Tag Archives: Senator Tom Cotton

January 26, 2021 · 02:44

“Truth Matters or we are Lost” If You are to Say that Trump is Not Guilty it Would be True to Say that there are no Slain and there Has Been No Crime: the Second Trump Impeachment

Representative Jamie Raskin, Chief House Impeachment Manager

Friends of Padre Steve’s World,

Today the House of Representatives Impeachment Managers delivered the Impeachment Article against former President Donald John Trump to the United States Senate. It was a historic moment for it was the first time a President has been impeached twice, and the first time that one has had the impeachment charge was filed after a President left office, unfortunately it was necessary and an unnecessary unfolding of events brought about by Trump himself.

In his last words at the first impeachment trial of President Trump Congressman Adam Schiff stated:

“If the truth doesn’t matter, we’re lost. Framers couldn’t protect us from ourselves, if right and truth don’t matter. And you know that what he did was not right. That’s what they do in the old country, that Colonel Vindman’s father came from. Or the old country that my great grandfather came from, or the old countries that your ancestors came from, or maybe you came from. But here, right is supposed to matter. It’s what’s made us the greatest nation on earth. No constitution can protect us, right doesn’t matter any more. And you know you can’t trust this President to do what’s right for this country. You can trust he will do what’s right for Donald Trump. He’ll do it now. He’s done it before. He’ll do it for the next several months. He’ll do it in the election if he’s allowed to. This is why if you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed. Because right matters. Because right matters and the truth matters. Otherwise, we are lost.” 

Schiff was not only correct but prophetic in what Donald Trump and his supporters would do if he was not convicted. Schiff’s words in those closing arguments could not have been more correct and Donald Trump nearly succeeded in overthrowing the election and maintaining power on 6 January 2021. This was not a one off, it was not a last minute “Hail Mary” it was the culmination of a plan that existed before Election Day to discredit the election and every action after it from challenging vote counts, demanding recounts, making over 60 legal challenges all of which were shot down in flames because they lacked any factual evidence. Despite every failure President Trump called his supporters to the Capitol weeks ago to come to Washington to use force and violence to change the result of the election and in the process threaten the lives and urge the assassination of Vice President Pence, Speaker Pelosi, Representative Alexandra Ocosio-Cortez, and numerous other Senators and Representatives of both parties who they believed had committed the Cardinal sin of opposing Donald Trump.

Trump, his son Donald Jr., Representative Mo Brooks or Alabama, Rudy Giuliani, and others made impassioned speeches in order charge up the mob to attack the Capitol. The speeches were one thing, but the way they were received exactly as Trump intended it. The people who made the assault attacked, killed and wounded police officers and others as was the intent. Those who breeched the Capitol went looking to kill Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Representative Alexandr Ocosio-Cortez, and even Vice President Mike Pence. Truthfully no one was safe and ever member of the Senate sitting in judgement  Most of those targeted escaped with under a minute to spare. Had just a few Capitol Police and Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police officers not done their duty and stood their ground the bloodshed would have been much worse, and every drop of it would be on Donald Trump’s already bloodstained hands which have over 425,000 dead from the Coronavirus Pandemic that he and his administration so malevolently made light of and ultimately condemned all of those people to death and left over twenty five million more infected, hundreds of thousands of whom are dealing with long term effects of the virus: respiratory, neurological, pulmonary, psychological and more.

No matter who you are if you can fairly evaluate facts and evidence then you can admit that Donald Trump is a sociopath who values himself, his wealth and power more than any other human being. So after over 70 days of fighting the inevitable, lying, filing unsupported lawsuits, intimidating elected state officials, and even his own Justice Department to overturn election results in Georgia, all of which failed he resorted to the last desperate measure of a would be dictator, attempting a coup and using violence to overthrow the government and Constitution with the help of much of his party including Senators Hawley, Cruz, Paul, Cornyn, Cotton, and others in the Senate and House too numerous to name.

That my friends is sedition and treason. It is a fundamental break with their Constitutional oaths. All of them are in some manner guilty for what happened and in large part of why former President Trump must by impeached again and this time convicted.

No President has ever been impeached for a more heinous event. His crime was one display before the entire nation and every member of the Senate who will sit in judgement of him are witnesses. It would have been easy for those who planted bombs at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic National Committees almost within throwing distance of the Capitol building complex to take them into it killing untold numbers of people including political allies and complete innocents. This is the most dastardly and heinous crime ever perpetuated on the American people and government by a President. If justice ever mattered. If adherence to the law and Constitution ever mattered Trump cannot be allowed to escape without a conviction. If 17 Republicans cannot find the inner fortitude and courage to vote to convict then our democracy is finished.

The single article of impeachment reads:

H. Res. 24

In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

January 13, 2021.  

Resolved, That Donald John Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following article of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

Article of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

ARTICLE I: INCITEMENT OF INSURRECTION

The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”. Further, section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any person who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States from “hold[ing] any office … under the United States”. In his conduct while President of the United States—and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed—Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States, in that:

On January 6, 2021, pursuant to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, the House of Representatives, and the Senate met at the United States Capitol for a Joint Session of Congress to count the votes of the Electoral College. In the months preceding the Joint Session, President Trump repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the Presidential election results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by the American people or certified by State or Federal officials. Shortly before the Joint Session commenced, President Trump, addressed a crowd at the Ellipse in Washington, DC. There, he reiterated false claims that “we won this election, and we won it by a landslide”. He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged—and foreseeably resulted in—lawless action at the Capitol, such as: “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore”. Thus incited by President Trump, members of the crowd he had addressed, in an attempt to, among other objectives, interfere with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 Presidential election, unlawfully breached and vandalized the Capitol, injured and killed law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress, the Vice President, and Congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.

President Trump’s conduct on January 6, 2021, followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Those prior efforts included a phone call on January 2, 2021, during which President Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so.

In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.

Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

Insurrection is the most dishonorable, dastardly, criminal and evil charge ever leveled against any American President. The evidence is damning. It is on video, audio, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Parlor feeds, not to mention the anti-government sites that proliferate the internet and apps for smartphones and tablets.

The crime is the most documented political crime in American history perpetrated by an American President. He called his cult to Washington, he incited them to violence and they responded by assaulting the Capitol, killing and wounding police officers, and attempting to find and kill the Vice President, the Speaker of the House and any other opponent of Trump they could find.

If any Republican votes to acquit Trump it can be said that they are no better than the Nazis elected to the Reichstag, and have so little integrity and honesty that they cannot be trusted in the most minor matters, or for that matter the offices and Constitution that they swore to uphold and protect against all enemies foreign and domestic.

With the evidence so obvious, the crimes so open, the testimony so damning how can we not ignore for regardless of our political affiliation our Constitution and Republican demand we hold former Trump accountable or lose everything, for after that there will be no incentive for any malevolent leader of any party to follow the law, and the one Constitutional means of reigning in tyranny will mean nothing.

As Justice Robert Jackson closed his argument against the Nazi war criminals said:

“It is against such a background that these defendants now ask this Tribunal to say that they are not guilty of planning, executing, or conspiring to commit this long list of crimes and wrongs. They stand before the record of this trial as bloodstained Gloucester stood by the body of his slain King. He begged of the widow, as they beg of you: “Say I slew them not.” And the Queen replied, “Then say they were not slain. But dead they are ….” If you were to say of these men that they are not guilty, it would be as true to say that there has been no war, there are no slain, there has been no crime.”

In the impeachment trial of President Trump that applies to the entire Trump Cult and any Senator who votes to acquit him.

There can be no middle ground on this. There can be no forgiveness without repentance. There can be no unity without individual and collective admissions of guilt for the crimes of a leader committed with their fully approval and complicity. Simply, you cannot fake unity when the GOP, which I was a member of for 32 years refuses to respect honor or obey our laws, Constitution, political norms and guardrails but instead bulldozes them with sycophantic loyalty to a many who despises all of them. How they cannot wake up and see that I cannot understand, except that they have abandoned all pretense of loyalty to the country and Constitution in favor of a personality cult around a would be dictator who used his last two and a half months in office to overthrow the Constitution, overturn an election, and finally incite a physical assault on members of the House, Senate, and his own Vice President doing their Constitutional duty to certify the votes of the Electoral College.

If just 34 members of  Republican Senate representing under 30 percent of the American population vote to acquit Trump they will drive the stake through the heart of our democracy, burn the Constitution and ensure that at some point a more competent and malevolent leader will be elected President and proclaim himself a dictator. Because after that there will be no Constitutional way to hold him accountable for his actions and crimes. It would be the equivalent of a murder-suicide, they would not only condemn the nation, but themselves and their descendants to tyranny. They would be like the Vichy collaborator Marshal Weygand of France who after France had fallen to the Nazis said “I didn’t get the Boches, but I got the regime.” 

This is a big deal and we as Americans need to take it seriously.

Peace,

Padre Steve+

 

 

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January 25, 2021 · 03:39

“ The principle of criminal law in every civilized society has this in common: Any person who sways another to commit murder, any person who furnishes the lethal weapon for the purpose of the crime, any person who is an accessory to the crime — is guilty.” A Lesson from Judgment at Nuremberg Applicable to Trump and his Defenders


Friends of Padre Steve’s World,

Tonight I have just a short thought in light of the growing number of elected Republicans insisting that former President Trump not be tried for the charge of Incitement to Insurrection in which a mob of tens of thousands of his followers assaulted the United States Capitol Building which resulted in the murder of a Capitol Police Officer the wounding of two score more, and the attempted assassinations of Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocosio-Cortez, and as many Senators or Representatives they could, with the likely inside help of members of the House, Senate and Capitol Police Officers.

Senators Marco Rubio, John Cronyn, Rand Paul, and Tom Cotton  were among at least a half a dozen GOP Senators to oppose an impeachment trial. Their opposition speaks volumes about their lack of character, honor, integrity, or respect for the Constitution and law. This is despite the fact that even Senator Mitch McConnell stated that the actions of the President were clearly impeachable offenses. So far hundreds have been arrested or charged for their part in the assault but none of the people who stoked the fires of their anger for months or incited the attack 6 January has yet to be charged despite they are all were recorded on video, spoke on the House and Senate floor, in speeches, media and Twitter, Facebook, Parlor and a host of other platforms.

Since it is late I am going to end with one of my favorites monologues from the film Judgement at Nuremberg. In it Spencer Tracy sitting in judgement of Nazi Judges made these comments, which I think are rather pertinent to the men and women who incited the insurrection but never took a physical part in it.

You see in Nazi Germany there were many men who ever killed a Jew or political opponent, participated in killing the physically and mentally disabled in the T4 Euthanasia program, or the forced sterilization of such people. But nonetheless their words, speeches, and court judgements contributed to murder and genocide on a scale never seen before or since.

But there is no moral difference between those who assaulted the Capitol with the intent of overthrowing the Constitution and Republic, killing their opponents, those who incited them including former President Trump, Congressman Mo Brooks, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump Jr., and others cheered them on, the former President even saying that he would be there with them. However, unlike Hitler how actually led his stormtroopers in the Bier Hall Putsch until they were met by a company of Munich Police who stood their ground at Odeonsplatz, Trump went to a tent with his family to watch the attack rather than lead it. 

But, Donald Trump, Cadet Bones Spurs who dodged the draft five times would never put himself in any physical danger to support the people he sent into battle to support his illegal, unconstitutional, and used seditious acts to overthrow the government and remain in power, is now being defended by Senators who are more afraid of his cult than they are courageous enough to risk Trump and the cult’s fury by being honest and forthright.

In Justice at Nuremberg, Spencer Tracy’s character Judge Dan Haygood made the following statement regarding the Judges who sentenced people to sterilization, euthanasia, or imprisonment for their political, religious or social standing. Haygood spoke words that should send chills down the spines of Trump and his defenders today:

“The trial conducted before this Tribunal began over eight months ago. The record of evidence is more than ten thousand pages long, and final arguments of counsel have been concluded.

Simple murders and atrocities do not constitute the gravamen of the charges in this indictment. Rather, the charge is that of conscious participation in a nationwide, government organized system of cruelty and injustice in violation of every moral and legal principle known to all civilized nations. The Tribunal has carefully studied the record and found therein abundant evidence to support beyond a reasonable doubt the charges against these defendants.

Herr Rolfe, in his very skillful defense, has asserted that there are others who must share the ultimate responsibility for what happened here in Germany. There is truth in this. The real complaining party at the bar in this courtroom is civilization. But the Tribunal does say that the men in the dock are responsible for their actions, men who sat in black robes in judgment on other men, men who took part in the enactment of laws and decrees, the purpose of which was the extermination of humans beings, men who in executive positions actively participated in the enforcement of these laws — illegal even under German law. The principle of criminal law in every civilized society has this in common: Any person who sways another to commit murder, any person who furnishes the lethal weapon for the purpose of the crime, any person who is an accessory to the crime — is guilty.

Herr Rolfe further asserts that the defendant, Janning, was an extraordinary jurist and acted in what he thought was the best interest of this country. There is truth in this also. Janning, to be sure, is a tragic figure. We believe he loathed the evil he did. But compassion for the present torture of his soul must not beget forgetfulness of the torture and the death of millions by the Government of which he was a part. Janning’s record and his fate illuminate the most shattering truth that has emerged from this trial: If he and all of the other defendants had been degraded perverts, if all of the leaders of the Third Reich had been sadistic monsters and maniacs, then these events would have no more moral significance than an earthquake, or any other natural catastrophe. But this trial has shown that under a national crisis, ordinary — even able and extraordinary — men can delude themselves into the commission of crimes so vast and heinous that they beggar the imagination. No one who has sat at through trial can ever forget them: men sterilized because of political belief; a mockery made of friendship and faith; the murder of children. How easily it can happen.

There are those in our own country too who today speak of the “protection of country” — of “survival.” A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient — to look the other way.

Well, the answer to that is “survival as what?” A country isn’t a rock. It’s not an extension of one’s self. It’s what it stands for. It’s what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult!

Before the people of the world, let it now be noted that here, in our decision, this is what we stand for: justice, truth, and the value of a single human being.”

That my friends is what this boils down to, the simple matter of the law being supreme and no one, no matter how high their position is above it. The question is what do we stand for today? The Republican defenders of Trump have made their case clear. The former President and his actions are above the law and they will dishonor themselves by doing all in their power to prevent his trial or acquit him. The fact is they are co-conspirators in an attempt to overthrow our Republic, its Constitution, and who over a process of four years did all that they could to bulldoze the Constitutional guardrails that prevented the tyranny that our founders believed could happen if a man like Trump ever became President. They too through the processes of the Constitution governing the behavior or Senators and Representatives should be censured and removed from office by their respective houses.

That is all for now. I have a busy day that begins early tomorrow. So until next time.

Peace,

Padre Steve+

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December 20, 2018 · 23:20

A Watershed Moment, and a Time to Be Afraid: Jim Mattis Resigns in Protest

Friends of Padre Steve’s World,

Secretary of Defense James Mattis resigned his position in protest at the manner in which President Trump is endangering the security of the United States. His resignation letter speaks for itself but it echoes many things that I have written regarding the Trump military and foreign policy since his election campaign. The final straw for Mattis was Trump’s unilateral decision against the advice of Mattis, the Department Of Defense, the State Department, and the National Security Council to withdraw all U.S. Troops from Syria falsely claiming that ISIS had been defeated.

Secretary Mattis’s letter is show below.

It was a watershed moment in American History. Honestly, I never expected Mattis to survive this long in the Trump Swamp. Everything about him stands in complete opposition to everything that Donald Trump embodies. The disgraced convicted felon Michael Flynn much more represents for which Trump stands.

Mattis was and remains a Marine who exemplified the Marine motto Semper Fidelis, and of living the creed of Duty, Honor, Country. Many times during his time in office he resisted the worst impulses and decisions made by the President. He knew that his duty and oath were to the Constitution of the United States and not the President. I think that he has become a tragic figure, he accepted the position thinking that he could serve the country better by taking it rather than not.

In the end Mattis could not abide the constant attacks on what he believed were the foundations of American national security and he resigned in protest. In a way he reminds me of Colonel General Ludwig Beck, Chief of Staff of the German Army, who resigned in protest over Hitler’s planned invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. Beck, who died in the attempt to kill Hitler on July 20th, 1944 said:

“It is a lack of character and insight, when a soldier in high command sees his duty and mission only in the context of his military orders without realizing that the highest responsibility is to the people of his country.”

Working with former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster he had allies within the administration who could help check the President’s worst instincts. But Tillerson and McMaster were forced out and replaced by men who Trump believes that are more personally loyal to him, leaving Mattis isolated in the administration. Mattis was not able to get his recommendation for the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein approved by Trump. Mattis took this as a personal affront because the Secretary of Defense usually gets his recommendation for the position approved by the President. I wonder if Trump rejected Goldfein because in addition to being a decorated combat veteran who was actually shot down over Serbia in 1999, is also Jewish. Honestly, I don’t think that Trump could stomach having a Jewish war hero as his Chief military advisor. Maybe someone should ask that question, but I digress…

Mattis’s resignation, combined with Trump’s declaration of victory over ISIS and withdraw announcement sent a chill throughout Washington and around the world. Even influential Republican leaders who have carried Trump’s water are seeing the approaching danger of Trump unrestrained. The only question is if they will have the courage to choose principle over personal profit and power. Sadly, to this point they have not backed their words with action. Perhaps with the wheels coming off this presidency they will, but I think they are more afraid of his cult like followers than they are of him, so we will have to see.

Trump promises that he will nominate a replacement for Mattis soon. Make no mistake, whoever Trump chooses will be pliant and nothing more than his lackey. The replacement will be someone in the tradition of Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, who was absolutely committed to Adolf Hitler and who not only went along with, but signed criminal orders that obliged the German military to commit war crimes, at home and abroad. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson who served as the Chief American Prosecutor at Nuremberg said about Keitel:

“Keitel, the weak and willing tool, delivered the armed forces, the instrument of aggression, over to the party and directed them in executing its felonious designs.”

I am not sure who would want the job, but I am sure that he will be an modern embodiment of Keitel, and I will be glad that I will be retired within a few months of his confirmation. A year ago I thought that Senator Tom Cotton would gladly take it, but since he was one of the leading critics of the Syria withdraw, that he saw as a surrender to Russia I am not so sure. I don’t think that he’s that stupid. Instead, I think that Trump may pick a retired General or Admiral from his partisans for the job, there are plenty of them out there who would take it, I could be wrong, but we’ll have to see.

Regardless of who takes over for Mattis is the fact that with Mattis out of the way, Trump’s worst instincts will win policy debates and he may even lose John Bolton. Today the danger to our country and to to world has increased exponentially. To quote General Colin Powell’s words in his waning days as Secretary of State, “I sleep like a baby … every two hours I wake up screaming.”

I think that may be the case for many of us in the coming days, weeks, and months. Since I already do that due to my PTSD and combat based nightmares and night terrors this will be nothing new. If that hasn’t been the case for you, welcome to my world.

Peace,

Padre Steve+

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