Republicans: Reckoning Past the Wreck

By James A. George, Author and Independent Journalist

Reading The Washington Post this Sunday and the article titled: ‘Out on a limb’: Inside the Republican reckoning over Trump’s possible impeachment, By Robert Costa and Philip Rucker prompted my response. They say that the Trump White House is in a bunker while

“a torrent of impeachment developments has triggered a reckoning in the Republican Party, paralyzing many of its office holders as they weigh their political futures, legacies and, ultimately, their allegiance to a president who has held them captive.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/out-on-a-limb-inside-the-republican-reckoning-over-trumps-possible-impeachment/2019/10/05/8e2b73c0-e6ef-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html?wpisrc=al_trending_now__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

A friend and former boss of mine is a Trump and Republican defender. He believes that the liberal boogeymen and women who in his mind are the “Washington establishment” have conspired all along against Republicans and Trump as they want to transform America into a liberal socialist democracy. “Liberal and socialist” are scary words to “conservatives and capitalists.” The “Trumpians” tout individualism and independence, claiming that the “boogeymen” are out to deprive every one of their freedom, including the right to believe evangelistically against science, and a women’s rights to choose, and LGBT’s and other godless groups.

What it’s truly about is the strategy by oligarchs and wealthy persons to defend their wealth and power from citizens who actually believe in democratic equality and freedom, which they don’t. There are too few of them to win elections fairly, and their approach is to exploit bigotry, fear, and ignorance to their advantage. Under Trump, they have succeeded with help from foreign enemies.

The American Political System is broken and under duress. As George Washington saw from the outset, political parties are problematic.

“Washington warns the people that political factions may seek to obstruct the execution of the laws created by the government, or to prevent the branches of government from enacting the powers provided them by the constitution.

‘the spirit of party 

serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.’”

My position is that there is value in political parties in America if there are common standards governing them that hold them accountable for the candidates that bear their brand. In my books on the subject referenced as a footnote:

1.     Political parties as nonprofit corporations must bear responsibility for their actions and candidates who bear their brand.

2.     That begins with vetting candidates for office, their resumes, credentials, and claims.

3.     Political parties publish platforms that express their brand of governance and values over the long run.

4.     Candidates publish manifestos that explain their alignment with party platforms and implementation plans for two four-year terms of office.

5.     To assist citizens, there must be common standards governing the development of elected officials resumes and job descriptions (that I call job models).

6.     The US Constitution needs auditing and amending in light of omissions in the law that undermine its intent, such as ending Citizens United and unlimited influence by corporations and lobbyists.

7.     Most important, the US Constitution must emphatically embrace the Universal Declaration of Human Rights without equivocation or compromise.

The process of impeaching Donald Trump for his most recent breaches of his oath of office is only the beginning of his prosecution and all those who are complicit in his abuse of power. It is not enough to elect incumbents out of office. Some leaders and officials bear gross responsibility for the attack on our democratic republic.

The New Yorker

At What Point Do Statesmen Take a Stand?

Americans should be repulsed into action, having witnessed the outrageous behavior and performance of Donald Trump as President. Are they?

The polls show that most Americans favor any leading Democratic candidate over Donald Trump. That does not answer the question to what extent are they outraged and angered to the point of resisting, rejecting, and revolting?

Most media reports consistently say that President Trump's authoritarian behavior imperils democracy. A few Republicans hint as much, though most incumbents are content to go along with Trump.

If America is on the brink of losing the qualities of the democratic republic and rule of law, then one might expect more. For instance, why would not all of the former living Presidents stand as one to encourage Congress to impeach the President?

If it is as bad as Joe Scarborough routinely reports, then where are the Statesmen coming to the rescue?

There is at least one, and that is Elizabeth Warren. 

"Donald Trump’s Republican Party is not the party of LincolnBy Sidney Blumenthal 

September 4President Trump extemporaneously speaks about Abraham Lincoln as if he were his rival. He has boasted that his poll numbers are greater than Lincoln’s, though there were no opinion polls in the 19th century. He has invidiously compared Lincoln with one man he always casts as heroic and whose monuments he defends as sacrosanct: “a great general,” Robert E. Lee.

And yet, to ward off criticisms of Trump’s bursts of racist rhetoric, Republican leaders reflexively play the Lincoln card. “We are the party of Lincoln,” proclaimed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to shield Trump with the icon of the Great Emancipator.

But the party of Trump is the antithesis of the party of Lincoln, the culmination of a long realignment. Beginning in the 1960s, the party embraced a Southern strategy, forsaking the remnants of its Lincolnesque heritage in exchange for the principles of states’ rights and resistance to civil rights for African Americans previously associated with the neo-Confederate Dixiecrat wing of the Democratic Party. As a result, the Republican Party changed its identity and abandoned its original principles, becoming strikingly similar to the very opponents that roused Lincoln to resist in the beginning." 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/09/04/donald-trumps-republican-party-is-not-party-lincoln/

Trump's Unlawful Attempt to Investigate Biden's Son

According to reports from the New York Times and the Daily Beast, President Trump suggested that the Ukraine President initiate an investigation into Presidential Candidate Joe Biden's son. This conversation included an apparent quid pro quo implication that hinged Trump (the US) providing foreign aid to Ukraine. 

A whistleblower inside the National Security Agency immediately reported this conversation between Trump and the Ukraine President to the Inspector General. The reason is that co-mingling foreign policy, and domestic politics is inappropriate and illegal.

Biden's son, Hunter, had a relationship with the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings in 2014 when his father was Vice President.

The circumstances were investigated by Politifact and reported as follows:

"Key takeaways 

• Hunter Biden did hold a directorship for a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice president. Experts agree that Hunter Biden's acceptance of the position created a conflict of interest for his father. 
• Vice President Joe Biden did urge Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor, with the threat of withholding U.S. aid. But that was the position of the wider U.S. government, as well as other international institutions. 
• We found no evidence to support the idea that Joe Biden advocated with his son's interests in mind, as the message suggests. It's not even clear that the company was actively under investigation or that a change in prosecutors benefited it." 

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/may/07/viral-image/fact-checking-joe-biden-hunter-biden-and-ukraine/

The fact is that Donald Trump is caught directing a foreign government to dig up dirt on his opponent's son. That is the scandal at hand. Trump is trying to retaliate for what happened to his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Unlike Hunter Biden, Manafort broke the law and is found guilty.

This act, if disclosed by the Inspector General and shared lawfully with Congress, is one more reason why Donald Trump should be impeached before the next election. 

Refer to the story:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ukraine-is-ready-to-investigate-bidens-sonbut-only-if-theres-an-official-us-request

Unlawful action

Needed, a Democratic Party Platform

In my book, A President's Manifesto (c) 2019 All Rights Reserved, I pointed to a systemic problem. That is, a political party must publish a platform that is the foundation of its political brand. Candidates who profess to adopt the brand through party membership should write manifestos that explain how they intend to implement the platform with attention to details in two four-year terms. 

What citizens witness now is that the Democratic Party leadership failed to publish a platform. Now, candidates are debating on an unstable foundation without it.

Tom Perez has failed to lead the timely development of the platform. Now, it is too late to repair the damage. The consequence is the brawl that we see in "debates." The public spectacles include personal attacks that distract from attention to the details and are inappropriate.

Further, the Democratic Party failed to produce a profile of qualities, resumes, and credentials for a presidential candidate. There is no party standard against which voters can assess. The party has failed to vet candidates properly.

Republicans are no different. 

American voters are flying blind at the peril of the democratic republic that is under siege by right-wing authoritarians and oligarchs. 

Democrats have weakened their chances with the party failing to do its job.

Please read: A President's Manifesto (c) 2019 All Rights Reserved

It is available free for the asking. Email: jimgeorgeauthorarchway@gmail.com.

Also read: How to Select an American President by James A. George and James A. Rodger (c) 2017 Archway Publishing.

Free sample on Google Books:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=0QYZDgAAQBAJ&gl=us&hl=en-US&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA_Desktop_US&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKTAD0930BO1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_OzrBRDmARIsAAIdQ_IuOZwNLTLtGODi8LPvilLCqvEN6esvHTKV3d0HMA_Z67958G29XFQaAsDaEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

"Democrats clash over health care and more in debate that started with calls for unity

Mass shootings, criminal justice and race: The third Democratic debate gets tense

Ten democratic presidential candidates met at the Houston debate on Sept. 12 and discussed core issues particularly relevant to Texas. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)

By Toluse Olorunnipa ,

Annie Linskey and

Matt Viser

September 13 at 12:56 AM

HOUSTON — There were brief calls for unity, and then a free-for-all. In heated exchanges at a presidential debate here Thursday night, 10 Democratic contenders laid bare the party’s deep divisions on major issues including health care, immigration and foreign policy during a debate that also featured personal swipes over honesty, mental acuity and the legacy of former president Barack Obama."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democrats-clash-over-health-care-in-debate-that-started-with-calls-of-unity/2019/09/12/734d6ebe-d55b-11e9-9610-fb56c5522e1c_story.html?noredirect=on&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

The Washington Post