Trump & the Russians? It Was Treason, Not Just a Piddly Little Conspiracy

Section 3 of the Constitution: "TREASON against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason...."

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The problem with the Mueller investigation was its limited design.  In effect Mueller was told to look for a criminal conspiracy between Trump and the Russians to throw the 2016 election. 

Conspiracy is exceptionately hard to prove. (I've taught criminal law and practiced it.) Remember the Monty Python routines about "nudge, nudge" and "wink, wink"? People can agree to commit a crime together without saying a word. As in "silent assent". That means there may be no evidence of their agreement.

Because Trump and his cohorts actually committed treason vis-a-vis the Russians, there didn't have to be even a nudge or a wink. All that needed to happen was that the Trump people would know what the Russians were doing and choose to look away. 

That explains all the documented lying by Trump and his people. Why in the world would they risk prison just to lie to investigators about contacts with Russians when (according to Mueller) there was no conspiracy going on. They lied because they didn't want anyone to know THAT THEY KNEW what the Russians were doing. Look back at what we see in the public record, a litany of "we weren't there", "we didn't talk on the phone", "I don't know any Russians". All those lies were in order to distance themselves from the Russians. They were distancing themselves from men and women who were poised to destroy America by destroying its election process.

In effect, Trump and his cohorts watched an enemy of America place an enormous load of explosives under the Statue of Liberty. And then didn't tell about what they had seen.  In actuality the Russians were trying to blow up the American election process; the Trump coterie watched this and said nothing. In fact, Trump said he believed Putin's denials of Russian involvement.

Russia was attacking us electronically. Just as when Japan became our enemy by attacking Pearl Harbor, the 2016 electronic attack on our election process makes Russia our enemy for purposes of the definition of treason. Electronic attacks can be far more dangerous than attacks with guns or bombs. Yet the media and the political establishment seem strangely unwilling to accept this reality.  

The second major element required is that the accused has provided "aid and comfort" to the enemy and has "adhered" to the enemy. Isn't that precisely what Trump and his associates have done vis-a-vis the Russians? Trump has made "adhering" to Putin practically a full time job! He not only gushes over him but takes Putin's word on security matters instead of believing our American intelligence agencies.  

And Trump and his minions have done an enormous amount of aiding and abetting just by doing nothing. They knew that the Russians were meddling in our election; that has been established.  Knowing this, Trump and his associates should  have warned the FBI or other law enforcement agency. They had a legal burden, an affirmative duty, to warn such authorities. Trump and some of the others were solemnly swearing to protect the country and the Constitution. That, my friends, created an enormous duty to give warning of what the Russians were doing or had done.

Mueller and his hard-working team were walking the wrong road. Sure, they were good attorneys, hard-working and conscientious, but they had been set off on the wrong road. Somebody needed to think outside that box they'd been put in, the "conspiracy" box,  and see the big picture. Somebody had to say, "It's treason." Nobody did.

Maybe nobody wanted to. Maybe they were all afraid to say it.

"None dare call it treason?" You've probaby heard that expression. (See foonote 1 below) It sure seems to carry some truth. How many treason cases do you remember hearing about?

Treason is indeed a rare beast. This rarity has perhaps made it seem a silly accusation, not something grown-ups talk about. Also we are rightly ashamed of our use of it in the past: in rounding up American citizens and jailing them in camps without due process because they were of Japanese descent. Or prosecuting and persecuting actors, writers, ministers and Girl Scout leaders because they were accused of being Communists.

The result of this history is that none dare call anything treason since the actual witch-hunting of the 1950s Communist scare. And that refusal to call anything treason is to our loss and to the country's loss.

Because what Trump and his minions did was in fact treason, the sole crime discussed in the Constitution. 

Perhaps there will now emerge a willingness to recognize that Trump and his associates have committed treason. It made a possible start three days ago in an opinion piece in the New York Times of  March 22, 2019. We had all better read this opinion piece so we can remember the visciousness our country has been suffering through and reacquaint ourselves with what treason looks like. This is an excellent piece by Nicholas Bookbinder with a rather weak headline:  Opinion | Release the Whole Mueller Report.

Here's a sample:

"....[T]he fact that Mr. Trump and his campaign strategists sought to benefit from a foreign adversary’s efforts to undermine our democracy is one of the greatest breaches of public trust our country has ever witnessed. If Mr. Mueller ultimately determined that indicting the president’s associates for this conduct was not appropriate, that does not mean that there should not be consequences for this outrageous breach of trust."

And the "consequences"? They have already begun to occur. I'll write about them next time and what we can do further to punish the treason. 

Meantime, take comfort. Most of Trump's campaign associates are headed to prison because they lied to the authorities to hide their closeness with the Russians, hoping no one might notice that they had commited the treason of not reporting that the Russians were attacking our election. 

In a very real sense, Trump's pals are paying the penalty for their treason. Sometimes the universe is very just. 

But what about Trump paying a penalty for betraying his country?

As I said, sometimes the universe is very just. So wait and watch. 

It's coming.

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Footnote 1: "None dare call it treason" is from an epigram by Sir John Harington (sic), a colorful character in the court of the first Queen Elizabeth. The rest of the epigram is certainly relative here: "Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason." Harington also reputedly invented the flush toilet. I will refrain from any temptation to tie that to the discussion of Trump's treason. 

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A personal note: It's good to be back after three surgeries and a broken leg and a broken arm. The arm of course was my right arm, and I am right-handed. But I'm all patched together now. So let's get on with the fight against treason and getting rid of Trump. Which we shall do in 2020!

Wild White House & the Worst Month in the Stock Market Since 1931

Just announced: this month of December has been the worst in the stock market since 1931, a low point in the Great Depression.

At the same time, things have sure been hopping in the Oval Office. On Thursday all this happened in just one morning:  

.... Announcement that U.S. forces will be pulled out of Syria;    

.....Resignation of the Secretary of State ; 

.....Rising specter of the  government shutting down because  Trump demands $5 billion for his stupid wall.

What does all this turmoil in just one morning really tell us?

Answer: just ask yourself who made each of these thing happen? 

Trump did. 

So our next question should be "why"? 

And the answer? He is trying to distract attention from something else very, very big. 

He used up a lot of chips yesterday from his "Distraction" cabinet. Why so many? Why now? What is he distracting us from? Anybody got a guess?

How about money? After all, it's the most important factor in Trump's existence. 

So far this week the Dow has lost a lot of money. Day after day it has repeatedly dropped about 500 points. Voters think about their 401(k)s and shudder. Including Trump's supporters. 

This is the point where Trump's core supporters may start to peal off, finally reaching the end of their loyalty to Trump. Let him shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Trump is right: his supporters wouldn't care. But if he starts costing them money, they are indeed going to care.

Because they are just like Trump in their values. As with many Americans, money is far and away their big concern. Even their racism, which is another of their major values, is somewhat money-based. They don't want people of color around in part because people of color generally are paid less than whites and thus, Trump's supporters believe, undercut white wages.

Trump has been counting on a healthy economy and a sky-high stock market to keep him in office. They would, he believes, protect him from impeachment: "You can't impeach a president who has delivered such economic success," he has proudly boasted. They also would, in his view, be his best argument for re-election in 2020.

In spite of the stock market's appalling drop this month, the economy is still - at least for now - doing pretty well. But "the economy is doing well" isn't enough for Trump's supporters. It could be just one man's opinion. And to Trump's slogan-level supporters, it's vague.

By contrast the stock market numbers are clear and sharp. They are a method of measurement no doubt strongly persuasive to Trump's supporters. A simple and simple-minded point of reference.

That's the irony here. Trump has chosen his base from among those who are simplistic in their thinking. Now he is about to be hoisted by his own petard. If the market stays down, he's toast because his simple-minded supporters look to a simplistic measurement.

Further adding to Trump's current distress is that he may be about to slide out of his favorite boasting territory, the kindergarten land of I'm-so-much-better-than-Obama.  The landscape in his brand of la-la-land has shifted mightily, as a current article shows: "The Dow’s performance since Trump took office is now significantly less than what was achieved at the same point in Barack Obama’s presidency. The Dow is up 18 percent under Trump, compared with 45 percent at this point under Obama...." (As stocks drop, Trump fears he’s losing his best argument for 
reelection)

If almost everybody is very nervous because of yesterday's events and the slip-and-slide of the stock market recently, maybe they can take some comfort from the fact that Trump is perhaps the most worried and unnerved of all. But I don't think that Trump's panic and distress should offer us any comfort. 

In fact, they should make us even more concerned about what comes next. What will he do to regain his unwarranted sense of almost dictator power?

Use a nuclear weapon somewhere?

These are worrisome times. But may I suggest an answer? For now - in this Christmas season - have some faith. Say some prayers. And turn your thoughts away from Trump, the nasty ugly fat guy, and think instead about that jovial and kindly plump man we call Santa. His name is actually Saint Nicholas. As someone has pointed out, it is quite appropriate for us to ask him to help us get rid of Trump. For one thing, he is a saint. And he would not be above helping in a desperate political situation. 

We tend to think of politics as nasty mean little stuff unworthy of our attention or that of the saints, forgetting that Christ was crucified by the Romans because He presented a threat to their political power. Politics has been around a long time. It's part of the fabric of life. 

If you're a believer in something other than Christianity or are a non-believer, consider how awful Trump is and join others of us in seeking "outside help", in fact help of any kind, wherever we can get it! 

So, yes, Virginia, there is indeed a Santa and he'd better bring us the gift of taking Trump away. Come on, Saint Nicolas! Take Trump away before he can rip more children from their mothers' arms and cut food stamps for the hungry. 

Having left our appeal on the doorstep of Heaven, we know that Baby Jesus as a newborn was under threat from the horrible Herod and that his little family had to flee into Egypt to escape violence. (Doesn't this sound familiar, like our southern border?) We can hope the Holy Family will join Saint Nicholas in helping us get rid of Trump and thus help the refugees who are coming here for this be their Egypt.  

With hope of such help we can now turn away from disgusted consideration of Trump and gaze instead in joy and delight at the festivities and love manifested at Christmas. Love every light on every tree and every gift each person gives another because of love. 

Remember all this celebration of joy and love will recur year after year -  long, long after Trump is a forgotten footnote. 

So may I say, "Merry Christmas" to you, believer or not. And best wishes that surely 2019 will be a happier New Year.  And 2020 even a better one! We know Trump is done for because we will not let Trump take away our country. And everybody knows, God helps those who help themselves. So let's get to it.....

But first let us have a wonderful Christmas, one and all!

P.S.  Next time: how Trump made the stock market fall.

P.S. P.S. What's a petard?

Thanks to Donald Trump for All These Gifts!

ADD: The Editorial BoardHow Trump Has Hurt the Gun Lobby  nyt 2-12-19





OUR BIG THANKS TO DONALD TRUMP!

Trump unwittingly has done great good things for the Democrats and Independents and for America. Let us give thanks to Mr. Trump for the following gifts to us:🙏

1. For all your verbal attacks on women and bragging about grabbing their genitals, we thank you. You've fired up legions of women to organize against you, win over 100 seats in the Congress, and generally not just roar like lions but become tigers! Even GOP women are now tigers and snarling!! 

2. For firing up the usually non-participating young people. They have come out in droves to organize politically and to vote. You appall them. You are dooming them to a life without a future and without hope, an approaching era of mass die-offs and hideous weather events and fires and shrinking usable land mass. All because you want to be cozy with the oil and coal workers.

3. For appointing Whitaker to be Acting Attorny General, Whitaker being the man most obviously unable to get away with firing Special Prosecutor Mueller.

4. For riling up Congress against more arms sales to the Saudis. You did this by refusing to condemn the Saudis' murder of an American resident and columnist. (New party invitation: "Bring a bone saw!")

5. For alerting blacks, Jews, Muslims, and anybody not of your white northern European background to the fact we still have a ways to go in overcoming society's prejudices and its tendency to kill us. Golly, how could we Jews have thought we were safe in America?! Now all the fore-named groups may come together to withstand the forces of hatred. And the big celebrities can make TV spots about how we should not hate people.

6. For threatening our parks and wilderness set-asides. Now there will be a great media education process as these wildlands and parks become more and more the center of litigation. (You really goofed on this one, buddy. Americans love their public lands, except for residents of a few states whose votes you have anyway.) 

7. For a full-employment program for American attorneys. All kinds of lawyers, from ACLU to giant corporate firms are happily busy suing you to stop all your cockamamy nonsense.

8. For the huge tax break for yourself and your wealthy friends. This has put Medicare and Social Security at risk. And Americans love these two even more than they love the federal parks, thus guranteeing your political life will perish on the Third Rail of American politics i.e. the entitlements Medicare and Social Securty. And by the way, they are called entitlements because we paid into them and thus we are entitled to them.)

9. For killing off the GOP. It's done for as a party since you have driven out all the decent folk and exposed the GOP turncoats in the Senate and House who threw their lot in with you. All that's left of the GOP is your Trump Party as a rump party, the 30% of Americans who like to be angry and are afraid of a coming non-white majority. 

10. For being such a jerk that you will likely be enshrined as the first American monster. "Don't do that, Bobby! Do you want to turn into a Trump?!"

That's enough Mr. Trump. That's about all the gifts from you we can stand.

Let the Voting Begin.....

In five hours our neighbors up in the mountains of New Hampshire will begin voting. Finally the day is arriving when hopefully we can deliver ourselves, our nation, and our future from the hate and lies and cruelty of Trumpism. 

If the Democrats win the House perhaps the House can find out what has happened to the children Trump took from their families. That cruelty must be undone!

Other bad things must be undone or stopped. There are many hopes riding on the voting that begins in  New Hampshire in a few hours. 

God bless and help America.

I'm Back! And With Possible Keys to Tuesday's Outcome?

Broken bones and patch-up surgeries in my right arm are all healed. As a writer, I am back and just in time for the midterms.  

There's a lot of prognosticating in these last days before the midterm elections. These points from a very good article seem to me very important.

........"Among those who say they are certain to vote or already have voted, Democrats enjoy a nine-point advantage, while those who say they probably will vote or that the chances are “50-50” tip toward Republicans by four points, with 10 percent undecided."

......"Democrats have a 51-to- 44 percent advantage among likely voters.That seven-point margin, which is in line with other polls taken in the past two weeks, puts Democrats roughly within range of what they probably will need in the overall national vote for the House to capture a majority from the Republicans, based on calculations from previous midterm campaigns."
......"Public and private polls of individual races conducted by candidates, political party committees, the media and others show many contests still within the margin of error."
.....Among registered voters, 71 percent say the economy is good or excellent, up from 60 percent in August. Those who give the economy positive ratings favor Republican candidates for the House by 54 to 40 percent, wider than the 49 to 42 percent margin in August."
......"Trump’s approval rating among all adults stands at 40 percent, holding steady from a poll in early October and slightly higher than his 36 percent rating in August. Those who disapprove account for 53 percent. Among registered voters, Trump’s approval is 44 percent, with disapproval at 52 percent, the best margin among this group during his presidency."
......"The share of Republicans saying immigration is “one of the most important issues” in their vote has grown from 14 percent to 21 percent. The share of Democrats saying immigration is a top issue has dropped from 23 percent to 11 percent."

The above are from Poll: Democrats lead in House preferences, but voters’ views on economy, border security may buoy GOP

          Please note that the outcome in the last point is not what it may appear on its surface. The Democrats are a much bigger group than the GOP so a 12% Democratic drop in interest in immigration is a  bigger part of the electorate than the apparent 5 point spread between the 7 point gain in interest among GOP and the 12% loss of interest among Dems. The Democrats number almost one-third more than GOP. The moral of the story: always ask "Percentage of what?"

..........Between now and Tuesday remember our motto: Vote early and often!..........

Here's How We Defeat Trump's 40-year Supreme Court!

I apologize for writing a post on Facebook on Labor Day expressing my deep fears and sorrow about 40 years ahead with Trump judges running the Supreme Court. Then that evening I had a thought. It's an old one. It actually occurred to the Founding Fathers over 230 years ago and more recently to California governor Jerry Brown these past eight years, especially since Trump claimed the presidency and started destroying our rights and protections. 

And what is this precious thought? 

That the states can enact laws to protect the people from the very evils Trump's court will let loose on them. California Governor Jerry Brown has been doing it for quite a while to control the nasty stuff in gasoline. Several states including California are doing this regarding marijuana and also immigrant sanctuary. Increasingly states will be taking over health care. A Big Divergence Is Coming in Health Care Among States  nyt 3-5-18 I knew Jerry Brown's dad even before I knew Jerry. He was Gov. Pat Brown, and he would be proud of you, Jerry.

I too am finally proud of you. I was proud to be one of the first four women to hold an executive job in California state government back in the mid-1970's. But now, Governor, I am actually glad it was you I worked for. (Back then I was not one of your admirers because you were a bit of a brat!) Now, Jerry, give 'em hell! 

Likewise you other Democratic governors and the Democratic state legislatures that will emerge from this November election. 

And for you, my reader friends, I say as did Edward R. Murrow back in his days fighting Joe McCarthy, "To all of you...good night and good luck." 

Tomorrow we pick up the fight to out-maneuver Trump and his 40-year court!

100% of Nothing Is Stlll Nothing as Trump Support Melts

How deceptive numbers can be for those who don't understand them. Let's look at a typical piece of  misunderstanding that appeared in July in the New York Times.  (Note that Trump's current disapproval rating is 60% so the  "all-time high" mentioned below by this excited Times writer sure didn't last long.)  

This Times writer mainly seems in awe of Trump's rating among Republicans and credits it with being the main factor in Trump's  supposedly great showing in the polls: "Trump has seen his approval rating tick up to 45 percent, an all-time high for him in the survey. Trump’s high rating, up one percent from June, is thanks largely to support of Republicans, 88 percent of whom told pollsters that they approve of the job he’s doing. Among them, 64 percent strongly approve of Trump, who is experiencing an almost unheard-of level of support from members of his own party.”New York Magazine & see NYT 7-25-18 Blow: What Doesn’t Kill Him Makes Him Stronger  

This writer is virtually saying, "Wow! 88% of Republicans support Trump! 88%! That's a big number!"

Not here it isn't. It's merely a high percentage of something that is small. In actuality the GOP has shrunk to being merely 24% of the electorate. In having 88% support of this pathetically small slice of the electorate, Trump has the support of only 19% of the total electorate. He might as well kiss 2020 goodbye right now.

Further, the GOP slice of the pie has recently shrunk 2%, indicating that the GOP is in trouble in two ways: (1) it's losing voters and (2) what's left behind is likely more radical than the party was before Trump and this will likely drive away even more voters. The GOP is strangling itself with Trump.

The numbers - when read correctly - carry even more bad news for both Trump and the GOP.  While 88% of GOP approve of him, only 64% of GOP voters "strongly approve." That indicates some squishiness in his ranks, a possibilty of defection of almost one-fourth of his supporters. This is especially noteworthy because - given Trump's appalling character and manner - it seems likely that anyone who was on board for him would be all the way on board. But almost a fourth are only partially committed.

Something else bodes ill for Trump. As we have seen, he has 88% of 24% of the electorate, i.e. only 19% of the entire electorate. But polling tells us his approval in the entire electorate hovers between 30% and 35%. This means 11% to 16% of Trump's support in the total electorate is probably among Independents. And this means they are not as anchored to him as they would likely be if they were GOP. From my 60 years in politics, I can confidently say two things about Republicans: (1) they vote come hell or high water, and (2) they are wildly committed to their party. Not so with Independents.Their very title indicates they aren't committed anywhere. The Democrats thus have a real shot at peeling off a goodly chunk of Trump's present support.

While these numbers paint a cloud over Trump, other numbers also indicate he is in trouble. For example, 63% of the electorate believe Special Investigator Robert Mueller as opposed to Trump. Since Mueller is possibly going to try to put Trump in jail, this number is very significant.
                                                         
                                                               
AND LO AND BEHOLD! While I was writing the above, predicting Trump was on a downhill slide, these new poll numbers were just issued. Now it's my turn to say Wow!

"Just 36% say they approve of the job President Trump is doing, a 5-point drop from last month, according to the latest IBD/TIPP poll. Fifty six percent disapprove of Trump’s job performance, up from 53% the month before. …

Trump lost significant ground on job approval with Republicans this month, which fell from 83% last month to 76% this month. Among independents, Trump’s approval dropped 4 points to 33%. Democratic approval has never been above the low single digits.

"He also saw a big drop in support from men (it went from 49% last month to 40% today)."

The chickens are coming home to roost!

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Hereafter keep this little slogan in mind: 100% of nothing is still nothing. If Trump had a large % of the GOP and the GOP is very small, Trump didn't have much. And his little bit is getting smaller and smaller.

Now if only the Democrats could find a way to block Trump's Supreme Court apppointments....

CLARITY NOTE: The numbers out today refer to numbers "from last month", i.e. August. You may have noticed these are different from the numbers in the quote I used early on. That's because those numbers are from July.