Bill Of Rights

A Salute To The Two Best Newspapers In America: The New York Times And Washington Post, And Also Recognition Of The Los Angeles Times, CNN, And MSNBC For Their Work Exposing Donald Trump

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Yesterday, the Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism and other areas were awarded, and again, the top two newspapers in America won ever more such awards.

The New York Times, beginning publication in 1851, has now won 125 Pulitzer Prizes, including three yesterday. It is the paper of record, the most important research sources for scholars in all fields, and has survived vicious attacks by critics through 167 years of publication.

The Washington Post, beginning publication in 1877, has become competitive in the past half century with the New York Times, and has won a total of 47 Pulitzer Prizes, including two yesterday. One must not forget how the Washington Post exposed the Watergate Scandal under Richard Nixon. They have now existed for 141 years of publication.

The Los Angeles Times, beginning publication in 1881, while not winning any Pulitzer Prizes yesterday, has won a total of 44 Pulitzer prizes in their history, and have been in existence for 137 years.

These three top print newspapers have borne the brunt of Donald Trump criticism, as they bore the brunt of attacks by Richard Nixon.

They have stood strong and proved the rightfulness of their coverage of domestic and foreign news coverage.

Thank goodness for their steadfastness, as they have insured the survival of a free press and democratic values, even in the face of strong and dangerous trends in government, that would wish to stifle their voices.

At the same time, we must also salute electronic media, including CNN (founded in 1980) and MSNBC (founded in 1996), for defying the lies and deceit of Donald Trump and his criminal gang, as they also play a major role in perpetuation of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

One can be assured that they will long outlive the tyranny of Donald Trump, and will bring him to justice through their commitment to the truth!

Donald Trump Has Finally Created A Constitutional Crisis With His Threat To Fire Robert Mueller, And Possibly Rod Rosenstein

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Here we are on Day 446 of the Trump Presidency, and a direct threat by Donald Trump to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and possibly Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, in wake of the FBI seizure of materials from Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen yesterday. It all is due to the Stormy Daniels controversy, but other materials, related to money laundering and Russian collusion, may also have been seized.

Trump has gone totally berserk, and is saying what has happened is a direct attack on the nation, a totally preposterous concept! And this state of mind is happening as the crisis over Syrian use of chemical weapons is on the front burner, and could lead to direct confrontation between Trump and Vladimir Putin of Russia, and cause a direct military response that could escalate, the most dangerous moment so far in the Trump Presidency.

To have a President who is so mentally unbalanced, and grasping for absolute power, preventing a full investigation of the crimes and lawlessness by himself and his underlings, and his Cabinet and other appointees, is the most dangerous situation we have been in since the Watergate Scandal under Richard Nixon.

But the potential for the crisis to be as serious as the Cuban Missile Crisis under John F. Kennedy is also possible.

And even when Richard Nixon was under fire for Watergate, he still had a steady hand in foreign policy, because he was an expert in that area.

And John F. Kennedy had a steady hand in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But Donald Trump is clearly incapable of a steady hand, and he is a true danger to American democracy and the Bill of Rights, and he MUST be prevented from ending the Robert Mueller investigation NOW!

And it is time for the Republican Party in Congress to forget party, and do the right thing in protecting the Mueller investigation, as advocated by North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, and Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons.

One gets the feeling that Trump’s time in office may be nearing an end soon, and Vice President Mike Pence needs to put the nation ahead of the President, and work to undermine him NOW!

A Year Of Donald Trump: A Horror And A Nightmare!

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I published on Sunday a summary article on the first year of Donald Trump at History News Network–historynewsnetwork.org. I have published regularly on Donald Trump on History News Network, and some of those articles have been picked up also by Time Magazine and Newsweek Magazine, and all of those articles are on the right side of my blog.

A day before the anniversary of the inauguration, I will summarize here the points that I made in that article:

Donald Trump has been a nightmare, and his unpredictability, and the refusal of the Republican Party to come to grips with it, has created a constitutional crisis greater than the Watergate Scandal under Richard Nixon 45 years ago.

Donald Trump has demonstrated clear authoritarian leanings that endanger all Americans and their basic freedoms and national security.

Donald Trump has undermined the judicial branch of government. with his attacks on an independent judiciary, and his appointments of unqualified people to lifetime positions on the federal district courts and federal circuit courts.

Donald Trump has assaulted the Bill of Rights, and is a threat to the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, women, gay and transgender Americans, and members of the news media who dare to investigate and question his white supremacist, nativist, racist, and misogynistic utterances and policies.

He has connected himself to dictators and authoritarians in nations like Russia, China, Turkey, Egypt, and the Philippines, and in the tradition of such past regimes as Nazi Germany , Fascist Italy, and the Soviet Union.

Donald Trump has pursued policies that threaten and undermine the domestic reforms of Presidents from both political parties from the time of Theodore Roosevelt onward, endangering the Social Safety Network of Social Security. Medicare, and Medicaid, and government regulation of industry and big business, and oversight of key problems involving the environment, consumer safety, labor protections, health care, and science and education.

Donald Trump has given us the most corrupt and incompetent cabinet and advisers , making the shortcomings of Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, and Richard Nixon pale in comparison. There is no sense of ethics, commitment, scruples, or compassion on the part of Trump and his team, but only with the advancement of the top one percent, over the needs of millions of ordinary people.

Trump’s family has become in one year more controversial, and lacking in ethics and morals, than any Presidential family in history, with the aim seeming to be a family dynasty with no limit on their lust for money and power.

Donald Trump has undermined foreign policy and international relations, alienating our allies, and consorting with dictators all over the world. He has declared war on the diplomatic community, the national security apparatus, and the intelligence agencies that are out to protect American national security. He has been reckless in his dealings with North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, and with the Middle East cauldron. He has alienated our allies, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Japan, and South Korea with his weird, unpredictable behavior.

Donald Trump’s narcissism, ignorance of history and science, obnoxious behavior and incessant lying make him a terrible model for the future generation of Americans, who used to be able to look up the President of the United States as someone they could respect.

These reasons are justification for action to remove Donald Trump from the Presidency, whether by impeachment, use of the 25th Amendment, or forced resignation after indictments of family members and top advisers by Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Donald Trump And Libel Laws: Massive Number Of Lawsuits Could Be Lodged Against Him For His Constant Libeling Of Critics And Opponents

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Yesterday, Donald Trump called for a massive overhaul of America’s libel laws, so that anyone who lies about someone else, says or publishes untruths, can be sued for libel and be forced to pay large financial damages.

This would be done to silence critics in their public statements, and news media, journalists, and authors from freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Any person or entity, including this author and blogger, could be hauled into federal court, costing vast amounts of attorney expenses, to defend the truth and veracity of his or her statements or publications.

Is there anything more unconstitutional or more a violation of basic civil liberties and the Bill of Rights, than this utterance by an authoritarian, fascist oriented disgrace of a human being?

It would effectively silence any exposure, revelation, or accountability for an abusive government leader, the kind of treatment one finds in authoritarian nations, such as Russia, China, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines, Iran, and other nations around the world, and historically in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy.

It would destroy our democracy and rule of law, and promote intolerance and suppression of differing views of government as it affects the American population.

Ironically, though, Donald Trump could face thousands of law suits for all of his unsubstantiated attacks on his critics in the Republican Party during the 2016 election campaign, as well as while he has been in the White House, as well as Democrats, and all the news media and other critics who have correctly called him out for his abuse of power and his divisive, hateful rants in public rallies, in the White House and on Twitter.

Donald Trump has lied incessantly, an average of five times a day, over 2,000 lies since he announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015.

He should be sued under his own definition of libel for every one of these two thousand plus lies, and his defamation of individuals and institutions, and it would leave him impoverished after financial payments were imposed on him.

He is the last person who should bring up the issue of libel, and he could be, as a result, “hoist with his own petard”!

Fox News Channel Promoting False Concept Of “Coup” Against Donald Trump By Robert Mueller, When The Threat Is Of Trump Grabbing Absolute Power!

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Fox News Channel is engaged in a full scale promotion of the concept of a “coup” being waged against President Donald Trump by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

That right wing propaganda channel, which ignorant, uninformed people think is a news channel, is stirring up hatemongers and congressional Republicans to wage war on Mueller and his investigation of the numerous Trump scandals.

Particularly disgraceful and despicable are Sean Hannity and Judge Jeanine Pirro, both highly trained in sensationalism, hyperbole, and conspiracy theories.

They are enriching themselves in the process of their sycophantic worship of the most dangerous President in American history.

One or both could be swept up in the scandals, as both have links to the White House, and are willing to spread lies on a daily basis.

Only Shepard Smith is gutsy and courageous enough to contradict these sycophants and others at Fox News Channel.

Additionally, there are a large group of principled conservatives who have been critical of and have denounced Donald Trump since before he won the Presidency in a false manner. The list of such conservatives and Republicans is long and distinguished, although it does not include many elected Republicans.

The reality is Hannity and Pirro are promoting the concept of a coup to seize absolute power, and suspend the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, and promote the closing down of a free media, and a judiciary that defends the rule of law. They are supportive of a maniacal, unstable President who admires the authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin, who clearly has a hold over him, and helped him to win the Presidential Election of 2016 in an unethical and illegal manner.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned us of the threat of the firing of Robert Mueller, and if that occurs, the people must go out into the streets of every American city in large numbers to protest and resist such unconstitutional grabbing of power by the 45th President.

Judicial Intervention Against Trump On Travel Bans, Sanctuary Cities, Transgenders In The Military: The Judiciary Vs. Donald Trump For Now, But Future Is Gloomy

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It is due to several federal district court judges, appointed by Republican Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, and Democratic Presidents Jimmy Carter. Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, that the worst violations of the Constitution by Donald Trump have been prevented from being fulfilled.

On Trump’s travel bans against Muslims and others from several nations; on penalties against “sanctuary cities” which protect undocumented immigrants; and on banning transgender soldiers in the military, these judges have denounced the President for unconstitutional actions, and have been able to stop his destructive tendencies.

Eventually, the circuit courts and the Supreme Court will have to deal with much of the damage Trump has wrought, and there is no certainty of the outcome.

And Trump and the Republican Party in the Senate are in the process of ramming through a large number of judicial appointments, only needing 51 votes to confirm nominees.

These nominees in many cases are totally unqualified and augur a time of incompetent judges who will do great damage to the constitutional norms that Americans are accustomed to, including justice and equality of treatment under the law, which clearly, Donald Trump has no interest in enforcing.

This is another reason why the movement to force Donald Trump out of the Presidency as soon as possible is so significant for the health of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Abandoning Iran Nuclear Deal Would Insure That North Korea Would Never Agree To Any Agreement With United States

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Donald Trump is extremely ignorant and clueless about foreign policy, and about how authoritarian dictators think.

He has aspirations to be an authoritarian dictator, but our Constitution, Bill of Rights, News Media, and Judicial System will prevent such an eventuallty.

Trump expects North Korea and its unstable leader, Kim Jong Un, just to give up their nuclear program because of our threats of military force.

He seems not to understand that Kim Jong Un, as crazy as he is, is smarter than Donald Trump, and knows what happened to Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, who gave up his nuclear program, but was then overthrown in the “Arab Spring” in 2011.

Kim Jong Un also sees how Trump is ready to break the Iranian Nuclear Agreement, despite it being obeyed by Iran, and the other nations in the agreement (Great Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia) still supporting the agreement.

If Trump follows through on destroying the Iranian Nuclear Agreement without just cause, what kind of message does that send to Kim Jong Un?

It shows that the United States cannot be trusted to keep any agreement, so why should North Korea give up its ultimate weapon?

This is NOT a belief that Kim Jong Un and his nation are not international pariahs, but the Trump abandonment on Iran will most certainly conbince North Korea and Iran to move ahead on their nuclear programs, knowing neither can trust the United States on any agreement.

Donald Trump’s Full Scale Attack On The First Amendment, While Endorsing No Limit On The Second Amendment, A Danger To America

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Donald Trump has mounted a full scale attack on the First Amendment freedom of speech and press, while endorsing no limit on the Second Amendment, despite the recent Las Vegas Massacre, and is therefore a danger to America.

If it were left up to Trump, many cable TV channels, such as CNN and MSNBC, would be denied licenses to operate, but thankfully, no such mechanism exists to suppress the First Amendment.

Also, Trump wishes to suppress freedom of speech for National Football League players to protest the treatment of African Americans and other minorities by police.

And he seems to think that everyone MUST stand for the flag and the National Anthem, while the Supreme Court has declared that the flag need not be obeyed, and in fact, can be burned in protest, something much more extreme than bending the knee for the flag.

The case on this is Texas V Johnson (1989), with Justice Antonin Scalia, certainly the most conservative Justice in a century, writing the majority opinion.

What Trump is doing was denounced by principled conservative Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who has been against Trump from before the election. He said yesterday that Trump is violating his oath of office by refusing to defend the Constitution, which includes the Bill of Rights, and that Trump had, therefore, committed an impeachable act.

Trump sounds more like Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, or other totalitarian dictators than the leader of a democracy, and he is a clear and present danger to all Americans, as a result.

The possibility of moving toward impeachment is starting to grow, as Sasse joins Senator Bob Corker in warning against the threat that Trump clearly presents the nation.

Trump seems to be unraveling, as reported by journalists who have contacts within the staff of Donald Trump, reminding us of the last days of Richard Nixon.

But if anything, Richard Nixon was far less dangerous than Donald Trump is, as Trump has been collaborating with Russia, while Nixon understood the threat presented by Russia.

Also, Nixon was not out to destroy all domestic reform of the previous hundred years, as Trump is in the process of doing, with ObamaCare, the environment, consumer legislation, and government regulation of business.

And Trump is also out to destroy the Iran Deal, go to war with North Korea, and destroy all areas of our foreign policy with other nations.

So the need for prompt action, before Trump must be wrestled for control of the nuclear codes, is real!

Constitution Day: 230 Years And In Danger From Donald Trump In 2017, But The Constitution Will Survive!

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Tomorrow, September 17, is the 230th Anniversary of the signing of the Constitution by 39 delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

The so called “Founding Fathers” brought about a document that was not perfect, but has survived through the crises of the Civil War; the Great Depression; the two World Wars; the Watergate Crisis; and now faces the challenge of the most dangerous Chief Executive in American history bar none!

By comparison to Donald Trump, Richard Nixon was a choirboy, dangerous in many ways, but also accomplished in many ways.

Nixon contributed some real positive developments in his five and a half years as President from January 20, 1969 to August 9, 1974, while Donald Trump has accomplished essentially nothing, other than the adding of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Trump has threatened constitutional norms, with his attacks on civil rights, civil liberties, the news media, the judiciary, the intelligence community, and the basic institutions of government, including the government agencies themselves, which he is trying to decimate in their effectiveness and even in their numbers, when more is needed in a growing nation with 325 million people.

Trump has threatened the security and safety of millions of Americans of minority religious and racial groups, and he has had the support of white supremacists, Neo Nazis, Neo Confederates, and the Ku Klux Klan, which he tries to equate with those opposed to these groups.

Trump has undermined our relations with our allies in Europe and Asia, and the tensions with North Korea have been increased by his reckless tweets and rhetoric, and the same goes for Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, adding to the potential for military intervention everywhere.

Our relations with our direct neighbors, Mexico and Canada, are at the worst in many decades, and our closest ally, the United Kingdom (Great Britain), is becoming more exasperated by Trump’s utterances. The same situation exists with Germany, France, South Korea, and Japan, and our major rivals, China and Russia are perplexed with Trump as well.France

There is great concern that Trump might use nuclear weapons, which no official other than the Secretary of State can even discuss with him directly under present policy, and Trump has the final say on that.

There is also concern that Trump could attempt to declare martial law if there was another September 11 type of attack by terrorists, suspending the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

And to top it off, Trump seems to many to have a form of dementia, maybe Alzheimers, or just mental instability that is often a problem with aging seniors, but having him in a position which could provoke world wide war and disaster is an alarming circumstance of massive proportions.

Trump is a danger, but we must have confidence that the Constitution will survive his threat, but we must all be vigilant, and be ready to react if any threat seems evident as imminent.

The worst thing we could all do is trust Donald Trump, and sit back and just accept whatever he does, so thank goodness for the free, independent news media!

Trump’s Constant Attacks On Journalism Will Lead Some Crazy Trump Supporter To Perpetrate A Crime Against A Journalist!

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The Founding Fathers understood the role of Journalism.

Abraham Lincoln understood the role of Journalism.

The same situation existed for Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and every other President before and since FDR, until now we have a President, Donald Trump, who wishes to curb the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press.

No President, and no public figure likes when he or she is criticized, attacked, exposed, for one’s shortcomings, and sometimes illegal acts.

But the right of the people to know the facts, the truth, and be aware of investigations of their public officials, is sacrosanct.

In a totalitarian dictatorship, the first thing that disappears is freedom of the press, and in many such nations historically, journalists become victims of crooked and corrupt leaders.

By Donald Trump attacking journalists as “bad” people, as un-American, as people who are lacking in patriotism, he is endangering all journalists and bloggers, as there are unstable people in society that hang on every word of a demagogue, such as Trump, and are ready to “mete out justice” against such “criminals”, meaning stalking and harming them, with the purpose of murdering them as their mission to help their “devoted” leader.

If any journalist in the Trump Administration time period is harmed, Donald Trump is responsible for it by his inciting of whackos who believe he is God’s gift to America, and he should be held accountable, as an accessory to the crime if such evil event occurs.

Let us hope and pray that we survive the Trump Era without more loss of life as at Charlottesville, Virginia!