Testimony of Michael Cohen

Since Michael Cohen has been a scoundrel, as he has himself acknowledged, Republican Congressmen rail that he should not be given a platform to expose the misdeeds of President Trump. Hold on now.
The Democrats did not invent Mr. Cohen as a bete noir to assail the president. It was Mr. Trump who handpicked him to be his personal attorney and fixer precisely because of the qualities the Republicans claim to find so repulsive and disqualifying. It has been truly said, a man may be judged by the company he keeps

Trump's Emergency Declaration

President Trump's declaration of a national emergency, so that he can divert funds allocated by Congress for a different purpose in order to build his great wall, is both factually fraudulent and an unconstitutional usurpation of Congressional authority. Unfortunately, because of a perfect storm in our political and judicial alignment, his deception and abuse of power is unlikely to be deterred or punished.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority made clear recently (the "Travel Ban" case) that it will defer to presidential judgment however unwise or factually insupportable. And the Republican majority in the Senate will never muster the two thirds vote required to convict the president for his abuse of power even if he is impeached by the House of Representatives. The only viable alternatives are public outrage and voter rejection.

President Trump and the National Emergency

President Trump has declared a national emergency. He has dispatched a growing number of troops to the border and plans to divert money, appropriated by Congress for other purposes, to fund the building of a wall. The lawfulness of these actions depends upon whether the nation's security is being threatened or whether the president is usurping constitutional powers to implement his immigration policies and fulfill a campaign promise.

Clearly, this is a national emergency. The country is being invaded by hordes of brown-skinned people pouring across our southern border and clambering over the few paltry barriers currently in place. Can't you hear the bugles blowing and see the war flags flying as the charge, led by mothers carrying small children, breeches our border and begins to engulf our nation. Of coarse this is war and we can expect the majority of our Supreme Court justices to agree.

The Paris Attack As Seen By Fox News

It is simply mind-boggling to hear Fox News talking heads turn the tragic massacre by terrorists in Paris into an assault on President Obama. In their view, it seems the greater crime is the President’s failure to describe the killers as “Islamic” or to acknowledge that we are engaged in a “war against Islam.”

Apart from the patent absurdity and blatant partisanship of these inane declarations, it is apparent that no thought was given to the logical extension of such assertions. Would these “journalists” level the same accusations against a president who failed to identify extremists as “Catholic” or “Jewish” if that happened to be their religious affiliation or to declare, as a consequence, that we are at war with “Catholicism” or “Jewry.”

President Trump's Elusive Tax Returns

More than two years ago then candidate Donald Trump explained that he was unable to release his tax returns, as was the practice of most candidates, because they were being audited by the Internal Revenue Service. His ascendancy to the presidency apparently has not spurred the IRS to complete its task. So far as we know, that agency is still poring over those returns and acting with such deliberate speed as may take a full generation to conclude. Or maybe it finished the job and Mr. Trump simply forgot to let us know.

I suppose we should applaud President Trump’s fairness and restraint in not seeking special treatment or expedited action from an arm of government whose head he appoints. Now, those returns must be extremely complicated or the audit trail so explosive that the IRS is fearful of what it might find. Or maybe the agency is unable to enlist a volunteer to deliver its findings to the president.

Once the audit is completed, the range of possible outcomes is limited to the following:

1.     The returns are in perfect order, all entries are accurate and all filing requirements have been met;

2.     The returns contain innocent errors which require amendment and assessment of some amount of underpaid taxes and penalties;

3.     The returns disclose sources of income which are problematic, questionable or politically troublesome;

4.     The returns reveal that the taxpayer has used legal devices to pay little or no taxes;

5.     The returns expose the fact that the taxpayer has far less wealth than he has publicly proclaimed;

6.     The returns are found to be fraudulent and mandate referral to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.

Which of the above would you put your money on?

What Science Can Learn From Religion

Professor David Desteno's essay (Sunday Review, Feb.3) is only partially valid. The only sciences that can benefit from an exchange with religious practitioners are psychiatry/psychology to the extent that those disciplines seek to unlock the secrets of human nature and the functioning of the human mind. I challenge the professor to identify any other science that can benefit from exploration of religion. Geology, re: the age of the Earth? Biology, re: the evolution of the human species? Physics, re: the parting of waters? Chemistry, re: the transmogrification of water to wine?

While Professor Desteno acknowledges, in passing, the invidious effects of religious conflict, separation and displacement of inquiry, I submit that his overly analytical approach, by not focusing on the detriment to scientific progress imposed by organized religion, obscures its role as an impediment to  such progress and does a disservice to science.