This is a good time to teach the U.S. Constitution.
Trump has often said that, as president, he can do whatever he wants. He believes he is above the law. He has said that Article 2 of the Constitution assures him complete immunity from any prosecution. In addition, his lawyers asserted in a case in New York that he cannot even be investigated for breaking the law, and that this immunity shields not only him, but his family, his business, and his associates in business.
Trump says that Article 2 gives him “absolute” power and total immunity from investigation or prosecution.
Here is the totality of Article 2, describing the role and powers of the President.
Section 1.
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representatives from each State having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–”I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
I can’t find any language in Article 2 that gives the president immunity from investigation or prosecution or that allows him to do “whatever he wants.” The purpose of the Constitution is to assure that no individual or branch of government has the unlimited powers of a monarch.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is according to Trump’s method: Tell his adoring nose-holding base what the Constitution says (lies) because he thinks they won’t read it. In their head-in-the-ground naivete, they’ll believe what Trump says. Barr did the same thing–he told them what was in the Mueller investigation so THAT set of “spaghetti lies” would stick to the walls of his base’s minds–such as they are.
Whatever happened to “once-burned, twice shy”? CBK
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They aren’t holding their noses. His base LOVES him and thinks he’s sent by God.
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Threatened Out West I know some who ARE holding their noses, so to speak; but that’s hardly the point that we are both making. And those who call themselves Christians are in direct opposition to the fundamental principles of Christianity. CBK
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The “christians” know Trump is an amoral sinner, but they love that he is delivering on conservative Supreme Court Justices that will sit for a very long time.
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LisaM: I have a thing against the ‘get that fetus born’ crowd. The fetus, once it is born, can die from malnutrition, be shot by guns, die from no medical care, have schools that are falling apart, have parents with jobs that don’t pay a living wage, live on the streets, etc. None of that matters.
The fetus matters. The live baby doesn’t.
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Those folks love the unborn, not the born.
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carolmalaysia, mypersonal interpretation of “go forth & multiply” is that God had in mind we should populate the earth to the point where we would be forced to work together globally to ensure sufficient resources to preserve the human race w/o breaking his commandments. The Right2Lifers (& isolationists, & neoliberals, kleptocracies et al) ignore the back half to their own peril [‘their’ meaning the human race].
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bethree5: My feeling is that God weeps at the hatred, killings and destruction that mankind is doing to each other and to the earth. We are meant to care for each other but instead mankind creates monstrously expensive killing machines to destroy. Our intelligence is used to spy on each other.
We should love ourselves as much as possible and then love others a wee bit more. If everyone did that the gross inequalities that pervade this planet would cease. It is so easy and yet impossible to get people to respect each other.
Hatred and fear are so terribly destructive but this is what our self-centered MAGA IDIOT is spreading.
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“My feeling is that God weeps at the hatred, killings and destruction that mankind is doing to each other and to the earth”
Well, she created this mess.
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Máté Wierdl; “She created this mess.”
No, she gave free will to mankind and WE created this mess.
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I wouldn’t let her off the hook this easy. 🙂 Bosses have responsibilty, like Trump is definitely responsible for the arrogance and hatred that has surfaced.
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Máté Wierdl: God is saying that mankind is not what she/he wanted us to become. We were given free will and have wandered off the trail. We were meant to care for each other, instead we fight and kill and maim and starve and hate. Each person is responsible for his own acts. Each person can make things better but it takes each person plus others to really make an impact.
Life can get better but it involves each person deciding to care.
[Oh well. I tried.]
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Yes, God is a Woman. That means, She must be sleeping and we have to wake her up to take care of Trump and his Trumplicans.
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“I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department,” Trump said.
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As President, Trump is supposed to “execute” the laws (as in “executive”?). He doesn’t make the laws; and he certainly doesn’t make them up as he goes along, which is what he THINKS he can do. I doubt he’s ever even READ the Constitution.
When we get through this–and I do think we will get through it–Trump’s base owes themselves and the rest of us a great big apology. I’m WAY beyond sympathizing with them on this one. CBK
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Again, THANK YOU, Diane!
Will share.
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Trump continues to lead as though he is above the law. He signs a tremendous amount of executive orders in order to impose his perspective, and those that overreach get challenged by the justice department. He does not work with Congress. He simply ignores them for as long as he can.
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Trump loves absolute dictators because he wants to be one. And he wants it to be hereditary. The Republican party should be ashamed at how they are pushing ever forward towards a totalitarian dictatorship. I can’t understand the people who scream “freedom” and yet support Republicans.
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At this point, the Republican Party are shameless, spineless co-conspirators.
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So am I the only person who feels the Democrats let Mueller off too easy. After spending two years cowardly afraid to take a stand. Putting all their faith in Mueller they accept a couple of implausible assumptions. While being too timid to impeach. Is anybody shocked that the polls changed as soon as action is announced. Are the current charges any different than the original sin.
1) Mueller states that he could not reliably determine Manafort’s motive in delivering polling data, targeted states and strategy to Deripaska. Deripaska is arguably the second closest person to Putin. He further states that he could not determine what happens to the information. So someone please give me a plausible explanation other than the obvious. If that is the standard for prosecution; I think I will rob a bank and hope the prosecutor refuses to indict not knowing my motive. Did any Democrat confront Mueller on this.
2) Neither Trump nor Putin expect Trump to win. So one had to ask what each expected. For Trump it is obvious; Trump tower Moscow and Russian money. For Putin it was disruption and Trump running around the country screaming the election was stolen by undocumented voters. 4 years of a carnival barker undermining Clinton on a new Bannon /Trump TV funded by American and Russian Oligarchs.
In the rare case Trump won, the possibilities were boundless. Why we might even abandon the Kurds who have lost 11 thousand lives vs 16 Americans in 4 years of fighting ISIS. Turning oil fields over to Putin and Assad. Might even undermine NATO and all other US partners.
Mueller in a case that was all about the money never follows the money.
It should seem obvious why Rosenstein was confident that he could” land the plane” . He selected Mueller knowing exactly how he would conduct the investigation. And the Democrats let it happen from the start. How does someone implicated in the Comey firing pick the investigator. Would Republicans have stayed quite waiting for the report for two years. They would have been on the soap box for two whole years discrediting anything Mueller came up with short of a conviction while they froze the budget or shut the Government. . Thus forcing Mueller to be far more aggressive to be at all credible. But even as Mueller delivers his Testimony the silk gloves were on. Did anyone ask him why he never followed the money?
So you say sour grapes. Okay here is a Politico article predicting exactly how Mueller would handle the investigation written two weeks after his appointment.
The totally implausible was the conclusion in the Ray Rice NFL investigation.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/07/mueller-nfl-probe-rice-goodell-239216
Democrats should have been screaming for impeachment the day they got the report. And now they should add the original sins, collusion, obstruction. and all other crimes to the articles of impeachment. As the Republicans shouted Benghazi and emails for 4 years.
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Oh, I FULLY agree that the Democrats have been too soft on this whole situation.
WHERE are the statesmen and stateswomen here? Everyone on both sides is SO afraid of losing reelection that they don’t speak out about what is happening before our eyes. There’s no profile in courage on other side.
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Yes, Mueller failed to follow the money, which is bizarre in the extreme. Where is the forensic accounting here? But he did say, quite clearly, in his report that if his team had found Trump to be innocent of collusion, they would have said so, and he is not saying so, and he further says that it’s up to Congress to prosecute. Why the weasel language? Well, there he is, Mr. Mueller, working within what is, at its highest levels, the enemy camp.
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Joel, from the link: “But the investigation Mueller agreed to conduct for the NFL was so narrowly focused that it left unanswered some fundamental questions about the case, including whether the league ignored blatantly obvious criminal and abusive behavior among its marquee players to protect its billion-dollar revenues…. ‘It was like someone committed a crime, and they wanted to follow all the facts about what color shoes they were wearing, and really get to the bottom of that’…”
So who should Rosenstein have chosen? Where would he get anyone w/better vetting than Mueller? He knew of other above-suspicion ethically spotless party-neutral candidates he mentally turned down cuz he was “implicated in the Comey firing”?
Could the distinction you’re making be between a fed-level lawyer, &… I don’t know, an investigative reporter? “Several participants in Mueller’s investigation, and others familiar with his thinking, indicate that he himself approved of the narrow framing of the investigation. He did so, they said, not to dodge the broader policy questions surrounding the issue of domestic violence but to address the specific allegations that NFL leaders acted improperly.” Just who do we go to in a Justice Dept investigation to get to “the broader policy questions”?
I’m not discounting your argument. But it seems less to do w/choice of Special Prosecutor than to the muddiness inherent in a Justice Dept investigation of the executive [of which it’s a part]. Is it about criminal misconduct, or ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ to be referred to the House for impeachment inquiry? Mueller found criminal misconduct close to the President, indicted, imprisoned. He demurred indicting a President on constitutional grounds, yet passed enough info to Congress [mainly on obstruction of justice] to warrant proceeding w/impeachment. Any fault at that point lies w/Congress—but I suspect Congress didn’t move then because the public wasn’t yet with them , & impeachment is a political, not criminal procedure. Congress is moving now because it is easier for the public to recognize impeachable offense in Trump’s Ukraine call, as opposed to Russian interference in election which cannot as easily be pinned on Trump’s direct actions.
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Of course there is nothing in Article II that immunizes the President from investigation or prosecution. And while the Department of Justice memorandum that concludes that the indictment or prosecution of a sitting President is unconstitutional may be binding on the Justice Department, it does not have the force of law.
I wish more Americans took the time to read the transcript of Trump’s phone call with the new President of Ukraine rather than relying on their favorite media outlet to tell them what to think. You don’t need to be a particularly strong reader to make the appropriate inferences.
When the Ukrainian President says he is “ready to buy more Javelins [anti-tank missiles] for defensive purposes,” Trump, who has held up the military aid to Ukraine approved by Congress, replies,”I would like you to do us a favor though” (note the conditional “though”), and soon he asks the Ukrainian President to investigate his political rival Joe Biden and also Biden’s son, with the help of Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and the Attorney General of the United States, Bill Barr. The Ukrainian President, desperate to please Trump and get that military aid, in hopes of keeping Russia at bay, is utterly agreeable. Soon after the phone call, Trump releases the military aid.
Trump may not know Latin, but the applicable phrase is a “quid pro quo.” The President used the power of his office to manipulate a foreign power so as to gain an advantage over a political rival. This is just the kind of abuse of trust that the Founders envisioned when they gave the House the impeachment power.
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The Founders were obsessed with the fear that foreign nations would meddle in our affairs. That’s why the emoluments clause absolutely prohibits the president from accepting anything of value from foreign powers. Trump violates that daily. They pay him off by booking rooms in his hotels. According to a recent report, sometimes foreign governments book rooms and no one uses them.
Just a payoff for favors.
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Requiring that representatives live in states they represent indicates that decisions should be in the hands of those that have a vested interest in the state they represent. Our founders could not have foreseen the influence of campaign donations coming from anywhere in the world or the impact of the “information highway” to deal in misinformation from anywhere on the planet. We need to update our laws.
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Diane,
About the Emoluments Clause:
At every turn, Trump seems motivated by self-interest rather than by a desire to uphold his oath of office. Take tax “reform,” for example. Much of the new tax law benefits Trump personally. And apart from his (fraught) meetings with foreign leaders or with his cronies, Trump spends his days talking to his base, by tweet or otherwise, in an effort to be re-elected; watching his sycophants on Fox; and disparaging or undoing the accomplishments of his predecessor in office. His narcissism is unquenchable.
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An important point, Metaphysician, about that “though.” A very, very clear statement of a quid pro quo. Well written and argued. Thank you.
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To your point about the tax cut, M: Just after the cut passed, Trump went down to Mar-a-lago and had dinner with a bunch of friends. Someone else at a nearby table heard him tell them, “I just gave you all a BIG Christmas present.” Trump knew, ofc, that he was making a great deal for Trump and for his buddies. He’s stupid, but not THAT stupid.
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“And while the Department of Justice memorandum that concludes that the indictment or prosecution of a sitting President is unconstitutional may be binding on the Justice Department, it does not have the force of law.” Could you elaborate on this? Seriously, I wanna know. If it’s not binding on the Justice Dept, why not? And if not, who’s allowed to hold the President to the law?
As to the rest of your post, right on, & this is why even Pelosi, loath to endanger election-vulnerable Dems in Trump territory, has moved forward w/impeachment inquiry: Trump’s Ukrainian telecon is straightforward enough to be read clearly by the American public as an impeachable offense.
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“Who’s allowed to hold the President to the law?”
Both Houses of Congress.
U.S. Constitution Article II, Section 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Section 2. “The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”
In Article I, in Sections 2: “The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.”
In Section 3. “The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.
Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.”
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei
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Lloyd Lofthouse: …”the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.”
This is my favorite part. Trump must be aware of the dangers of being impeached and tried by the Senate. How many lawsuits does he currently have against him? My hope is that he is found guilty by a state law [SDNY?] and put in prison with no chance of a pardon.
It is past time that this crook be held responsible for some of his crimes. Why is he working so hard to keep his tax returns hidden? Something awful is hidden and eventually it will be known.
Why did Trump work to be sure no one could ever find his grades in school? Obviously, if he was anywhere near as smart as he continuously claims he would be flouting his grades to the media daily. [“See, here are my grades from Wharton. See how smart I am!!” Blah, blah, blah.]
He doesn’t keep anything good hidden.
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After he loses the election, we will have much more to worry about than the conviction of Trump. Besides, there is nothing worse for a narcissist than people forgetting to talk about him.
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What a GREAT leader we have. “The best president this country has ever had.” He is the most honest president in U.S history. He takes full responsibility for any of his actions/mistakes. He is the most compassionate ‘man’ out there. Trump and his cabinet genuinely CARE about America’s people.
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Take It From a Former Moonie: Trump Is a Cult Leader
It might seem an outrageous proposition to compare Donald Trump to a murderous cult leader. And yet there are alarming parallels.
On the afternoon of Nov. 18, 1978, Jim Jones called his followers to the central pavilion of Jonestown, a sprawling outpost in the jungles of Guyana, and ordered them to drink a lethal mixture of cyanide and fruit punch. Over 900 people perished that day, more than a third of them children. As he lay dying of a bullet wound to the head—a less painful way to go than cyanide and one that he probably orchestrated—Jones told his followers that it was “all the media’s fault. Don’t believe them.”
Those words, uttered so long ago, sound disturbingly familiar as we approach the 41st anniversary of Jonestown. We have a president who regularly disparages and blames the media, calling it “fake,” “false,” and “phony,” and who calls journalists “enemies of the people”—epithets that seem especially frenzied in the wake of the whistleblower complaint and the launching of the House impeachment inquiry. It might seem an outrageous proposition to compare Donald Trump to a murderous cult leader. And yet there are alarming parallels. Like Jones and other cult leaders, Trump exhibits features of what psychologist Erich Fromm called “malignant narcissism”—bombastic grandiosity, a bottomless need for praise, lack of empathy, pathological lying, apparent sadism, and paranoia. In short, he fits the stereotypical psychological profile of a cult leader…
As I argue in my upcoming book, The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How The President Uses Mind Control (Simon & Schuster), Trump has gotten where he is today in large part because he has exploited tactics straight out of that playbook. These include his grandiose claims, his practice of sowing confusion, his demand for absolute loyalty, his tendency to lie and create alternative “facts” and realities, his shunning and belittling of critics and ex-believers, and his cultivating of an “us versus them” mindset…
https://www.thedailybeast.com/take-it-from-a-former-moonie-trump-is-a-cult-leader?source=email&via=desktop
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Trump does not read. He watches Fox news and listens to his cronies. He does not being dead wrong on matters of fact. He has no capacity for being embarrassed by his ignorance. That is why he relies on superlatives to describe himself and anyone who he will claim as a supporter.
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Exactly. Trump has the reading skills of a remedial fourth grader. He certainly couldn’t make heads or tails of the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence or the Federalist Papers. Way, way beyond his reading level. He’s profoundly ignorant. If Chaucey Gardiner from Jerzy Kosiński’s Being There were a psychopath, he would be Trump. IQ45.
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Agreed, Trump neither reads nor understands the Constitution. This does nor make him stupid exactly or let’s say that’s beside the point. He has observed w/experience pushing the envelope that, so far, no one succeeds in stopping him when he pursues his own agenda regardless of norms, policies, or laws [constitutional or otherwise]. So far, our elected representives have been slow to catch onto his agenda & methods, then slow to figure out how to apply the brakes using checks/balances– & slowest yet to gather the political will to appy the brakes, in view of his success in using political manipulation/ bullying to counter all critics.
Congress (House & Senate) seems still—after three years—to be paralyzed by a President who (a)methodically gains total contol over executive by appointing Cabinet heads opposed to any Dept commission other than undercutting its own power via understaffing, then fires them & replaces w/ “acting” Secretaries; (b) implements foreign policy alien to US interests via fiat/ executive order/ deputizing associates to act in place of State Dept [which has virtually no one onboard to object], & ignoring Pentagon advice; (c)responds to Congressional attemps to curb him by refusal to cooperate [despite any laws], counting on the slow process of investigations &/or court appeals to allow him to proceed via brinksmanship to implement his near-term agenda [devil take the hindmost].
We can thank his brinksmanship for providing an opportunity to impeach him & get him the hell out of office.
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The Repugnicans LOVE having this guy in office. He is so clueless and ignorant that they can loot their rapacious hearts out and use his appointees and Executive Orders to make it happen.
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Trump doesn’t listen to much advice from anyone because he is a “stable genius,” “the chosen one,” and I forgot his latest claim to perfection.
Trump, a malignant narcissist, and alleged psychopath, also might have dementia, ADHD and other learning disabilities like dyslexia. With severe brain damage like those, no matter what he reads, his deranged mind is capable of interpreting those words into anything he wants them to be.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-dementia-adhd-learning-disabilities-michael-wolff-773235
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De Niro and I are definitely in agreement. “I can’t wait to see him in jail”.
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Robert De Niro on Donald Trump: ‘I can’t wait to see him in jail’
Robert De Niro has renewed his criticism of Donald Trump, calling the US head of state a “gangster president” and saying he “can’t wait” to see him jailed.
De Niro was speaking to the Guardian ahead of the London film festival premiere of The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s new film, in which he plays mafia killer Frank Sheeran, now generally presumed to have been responsible for the murder of celebrated union boss Jimmy Hoffa in 1975.
De Niro said: “We have a real, immediate problem in that we have a gangster president who thinks he can do anything he wants … the problem is, if he actually gets away with it, then we all have a problem.
“The gall of the people around him who actually defend him, these Republicans, is appalling, and we must do something about it.”…
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/11/robert-de-niro-donald-trump-jail-the-irishman-republicans?CMP=share_btn_link
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Some at the Constitutional Convention privately wanted an executive with much more power, but they knew no one would accept it so they didn’t push too hard. There’s a lesson in there, Republicans.
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I was advised, a while back, to always carry a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution, just in case it was ever needed.
If it was ever needed, now is the time. Good advice from a Poli. Sci. Teacher!
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&, BTW, I DO have one in my purse-size calendar case, which is always w/me.
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love this; I used to carry one as well; in my briefcase, which was always with me.
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2No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President”
Wait a minute, so then you don’t have to be a natural born citizen to run for presidency; you simply have to be a citizen.
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No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. U.S. Constitution. Art. II, Sec. 1, Clause 5. So, the person has to be a natural born citizen or someone who was alive at the and a citizen at the time of the adoption of the C.
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There goes the grammar I fail to understand, Bob.
Originally, we see
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President;
Is it so clear what the “at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution” refers to? Why separate it with a comma from “or a Citizen of the United States” if it supposed to refer to it?
My understanding is that what they meant to say was that “at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, natural born citzens or citizens of the US are eligible for the presidency”.
“At the time” is vague anyways. Does it mean in that instance when they adopted the Constitution? How can you be a citizen in that instance?
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Comma usage was different in those days, Mate, and not settled. Today, we would leave it out. This has been interpreted by the courts to mean “or a citizen of the US at the time of the adoption.” And yes, I understand your second point. The idea was that many of the founders themselves and many other Americans in the colonies at the time, had been born elsewhere, many in the British Isles. So they didn’t want to exclude themselves, but going forward, they wanted only natural born citizens to be eligible. The intended meaning is recoverable despite the admittedly confusing statement of it from the debates about the document in the congress. BTW, this was the second Constitution. Before that, there were the Articles of Confederation–the first version. So, yes, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, there were already citizens of the United States.
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When is Trump going to denounce the fake video? [Bet he loved it.] It’s just his supporters being loyal. Violence is just fine when it’s directed in the right direction…libtards, fake news, anti-Facists, immigrants and critics.
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Macabre Video of Fake Trump Shooting Media and Critics Is Shown at His Resort
The video, which includes the logo for Mr. Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, comprises a series of internet memes. The most violent clip shows Mr. Trump’s head superimposed on the body of a man opening fire inside the “Church of Fake News” on parishioners who have the faces of his critics or the logos of media organizations superimposed on their bodies. It appears to be an edited scene of a church massacre from the 2014 dark comedy film “Kingsman: The Secret Service.”
The disclosure that the video was played shows how Mr. Trump’s anti-media language has influenced his supporters and bled into their own propaganda. Mr. Trump has made attacks on the news media a mainstay of his presidency, and he tweeted a similar — but far less violent video — in 2017. In recent weeks as he has confronted impeachment proceedings, he has ramped up his attacks on the news media, repeatedly calling it the “enemy of the people.”
A person who attended the conference last week took a video of the clip on his phone and had an intermediary send it to a reporter for The Times. Parts of the video were posted on YouTube in 2018 by a user with a history of creating pro-Trump mash-ups.
http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/AAIJ5Bm?ocid=se
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Do you think Trump understands the Magna Carta? Or its history, that in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. King John of England was playing the same kind of games with English nobility that Trump is doing to us. After a series of unpopular military decisions and aggressive taxations , the barons under John’s rule rebelled and threatened civil war unless he sign their document. The Magna Carta mostly dealt with the barons property rights and the monarchs accountability to law. Trump should read The Constitution and understand it is the foundation for many forms of law which is what our democracy is based .
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Expecting Trump to learn about the Magna Carta or to read the Constitution is unreasonable.
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Trump would think the Magna Carta was the name for a bottle of champagne.
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Or he’d think it’s the name of a French porn actress and he’d immediately order Giuliani to call her and arrange for a champagne dinner with her and some relatively close Russian friends.
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That’s much better than my idea. Five stars!
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There Are Some Things More Important Than Money
By Dan Rather, Dan Rather’s Facebook Page
15 October 19
There are some things more important than money. Check that. Many things… most things. This thought has been echoing within me recently, spurred on by a resonance coming from many directions. Perhaps it is my stage of life, as I look back at what really mattered and cherish time with my family and friends, walks with my wife Jean in the park holding hands like newlyweds, or savoring the turning of pages of a fascinating new read. I am also thankful of my relatively good health.
I recognize I do all of this from a position of privilege. I have been very lucky and do not want for creature comforts. But I also know that the best decisions I have made have come from choosing factors other than the financial bottom line. Money can bring comfort and protection. But there is a point after which you must ask what more do you need, and what will you be willing to sacrifice to get it.
I have no problem with capitalism. If framed correctly, it is a powerful engine of innovation and has helped raise people out of poverty. But corrupt capitalism, crony capitalism, unregulated capitalism that doesn’t take into account our social compact or the needs of the larger community can, if left unchecked, weaken our communal bonds, threaten our health and security, and harm those who can afford it the least. And I fear we see that happening on multiple fronts today.
We see a president who, for a lifetime, has put his own greed above all else, who now seems to be making decisions about the direction of our country by considering his own self-interest and that of his family. He is willing to blow up the world order and trample our democratic norms. And the political class who is profiting from this applauds or remains silent.
We see companies chasing profits in China and willing to sacrifice basic American values in doing so.
We see freelance industrialists making deals with the world’s worst autocrats.
We see a monied class reveling in tax cuts that deprive our nation from funds that could help those in need.
We see companies lying about our climate crisis and pushing for short term gains at the risk of our planet.
We see pharmaceutical companies and immoral medical professionals who pushed opioids and fueled an epidemic.
All of this suggests a business climate out of whack, a formula of cost and benefit that is in need of being drastically rethought. And I have a sense that the reckoning is coming. Greed is not good. Maximizing shareholder value, when shareholders are narrowly defined as investors, is insufficient. We are all shareholders in the health of our cities, countries and the larger world. Measuring value should also include a tally of the needs of workers, children, and those concerned about broader justice of economic and environmental health.
Enough is enough. For too long, it’s been more than enough.
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Dan Rather writes well.
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I have NO problem with Trump being convicted of tax fraud. “Lock him up!” and throw away the key. Prison goes well with his complexion. Prison is the only way to shut him up.
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Never-Before-Seen Trump Tax Documents Show Major Inconsistencies
The president’s businesses made themselves appear more profitable to lenders and less profitable to tax officials. One expert calls the differing numbers “versions of fraud.”
by Heather Vogell Oct. 16, 4 a.m. EDT
Documents obtained by ProPublica show stark differences in how Donald Trump’s businesses reported some expenses, profits and occupancy figures for two Manhattan buildings, giving a lender different figures than they provided to New York City tax authorities. The discrepancies made the buildings appear more profitable to the lender — and less profitable to the officials who set the buildings’ property tax.
For instance, Trump told the lender that he took in twice as much rent from one building as he reported to tax authorities during the same year, 2017. He also gave conflicting occupancy figures for one of his signature skyscrapers, located at 40 Wall Street.
Lenders like to see a rising occupancy level as a sign of what they call “leasing momentum.” Sure enough, the company told a lender that 40 Wall Street had been 58.9% leased on Dec. 31, 2012, and then rose to 95% a few years later. The company told tax officials the building was 81% rented as of Jan. 5, 2013…
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-never-before-seen-trump-tax-documents-show-major-inconsistencies
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