out of the country and every one laid off with no pardons in sight. Trumps businesses employ anywhere from 28,000 to 33,000 people.
When those folks go into denial to the other mystic world they don’t go to seek truth according to decent people just another round of BS.
As for including them? Why make matters more difficult? They have nothing to offer except …. nothing. Just shut up pay your taxes for a change and get out of the way. No touchy feely forgiveness here. That’s your problem. No magic wand and some fairy tail.
After reading that tripe pity has changed to contempt.
Michael Aarethun,
Who are you responding to? Impossible to tell given your comment was not addressed.
If to me, I made no claim except a desire to have future substantive issues discussed; echoing randyjet’s last sentence above. Please note the phrase, ‘future substantive issues.’
If you have rational complaints for the author of the blog post I linked, you should address them at the place of issuance. I’m sure you will go far.
Where are we going to find this super candidate?
We rely too much on the past based on oral history of how these super human individuals with valor and value laden attributes rescued humanity from its own clutches.
Guess what?
The institutions that truly govern this nation of ours will survive and continue to support our democracy regardless of who is the simpleton given the title of leader. That’s what we are about, institutions. Figure headed saviors are just that, symbols of hope, justice and equality meanwhile the reality is we are not actually annihilating each other based on our tribal differences because we find some sort of common ground.
That common ground is endurance. We want what we have to extend into the future perpetually with profit both in monetary and spiritual terms of growth.
To depend on one individual human with all the apparent flaws and biases is short sight.
Encourage change respect what it brings and limit your time of return on your labor.
Bring each of us to the table as equals, limit the strong arm of oppression by imbalanced providers and encourage those without to celebrate the simplicity of having very little to none.
Continue to being, not what you are not or without, but what you can share.
Each act of sharing matters.
Do what you can, however you can to make each one of us as citizens feel a part of the same song.
We are truly the most gifted people on the planet, don’t forget how simple things work , like kindness and unity for a common cause, liberty, can help us stay that way.
Blessings to everyone, for we will need it going forward.
Sincerely, RPC.
Nice thoughts Roscoe, well said.
Had a hundred years to prove the worth and I see no value in the soppy sentiments which are a plea for clemency and nothing else. Instead an apology would have been nice. As for now since you can’t lead and can’t follow just get out of the way we’ll bring our own mops and brooms and trust in ourselves.
Who had one hundred years to prove the worth of what?
The rest of your comment is indecipherable given the context.
Roscoe, great comment. I do believe that Bernie would have a good prez – he served as a catalyst to bring people into the issues arena and made it clear – he was not a savior and it wasn’t about him rather about us. He would have brought a vibrant group of people to participate – unlike Obama who once elected said “thank, alright, go away, I’ll take it from here”
Roscoe, what a lovely post.
“Obama’s Perpetual Farewell Tour”
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2017/01/obamas-perpetual-farewell-tour/
“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled” Mark Twain.