After delays and hesitations, the looming arrest of Donald Trump
Have you ever wondered why, over two years after taking office, Attorney General Merrick Garland has failed to indict Donald Trump for any of his…
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Ukraine War, December 27, 2022 (II): Gordon Brown calls for trial in absentia of Putin and accomplices for crime of aggression; plans for special tribunal
Ukraine War, August 23: 2022: Recognizing genius–Trump as the most brilliant fascist demagogue since Adolf Hitler
Ukraine War, July 7, 2022: Political outlook on the American Front–Drifting toward disaster
The January 6 hearings and their impact (Updated June 30, 2022)
Ukraine War, June 19, 2022: Biden is lost in a fog on Ukraine; Only strong fresh winds from younger leaders can clear the air
Merrick Garland’s tragic epitaph: The man who wouldn’t prosecute Donald Trump
Why won’t Biden use law in fighting Trump and Putin?
Some House Democrats should move to impeach Merrick Garland for allowing statutes of limitation to run out and for not indicting Trump
Biden’s failed approach to defending American democracy
See, Ross Douthat, “What Is Joe Biden Thinking?”, New York Times, January 15, 2022. Ross Douthat has done an excellent job in summing up the…
How was Malik Faisal Akram killed in the hostage-release operation in Texas? (Updated January 17, 2022)
Reports of the rescue of hostages and the killing of the hostage-taking gunman in Collingwood, Texas are extremely opaque as to how the hostage-taker, identified as Malik Faisal Akram, was actually killed.
Official statemeents simply say that he was dead, with absolutely no details, raising a lot if questions.
According to one report, “One hostage who had been held was released during the stand-off and the three others got out when an FBI Swat team entered the building, authorities in the US said.”
Questions raised include the following:
Why was it necessary to kill the hostage-taker?
Was he simply executed after the hostages had escaped or been released?
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It may seem to some that, given the heinous nature of the crime, these details are unimportant. There was a similar disinterest in the details of the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2010, after he had apparently been brought under control.
These little details are important.
An entire civilization built on the rule of law depends on them.
Russian intervention in Kazakhstan
Analysis and Opinion See 1) “Russia and Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) decide to send troops to Kazakhstan–text of CSTO Charter,” The Trenchant Observer, January…
Merrick Garland should indict Trump today. If he doesn’t, Democrats should impeach Garland tomorrow.
The Democrats and “little d” democrats in the House and the Senate are in the middle of an all-out war with the Republicans for the future of the Republic–even if they are unaware of this fact, as often appears to be the case.
Merrick Garland has demonstrated in his year in office–beyond a shadow of a doubt–that he is not the General America needs to lead a victorious army to conquer the anti-democratic forces seeking to overthrow the Constitution and the rule of law in the United States.
A year of impunity for Trump and his felonious co-conspirators is enough, enough already.
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It is time to replace or remove Garland, and to end the state of impunity in the country that allows Trump to run around organizing his forces for the next Republican attempt to seize power by unconstitutional means.
Three urgent actions needed to save American democracy
Sometimes political situations and their implications are very clear to the objective observer, someone like the Observer who is far removed from the buzz of Washington, Twitter, and the latest “breaking news” on the Cable News networks. The Observer is a keen and unbiased commentator who reads many newspapers, both American and foreign, and who has been paying attention to political developments in the United States for a long time.
Drawing on this experience and his own original analysis, the Observer believes that there are three major problems that pose a challenge to American democracy, and that there are three active measures that the Democrats and “little d” democrats should take, now, in order to save the Republic.
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Taking down Trump is the single most important action the Democrats can take to safeguard American democracy in 2022 and 2024. Together with passing legislation prohibiting the knowing transmission of lies and disinformation on television and radio, and enacting voting rights legislation, indicting Trump is an essential action in any program to protect American democracy against the anti-democratic and authoritarian threat Trump and his supporters represent.
These three problems represent the greatest challenges to American democracy today.
These three urgent actions represent our best hopes for beating back the anti-democratic challenge before it is too late.
Democrats should impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland–UPDATED December 24, 2021
Having sworn in his confirmation hearings that he would not allow political considerations to influene his decisions to prosecute individuals, he has blatantly violated his oath and his duty under the Constitution and the law.
Specifically, he has failed to initiate prosecution of Donald Trump and his many co-conspirators for the many electoral crimes committed after the November 3, 2020 presidential election, or for the many instances of obstruction of justice including witness tampering committed if full view by Trump. Among these apparent crimes are the 10 instances of obstruction of justice laid out, in explicit detail and with summaries of the relevant evidence, in the Mueller Report.
There appears to be a conspiracy of silence among Democratic leaders to not even discuss the issue of whether Trump should be prosecuted.
J’accuse
On January 13, 1898, French novelist Émile Zola published his famous letter entitled, “J’accuse” (I accuse), addressed to the President of the Republic, in which he denounced the government and its military command and their antisemitic leaders for prosecuting Alfred Dreyfus, a Captain of Jewish descent, on trumped up charges of treason. Dreyfus had been convicted in 1894, and at a subsequent retrial. Zola’s letter had a decisive impact on democracy and the rule of law in France.
In the United States, we now face a similar if not even graver moment in which the rule of law is at stake. It is a moment in which antisemitic and racist militants actively participate in a fascist conspiracy to overthrow the Constitution and the rule of law.
In these circumstances, the following letter is addressed to “Democrats “and political leaders in the United States, calling on them to act, vigorously and effectively, to defend American democracy.
Max Boot calls for Garland to appoint Special Prosecutor to investigate Trump’s crimes
Today, finally, a leading national opinion columnist, Max Boot, called for the Justice Department to investigate Donald Trump’s crimes.
Because Merrick Garland has been far too willing to look the other way, and has avoided investigation and indictment for the many crimes Donald Trump appears to have committed, Boot proposes Garland appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate Trump’s apparent crimes.
Democrats refuse to indict Trump. Biden stumbles. Republicans gear up to steal elections. The fascist threat grows.
The Democrats refuse to prosecute Donald Trump. Moreover, they enforce a conspiracy of silence under which not even the question of whether Trump should be prosecuted can be discussed, or even raised.
Meanwhile, Trump, who appears to have committed numerous felonies in full public view, is left free to hold rallies and breathe air into a growing fascist movement led by the Republican party and his supporters
President Joe Biden continues to stumble, to blow the opportunities his and the Democrats’ narrow victories in 2020 have afforded him.
Neither Biden nor the Democratic leaders seem to understand that fascist threat.
The country faces a fascist challenge supported by 35-40 million voters living in a propaganda universe, an alternate universe where facts and the truth do not hold sway, plus perhaps another 20 million cynical fellow travelers.
Nowhere are their leaders with the courage to stand up and defend our democracy by taking bold actions, such as indicting Trump.
Trump’s attempted subversion of the Justice Department: When will he be indicted?
New and damning details emerged today with the publication of an Interim Report by the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 7, 2021.
The breadth and extent of Donald Trump’s electoral and other crimes is in the public record.
While the nation pays attention to the latest “breaking news” story, American democracy is in grave peril.
The questions that should be front and center in every newspaper and on every radio and TV news program are the following:
1) Why has Trump not been indicted?
2) Should Trump be indicted?
3) When will Trump be indicted?
Fascists are winning, democrats are losing
Americans live in the twilight of a democracy that will not defend itself.
One question tells the whole story: Why has Trump not been indicted?