(from Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. Wood)
". . . He was skeptical about the character of his fellow Americans as well. Even before he knew of the outbreak of the French Revolution, he had worked out a chilling assessment of the moral fiber of his own countrymen, one that prepared him to see the worst of people everywhere. . . Right from the beginning of his own American Revolution, Adams had deep misgivings about whether his fellow citizens had the proper moral character needed to sustain their republican governments. "The only foundation of a free Constitution," he said on the eve of America's declaring independence, "is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a greater Measure, than they have it now, They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty. . . "
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". . . if we cannot trust (Sarah Huckabee) Sanders to tell us the truth about things like the firing of the FBI director, how can we trust her when she’s briefing the American people about a school shooting or a hurricane or an adversarial foreign power’s efforts to undermine our elections? Why should any reporter believe any statement she gives ever again? . . . Sanders isn’t the White House press secretary as much as she is America’s main minister of propaganda. Make no mistake about it, Sanders isn’t a “complicit” bystander to the “porn star presidency,” she is a partner in it. . ."
". . . Barr, asked if Mueller intended for Congress, not the attorney general, to decide whether Trump obstructed justice: “Well, Special Counsel Mueller did not indicate that his purpose was to leave the decision to Congress. I hope that was not his view. ... I didn’t talk to him directly about the fact that we were making the decision, but I am told that his reaction to that was that it was my prerogative as attorney general to make that decision.”
THE FACTS: Mueller’s report actually does indicate that Congress could make that determination.
The report states that no person is above the law, including the president, and that the Constitution “does not categorically and permanently immunize a President for obstructing justice.”
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: “Today’s release of the Special Counsel’s report confirms what the President and I have said since day one: there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and there was no obstruction of justice.”
KELLYANNE CONWAY, White House counselor: “What matters is what the Department of Justice and special counsel concluded here, which is no collusion, no obstruction, and complete exoneration, as the president says.”
THE FACTS: No. The special counsel specifically leaves open the question of whether the president obstructed justice. . . “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment,” the report states. . . The report identifies 10 instances of possible obstruction by Trump and said he might have “had a motive” to impede the investigation because of what it could find on a multitude of personal matters, such as his proposal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. . . “The evidence does indicate that a thorough FBI investigation would uncover facts about the campaign and the President personally that the President could have understood to be crimes or that would give rise to personal and political concerns,” the report states. . . In explaining its decision, Mueller’s team said reaching a conclusion on whether Trump committed crimes would be inappropriate because of Justice Department guidelines indicating that a sitting president should not be prosecuted. It nevertheless left open at least the theoretical possibility that Trump could be charged after he leaves office, noting that its factual investigation was conducted “in order to preserve the evidence when memories were fresh and documentary material were available.”
BARR: “These reports are not supposed to be made public.”
THE FACTS: He’s not going out on a limb for public disclosure. . . Justice Department regulations give Barr wide authority to release a special counsel’s report in situations it “would be in the public interest.” Barr had made clear during his Senate confirmation hearing in January that he believed in transparency with the report on Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference during the 2016 campaign, “consistent with regulations and the law.”
BARR, saying it was “consistent with long-standing practice” for him to share a copy of the redacted report with the White House and president’s attorneys before its release: “Earlier this week, the president’s personal counsel requested and were given the opportunity to read a final version of the redacted report before it was publicly released. That request was consistent with the practice followed under the Ethics in Government Act, which permitted individuals named in a report prepared by an independent counsel the opportunity to read the report before publication.”
THE FACTS: Actually, Barr’s decision, citing the Ethics in Government Act, is inconsistent with independent counsel Ken Starr’s handling of his report into whether President Bill Clinton obstructed and lied in Starr’s probe.
". . . Trump's administration plans to continue the U.S. government's advocacy favoring the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide. . . the administration, pushed by U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell (who is openly gay), was "planning to launch a worldwide effort to end the criminalization of homosexuality worldwide." . . . The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT lobbying organization that typically favors Democratic Party interests, responded with a thread of tweets about how much Trump administration policies and practices have not been in favor of LGBT folks. . . The the United States had already signed onto a United Nations declaration that called for the decriminalization of homosexuality years ago. . . Obama's administration, just months after he came into office in 2009, signed onto a United Nations statement condemning human rights violations against LGBT folks and opposing the criminalization of LGBT behavior. It had come around during President George W. Bush's administration, and he didn't sign it at the time because he was concerned that it was an attempt to override states' rights on issues like marriage recognition. Bush was widely criticized by LGBT groups for not signing onto the declaration. The U.S. was the only Western country to decline back then. . . Trump has shown himself to be a very transactional political leader. His support for policies is often tied to what he stands to gain politically from their implementation. This is hardly new for a politician—it's just that it's extremely obvious when it comes to Trump. He's not empathetic and he's not very good at pretending to care about things that he obviously cares little about. So it's probably very true that Grenell and Trump want to use this policy to try to attack Iran in some way. . ."
". . . A federal appeals court has issued a mandate confirming its order to allow enforcement of President Trump’s transgender military ban, clearing the way for the administration to implement the policy. . . A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the mandate Tuesday . . . The panel consists of of U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Williams, a Reagan appointee; U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Griffith, a George W. Bush appointee; and U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Wilkins, an Obama appointee. . .The judges had earlier sided with Trump on his transgender military policy in a January ruling. The mandate brings that ruling into effect, placing a stay on the last of four court injunctions that had once barred the administration from the implementing the transgender policy. . ."
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Want to be happy
Listen here
What would you pay to
Have no fear
Fear of the raptor
Roaming free
Fear of a captor
You or me
Do you fear having your choices
All being taken away
There was a turmoil
We could see
Under the table
Had to be
Way far beyond us
In the fray
We wore the blinders
They slipped away
So many promises made
To a misguided parade of the innocent
Circumstances pushed so many over the edge
Sideways glances directed to drive in a wedge
Want to be happy
Bet you do
Want to be happy
In the things you do
All’s not the same as it used to be
Conscious effort will help us break free
The Star is keeping track of every false claim U.S. President Donald Trump has made since his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017. Why? Historians say there has never been such a constant liar in the Oval Office. We think dishonesty should be challenged. We think inaccurate information should be corrected. And we think the sheer frequency of Trump’s inaccuracy is a central story of his presidency.
(Considering the criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar's recent comments. . . )
Poorly chosen words should be easily recognized and acknowledged by defenders of a president who constantly uses poorly chosen words from a coincidentally, extremely limited vocabulary.
"Even one of them recently said that President Trump made promises, but he's kept many more promises. I mean, far more than I made."
-Donald J. Trump
