Month: July 2018

Donald Trump needs to be Impeached by the House of Representatives for crimes against the United States, both mundane and Treason.

United States Constitution, Article 2 Section 4 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.

Article 3 Section 3 defines Treason thus:

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.

Also relevant is Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8, the Emoluments Clause:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State

as expanded by the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1966, which enumerates several elected positions in its definition of “employees” who may not accept any gift of more than minimal value without congressional  approval. Such “employees” include the President and the Vice President, a Member of Congress, and the spouses and dependents of the same.

The charges as I see them:

Since taking the oath of office to defend this country and its Constitution, Donald Trump has:

• Repeatedly called the Free Press, foreign and domestic, “the enemy” and openly called for acts of violence against them. The 1st Amendment guarantees an unfettered free press
• Has repeatedly provided aid and comfort by insulting our allies and praising our adversaries
• Has provided aid and comfort by nominating to positions of power people singularly hostile to and by temperament or (lack of) qualifications unsuited for the offices they have been given
• Removed the White House Petitions page, also a (potential) violation of the 1st Amendment which prohibits interfering with petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances
• Brought us to the brink of nuclear war with North Korea
• Is openly hostile to the intelligence findings of all 17 US Intelligence Agencies regarding adversarial interference in the 2016 elections, and adhering to the lies of the accused enemy, the Russian oligarch and defacto dictator Vladimir  Putin
• Has refused to sever himself from his for-profit businesses,  many of which receive direct payments or other in-kind benefits from or are located in countries openly or subtly hostile to the United States, amounting to bribery, and a probable violation of the Emoluments Clause as expanded by the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1966.

Prior to taking office, there is the very strong and real probability that he or those working for him actively colluded with the Russian government to ensure via active cyber fraud and sabotage that Trump would “win” the 2016 election. Trump has often called into question the legitimacy, time and cost of the multiple investigations of this. Only one of which claims to have found nothing, and that one was a highly biased partisan panel that adjourned before the few opposing side could bring up evidence.

The Mueller Special Prosecutor investigation, after only 14 months,  this one investigation has already secured 5 guilty pleas and  more than 20 additional indictments against persons foreign and domestic as well as several foreign companies that were used for cover. This is more sooner than any Special Investigation since Watergate.

Taken individually, some of these can be overlooked or seen as mere incompetence or mental incapacity. Taken together, though, a pattern of willful action against the interests of the United States can be seen. Thus, Donald J Trump needs to be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

On this Fourth of July, in the year 2018, celebrating the 242^nd Anniversary of the American Declaration Of Independence from an oppressive government that disregarded the wants and needs of its American citizens, it is well worth it to contemplate Patriotism.

Patriotism, as defined by Merriam-Webster: “love for or devotion to one’s country”

Note that it does not say love or devotion to the current government, or to any elected official. In fact, it can be, and often has been, argued that Patriotism demands holding the government to task for what they do and what they fail to do.

To those that claim that those who criticize Donald Trump and his administration are lacking in patriotism because he’s the president, I have one basic thing to say:

BULLSHIT!

If they really thought that, then by their own definitions, these people have shown a complete lack of patriotism when Barak Obama was President.

Because Patriotism is loyalty to the country, not to any specific person, if the person in high office is acting in a way that is detrimental to the country, it is therefore a patriotic duty to hold them responsible. It is therefore a patriotic duty to dissent. It is a patriotic duty to resist. Loyalty to the person is in fact incompatible with patriotism, because you are putting the person above the country regardless of what that person is doing to the country.

The Declaration of Independence, the signing of which is celebrated 242 years ago today, calls out for dissent and opposition to Trump’s administration where it says as the second paragraph

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

What has Trump done that warrants a Patriotic dissent and resistance? Here’s a partial list:

• He insults our allies and defers to our enemies
• He installs department heads that are unqualified on the face of it and who’s missions are to dismantle their departments
• He is personally profiting from being President beyond a paycheck by not distancing himself from his businesses
• He is personally profiting from being President beyond a paycheck by manipulating the stock market
• He ignores the evidence-based consensus of his own Intelligence services regarding enemy cyberwarfare against the United States and takes the unproven word of a sworn enemy instead
• He claims victory in talks with a hostile foreign leader when he gave what they wanted and got nothing in return, ignoring evidence of his failure
• Demands certain concessions to agree to a basic principle, then moves the goal posts
• Enacts a policy of “zero tolerance”, lies about who’s policy it is, claims it’s up to another branch of the government to fix it, then only under pressure from his wife and daughter enacts an Order that only partially rescinds it and attempts to make things worse
• Falsely claims “national security” to impose import tariffs on our allies triggering global trade wars with allies and other trade partners
• Directly and implicitly Incites violence against the Media
• Directly and implicitly incites violence against people of color, other religions and refugees

I could go on and on, but as I said, this is only a partial list.