Charles Kaiser is the author of Gay Metropolis, 1968 in America, and The Cost of Courage, which tells the story of a family that joined the French resistance against the Nazi occupation. You can follow him at @CharlesKaiserNY or visit his website. At Bill Moyers.com, he writes—Arpaio Pardon May Be Opening Act of a Constitutional Crisis. An excerpt:
I have never seen anyone who has acted more obviously guilty than Donald Trump has almost every single day since he became president. From his tête-à-tête with James Comey, in which he asked the FBI director to end his investigation of Michael Flynn, to his firing of the same man when he failed to heed that warning, to his newly-reported phone call to Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) to complain about a bill that would protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s independence, the president has engaged in one blatant attempt to obstruct justice after another.
Here is the most logical way to view his pardon of Sheriff Arpaio: It is the latest and gravest step he has taken in his continuing efforts to undermine the rule of law. Obviously Trump delighted in fueling the racism of Arpaio’s supporters by pardoning this convicted criminal — he made that clear earlier this week during his repellent speech in Phoenix. But I am certain that is not the main reason for this heinous act.
For many weeks, Washington has been swirling with rumors that Mueller already has secured the cooperation of Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort in his investigation of the president. And Trump undoubtedly is more vulnerable to the testimony of these two men than he is to that of any other players in this fearful drama. Therefore, Trump must feel compelled to send this message through Arpaio’s pardon: The president is eager and willing to do the same thing for anyone who might be pressured into testifying against him.
I have written a book about France under fascism, and what we are now experiencing is exactly what incipient fascism looks like. The combination of Trump’s relentless assaults on the free press, his open encouragement of Nazis — which is the only honest description of his initial refusal to condemn them — and now a pardon without even pretending to go through the normal channels of the Justice Department: These are all the acts of man who is blatantly defying his sacred pledge to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
Like the men and women of Vichy France who began their collaboration with the Nazis seventy-seven years ago, from now on, every senator and House member of either party who continues to remain silent about this president’s unconstitutional acts is directly complicit in the high crimes and misdemeanors of Donald Trump. [...]
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At Daily Kos on this date in 2002—Ghengis Bush:
One day after implausibly declaring the US is not "beating the war drums" for an Iraq invasion, Bush's top defense official, Rumsfeld, beat the drums of war.
It's less important to have unanimity than it is to be making the right decision and doing the right thing, even though at the outset it may seem lonesome. Leadership in the right direction finds followers and supporters. [...]
We believe that we will ultimately able to make a compelling case and, in the course of time, will be moving forward. It is our view that an Iraq left unattended is a threat to its neighbors and a threat to ourselves.
This all follows in the heels of Cheney's increasingly infamous anti-Iraq outburst:
What we must not do in the face of a mortal threat is to give in to wishful thinking or willful blindness. We will not simply look away, hope for the best, and leave the matter for some future administration to resolve. As President Bush has said, “Time is not on our side.”
Yet Bush says, "we are not beating the war drums"? Does he think we are stupid?
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