Trump’s America is not a momentary madness. Here’s a summary of one of the essays in this volume “Authoritarianism is Not a Momentary Madness, but an Eternal Dynamic within Liberal Democracies,” by Stenner (Princeton) & Haidt (NYU). My comments at the end. [This was redone and updated] [To continue reading, view here as a Twitter …
NY AG lawsuit against the Trump Foundation
[Filed under crimes, although these are actually non-criminal violations] The NY Attorney General filed a lawsuit accusing the Trump Foundation (Trump, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric) of “persistently illegal conduct” and “repeated and willful self-dealing transactions.” The petition is here: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court_stamped_petition.pdf … [To continue reading, view here as a Twitter thread] share this postFacebookRedditTwitteremailPinterestLinkedin
Paxton: The Cult of Leadership
FDR defined fascism as “ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.” To get a better sense of what fascism is, I read Paxton’s book. Here are my takeaways. Fascism isn’t an ideology, it’s a phenomena, a mass uprising led by a mesmerizing leader who evokes the nation’s mythical …
The Lawyers in TrumpWorld
Stormy Daniels new lawsuit & why it matters. Stormy accuses her former lawyer, Davidson, of breaching his fiduciary duties. She accuses Michael Cohen of aiding and abetting the breach. She says Trump knew, and the breach was to benefit Trump. [To continue reading, please view here as a Twitter thread] share this postFacebookRedditTwitteremailPinterestLinkedin
Don’t fall for the ploy!
Can the President shoot someone and pardon himself (or whatever the latest absurd claim happens to be)? No, of course not. Don’t fall for the ploy. It’s the “Manipulate and control the media by riling the liberals and flooding the zone with shit” ploy. [View here as a Twitter thread] share this postFacebookRedditTwitteremailPinterestLinkedin
C’mon! Don’t believe it.
Trump Team’s “confidential” memo that was “leaked” looks like a publicity stunt, not a serious legal memo. Here’s why. The memo contains bogus legal arguments that Trump surrogates have already made repeatedly on Cable TV. [View here as a Twitter thread] share this postFacebookRedditTwitteremailPinterestLinkedin
Don’t expect a charge of treason
[View here as a Twitter thread] A few people have asked me why treason (as defined by the Constitution) isn’t on my list of possible crimes. It isn’t there because there’s realistically no chance that Trump or his pals will be charged with treason. Here’s why. share this postFacebookRedditTwitteremailPinterestLinkedin
Trump has a hard time keeping good lawyers. Here’s why.
Trump and his lawyers. Trump has a hard time hiring and keeping good lawyers. One reason: His attitude toward the law, and his requirement that his lawyers disregard the law. “All our laws are so corrupt and stupid,” Trump said in Michigan: [To read, please click here to view here as a Twitter …
Trump has a hard time keeping good lawyers. Here’s why. Read More »
Presidential Pardons (again)
Presidential Pardons are in the news again. Trump pardoned Sheriff Arpaio, convicted of illegally and cruelly targeting undocumented immigrants. He pardoned Scooter Libby, aid to Veep Cheney, convicted of obstruction, perjury & (ironically) leaking classified info. [To read, please click here to view here as a Twitter thread] share this postFacebookRedditTwitteremailPinterestLinkedin
Why I have hope
[View here as a Twitter thread] Trump may have jolted the liberals and moderates out of complacency. Background: For 50 years, authoritarians have been consolidating power, steadily undermining public confidence in our government and our institutions. While the GOP morphed from a conservative party to an authoritarian one, Democrats (& moderate conservatives) didn’t understand or …