Although a never-Trumper, I credit him for good things he does (e.g., Trump did some good things as president, 8Jul23). I continue to do so (ask me for detailed comments if you'd like).
Sending
Venezuelans to El Salvador is NOT a question of appropriate/inappropriate deportation. The Trump administration sent those people to
a high-security prison. It is like
sending them to Siberia, indefinitely or permanently, without due process. This is much worse than deportation!
(Even people willing
to sacrifice other people’s rights should be concerned about the terms of the
deal. How are we paying to this? But more fundamentally, what if your child had
been sent off?)
Trump is also
intimidating attorneys and law firms. So
far, he has pursued Paul Weiss; Perkins Coie; and Jenner & Block because he
disagrees with things they have done. He
has suspended security clearances for their lawyers, restricted their access to
government buildings and officials, and barred them from federal contracting
work. He took action against two
attorneys at Covington & Burling for having represented his opponents. Such intimidation discourages attorneys from
defending clients on causes Trump might not like. It causes clients to shy away from the law
firms to avoid Trump's enmity. He has
also reportedly directed DOJ to recommend similar actions against firms
representing immigrants or that sued the government in the past 8 years. This is a clear parallel to Nazi Germany (https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/legalcomm-sept13-pdf-1.pdf).
He says dissenting judges should be impeached.
Consider the following: First, he imprisoned Venezuelans in El Salvador; I did nothing because I figured most of those people deserved it. Then, he intimidated attorneys; I did nothing because they weren't my attorney. Then, he intimidated judges; I did nothing because they weren't judging my case. He has also started intimidating the press, but I'm doing nothing (not sure why). When he comes after you or your loved ones, who will be left to protect you/them? You likely recognize that I'm re-phrasing Martin Niemoller’s famous quote.
A good
companion quote is from Rabbi Hillel: “If not you, who? If not now, when?”
Relative to
the phone call that permitted the reporter to join, I don’t believe people
should necessarily be fired after making a mistake. That person may be less likely to make that
mistake in the future than a replacement employee. However, firing people for blatantly lying to
Congress is appropriate!
I have
written that Separation
of Powers has been the most critical factor in the success of the USA. It is under threat:
- Congress fails to do its job. Citizens must push Congress to do its
job and reward those politicians who do their job well.
- Both parties undermine the judiciary to promote
their party’s interests over the country’s interests. President Trump seems to be trying to
overwhelm the judiciary with a blizzard of challenges to existing laws.
- Trump claims broad powers. Though he is partly making changes that
reduce executive power, concentration of power is scary. He does things he aptly criticized Biden
for doing.
Internationally,
President Trump has abandoned the USA’s traditional values-based world
leadership. I acknowledge that we often
failed in that regard, but President Trump’s “might makes right” approach seems
to be hurtling us toward George Orwell’s 1984, in which 3
super-powers carve up the world. In
addition to bullying and ridicule and outright denial (e.g., discussion of
detailed war plans is not classified information), Trump’s negotiation style
includes frequently changing positions to keep others off-balance (e.g.,
tariffs are variously about trade balances, jobs, security, fentanyl, etc.) Unpredictability can be effective (I believe
it would have kept Putin from invading Ukraine), but it often secures
short-term gains at the expense of long-term results.
President
Trump’s inconsistency makes it harder to discern his end game. That is probably his intended result. Freedom is fragile; it is much easier to lose
freedom than to regain freedom.
A huge
problem for the world is that the USA has not had a president who tried to
unite us since Bill Clinton. Both
parties believe: The large “middle” is too lethargic, busy, or distracted to
get involved in politics. The people on
the other extreme can’t be persuaded, so the way to maximize power is to
energize their “base” by taking extreme positions and lying about their
opponents to make them look like ogres.
Democrats
don’t recognize that their excesses and lies led to Trump’s re-election. Trump supporters should be upset that his
lies, excesses and communication needlessly alienate many people, which will
undermine Trump’s supporters’ goals in the long-term. (I’m working with No Labels to help educate
the “middle” and to encourage them to push Congress to do its job and to reward
politicians who put the country’s needs ahead of partisan politics. Such politicians have a lower re-election
rate because their parties punish them for being principled.)
Today’s
complex world makes government greatly more difficult than in 1787. While it makes sense for Congress to rely on
the Executive’s staff to flush out details, the Executive’s plans must then be
voted on by Congress.
I don't know how to attach my spreadsheet, but you could ask me for a copy.
My
comments on the "Review of Actions" spreadsheet are organized
alphabetically under the following topic areas: Budget, Culture, Education, Executive Orders, Foreign
Policy, Government, Judiciary, Nat'l Security, Pardons, Self-Aggrandizement, and
Staff.
My ideas are
not fully formed, and I am very open to your comments. I can update this spreadsheet in the
future. Currently it addresses 65 topics, so you'll likely want to be choosy about what you read. On the right side of the
spreadsheet are columns noting repeated characteristics. For example:
·
I
noted 4 areas where his efforts would reduce Presidential power in the future.
·
I
noted 17 comments where he is exceeding his authority in my opinion. I'm confident that many liberal readers would
wonder why I did not check that column more often.
·
I
noted 29 issues in which he has unnecessarily alienated people. This is a huge weakness of his. Even people who agree with his actions should
be very concerned that he is ginning up tremendous opposition and is positioning
himself to clamp down on rights.
·
Of
course, I noted a lot of areas in which he was rude, a bully or vindictive.
Some readers who
support Trump may think I'm allowing my anti-Trump bias to affect my
interpretations. To them, I would say:
1)
Note
how often I indicate positives about Trump’s positions or actions.
2)
A
person's character is important. Trump's
track record has to inspire distrust.
