Why Trump Shutdown the Government

As the continuing government shutdown inflicts greater suffering on federal workers and their families, deprives the American public of needed services and inflates the President’s negative poll numbers, one has to wonder why Mr. Trump continues to resist a reasonable resolution.
The obvious reasons involve Mr. Trump’s concern for the support of his base and the right-wing media and his preternatural aversion to being labeled a loser. However, I suggest there is another, more insidious motive for his perpetuation of the shutdown.
Reporting indicates that the absence of government funding is curtailing operation of the court system and halting law enforcement activities, including the work of grand juries. Would it come as a surprise that Mr. Trump welcomes the inability of grand juries to complete investigations and return criminal indictments knowing full well that he and members of his family are likely subjects of those investigations?

State of the Union

Finally,President Trump (or someone around him)has shown some smarts. The decision to postpone the State of the Union speech is a savvy maneuver. Of course, Mr. Trump intends to use the speech to ballyhoo the tremendous job he is doing and to extol how great everything is in the country. He can hardly say such things while there is so much suffering caused by his shutdown of the government without further exposing himself as cruel, out of touch and tone deaf. By postponing the speech he avoids having to give a defensive, low key address and, while appearing conciliatory and rational, he preserves for later the opportunity for his grand and delusional self- promotion.

The Buzz Feed Flap

 

The Buzz Feed story, attributed to law enforcement officials, that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow Project, and that there were documents and other evidence to corroborate that claim, was cited by many as a basis, if true, for indicting or impeaching President Trump.

The next day, the Special Counsel’s Office issued a rare public, carefully worded statement which describes as inaccurate some elements of the Buzz Feed story without specifying the inaccuracies. The statement issued by Mueller’s office seems somewhat inconsistent with the representation it made to the court in the Government’s Sentencing Memorandum at the time of Cohen’s sentencing. In that document, Special Counsel reported, “the information provided by Cohen about the Moscow Project… is consistent with and corroborated by other information obtained in the course of the SCO’s investigation”.

Not surprisingly, Sean Hannity of Fox News has labeled the Buzz Feed story “fake news” and has castigated all those mentioning the possibility of impeachment as Trump haters who have rushed to judgment.

My prediction: when the smoke has cleared and all the facts made known, it will be proven that, while Trump may not have given a directive to Cohen to lie to Congress, (a lie Cohen has admitted) he was present at some of the sessions held to prepare Cohen for his perjurious testimony or was otherwise informed of Cohen’s intent to testify falsely. Trump will either be charged as an unindicted co-conspirator or will be named as such in Mueller’s forthcoming report.

Attorney General's Job

While Roger Starr (1/17/19 A25) may be sincere in his belief that William Barr is a fine lawyer and a man of integrity, his analysis of Mr. Barr’s widely discussed memo is legally flawed. Just because a president acts within his constitutional job description does not render him unaccountable if he acts corruptly. So, hypothetically, if it were proven that Putin directed President Trump to fire James Comey, because the FBI investigation threatened to embarrass Russia, and Trump exercised his authority to take that action it would seem obvious that such an act would constitute both obstruction of justice and an unlawful conspiracy. Indeed, it is well-settled law that an otherwise legal act if performed with criminal intent is unlawful and does not excuse the wrongdoer.
Thus, Mr. Barr’s unsolicited advice to the Justice Department hierarchy (which might more appropriately have been written as an Op-Ed piece) is not merely wrong but makes his appointment as Attorney-General suspect.

A Perilous Time

This is a most perilous time.President Trump sees himself as alone. Gone are all those who would stay his worst impulses and irrational outbursts, those who would counsel caution, ignore or slow walk his destructive directives, even remove from his desk impending orders. The few who remain feed his frenzy and cater to his basest instincts. The 40% of the populace that view him as the champion of their racial, xenophobic, militaristic and environmental beliefs remain loyal and a driving force in his decision making. His only source of information, a coterie of cable commentators who daily confirm that he is being victimized by Deep State conspirators, a hateful media, an irrational and disloyal opposition, faithless allies around the world and a rigged, two-tier justice system that spares the real wrongdoers even as it plots his unjust comeuppance.

As the Mueller investigation reaches crescendo and its denouement nears, Trump knows better than anyone the nature and details of the information provided the inquiry by such insiders as Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, Alan Weisselberg and others. He knows that Mueller knows all. He recognizes that Putin and the Russians have him in a vise and that, however obvious his appeasements, he is captive to continued concessions lest his secrets be exposed. Only Putin knows what Trump has taken pains to conceal even from his closest advisers, confiscating notes taken by an interpreter present at their clandestine meetings.

Faced with the prospect of being seen as weak and, still worse, as a loser, Trump has begun to react by shuttering the government, tearing apart essential alliances, stoking fears and resentments by his incendiary rhetoric, appointing hawkish emissaries and installing sycophants likely to do his bidding in derailing or limiting Mueller.

Most frightening is what this egomaniac who feels beset, betrayed and unappreciated, may yet do to fend off his impending fate. We are all hostages to the unimaginable means of destruction wielded by this wounded and amoral being as he thrashes about in his final throes

Wall Impasse- Best Way Forward for Democrats

 

President Trump has convinced a not insubstantial percentage of the American public that our southern border is insecure and in chaos because Democrats will not agree to fund his wall. He has assumed the posture of protector of national security standing against those who would bare the country to unimaginable danger and harm.

The surest way to expose this deception and, perhaps, end a needless standoff that is paralyzing the nation and hurting millions of its citizens, would be this. The Democratic majority in the House, in consultation with border security experts, should pass legislation providing funding for real solutions to any demonstrable problems at the border which may include an increase to the border patrol, greater use of technological safeguards and detection, enhanced air and sea surveillance, more modern and efficient equipment and, yes, even some partitions where experts agree it is most likely to be effective. 

The bill should be sent to the Senate where it might conceivably attract some Republican support but will, in any event, forcefully demonstrate that Democrats are not soft on security but rather have advanced realistic and sensible solutions.