Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Trump's wrecking ball assaults American government. Luckily, it is strongly built

"If that sign is that he is an amoral, ends justifies the means, ideologue, yep, he's 95% of the way there."

Heh, Barr's legacy

"“I think one of the ironies today is that people are saying that it’s President Trump
that’s shredding our institutions,” Barr told CBS. “I really see no evidence of that.”"

Trump's wrecking ball assaults American government. Luckily, it is strongly built

Robert Reich

The president swings wildly but the people will stay true: the way to beat him is to defend the institutions he would smash

Sun 26 May 2019 01.00 EDT
Last modified on Sun 26 May 2019 12.03 EDT


‘In order to get what he wants, Trump rides roughshod over how we decide. He is the great destroyer.’
Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Americans have sharply different views about what government should do, whether on abortion, guns, immigration or any number of hot-button issues. But we broadly agree about how government should go about resolving our differences.

‘The president's insane’: book by CNN's Jim Acosta charts Trump war on press
Read more > https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/25/jim-acosta-cnn-white-house-trump-book-enemy-of-the-people

This distinction – between what we disagree about and how we settle those disagreements – is crucial. As long as we continue to agree on the how, the processes and institutions of governance, we can accept what is decided even if we’re unhappy about it.

To state it another way, Americans don’t always like what government does but they overwhelmingly support the American system of government. They want to improve it, not destroy it.

Enter Donald Trump .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump , who has turned this how-what distinction on its head. In order to get what he wants, Trump rides roughshod over how we decide. He is the great destroyer.

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"This is the most profound challenge to our system of government since Richard Nixon went rogue"
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His directive to his lapdog attorney general, William Barr .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/23/trump-barr-mueller-report-investigation , to find evidence of “treason” against specific people who investigated him threatens the neutrality of our entire system of justice, as does Barr’s assertion of “no limit” on the president’s authority to direct law enforcement investigations, including those he’s personally interested in.

Trump’s blanket refusal to comply with House subpoenas and investigations .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/22/trump-democrats-infrastructure-meeting-impeachment-mueller-report .. flies in the face of how Congress is supposed to oversee the executive branch.

Trump’s 2016 campaign aides’ eagerness to get dirt on his opponent from Russia .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/03/donald-trump-russia-steve-bannon-michael-wolff , and Trump’s efforts to suppress evidence about those dealings, undermine how the American electoral system is supposed to run.

Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to justify using funds to build his wall that Congress refused to appropriate .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/24/judge-bars-trump-from-building-border-wall-sections-with-emergency-funds , obliterates how spending decisions are supposed to be made.

Trump’s angry references to “Obama judges .. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/nov/22/trump-dismisses-john-roberts-rebuke-blames-judges-for-bedlam-chaos ” who rule against him calls into question the independence and legitimacy of the judiciary.

Trump’s hints at violence if he doesn’t get his way – such as his March insinuation .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2019/mar/16/donald-trump-breitbart-interview-white-supremacy .. that “I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough – until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad” – threatens the democratic foundations of our society.

Taken as a whole, these attacks on our basic agreement about how to resolve our disagreements constitute the most profound challenge to our system of government since Richard Nixon went rogue.

Thankfully, most Americans oppose them. Even with record low unemployment, Trump’s approval ratings remain in the cellar. About 35%, Trump’s hardcore base, continue to stick by him, but independents and even some Republicans .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/republicans .. are deserting him in droves.

Although impeachment is the appropriate remedy for a president who assaults our system of government, most of the public opposes this move as well .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/21/contempt-or-impeachment-trump-and-democrats-locked-in-ultimate-congressional-battle . I think that’s because in these especially perilous times, impeachment threatens to pull the system further apart, possibly to the breaking point.

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The latest major Trump resignations and firings
Read more > https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2018/jul/05/donald-trump-firings-resignations-white-house-full-list-latest
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Importantly, the courts are stepping up.

On Monday, Judge Amit Mehta ruled against Trump .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2019/may/20/trump-news-today-live-fox-news-interview-pete-buttigieg-justin-amash-2020-latest-updates , saying “lawmakers should get documents they have subpoenaed”.

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INSERT - Nice and Neat - "On Monday, federal Judge Amit Mehta issued a sweeping decision rejecting Trump’s personal challenge to a House Oversight Committee subpoena of his financial records from an accounting firm he has used. The main argument Trump advanced was that there was no legislative purpose for the subpoena.
P - Mehta made quick work of that argument, noting that courts have long held that they must presume Congress is acting to legislate. But Trump’s argument went further, claiming that Congress is engaging in “law enforcement” and that corrupt behavior by the president is not a “proper subject of investigation.” Mehta cited Watergate as an obvious rebuttal.
P - Trump’s argument is doomed to fail in the courts because the Constitution gives the House the “full power of impeachment” and it could not exercise that authority without investigating presidential wrongdoing.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=149043147
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On Wednesday, Judge Edgardo Ramos refused to block subpoenas .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/22/trump-subpoenas-financial-records-court-house-deutsche-bank-capital-one .. from the House financial services and intelligence committees for Trump records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One.

On Friday, Judge Haywood Gilliam granted a preliminary injunction .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/24/judge-bars-trump-from-building-border-wall-sections-with-emergency-funds .. blocking Trump’s use of $1bn from the Department of Defense for building his wall.

These decisions are significant not just because they are victories for House Democrats .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/democrats , but because they confirm that the American system of government is still working, Trump notwithstanding.


Richard Nixon approaches the foul line. Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

He may yet succeed in running out the clock – dragging out appeals through election day. But every court decision that adds legitimacy to the processes and institutions Trump has been attacking makes him look more like the dangerous wrecking ball he is.

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Battle hymn of the Democrats: why it's time for liberals to fight dirty
Read more > https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/10/standoff-its-time-to-fight-dirty-review-democrats-republicans-trump
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Over the past several months I have heard some on the left talk about meeting fire with fire .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/10/standoff-its-time-to-fight-dirty-review-democrats-republicans-trump , if and when Democrats regain the White House and Senate.

To counteract Trump’s (and let’s not forget Mitch McConnell’s) malfeasance, they want to alter the system in ways that favor their side .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/10/standoff-its-time-to-fight-dirty-review-democrats-republicans-trump – expanding the number of supreme court justices, for example, or eliminating the Senate filibuster, or dividing California into three states, each with its own two senators. And so on.

This would be a mistake. Americans want to preserve our agreement over how to resolve our disagreements, and are witnessing the threat Trump and the Republicans present to it.

The Democratic party should dedicate itself to protecting that agreement. This is the hallmark of a true governing party. Trump and the Republicans, by contrast, are digging themselves ever more deeply into a hole from which they may never emerge.

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few .. https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Capitalism-Many-Not-Few/dp/0345806220 .. and The Common Good .. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/052552049X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 . He is also a columnist for Guardian US

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/26/trump-wrecking-ball-american-government

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