Below is my column in The Hill on the collapse of the lawfare campaigns against Trump. The first to go will likely be the two cases by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who became a lame-duck prosecutor at around 2:30 am last Wednesday. We are also waiting for what is likely to be a reduction or even a rejection of the Trump civil case by Attorney General Letitia James. While Democratic prosecutors are likely to continue, if not ramp up, their lawfare efforts, Trump will enter office with a fraction of the existing legal threats that have dogged him for years. For prosecutors, they are left like the ancient mariner:
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Here is the column:
Nearly two years ago, I wrote that Democratic prosecutors’ lawfare campaign against Donald Trump would make the 2024 election the single largest jury decision in history. Now that the verdict is in, the question is whether prosecutors will continue their unrelenting campaign against the president-elect and his companies.
The answer is that it may not matter.
The election reflected a certain gag sensation for a public fed a relentless diet of panic and identity politics for eight years. The 2024 election will come to be viewed as one of the biggest political and cultural shifts in our history. It was the mainstream-media-versus-new media election; the Rogan-versus-Oprah election; the establishment-versus-a-disassociated-electorate election.
It was also a thorough rejection of lawfare. One of the things most frustrating for Trump’s opponents was that every trial or hearing seemed to give Trump a boost in the polls. As cases piled up in Washington, New York, Florida and Georgia, the effort seemed to move more toward political acclamation than isolation.
These cases are now legal versions of the Flying Dutchman — ships destined to sail endlessly but never make port.
If there is a single captain of that hapless crew, it is Special Counsel Jack Smith. For more than a year, Smith sought to secure a verdict in one of his two cases in Washington and Florida before the election. His urgency was seemingly shared by Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, but by few other judges or justices.
Around 2 am, Smith became a lame-duck prosecutor. Trump ran on ending his prosecutions and can cite a political mandate for it. Certainly, had he lost, the other side would be claiming a mandate for these prosecutions.
Trump’s new attorney general could remove Smith and order the termination of his continued prosecution. That is less of a problem in Florida, where a federal judge had already tossed out the prosecution of the classified documents case, which some of us saw as the greatest threat against Trump.
In Washington, Chutkan, who proved both motivated and active in pushing forward the election interference case, could complicate matters. Under federal rules, it is up to Chutkan to order any dismissal.
In the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Judge Emmet Sullivan resisted granting the dismissal sought by the Justice Department — a record that I criticized as both unusual and unwarranted.
Chutkan could run the incoming Trump administration around on any dismissal, but in the end, it should succeed in ending Smith’s ill-considered indictment. In reality, Smith was not only losing the Florida case but was likely to be reversed again in Washington due to his refusal to make sufficient changes in his indictment of Trump after the recent immunity decision by the Supreme Court.
Smith could make one last push to damage Trump in the period before the inauguration by pushing for an immunity decision from Chutkan. He would again likely find a supportive ally in Chutkan.
However, in the end, this would do little to change the fact that the Flying Dutchman will soon be without a crew or port of call.
One of the most immediate cases to resume is the prosecution in Manhattan by District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Many, including commentators like CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig, have denounced that case as legally flawed and obviously politically motivated.
Judge Juan Merchan is scheduled to rule on the immunity issue by Nov. 11 and to hold a possible sentencing on Nov. 26. Merchan has shown a pronounced bias against Trump in the past, and his counsel is likely anticipating a continuation of this pattern.
Merchan could sentence Trump to jail. However, such an abusive sentencing, even a brief one, would likely trigger an expedited appeal and would likely be stayed. Trump cannot pardon himself in a state case, but the case itself is a target-rich environment of arguable legal errors that could collapse on appeal.
Another case in New York is likely to move forward now. There is a pending appeal on the massive civil case against Trump brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. For many, James is the very face of lawfare as a prosecutor who ran on getting Trump on something, anything.
She ultimately secured another openly biased judge in Justice Arthur Engoron, who imposed an absurd, grotesque $455 million in fines and interest against Trump and his corporation. Notably, some of the judges on the appellate panel seemed to agree with that assessment, questioning not just the amount but the very use of this law in a case where there was no victim and no one lost a single dollar due to the fraud alleged.
My assumption is that the opinion is already written, held back only because of the election. It could now be issued and constitute a major change in the case. Whatever is left of that judgment, if anything, would then certainly be appealed.
Then there is the roaring dumpster fire in Georgia. An appellate court there will decide whether District Attorney Fani Willis and her office can continue prosecuting the case. If they are forced off the case, a new prosecutor must review the matter. While some criminal allegations against defendants can be established, the alleged racketeering conspiracy against Trump is legally flawed and likely to fail on appeal.
Trump will also continue to appeal civil cases such as the E. Jean Carroll case, which will linger long past the election.
Trump will not be the only defendant to see substantial changes on January 20, 2025. Trump has pledged to pardon those prosecuted over the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. The public elected him despite that pledge and over the opposition of Democrats. That will affect hundreds and may come in the form of a mix of pardons and commutations, depending on the underlying charges.
One lingering question will be whether those who supported this lawfare will be deterred in the future. The thrill-kill politics practiced by figures like James proved costly in this election. Polls showed that many citizens have lost trust in the FBI and now view the criminal law process as being politicized in places like New York.
The next few weeks will determine whether Democratic leaders are ready for a new course in ending the lawfare.
President Biden could pardon Trump. It would be a poison-pill pardon. Trump does not need a pardon as the incoming president, but Biden could take the matter off the table by treating him as presumptively guilty. He could not only claim to have taken the higher ground (even though he ran on and promoted the prosecutions of Trump as legitimate) but use it as cover for pardoning his own son.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) could also move to pardon Trump on the New York charges. Hochul was widely criticized for calling Trump supporters (now the majority of voters in the nation) “un-American.” She could seek to make amends with a pardon.
In the end, Trump read the jury correctly. Once the lawfare was unleashed, he focused on putting his case to the public and walked away with a clear majority decision. It is unlikely that this will end all of his lawfare battles, but it may effectively end the war.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster, 2024).
The American system can survive corrupt politicians of either party, as long as we have a non-partisan independent Judicial Branch (independent courts).
The American system can’t survive if the Judicial Branch (courts) are political and partisan instead of following “constitutional” precedent.
For example:
The Ninth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution not only governs “unnamed rights” (rights not listed by name) but governs “existing rights” – since it’s impossible to list every right.
If we had a constitutional rule of law system, the only legitimate reason to modify or overturn a right governed by the Ninth Amendment is: new evidence of harm or constitutional injury. In other words we now know new facts not known previously.
Conservatives were probably upset with the “Kelo” U.S. Supreme Court ruling by partisan political judges overturning eminent domain rights (docudrama film “Little Pink House”). Progressives and most women were probably upset overturning “Roe v. Wade” for pure politics, not based on newly found evidence or new facts.
Both of these examples at least partially protected under the Ninth Amendment and rights taken away by partisan political judges – without a constitutional amendment. Legislating from the bench!
Does anyone think gun rights (2nd Amendment) can survive longterm with partisan judges? Can equal marriage rights (14th Amendment) survive longterm with partisan judges? Not likely.
Americans of both parties are unhappy and believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction. The top priority should be minimizing politics in our courts and creating an independent judiciary.
One solution proposed (a solution that doesn’t require a constitutional amendment) is rotating our hundreds of federal judges in and out of the U.S. Supreme Court for temporary terms. No other modern nations grant lifetime terms to Supreme Court justices.
I await the most ruthless reprisal of law and order against these demoncrat Trump haters. I have noticed that there isn’t even a scant bit of talk about making an example of them and throwing the book at them because we need deterrence for the future, though the very same criminals babble that’s why their insane illegal prosecutions and calls for sentencing are what they do 24/7/365.
I want the most raging focused will die for good results alt right MEGA MAGA prosecutors, judges and juries on all their cases, 1000%.
I want creativity and massive redundancy and extreme book thrown charging, with immediate incarceration, total flight risk no bail, locked in solitary confinement and the only people they get to talk to is a SNITCH who will take their confession, 100000% totally recorded as usual in any nook cranny or dark hole of the disgusting solitary confinement dungeon (and of course be allowed to beat it out of them) fed lockup.
Nothing less will be satisfactory in any way.
https://theweek.com/political-satire/1025526/the-plank
Smith was still trying to prosecute Trump for Jan 6 under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was intended to stop a future Enron.
And Hillary commited the same two crimes as Trump when she submitted reports to the FEC mislabeling campaign expenses as “Legal Services,” for which she was fined. No prosecution by the Brooklyn DA.
The D’s caterwauling “it’s Biden’s fault,” “voters are racist,” “we need better messaging” permits it to evade a fundamental flaw: It still refuses to listen to the electorate.
Post-election interviews of those who voted for Trump, from all demographic groups, reveal the same two answers: the economy and security (the latter meaning crime and the border).
The D’s need a reality check. Americans are not nearly as ignorant or as gullible as the D’s wish them to be. Nor are they (yet) so easy to manipulate and control.
“The D’s need a reality check.”
The MSM also, but it appears they are immune, and are determined to go down with the Titanic…
The Media Ran an Autopsy on Why Kamala Lost. You’ll Never BELIEVE the Results!
https://freebeacon.com/media/watch-the-media-ran-an-autopsy- on-why-kamala-lost-youll-never-believe-the-results/
“The results? Liberal pundits agreed that Harris’s campaign was “flawlessly run” and that the real culprits are “misogyny and racism.” Political strategists placed blame on a “right-wing media ecosystem,” saying that Democrats “don’t have the equivalent of Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson” to “move [a] man in a feminist direction.””
Delusional denial of reality much?
corrected link:
https://freebeacon.com/media/watch-the-media-ran-an-autopsy-on-why-kamala-lost-youll-never-believe-the-results/
The truth is that media activism is more inclined to “preserve its narrative so as not to continue losing credibility”
Lei, this criticism of the internal Democratic campaign
“I’ve worked on five presidential campaigns. I knew this would be hard. Others acted like they knew they were going to win,” said one person who chipped in during the final stretch of the race.
I’m inclined to believe they came from Biden’s campaign team, because they were very critical and accurate with the criticism, both of Kamala’s campaign team and the incorporated Obama team.
“Kamala Harris 2024 election loss caused by ‘s–t candidate,’ ‘arrogant’ staff, despondent Dem sources say”
https://nypost.com/2024/11/06/us-news/kamala-harris-2024-election-loss-caused-by-s-t-candidate-arrogant-staff-despondent-dem-sources-say/
The posters on this site who are preaching that victors should behave with gracious conciliation toward the losers may have a valid point, but only up to a point. If the allegations in this account are proven true, whoever was ultimately responsible for this decision must be tried and imprisoned, and, along with any other Federal employees who conveyed the instructions without question, permanently ostracized from civil society.
FEMA whistleblower alleges agency official told relief workers to skip pro-Trump houses
https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/fema-whistleblower-alleges-agency-official-told-relief-workers-skip-pro
Sorry, was in a hurry to post, didn’t see duplication of post from OMFK below. :-/
Turns out FEMA told relief workers not to help people who had Trump signs at their house :
https://nypost.com/2024/11/08/us-news/fema-workers-told-to-avoid-homes-with-trump-signs-in-hurricane-ravaged-florida-community/
But on a brighter note, I was at Barnes & Noble and asked the clerk if they had Donald Trump’s new book on how to deport illegal aliens
She said, ‘get the f—k out of here and don’t come back.’
I said yes, that’s the one. Do you have it in paperback?
Weaponization of government! That endangered the lives of citizens. Fire those involved and file criminal charges.
Bravo! 👌
Snicker snicker snicker smirk smirk smirk — here is Political Analyst who dumped on clerk at the liquor store, gloating over a Kamala win. Starts in good at about 2 minutes. Hilarious!
* There are psychologists and social psychologists, psychiatrists at MIT who can identify this kind of identity politics. I’m not at MIT so I am not qualified to comment. It’s value in understanding reasons voting and democracy can fail is notable and can also be used to control populations and practices.
* Professor Turley brings up what kind of election was it MSM vs Rogan etc.
It was an election about justice vs injustice. A majority of the people saw Trump as having been treated so poorly in lawsuit and fine, searching home and his friends jailed and finally the attempted assassination that they tipped the scale in his favor for justice.
Harris was the candidate of injustice. Surprising she got so many votes. What does it say about the population and–> get a better shooter next time. Quite amazing
I think that people who identify too deeply with a political party are missing something in their thought processes. I have used the analogy before of someone who is a lifelong Ford customer. Just because great-grandpa, grandpa, grandma, dad and mom all bought Fords, does not mean that buying a Ford is the thing to do. Same with lifelong Democrats or lifelong Republicans. Parties change over time, just like car manufacturers, and the smart thing to do is make a choice based on something besides party loyalty.
This particular harridan is just a smug, know-it-all nincompoop. Like DeMac here, or GiGi.
18 million more ballots were received in 2020, anyways.
Had Kamala competed in a primary, the DNC might have come to understand the effect of racism,and misogyny.
World Net Daily
“WATCH Lee Greenwood’s just-released tribute to President-elect Trump”
“Longtime popular entertainer shows how to express patriotism”
–By WND Staff, November 8, 2024
WND
https://www.wnd.com/2024/11/watch-lee-greenwoods-just-released-tribute-to-president-elect-trump/
Rumble:
https://rumble.com/embed/v5kn1d8/?pub=4
The Guardian has an article suggesting that Biden should resign so that Kamala can become the first female President. Claimed that this would cement his legacy.
Yea, as the dumbest fvck to ever sit behind the resolute desk, and as someone who never gave a shit about what is best for this country.
This is what you libturds call journalism and a “source” for information.
Biden dropped out once before to make room for Kamala and look how that turned out. He may have dementia but he isn’t going to do it again.
OT. For those getting a driver’s license or required to take a written test to renew remember the highest level of alcohol on a breathalyzer test is: Irish pilot
“DOJ: Iranian Murder-for-Hire Plan Targeting Trump Thwarted”
–Friday, 08 November 2024 01:13 PM EST
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/iran-fbi-justice-department-iran/2024/11/08/id/1187286/
“The Justice Department on Friday disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official before this week’s election with assassinating the Republican president-elect.”
“Investigators learned of the plot to kill Trump while interviewing Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national identified by officials as an Iranian government asset who was deported from the U.S. after being imprisoned on robbery charges.”
Okay, now let’s back up a little minute.
That second paragraph. …”who was deported from the U.S. after being imprisoned on robbery charges.”
Our astute journalists didn’t mention how someone who admits to being a conspirator to an Iranian plot to kill the President Elect while their safely being hel imprisoned on robbery charges is just up and released from custody? When I took journalism 101, they taught that unless you answer the six questions of journalism, then you didn’t tell the story. Who, what, where, when, why, and how. If I’d only known, I might have had a Pulitzer by now. Anyone could!
So they let the culprit go scot free, after interviewing him and finding out about the Trump assignation plot, but then they to on to deport him so that he now resides safely back in terrorist land away from any U.S. custody, arrest, or arraignment. And of course, the amateur hour Obama left over’s running the WH today are too busy giving our tax money to our enemies to stop and publicly warn them that if they do so, we’ll turn their mangy little desert country into a bowl of melted glass. Maybe show the American people that someone is actually running the country instead of the auto-pilot button. Maybe send a message to Iran that their worry over Israel is the least of their problems. Perhaps someone in the press briefing will issue that stark and ominous warning of; “don’t”. But for today, they all hail the great victory of arresting two of his accomplice’s. No mention as to the two who already tried to kill Trump. And just when was the leader of this little crew released? No mention of when? No mention that this miserably failed administration were responsible for bringing them here vetted in the first place. Nope, just crickets.
So how long did the Obama staffers figure they could just keep it under wraps?
And in as much as Capitol Hill is on one of their perpetual vacations, there’s not much to hope anyone is going to hear from them anytime soon, aside from a news interview statement oft heard, “I wrote about that in my new book.”
January can’t come soon enough. Pray!
“then they to on to deport him so that he now resides safely back in terrorist land away from any U.S. custody, arrest, or arraignment.”
Also safely away from interrogation about any possible collaboration with U. S. entities such as (oh, just free associating here) the CIA, NSA, FBI, or elements of the National Democratic Party…
* It’s like a poorly written cartoon plot. There’s approx 30 trillion dollars missing so it was a success.
Fed Chairman Powell says won’t step down if Trump asks him to leave
https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/fed-chair-powell-says-he-wouldnt-step-down-if-trump-asked-him-leave
“Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says he won’t step down from his position if President-elect Donald Trump asks him to do so. “No,” he said Thursday when asked about the matter during a news conference. Powell also said presidents removing members of the Fed is “not permitted under the law.”
Well, then, here’s something that merits escalating to the upper part of the Trump agenda list. I’m pretty sure that Trump already said he wanted to take a hard look at the Fed. So, our new Republican Congress should immediately review and alter the authorizing legislation for that unaccountable organization, and either eliminate it, or make it report to and be under the supervision of the Executive branch, including naming its officers.
Also, reflecting other recent headlines:
“Yes” to Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader
“Yes” to Tim Scott for National Republican Senatorial Committee chair
“ABSOLUTELY NOT” for any role whatsoever for Ukraine War Hawk Mike Pompeo in this administration
* The federal reserve is a hot mess.
Congress can easily do whatever it likes with the fed, under reconciliation.
Then powell can eat shit.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
The banking and all other industries constitute freedom and free enterprise.
The 1913 Federal Reserve Act is unconstitutional.
Americans enjoy the freedom of free enterprise and free markets.
Government has no legal or constitutional basis to participate in any enterprise, industry, or market.
Industries are naturally compelled to self-regulate to preclude adverse and deleterious litigation.
Congress has no enumerated power to regulate the banking industry, including interest rates.
This goes beyond regulation.
The FED is a very bizarre arrangment.
The Fed is technically PRIVATE, it is a PRIVATE bank with powers that other banks do not have – such as the creation of money out of thin air.
It has a governing body that is made of both government and private appointments, with a government appointed Chair.
There is absolutely no way in the world this is even close to constitutional.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
That is high-criminal.
The nature of freedom and free enterprise is alternating success and failure; insurance is available to all in the free markets of the private sector.
Government is provided no dominion or dictatorship but for the enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8.
The judicial branch has usurped and abused power that it never had.
Impeachment and conviction may be prosecuted against all civil officers of the United States.
“There is absolutely no way in the world this is even close to constitutional.”
Then there cannot be any serious debate or challenge if Congress removes its magic-wand-wavng money creation powers, and any/or other Federal authority it exercises, correct?
John, Are there any Supreme Court decisions that support your view (and George’s view) that the Federal Reserve Act or Board is unconstitutional?
The Constitution and Bill of Rights hold dominion in the United States of America.
The charge of the judicial branch is to uphold and support those documents of fundamental law.
Please cite the Constitution for any enumerated power to regulate banking or interest rates or for government to participate in or interfere with free enterprises, free industries, and free markets.
Americans, enterprises and markets are not free if they are directed by governmental edicts in their endeavors.
The corrupt Supreme Court of 1973 falsely purported that abortion was a constitutional right.
The correct Supreme Court of 2022 struck down and overturned the corruption and fraud of the Supreme Court of 1973.
The corrupt Supreme Court of 1869 falsely and fraudulently found that secession was unconstitutional.
That court incoherently decided that since secession was not prohibited, secession is prohibited.
ATS -why does that matter ? There are supreme court decisions that say that blacks are property.
Can you find anywhere in the constitution that allows anything like the FED ?
I know this is hard for left wing nuts – but Congress can not do whatever it pleases,, only what the constitution allows.
The FED was created because during the 19th century it fell to the so called robber barrons to bail the contry out everytime Congress F#$Ked up and caused a monetary mess,
And they were tired of betting their personal fortunes to save the country from congressional error.
The reason the Fed is the first (and only) Federal Public private partnership is because that was the demand of the robber barrons. Basically they were after much of what they had before – except – They got to make the decisions – not congress and it would be government money they were playing with – not their own.
The argument at the time was that ANYTHING was better than control of monetary policy by congress.
But the record of the Fed at stabalizing the economy is no better than the 19th century before the creation of the FED.
But there is ONE huge difference. With the exception of during the revolutionary. and civil wars there was no consequential inflation in the first 150 years of our history.,
In fact we had mild deflation – which is very good for workers.
In the past 100 years we have had something on the order of a factor of 1000 inflation.
So NO the Fed is not constitutional, and NO it is not a good idea.
John, It matters because the Supreme Court is an important source and authority for constitutional interpretation so I wanted to know whether you considered any of their opinions in your conclusion that the Fed is unconstitutional.
Really? you and Democrats care about SCOTUS opinions? Who knew!
* Well, the Treasury Department could always refuse to print money for them.
The treasury department does not print money for the federal reserve – though it does print all paper money.
Paper money is a tiny percent of all money in the economy – and declining over time.
It is the Fed that creates money since 1916. It does so be just lending it to the banks at the current fed interest rate – or more recently buy buying US Treasuries to finance our debt.
Where does that money that the Fed uses come from ? The Fed just declares that it exists.
I would note that this works in terms of accounting.
The fed trades money that does not exist, for treasury bonds – IOU’s. The NET is zero.
So long as the Fed does not create more money out of thin air than the the new value the economy generates in increased production, there will not be inflation,
Though the more the Fed gives to the government as opposed to banks, the less of the value that we create int he private economy that we get to keep.
Loaning it to the banks is problematic in a different way – though again it is just a loan and it is repaid with interest, Banks then loan that fiat money and make a great deal of money off of it.
I have no problems with banks making money. But not off of fake government priovided money.
Wanting a country to be able to defend itself from a Russia criminal cartel that rose to state power = “warhawk”.
* Powell won’t resign? Fire him. He can sue if he wants for the next 4 years. There’s 12 others that can go with him.
Purpotedly Pompeo is being considered for Sec Def. While I disagree with Pompeo on many things – and I absolutely do not want him back as Sec State. It is unlikely he can do much harm as Sec. Def. I actually have no objections ot a NeoCon as Sec Def – I want someone who will make sure the US is prepared for any possible threat.
There is a difference between relying on NeoCons to fight the wars we MUST fight, and giving them the power to decide which wars to start. Further Pompeo has remained loyal to Trump. Put him somewhere where he would be useful and can not cause any harm. Sec Def. is appropriate.
To be clear I am NOT a pompeo fan.
But there is no need to make even more enemies.
MAGA republicans should accept NeoCons are part of the party, without allowing them to dictate US foreign policy.
Funny, I didnt see Pompeo driving us into any wars the first go round.
Pompeo is not Haley. Not even close.
But yes, either one would make a good SecDef
Neither Pompeo nor Haley are Cheney or Bolton – but they are neocons.
But I would have no problem with either at SecDef. I do not want either with a foreign policy position.
Just as a possible point of further interest, there was a poll on the Just The News site yesterday. I’ve been reading that site for a year now, and in my considered opinion, the readership pretty accurately mirrors Trump core base of support. The poll question was:
“Do you think Mike Pompeo should be included in Trump’s second administration?”
There were 12,482 responses so far, which would appear to be a pretty reasonable sample size. Those responses were:
“YES 13% (1,584 votes)
NO 81% (10,121 votes)
NEUTRAL 3% (348 votes)
NOT SURE 3% (429 votes)”
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/you-vote-do-you-think-mike-pompeo-should-be-included-trumps-second-administration
So, is it prudent to throw a bone to a group with rapidly fading influence (the neocons), at the expense of beginning to erode and/or alienate Trump’s core supporters, before his administration has even begun to go to work?
“MAGA republicans should accept NeoCons are part of the party, WITHOUT ALLOWING THEM TO DICTATE US FOREIGN POLICY.” (emphasis mine)
Exactly. Pompeo as Sec Defense? Only with the proviso that extremely effective guardrails are in place to prevent him from trying to adopt some of the foreign policy making authority of Sec State. With his previous association with Trump and his experience in various roles in the first Trump administration, there is no question he has the knowledge to attempt that usurpation, and possibly succeed. There is also no question in my mind that he would attempt such a thing. Frankly, that is a risk that appears to be unnecessary, and I would prefer it not be taken. Trump and the Republicans are currently on a roll, imo there is no reason to risk self-inflicted damage. If Trump needs to reward Pompeo with some kind of appointment, make him a special advisor in charge of reforming NATO to conform to US interests, with an office in Brussels.
Why would you want to allow Pompeo anywhere near a position where he could affect the life and death of American boys and girls who are so frequently used as cannon fodder for blood-soaked NeoCons, including those at NATO. If Trump must throw him a bone, keep him far away from any policy dealing with war and and the military. How about Secretary of Transportation? When was the last time Buttigieg made the news for sending kids out to die? Its a shame the Postmaster General isn’t a cabinet post — that would be a safe place for Pompeo.
Because those of us who are not neocon are also not isolationist.
We have watched the US get into far to many military conflicts it does not belong in – but that was done by – the nastional security establishment and the state department and the wh not for the most part the defense department.
Should we reach the point where we must fight a war – and we MUST always be obviously prepared to do so
THEN we want the people who will do so with great skill.
The president, the congress the people decide when we fight,
We decide how much we will spend on DoD.
But in DoD we want those who will make every dollar count and who when unleashed will f#$k our enemies to the max.
“Because those of us who are not neocon are also not isolationist.” What a lovely example of a non sequitur John. Thanks for that.
Even if, for the sake of argument, we accept your claims about what’s needed to fight a war, it doesn’t follow that you need a neocon to accomplish what you want.
And this particular neocon is odious to the max.
It isn’t disputed that Pompeo, with all his vaunted abilities, eagerly advocated for execution of this centuries two most significant persons to expose to the American public, and the world, the misbehaviour, malfeasance, domestic surveillance and outright state-sanction murder of the US hegemonic gangster state. And you think this guy, whose first inclination is to cover up US government misbehavior and kill the whistle-blowers who report on it, would be a good pick for any cabinet post?
I do not share Pompeos values. But there is no evidence that he is a back stabber – just that he is wrong on policy.
Even Haley – might have gone a bit too far in challenging Trump, But she is NOT one of the back stabbers.
Does this sound like a fascist dictator?
THE END OF THE DEEP STATE:
President Trump’s Plan to Dismantle the Deep State and Return Power to the American People. Here’s my plan to dismantle the deep state and reclaim our democracy from Washington corruption once and for all, and corruption it is.
https://substack.com/@randpaulreview/note/c-76114041
That works for me. I am not 100% convinced about term limits for Congressmen, but it certainly should be discussed. Since that will be a proposed amendment, there is plenty of time to discuss pros and cons.
* congress has term limits. The people simply have to vote and limit them anywhere from 1 term to whatever. If some dolt sits there forever challenge him and run with better ideas and he or she has reached their limit.
Term limits require a constitutional amendment. I would propose a relatively simple one.
No one my hold a paid position in the federal government for more than 30 years.
I do not care if you are a Clerk in HHS or a Senator or President.
You can hold a combination of positions – but for no more than a total of 30 years.
However you can serve for longer than 30 years – in any position, by doing so without pay.
Our founders did not see government service as employment.
* What about the bureaucrats? Limit of 10 years total?
Same 30 years for everyone. Judge, presidents congressmen.
I would repeal the 2 term limit on presidents.
Again the limit is 30 years in the federal government Where you spend it is up to you.
Though you can extend governmnt service by making it actual service – and working for free.
The vote and term limits are moot in large part.
What is material is the “manifest tenor” of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
____________________________________________________________________________________
“…courts…must…declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void.”
“…men…do…what their powers do not authorize, [and] what they forbid.”
“[A] limited Constitution … can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing … To deny this would be to affirm … that men acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.”
– Alexander Hamilton
The entire communist American welfare state is unconstitutional including, but not limited to, admissions affirmative action, grade-inflation affirmative action, employment affirmative action, quotas, welfare, food stamps, minimum wage, rent control, social services, forced busing, public housing, utility subsidies, WIC, SNAP, TANF, HAMP, HARP, TARP, NPR, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Agriculture, Education, Labor, Energy, Obamacare, Social Security, Social Security Disability, Social Security Supplemental Income, Medicare, Medicaid, “Labor” laws, “Fair Housing” laws, “Non-Discrimination” laws, etc.
Article 1, Section 8, provides Congress the power to tax for ONLY debt, defense, and “…general (all, the whole) Welfare…,” or security and basic infrastructure, omitting and, thereby, excluding any power to tax for individual Welfare, specific Welfare, particular Welfare, favor or charity. The same article enumerates and provides Congress the power to regulate ONLY the Value of money, Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes, and land and naval Forces.
Additionally, the 5th Amendment right to private property was initially qualified by the Framers and is, therefore, absolute, allowing no further qualification, and allowing ONLY the owner the power to “claim and exercise” dominion over private property.
Government exists, under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, to provide maximal freedom to individuals while government is severely limited and restricted to facilitating that maximal freedom of individuals through the provision of security and infrastructure.
The Necessary and Proper Clause is nothing more than a perfunctory redundancy for the purposes of clarification—a reinforcement of that which was previously codified—and may not be wielded to amend and impose separate acts that do not represent but alter the letter and spirit of the Founders and Framers.
Olly, Tom, et al: what are you going to do when Trump doesn’t deport 11 million people? I’m telling you right now that he’ll try to blame Democrats, but where is the $350 billion cost going to come from? Trump doesn’t know, but repeated the lies that migrants are running rampant, raping women, killing people and invading small towns and stealing pets and eating them–so cost is no object. Will you believe the excuses MAGA media will make when it doesn’t happen and when they try to shift blame to Democrats? How about if he cuts Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and school lunch programs? What are people who depend on these programs going to do, especially when the cuts are to pay for tax breaks for Trump’s wealthy donors–will that be OK with you? Do you have friends or family who depend on Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid? Can they get by on less? Is it OK with you if school kids are forced to go without breakfast and lunch that schools provide for them now? How are teachers supposed to teach hungry kids–and, it’s not a kid’s fault if his parents are losers and don’t provide for him or her. How about if there is a national abortion ban–is it OK with you if women die because doctors cannot terminate a problem pregnancy until she is at death’s door and last-minute heroic measures don’t work? How about when Looney Tunes RFK, Jr. pulls drugs off the market and bans or no longer requires immunizations for school children because of his individual belief in conspiracy theories, even though he has NO medical credentials–is it OK with you if kids come down with things you didn’t have to worry about–like polio, diphtheria, measles, rubella, whooping cough and other diseases that can kill or disable them?
How about when he enacts tariffs and the cost of things skyrocket? The US distributors of smart phones say prices will double, so you better hope Santa brings you a new one if yours needs replacing. AND, Santa better go shopping soon because there will probably be a run on smart phones before Trump takes office. Will you hold Trump accountable if the following claims prove untrue: “Your net worth will skyrocket. Your energy costs and grocery prices will come tumbling down”? WHEN are are these things going to happen, and HOW will he accomplish this? Trump has NO clue. Would you ever admit that he lied again about these things, just like he lied when he said “Mexico will pay to build the wall?” Would you ever admit that Trump got many of the votes he did because MAGA media lied that our economy is in free-fall and that America is headed in the wrong direction and that people voted for him because they believed the lie that “your net worth will skyrocket. Your energy costs and grocery prices will come tumbling down”?
Answer: Volunteer Posses.
what are you going to do when…
First of all, I’m not going to live in fear. I never have. My duty as a citizen is to understand how this form of government is supposed to work. I’m registered Independent. I have to do a SWOT analysis of each candidate. And then vote for the candidate that most closely aligns with the policies I believe will provide the best security of my natural right to life, liberty and property. That’s exactly what I did leading up to this election and President Trump checked all the boxes. Step 2 is to continuously monitor how they are performing on those policies. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
That’s my conservative approach to good citizenship.
Is it OK with you if school kids are forced to go without breakfast and lunch that schools provide for them now?
Just a question……. Why does the state owe children breakfast and lunch? in my country (NZ) it is the parents who provide sustenance for their children….and always has been.
Trump is not going to blame anyone for not deporting tens of millions of people.
He will just shut down the border and create as high a profile as possible for deporting criminals.
An Apple employee in China works 70 hours per week for approximately 400 dollars per month. Apple is kind enough to put nets below the stairs to prevent their workers from jumping to their death. They are far better off than the Uyghurs. They work in slave camps for “free.” When they are in their late 20s they can be selected for tissue harvesting so that rich people can get custom organ transplants in the middle east hospitals.
China is destroying the environment in Africa. They are coming into villages is Ghana and mining the gold and minerals, destroying the environment and leaving nothing for the locals.
The list is endless. They are cruel and shrewd. They can undercut the workers in the western nations, take their jobs and sell them lots of poorly made things to satisfy greed.
This used to be called slavery. Call it by another name, but it has to be regulated. (Stopped). If a U.S. company is going to shut down a local factory and ship the jobs to China or elsewhere, they can pay a penalty.
Regarding the unregulated flow of migrants, if I were them, I would be doing the same thing. But 10-15 million unregulated in 4 years? That is insane. They will start with those with a criminal record and those who commit crimes. The cartel will be designated a terrorist organization and the military will target them and start taking them out one by one, dismantling their organizational structure. The flow will be severely reduced. We are already overwhelmed and at the expense of U.S. citizens.
These and many other items have been ignored for far too long. The radical left wrecked the Democratic Party.
“HOW will he accomplish this?”
Same way he did his first term: cut regulations and taxes. Those two impede productivity. Removing those two encourages productivity.
He’s the first authoritarian to decrease the size, scope and power of the central government. Trump sucks at fascism.
Yup.
It’s apparent to me that there is one fundamental and highly consequential difference between how Conservatives and Liberals gather and process information. Conservatives go to original sources to verify context and accuracy. Liberals go to sources that they assume have verified context and accuracy of the original source.
This is what i have been telling that skank Gigi for TWO YEARS.
The Guardian is not a source.
The Atlantic is not a source.
Teen Vogue is not a source.
Rachel Fvcking Maddow is not a source.
Snopes is not a source.
Factcheck.org is not a source
Wikipedia is LMAO NOT a source.
Message to Hope Walz (Tim Walz’ daughter, who is expressing her anger at the country)
Dear Hope, Stop saying nasty things about Republicans and Trump.
TRUMP WON THE VOTERS IN YOUR FATHER’S OWN HOMETOWN and BLUE EARTH COUNTY! What does that tell you, little cookie?
Little Cookie to Tom: Here’s what the election results tell us: that there are enough Americans for whom the endless LIES put out by MAGA media work– like Trump claiming that America is in decline, that the country is headed in the wrong direction, all of which is the fault of Democrats and saying: “Your net worth will skyrocket. Your energy costs and grocery prices will come tumbling down”. Trump has no clue how to do these things, and more than he could make Mexico pay for the big, beautiful wall that never got built. That misogyny and racism work: “Harris is stupid”, even though she is much better educated and accomplished that trust-fund baby Trump, who squandered billions of dollars that he was gifted or inherited, who is a pathological liar, thief of classified documents and charitable foundation money, a convicted felon, an adjudicated sexual assaulter and defamer, someone who brags about assaulting women, and adjudicated liable for business fraud. That racism works–“Harris is trash”, per Marco Rubio. The endless lie that Harris was a “DEI hire”, even though she was The economy was the biggest issue for lots of Americans who believed the endless drumbeat of MAGA media lies that our economy is in free-fall, even though it is the envy of the world, and that America is headed in the wrong direction.
Yes, Hope Walz SHOULD be upset–because the Trump “victory” is based on LIES, misogyny and racism.
Gigi.
It is possible that you are right. It is possible that the MSM, Most of Social Media, the government were telling the truth and that the far smaller conservative media was lying through their teeth, and that the majority of people choose not to beleive the majority of media, and the government and the left.
But the odds of that are infinitesimally small.
It is not conservatives or conservative media that was judged as LIARS in this election – it was democrats, the MSM, the left, the “deep state”, Biden and Harris.
If as you claim that judgement is wrong – people will realize it fairly quickly.
You can not fool all of the people all of the time.
There is a famous aphorism
A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes
And it is true.
But it is also true that the majority of people do eventually figure out what the truth is.
And THAT is actually the big problem democrats nd the MSM have.
People do not beleive you or the democrats or the MSM because you have lied to them so often and eventually been caught.
We are about to begin Trump’s 2nd term. The tactics used during the first term were not working by the end of the first term. They absolutely will not work this time.
People are not going to buy some new collusion delusion nonsense. If you wish to take down Trump in his 2nd term you are going to have to do so with ACTUAL truth
John: the American people were told that our economy is in dire straits and large numbers of Americans believed that our country is headed in the wrong direction— these are lies. We have the strongest economy in the world. Democrats were unable to overcome the endless lying about the economy by MAGA media that kept pounding home the message that higher grocery and home prices proves that we are headed for a recession or depression—- that is a lie as any economist would explain.
Then you have Trump claiming that if he’s elected that grocery and home prices would fall precipitously and that personal wealth would soar— even though he has no idea how to do these things. That, too, is a fantasy. PT Barnum said “there’s a sucker born every minute.” People like to believe rosy stories— even when there’s nothing behind it but bluster and braggadocio. Polls say that the economy was the #1 issue for most voters. Trump seized on this and lied about what he could do. Democrats were not successful in changing minds and that explains the outcome of the election.
“large numbers of Americans believed that our country is headed in the wrong direction”
Correct.
You seem to be unable to graps that they did not need to be told that – they knew it on their own.
Real spendable income for american families declined by about 3500/yr under Biden Harris.
It rose by 4500/yr under Trump.
Do you honestly think people are unaware of their own situations to know for themselves that is correct ?
Do you think there would have been no great recession if Obama, Democrats and the media did not tell people ?
” We have the strongest economy in the world.”
Correct – two things can be true at the same time.
We have had the strongest economy in the world through my entire lifetime.
We have had the strongest economy in the world for a full century.
That does not alter the fact that things have gotten worse for most people under Biden/Harris.
“Democrats were unable to overcome the endless lying about the economy by MAGA media that kept pounding home the message that higher grocery and home prices proves that we are headed for a recession or depression—- that is a lie as any economist would explain.”
You seem to think people voted based on claims about the future. People did not vote for Trump because a recession might be coming.
They voted for republicans because if we have not been in actual recession for much of the past two years – we have been teetering on the edge.
That is not some guess about the future. No army of economists can persuade people that everything is hunkey dory, when at the end of the week there is nothing left in their pockets, and 4 years ago there was.
No one needs economists to tell us what has already happened.
You are correct that people voted as they did because of lies – YOUR LIES.
So I need to list all the lies starting with the collusion delusion – or shoudl I go back further – Benghazi was a spontaneous popular riot not an organized terrorist attack or further ?
It has taken an enormous amount of lies by YOU, the MSM, democrats, and the left to result in a Trump landslide.
But you can’t fool all the people all of the time.
Gig,
If you beleived the stuff you said about Trump. If democrats beleived the stuff they said about trump. If the media beleived the stuff they said about Trump
Why isn’;t Crooks treated as a hero and a Marytr ? DOJ just filed charges against 3 people for plotting to pay to assainate Trump.
Why aren’t they heros ?
If this is the last election we are going to have – why is Harris now talking about winning NEXT TIME ?
Didn;t she tell us all a few days ago this was the last election if Trump wins ?
Why aren’t you out buying an AR-15 and modifying it for full automatic and joining thousands of others to fight against fascism ?
The answer is easy – even YOU do not beleive what you say.
It is Not Trump that is a liar.
And the only voters that were duped are those who voted for Harris.
I expect the next year will be economically rough. I hope I am wrong. But there is know known magic bullet to wring inflation out of an economy short of recession.
The FED has spent the past 2 1/2 years trying, while it is arguable whether they put the country into a recession – it is nto arguable that the economy was NOT GOOD
We still have NOT beat inflation. Stopping at nearly 3% will NOT result in a strong robust economy that can stay that way for decades – as we got when we very painfully purged inflation in the 80’s.
Why I think many good things will start nearly immediately – as even Musk noted – the pain from YOUR bad choices is not over.
As Harris herself said: “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Electing Trump is the START to things getting better It is the begining of the end of the bad economy. It is not yet morning.
But we can see morning from here.
Gigi, This is not a Trump victory – this is a democrat and MSM defeat.
Harris did not lose because she was a women, she did not lose because she was black or indian. She did not lose because of her Kackle, or because of her word salads.
She did not lose because she picked Walz, She did not lose because of the coup against Biden.
She lost because for the past 4 years DEMOCRATS have failed the american people. This was a sweep election. While not a perfect sweep, a few democrats held onto senate and house seats by the skin of their teeth by embracing Trump late in the election. Republicans did well down ballot.
You are atleast partly correct about the media. The MSM is one of the really big losers in this election – more so than Harris or democrats.
People do not trust the MSM. and rightly so. Voters decided that it is not Trump or Musk or Fox or writers on substack or podcasters and alternate media that is lying – but it is democrats, the MSM and the deep state.
While you are blind to this – the judgement of voters is incontrovertibly true.
Further I expect there will be consequences – not from the Trump administration, but by shareholders and subscribers.
And that is how it should be and why we need free markets in most everything.
“Harris did not lose because… She lost because for the past 4 years DEMOCRATS have failed the american people”
However, the reasons for the failures of the Democrats to serve the people are fundamentally the same reasons that led them to pick Harris as a candidate. From that POV, while she is not personally accountable for their loss, she is still a crucial aspect of it.
The “judgement “ (sic) of the American people was based on LIES. Our economy is the envy of the world. Biden worked miracles with the mess Trump created from the successful economy he inherited. Polls show that the economy was the #1 issue— and Trump and MAGA media LIED about the economy and Trump’s ability to address the nonexistent problems. Trump’s “victory “ is the result of fake promises of personal wealth and precipitous drops in grocery and home prices that won’t happen—it’s not the first time Trump made up lies to sucker in voters—“Mexico will pay to build the wall.”
Gigi;
I absolutely agree – the majority shoudl NOT be able to infringe on the actual rights of the minority.
If a president wants to spent $6T of the peoples money – republican or democrat and 40% or more people do not wish to have their money spent on that – then the answer should be NO.
I would note there is no “lies” or truth condition to this. There is no – the majority gets to abuse the minority merelyu by calling the minority position lies – or visa versa.
You appear to have suddently discovered constitutional conservatism – congradulations.
Right now we are seeing democrat governors, AG’s etc all claiming to be “trump proofing” their state.
More power to them. If James or Hoschul wish to make NY a haven for criminal illegal immigrants – GO FOR IT. In the next election cycle we will get to see how NY voters feel about that.
I am entirely for the leaders of blue (or red) states making their own choices and being answerable to the people of their state for those choices.
That is litterally how the country was designed.
It is also why abortion is now back in the hands of states.
Gigi;
I have no interest in who YOU claim is or is not lying.
Voters have made their own assessment of that and they decided it is you, the left, democrats.
If the majority of voters made that decision incorrctly then they and their candidates will suffer in the future.
The people who voted for Biden bought Democrat lies and as a result inflicted suffering on the entire nation, and THAT is why Democrats were obliterated in this election.
If as you claim Republicans are lying – they will be obliterated in the next one.
IMHO Jonathan Turley is wrong.
To begin, I expect the NY judge to treat Trump just as any other criminal.
@David
That is no surprise to literally, unequivocally, into infinity, anyone here. Why do you still do this if it isn’t a paycheck? You can hopefully clearly see after this week that it’s a toilet flushing, unless you are truly irretrievably stupid?
David has HPD, a condition exacerbated by his late stage dementia.
He refuses to take his Rivastigmine regularly, and this is the result.
IMHO Jonathan Turley is wrong.
Given your track record, that’s equivalent to giving JT 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Long ago I was in the high school marching band. One of the things we first learned was that when you are leading with the left foot, while the rest of the band is leading with the right foot, it is not the band that is out of step.
“Long ago I was in the high school marching band. ”
Hopefully you were not in a rank directly in front of the trombone or drum sections.
David– “To begin, I expect the NY judge to treat Trump just as any other criminal.”
What argues against that is the fact that he has not done throughout the entire proceedings.
The case theory is bizarre and his decisions have been openly hostile.
I suspect that like many others he will now search for a way to distance himself from his acts to avoid ‘consequences’.
If that judge is gung-ho for putting criminals in jail, he should start with himself.
Why would you expect the NY judge to treat Trump as any other criminal when that has obviously not been the case with any of the Lawfare cases so far? Especially if he is literally a Nazi and dictator looking to end the US as we know it and lock up all of his critics? This is what you get when since 2015 the Democrat/legacy media/establishment-beltway Republican cabal has done all they can to convince a large percentage of the populace that Trump is actually a White Supremacist Nazi. Judges and prosecutors feel they have free reign to misuse the law however necessary to prevent Hitler from assuming office
David B. Benson posted: IMHO Jonathan Turley is wrong. To begin, I expect the NY judge to treat Trump just as any other criminal.
Dear David Hiding-In-The-Shadows: why don’t you believe Trump’s NY prosecutors and Attorney Generals should treat Trump as they treated The First Felon Crackhead Kid? Slow walk their investigations, stall indictments, and allow the statute of limitations to expire on Trump’s alleged crimes as they did for the Crackhead Kid?
Why don’t you believe NY prosecutors should similarly treat Trump as they attempted to treat The First Felon Crackhead Kid – offer him an Immunity From Everything plea deal as they tried to get away with offering the crackhead kid?
There it is: your inner and outer Democrat police state fascist is visible for all to see.