It's always so tempting to weigh in with a column in the middle of the week and it would probably help traffic numbers for this blog. However, in the era of Trump the week can play out in unexpected ways to say the least so that interval seems suitable; maintaining sanity also comes into play and focusing on Donald Trump is not the answer to that maintenance; and lastly, life gets in the way.
With that said, last Sunday Mr. Trump attacked four Democratic congresswomen all of whom are women of color and throughout the week, he maintained his racial tropes swaying and pitching in different directions but returned attacks again today with the following tweet:
Donald J. Trump is President of the United States in name only because he clearly has no inclination to be the leader for all its people. It's sad times in America and we do not find ourselves 'great' as this man likes to proclaim.
There's no doubt a pinnacle of lowness was reached midweek with the president's rally in North Carolina with the crowd chanting "send her back" in reference to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN), which is simply despicable. Mr. Trump for his part, later in the week said that he didn't like the chant but given the message he sent today ultimately has no problem with it. Never mind Republican lawmakers trying to downplay all of this - let's not get into it - because they are a lost cause. There is nothing this president can do that will make them speak out against the president, and Mr. Trump will continue to test those boundaries if 'test' is even what he's doing.
Contrary to what Mr. Trump would tell you, the people at that rally are not patriots for chanting what they did. In fact, these four congresswomen are more patriotic then they will ever be.
Ms. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
'The Squad' and the general branding of congressional groups (the 'problem solvers' caucus also comes to mind) is a bit ridiculous, granted. But they stood up, made their case, and were elected by the citizenry to represent districts in the country they love. It's their patriotic duty to question their leaders, in this case the president. And his actions more than deserve to be questioned.
Speaking of questions, Congress will question fmr. Special Counsel Robert Mueller this week and be advised to keep expectations low. He'll most likely stick strictly to his script (the report) and will provide as little as context as possible. Mr. Mueller has been effectively neutered by Attorney General William Barr inasmuch as Mr. Mueller's investigation is incomplete. Ended too soon by Mr. Barr. Will it be helpful if the American public actually hears and sees from Mr. Mueller and the outlining of at the very least the president's obstruction of justice? Perhaps, but at this time the prediction is that it will matter little.
The Democratically-controlled House's only recourse is to start an impeachment inquiry, and that's exactly what it would be, an inquiry. This would give them the leverage to have documents unsealed, clearly the president's chief obstructionist, Mr. Barr, out of the way and free grand jury testimony that would probably be more damning to the president. An immense amount of light needs to be shone about what Mr. Mueller found and unfortunately his testimony this week won't be enough.
On last thing about Mr. Barr, his justice department this week said it would not indict the officer that killed Eric Garner with a choke hold. It was reported but not very widely discussed. This has renewed racial animus on the community level, while the president creates more of it on a national level. A ruinous administration without healing for the foreseeable future.
No comments:
Post a Comment