The Nixon Pardon

I just heard an interview with Julian Castro from December in which one of the great guys from Pod Save America asked if he would have pardoned Richard Nixon.  This is because Castro has announced that he is running for president in 2020, and we all know that Trump in stripes is on all our minds.  Castro analyzed cautiously as Democrats are wont to do.  He started off saying that he "wouldn't be inclined to pardon Donald Trump," adding that "nobody is above the law."  Then he began the equivocation thing where he thought that some have thought that at the time Ford pardoned Nixon it may have been the right thing for the country to, you know, move on.

First of all, Nixon committed some egregious crimes.  That he was the President of the United States should make him more culpable rather than less.  That Ford would pardon him gave him privilege that those of us lacking money and power just don't have.  That set a pitiful example, reinforcing criminals with deep pockets and powerful attorneys and turning the slippery slope into an avalanche.  It was wrong.  The country was not better off for having let a criminal go free because he had been a criminal with power.

In 2009, President Obama made the same mistake with the criminals in the banking industry that led us to the brink of financial catastrophe.  For many, many of us, it wasn't just the brink.  People lost their homes and their jobs.  Small businesses went bankrupt.  And after the government bailed out the financial behemoths, they gave themselves raises, and went back to business as usual.  Not a single Wall Street criminal did time for those crimes.  And yet we teach our children that it is wrong to steal, and that they have to follow the law.

Within the Trump administration, we have had the good fortune of being able to see, under a magnifying glass, the incredible corruption that is corporate and political America.  Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan have been rewarded for descending to depths that we have not seen in our lifetimes in this country -- and in Congress that is not a high bar.  Trump's cabinet of deplorables has been a pageant of criminality; not only did he choose those with the same sleazy moral values as he, but once in the White House they also demonstrated the belief that they were more important than their positions, they were above the law and could rightfully plunder what had been the people's government.

On the other hand, Trump and his band of pirates had no compunction about attacking and accusing others in order to detract from their own ugly acts.  Flynn led the chant "lock her up" in 2016, and Trump (who rarely smiles) would break into his creepiest, smuggest grin whenever the crowd of misfits at a rally would bring it out.  Ah, they learned so well.  Add to that accusing President Obama and other leaders in that administration of ridiculous crimes, promising he would send Hillary to jail, challenging the FBI to investigate idiotic and paranoid charges; all serving the dual purpose of smearing those better than him and distracting the public via twitter rants with help from the media from his own horrendous actions.

The tweets accusing Obama of wiretapping his office and phones led to weeks of diversion, happily obsessive pondering by the media, hours of wasted dollars and time by the FBI, who I believe were frankly scared to just say, "that's ridiculous."  You know, you have to follow procedure whether what Trump says is crazy or not.  But apparently Trump has the First Amendment right to tell whatever damn lies he wants.  Except that when the president tells a lie, it really is tantamount to yelling "fire" in a crowded building, which is against the law.

Back to the pardoning of the criminal.  Donald Trump has committed crimes that Tricky Dick could only wish he had been able to get away with.  As a candidate -- and since -- he has colluded with foreign governments, making deals that jeopardize our sovereignty for the sole purpose of personal gain.  He has made comments which purpose is to fuel hatred and attacks toward pretty much anyone or any group that he envies or sees as a threat.  Hate crimes have increased dramatically against minorities.  Most recently, Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen has postponed testimony to Congress out of fear of threats he has received, directed not just to him but to his family.

The President of the United States as crime boss.

Should we impeach?  Just the fact that we keep hearing the media asking this question makes me shudder.  The process is there to be used if needed.  I can't think of any better reason than the criminal who now resides in the White House.  Should Donald Trump be indicted?

With Donald Trump's blessing, the weaselly former attorney general went after people who smoked marijuana and those who had lived peacefully in this country for decades.  When it came to people who were just trying to get by, Jefferson Sessions brooked no excuse.  Trump, modeling his administration after his hero, Richard Nixon, touted himself as the "law and order" president.

So why should the "law and order" president not have to do time for his crimes?  Damned if I know.

We have had too many years of bogus congressional committees and investigations.  Media morons like our own Chuck Todd will no doubt compare our efforts to seek justice to those of the Devin Nunes republican party.  That is like Donald Trump blaming "many sides" in Charlottesville.  It is that false equivalency that put Trump in the White House, with phony investigations on Benghazi and emails creating the appearance that Hillary was guilty of ... something.

Pursuing justice does not make us an unruly mob.  We should not be investigating Donald Trump and his cronies out of revenge, but in order to see justice done.  More important, we need to do all we can to stop the crimes that he is committing on a daily basis.  Whether it is private meetings with Vladimir Putin or business deals with Saudi Arabia and China in return for favors, or attempts to intimidate or influence witnesses in government investigations, Donald Trump needs to be held to account.

Donald Trump, as is true with all bullies, sees forgiveness as weakness.  When he gets away with something, he brags about it and goes on to commit crimes ever more flagrantly.  Donald Trump allowed to continue to break the law is Donald Trump creating more harm and chaos, with more manic rallies and bigger lies and attacks.  That is the way of the despot, and Trump has shown through words and deeds his willingness -- and delight -- to rule as a third world dictator.

This week Nancy Pelosi finally put a stop to a Trump tantrum that was damaging the country.  That is the example we need to follow in reigning in and putting an end to the abuses of this terrible administration and president.

Investigations and impeachment because that is the right thing to do.  And no pardon, because a hardened criminal should have to do his time.

Silver Lining

It occurs to me that Silver Lining is the color of the roofing tiles I am having installed this very minute, with great noise and fanfare, thanks to Hurricane Matthew.  There have been a few Hispanic men hammering away since minutes after seven, no coffee break, no stopping to talk, just hard, physical work.  I don't know if they are legal immigrants or not, and, honestly, nobody really cares if it keeps the price of their new roof lower.  All the protests are bullshit and dog whistles, shamefully attacking and victimizing good people.

But other than the coincidental title of this post, that is not what I need to talk about today.  Today I'm not quite through my period of mourning, for Hillary, for our country, for all the mean and ignorant or just naive and foolish voters who hammered their own nails into all our coffins on Tuesday.  But I have been commiserating with friends, and posting on facebook, and talking to my kids, and just as with George W. Bush in 2000, there is a day after this one too.

In fact, I have started to compile a list of all the things we have to look forward to during the "presidency" of He-Who-Just-Cannot-Be-Named.

For one thing, once they have worked through their own mourning, our wonderful comedians will have far better fuel than they would have had with Hillary in the White House.  I imagine Samantha Bee has only just been getting warmed up during the election season.  And Alec Baldwin, after working so hard to nail Trump, surely will be willing to show up (or call in) to SNL from time to time.  After all, we did miss Tina Fey's Sarah Palin once we didn't have the original around anymore.

I am also thinking that, given Trump's failure to grasp economics and his need to continue to be adored by those undereducated and underpaid workers, it is just possible that those of us liberals who work hard for too little will also reap the benefits, at least till the crash.  And as long as Donald doesn't insist on an ideological test for us white Americans, I should be okay for awhile.  It occurs to me with some relief that when the Bush years started I was on the low end of the wage scale, so when they ended I hadn't lost anything.  And now that I am attempting to live on Paul Ryan's social security, it seems not that much has changed.

Let's be honest, Donald Trump is a hoot.  He is every bit as stupid as W., but without the charm.  I am looking forward to those 365 day calendars of Trumpisms, and for a couple of reasons.  Not only were those idiotic gems ("More of our imports come from overseas.") something to brighten the dark days, but at the end of the Bush years I had stacks of scrap paper, perfect for phone messages and grocery lists.  And I am running low.

The younger generation, those we have been falsely accusing of being disinterested in politics, are infuriated.  They have truly had it with people trying to legislate their bodies, and sexual and marital choices.  They are sick to death of big corporations getting handouts from the government while they are spending their young lives trying to pay back student loans while failing to get a job that pays what they are worth.  They are not going to tolerate intolerance of race or religious choice.  The riots and protests over racism aren't going to stop, and women are not going to be forced to choose between an unwanted  pregnancy or a backroom abortion.  My son, who could be safely ensconced in his Ph.D. program, has told me that as he has become an activist, he knows he may someday be arrested, and it is a risk he is willing to take, a sentiment that fills me with pride even more than fear.

It will be fun to see the reaction of Trump supporters when Congress finally succeeds in repealing Obamacare.  They apparently had forgotten that before the ACA insurance premiums rose precipitously each year.  That will be a happy thing to watch, for me anyway.  As long as the Democrats are ready to yell loud and long when the right wingnuts try to blame it on Obama -- and probably Hillary as well.

And while they are targeting others for their failures, let us also remember that our new "president" gets bored with people when they have outlived their usefulness.  I can only imagine that it won't take long for the smugly pious Mike Pence to get under Donald's skin.  Imagine the name calling, followed eventually by the inevitable tweets.  And wouldn't it be fun at some point to hear that Pence has been "fired."

Of course, once Pence is gone it will be safe to impeach Trump.  And wasn't that clever of whichever brains-behind-the-boss manipulated Trump into choosing the white-haired Satan for his running mate?  Anyway, point being, nothing lasts forever in Trumpworld.

Along the way, it isn't going to take long for these characters to put the economy into the toilet.  And once it is there, I would say by 2018, the voters will be ready to appeal to a Democratic Congress to get us out of the toilet.

Again, though, let us not forget the Bush years.  And Trump's reigning philosophy.  When some lose, others win.  For a couple of years I had been able to afford amazing timeshare rental vacations, weeklong getaways at resorts for $500 a week, the cost of the annual maintenance fee for those who needed to recoup the cost more than take the vacation.  That ended with the resurgence of the economy (thanks, Obama).  Now, the vacations that went for $60 a night are up over $300 a night.  But when the economy tanks, and until they take away my social security, I'll be able to get in on a couple of weeks a year of vacations on the beach once again.

I honestly can't believe that here we are, doing the Bush years over again.  But our electorate truly does have a short memory.  And they are gullible, easily manipulated.  It takes the pain of an interminable war and the tanking of the economy to the point of loss of jobs and homes before they realize that those sugar-spun fantasies of cutting taxes in order to make us rich are just fantasies.

On Tuesday afternoon, before the end, it occurred to me that this race was more like Nixon than Bush.  The Trump crowd that adopted "lying Hillary" as their mantra and made excuses for Trump's blatantly illegal and immoral behaviors could have been the same hardhats that chanted that they would rather have a crook in the White House than Hubert Humphrey.

It is hilarious that in retrospect, Nixon doesn't look that bad.  It is criminal though, that our memories have been so thoroughly wiped of all the damage done in the Reagan years that Democratic and republican politicians alike would no sooner fail to mention Ronald Reagan than walk onto a stage without a flag pin.

And then there were the Bush years, as we went from a growing economy to the brink of disaster.  Bad choices made by a gullible president at the behest of the evil Dick Cheney.  And surrounded by a cabinet of ideological idiots.

And finally, here we are again, with a growing economy, a strong military, better foreign relations than we have had for quite a while, more jobs and even wages slowly rising.   Instead of Bill Clinton, we have the most admirable couple to grace the White House maybe in my memory.  And instead of Al Gore, we have Hillary Clinton.

Instead of the evil capitalist Dick Cheney behind the wheel, we have the evil religious fanatic Mike Pence.  And then we have the proposed cabinet of deplorables:  Chris Christie, the guy who claims he didn't know about "bridge-gate;" Newt Gingrich, the man who ended his marriage at his wife's hospital bed, and last but truly least, Rudy Giuliani, whose contact with reality is so completely shot that he believes the US was not attacked on George W. Bush's watch.  That same Giuliani by the way, who giggled like a madman a couple of weeks ago when he alluded to his knowledge of the FBI re-opening the investigation into Hillary's emails as another surprise.  Yeah, he's going to be the next attorney general.

So, lots of reasons to weep, and hopefully lots of comedy potential as well.  And lots of reasons to get fired up to fight.  It is true that we will be fighting two branches of government rather than just congress.  But with a cast of characters as shady and corrupt as this bunch, as long as we fight as fearlessly as did Bernie and Hillary for what is right, as long as we don't let the bullies intimidate us, we can not only survive but win this thing.  And by "this thing" I pretty much mean our country and our freedoms. 

Hearing Bernie

I was there last night, at the Charleston rally for Bernie Sanders.  His throat was raw from the schedule he's been on, but after a few minutes he got his voice back.  He is pure momentum, determined to tell us unequivocally where he stands.  And as far as I have been able to tell, he stands for what is right for democracy and for the American people on every issue.

His arguments are clear.  Unchecked greed has fueled the hate and divisiveness that has caused the hard-working middle class to turn against itself.  That fraction of a percent that owns this country has kept us focused on all the ways we are different from each other and makes sure that we feel threatened by those differences.  It works, because while we are fighting about race, abortion and sexuality, our rights are being stolen out from under us.  Our right to privacy, our right to health care, education and a living wage, our right to feel safe on the streets -- all being undermined so that the powerful can continue to control us.  It happened in Nazi Germany, hate and jealousy allowing a maniac total control.

Well, the crowd last night was energized.  Each person was not there just for their own interest, but for all of us.  It was more like what I once thought our country could be than I have seen in some time.  When I left, my heart was full.

As I left, I passed a couple of booths between the doors and the parking lot.  One sign said something to the effect of, "some things you should know about socialists."  A woman at the other booth asked me if I wanted a copy of The Militant.  At first I thought these were right-wingers attempting to rile up the crowd.  But it seems they were proponents of radical socialism.

In Charleston as well as across the nation, Black Lives Matter is an important group that hopefully will not let us forget that racism is alive and well and needs to be confronted.  As many times as it takes.

I hope that the activists, socialists, African Americans, and all the others, keep fighting for those whose rights are being denied, who live in fear and poverty, who are treated as though they are not real American citizens.  I hope that they fight the right battles, and oppose the real enemies.  While the riots of the 1968 Democratic Convention had legitimate purpose, it resulted in Richard Nixon in the White House.  We can't afford that, with Donald Trump and the rest of the republican line-up appealing to all those who have been fed hatred and fear since the shock of 9-11.

For those who care to know, socialism is neither communism nor fascism.  For others, they have been taught to respond to the word as though it is the ultimate evil.  People who are beginning to listen to Bernie Sanders with some interest should not be hit on the head with The Militant or facts about socialism.  And African-Americans should know that Bernie is about leveling the playing field for us all, and of course within that goal black lives will matter because they have been affected by hate more than most others of us.

So this is indeed an opportunity to be heard.  But it is also an opportunity to reach out to those who have been manipulated and isolated by the right-wing.  Bernie Sanders sees an America where the middle class works together instead of against each other, and where that middle class understands that helping those that are struggling will make all lives better.