Hypocrite on Display

Let’s start with Merriam-Webster definition of a hypocrite.
1 : a person who pretends to have virtues or qualities that he or she does not have
2 : a person whose actions contradict their stated beliefs or feelings

Article 1, Section 2 “The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.”

While this posting is on Senator Lindsey Graham, it can be applied to other Republicans who are defending Donald Trump.

Graham can propose a resolution condemning an impeachment inquiry and members of the GOP can storm private hearings obtaining information that might lead to an impeachment, but the constitution gives the power to impeach to the House of Representatives without qualifications.

In his Thursday news conference, Graham couldn’t quite bring himself to exonerate Trump: “I don’t want to comment on substance,” he said. “I’m not here to tell you that Donald Trump has done nothing wrong.” He merely raged against procedures, arguing, “The process in the House today, I think, is a danger to the future of the presidency.”

ABC News’s Terry Moran reminded him that during Watergate, lawmakers took depositions behind closed doors before there was an impeachment resolution, just as the House is doing now.
Graham did not dispute this.

CNN’s Ted Barrett reminded him that during the Clinton impeachment, House Republicans took private depositions before public hearings. “Why was it okay then and not now?”

“The inquiry itself became very public,” Graham replied.

And so will this one — leaving Graham looking foolish once more.

Democratic Party Debate Number 4

I watched the whole three hour Democratic Party debate. In my opinion both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders did not appear to have the stamina, energy, and quick wittedness to be president. This is my opinion on what occurred.

While Senator Elizabeth Warren is tied in many polls she was the target for many of her opponents. She had the most time speaking at over 22 minutes. You may not agree with her views but she aptly defended herself. Her inability to explain who will pay for her medicare for all plan (higher taxes or high premiums) is the question that remained unanswered. She had an opinion on every topic discussed. All other candidates were silent on at least one issue.

Joe Biden spoke only just over 16 minutes. His lack of participation in most topics was obvious. He spoke over 3 minute on Middle East policy and that clearly made him the foreign policy expert but on other topics his participation was weak. His defense of his son, Hunter, “My son did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong,” sent the message that it is OK for the children of elected officials to profit from their parent’s high government positions.

Bernie Sanders spoke just a little more than 13 minutes and spoke more about party strategy than anything else (one minute and 54 seconds). Surprisingly he spoke just over a minute on income inequality and that has been his trademark campaign issue. He had no comment on gun control and women’s rights. His heart attack clearly has impacted him.

Tom Steyer spoke more about income inequality (1 minute and 28 seconds) than Sanders. He only spoke a little over 7 minutes in total. This is my number two issue.

Beto O’Rourke spoke almost 3 ½ minutes on Gun Control and his plan to deny ownership of AK-47 and AR-15 rifles for everyone. This is my number one issue.

The data for this post was obtained from the New York Times website.

L’état c’est moi – I am the state

What happened to America first?

Louis XIV brought France to its peak of absolute power and his words ‘L’etat c’est moi’ (‘I am the state‘) express the spirit of a rule in which the king held all political authority. His absolutism brought him into conflict with the Huguenots and the papacy, with damaging repercussions.

This belief easily helps us to recall President Richard Nixon who said on camera in the David Frost – Nixon interviews “but when the President does it, that means it is not illegal…”

Donald Trump’s hunger for authoritarian power plays out in many ways but can be distilled into a generality: If he wants to do something, he cares not what the law, precedent or basic human decency might dictate. He just forges ahead and asks, who wants to try to stop me?

The answer is the American people through their elected representatives. The House of Representatives has the constitutional authority to investigate whether the president has committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” justifying impeachment. To resist legitimate inquiries related to that responsibility is obstruction.

At the heart of the impeachment case against President Donald Trump lies a potential dagger for his re-election campaign: He’s accused of putting himself first — and American interests second.

This Tweet Trump sent out last Tuesday supports that accusation. “As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!”

Too bad Trump has not read the constitution. If he had, he would know that impeachment is a process is included in the constitution just as the second amendment is part of that same basic law.

Update: Columnist Doyle McManus in the Sunday October 6, 2019 Los Angeles Times wrote an article titled “Trump should read the Constitution.”

Electing a Senior Citizen President of the United States

Bernie Sanders is too old to be president of the United States!

Joe Biden is too old to be president of the United States!

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders suffered a heart attack, his campaign confirmed on Friday, October 4, 2019 after he departed Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Two weeks ago former President Jimmy Carter took a shot at presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders when he said on that he couldn’t have handled the presidency at the age of 80. Speaking at the Carter Center, the former President said he hopes “there’s an age limit” to the job.

Most of us consider older people wiser than the rest of us. We think that their life experiences will help them to make better decisions. Many cultures treat their elderly with great respect. Perhaps that is the reason we have selected so many senior citizens to lead this country.

The reality is that many of our greatest presidents were not senior citizens.

The youngest person to assume the office was Theodore Roosevelt, who became president at the age of 42 years, 322 days, following William McKinley’s assassination; the oldest was Donald Trump, who was 70 years, 220 days old at his inauguration. JFK was 43 years old, Barack Obama was 47 years old. Bill Clinton was 46 years old.

We should be concerned about the health of our presidents. The current president is over 73 years old. The Democratic Party leading candidate is Joe Biden who is currently 76 years old. His leading contenders are Bernie Sanders who is 78 years old and Elizabeth Warren is 70 years old.

Do we really want to put someone in office that could die while serving? Just today Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign ‘until further notice’ after being treated for artery blockage.

The stress of being president is best shown by looking at pictures of Barack Obama at his inauguration and when he left office.

I suggest we watch the Democratic Party candidates to see if they have the stamina for what is a 24 hour a day job.

Why should Donald Trump be Re-elected?

Consider for a moment that the president is not impeached. In that situation the question is why should he be re-elected?

He says he has accomplished more in 2 ½ years than any president in history. But the reality is that beyond the prospering economy what has he accomplished?

Mexico was going to pay for a wall long our southern border. The money to build that wall is being diverted from needed military projects.

North Korea has not stopped its development of nuclear weapons and the missile systems to strike the United States.

We abandoned the Iran nuclear agreement without a replacement agreement. Has this action made us or the rest of the world safer?

He said he’d bring hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs back to the United States. That did not happen.

He promised to put forth a better health plan than Obamacare. That did not happen.

He has tried to stop California’s car emissions regulations. Those regulations are now in place in 13 states. Why would he want to permit pollution?

He has folded his arms as mass shooting have become more prevalent than ever before.

He promised to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. That did not happen.

He has made a mess of the illegal immigration problem at our southern border.

He lowered taxes that primarily helped businesses and the rich.

Unemployment is at the lowest its been since the 1960s. It is unclear whether that was luck or the result of an action taken by the Trump administration.

It is obvious that his moral compass is from that of the evangelical Christians that appear to turn a blind eye to his behavior.

The Democratic Party candidate will have to point all this out in a way that will change the minds of independents and the conservative Republicans. That will not be an easy task.

Past impeachment proceedings: 2 acquittals, 1 resignation

Despite a whistle blower letter suggesting that Donald Trump has broken the law, even if the accusations proved to be accurate, it is unlikely he will be removed from office by an impeachment.

There have only been three efforts to remove a sitting president from office in the entire history of the United States. None of them were successful.

The first was Andrew Johnson. He was the Vice President under Abraham Lincoln and so obviously become president after Lincoln’s assassination. Johnson’s impeachment in 1868 was the culmination of a bitter dispute between the president and the Republican-controlled House over Reconstruction following the Civil War.

Richard Nixon was going to be impeached but resigned when he learned of the charges from the House Judiciary Committee. The charge was obstruction of justice.

Bill Clinton was impeached for lying in front of a grand jury about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern.

The only way an impeachment of Trump will be successful would be by winning support of large parts of the population. Most Americans are against removing President Trump from office, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday September 25, 2019.

Given the fact that a guilty verdict requires a two thirds in favor vote in the Senate it is highly unlikely Donald Trump would be removed from office. The reason? At this time most Republican senators are strong supporters of Trump. If Trump is vindicated before the November 2020 election it would give Trump an opportunity to claim evil forces were fighting to destroy his presidency and the United States.

Impeachment is a Real National Tragedy

This is a sad day for America when the Speaker of the House has called for an impeachment inquiry of the president.

Impeaching the president of the United States is as much a political decision as it is a legal decision. Without the support of the public it is not likely to happen.

I am not a lawyer but I have read the constitution. It is written in words that most people can understand.

Article II – The Executive Branch

Section 4 – Disqualification

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

That is easily understood by me to mean that attempted bribery by the president is an impeachable offense. That appears to be Donald Trump’s attempt to obtain information about a political opponent from the Ukraine is all about. We just do not know that is what he did. A whistle blower statement that has not been released is the evidence to proceed with an impeachment. We don’t even know who the whistle blower is.

If the whistle blower statement and associated information is denied to congress that would most likely lead to congress charging Donald Trump with high crimes and misdemeanors.

Donald cries of “witch hunt” will not deter the congress if there is public support of impeachment. That is the political side to Speaker Pelosi’s statement that there will be an impeachment inquiry.

Given the overwhelming GOP control of the Senate the removal of the president is not a likely outcome. In fact an impeachment vote or threatened vote, by the House of Representatives could make the next presidential election campaign one of the nastiest in America’s history.

What we learned from the third Democratic Party Debate

Of course the topics and the time spent on each was determined by the ABC network and the moderators.

Healthcare took up at least 30 minutes of the three hour debate. Joe Biden defended Obamacare (Affordable Health Care Act) and his leading opponents voiced their support for a Medicare for all plan. Personally from my own experience I know that Obamacare is flawed. Many doctors do not participate and many medications are not covered. As was pointed out many people are not on the plan because their income is too low to qualify. It was correctly pointed out that the Trump administration wants to end Obamacare even though they do not have and alternate.

Julian Castro’s attack on Joe Biden on a contradiction in wording of something he had just said on healthcare brought on other candidates defending Mr. Biden. Many thought Castro was too hard on him. However, Castro’s attack is nothing compared to the attack’s Donald Trump will be making against his opponent. He has already called Joe Biden “sleepy Joe.”

Gun control was the next topic. Beto O’Rourke said he would take away all military style weapons. “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.” That statement will be used by Trump to bring supporters to his presidential re-election. Trump will use O’Rourke’s words to create fear that all guns will be confiscated if there is a Democrat in the White House.

To the question of whether the United States should provide restitution to the decedents of slavery Joe Biden offered a lecture to Black Americans telling them how to raise their children. “Play the radio, make sure the television — excuse me, make sure you have the record player — on at night, make sure that kids hear words,” Biden said. “A kid coming from a very poor school — a very poor background — will hear 4 million words fewer spoken by the time we get there.”

The lack of a reasonable and sensible solution on dealing with the immigration crises at the Mexican border is another gift to Donald Trump.

Fear of another attack on the United States from Afghanistan probably means we will not withdraw all troops from that country. Donald Trump criticized rightfully Barack Obama for withdrawing troops from Iraq. Once faced with the situation.

If Joe Biden is the Democratic Party nominee, Donald Trump will have an easy re-election campaign.

Donald Trump in the News

Donald Trump wants to be in the lead news stories every day. Everything he does is all about self promotion.

I just can’t ignore the fact that Donald Trump is living in his own world. He obviously sees himself as the most important part of everything. He really believes that most Americans adore him. And if anyone says anything that contradicts that view it’s just “fake news.”

He insisted that the crowds at his inauguration were the largest in history even though the comparison with the crowds at the Obama inauguration were obviously far more significant.

Now his latest nonsense is his insistence that Hurricane Dorian was going to hit Alabama. He apparently used a Sharpie marking pen to show the route of the storm crossing Florida and moving west.

Two things he accomplished. He put himself into the news and provided great opportunities for late night comedians on television.

I guess he has succeeded.

Joe Biden is the Democratic Party front runner. I wonder why?

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Easter Prayer Breakfast in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, April 4, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Joe Biden is trying to run for president on the coat tails of President Obama. His primary argument is that Obama pushed the country along in a moderate way. There were no extreme actions taken.

Biden’s argument should be examined. I argue that Barack Obama did take extreme actions. Some of those decisions were serious mistakes.

Obama’s signature accomplishment was health care insurance. The action he took was a benefit to America that will remembered as consequential as Social Security and Medicare. That is the Affordable Care Act. Called Obamacare by those who opposed it, that law has provided health care to 11.8 million people. While the coverage is not a perfect solution to affordable health care, it did take a big step forward to address the high cost of healthcare. Unfortunately many people are dropping out of the plan due to high deductibles. The GOP efforts to end Obamacare have continued to this day. Repeal and replace has been a mantra of the Republican Party. Even if the law is repealed, health care coverage will be an enduring reality for all Americans.

Unfortunately Obama did not lead a fight for raising the minimum wage from the current paltry $7.25 an hour, gun safety (Isn’t the killing by military weapons a national emergency?), for infrastructure projects, for fighting homelessness, for job training for those who lost their job due to automation. American manufacturing jobs have declined by 5 million since the 1980s and left many communities devastated. I could list many other things that should have been on his agenda.

Sadly Obama’s foreign affairs successes were few. The single outstanding action was 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that did nothing to stop their development of ballistic missiles and their spread of terrorism throughout the middle east.

Stupidly the U.S, blundered into a war in Iraq in 2003. The withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq began in December 2007 and was completed by December 2011. But the total withdrawal was a mistake and an American-led intervention in Iraq started on June 15, 2014, when President Obama ordered United States forces to be dispatched to the region, in response to offensives by ISIS and its affiliates.

On August 20, 2012 President Obama told a group of reporters the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria would cross his “red line.” A year later, almost to the day, Syrian forces killed more than 1,400 people with sarin gas, a particularly horrifying chemical weapon that can cause paralysis, convulsions, or death. But no action was taken. Instead he agreed to a deal with Russia to remove and destroy 600 metric tons of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile.

So the question is what part of the Obama legacy does Joe Biden want to pursue? What is the Biden agenda? Hopefully the September and October debates will provide some clarity.