As Far-Right Peril Brewed, U.S. Scrutinized the Left

 In a very troubling article ( aren't they all? ) in the Sunday NY Times (front page, 1/31), it is reported that Donald Trump and top officials in his administration diverted the attention and resources of the FBI and Homeland Security from investigating far-right domestic terrorism, which had been identified as a growing threat to the nation, and directed those agencies to focus, instead, on antifa and the protests for racial justice. The consequences of that politically driven detour were made clear at the Capitol on January 6th.

While the article properly places blame upon Mr. Trump and former Attorney General William Barr, both of whom directed subordinates to beef up fruitless efforts to find left-wing conspiracies and to stand down on the threat of white nationalism, the report fails to pay necessary attention to the role of Republican legislators and right-wing media in promoting that misdirection. The myth that antifa was the true threat and that racial protests were a greater menace than white domestic terrorism was echoed by Republican senators and representatives and was amplified nightly by the "Murderers' Row" of commentators on Fox News, Carlson, Hannity and Ingraham. The persistent falsehoods spewed by those elements left our country unprepared to deal with the violence their malicious pronouncements incited.

Republicans' Links to Extremists Draws Scrutiny

 

While we must not make light of Donald Trump’s incitement of domestic terrorists, we should recognize that his presidency kicked over the rock sheltering the multitude of hate groups secretly spawning just beneath. The threat to our nation has been long simmering in the shadows but now, emboldened by Trump, this growing horde of diverse insurgents has surged into the open, raising our awareness of the magnitude of the peril.
Trump’s reign has also unmasked the many elected officials, all of them Republicans, willing to abandon constitutional duties for the pursuit of power.
Now that Trump’s collaboration with Society’s worst elements has exposed more fully the heightened danger and sounded the alarm, we may, with greater resolve and sense of urgency, man the ramparts.

Senate Republicans Vote to Dismiss Impeachment Article

 

One of the justifications being offered by most Republican senators, for not holding former president Donald Trump accountable for inciting insurrection, is that to do so would promote disunity and inflame further violence. 

That argument smacks of appeasement and evokes a striking parallel to the disastrous response of Britain to Hitler's annexation of Czechoslovakia. When will these Republicans learn from history that ignoring naked aggression only invites greater incursions and that appeasement for the sake of perceived political gain is the surest path to national self-destruction.

Trump's Final Act

 As Trump sulks and fumes, out of sight in a nearly deserted West Wing, convinced that he is not a loser but the victim of a vast conspiracy, it is appropriate to put matters in context.

The vote which Trump claims was rigged was cast and counted in a country dominated by his presidency, a Republican controlled Senate, a conservative Supreme Court populated by his appointees and a majority of state governments under the sway of governors and legislatures made up of his declared supporters.
Nevertheless, Trump suffered a decisive defeat, in both the popular and electoral vote.
And yet, his constantly repeated lies, echoed by elected officials and reinforced by right-wing media, has persuaded tens of millions that the election was stolen and that the country is falling into the hands of crazed socialists and the “others”. It seems that a growing number of disappointed Trumpists have been radicalized by the domestic terrorist faction and now teeter on the edge of outright revolt.
Whether a confession of error by Trump could quell the rising tide of violence is doubtful; the dogs of war have been unleashed. Whether our democracy survives may well depend on the loyalty to constitutional duty of the military and police forces, members of which have been found in the ranks of the fascists.

Dershowitz Back to Defend Trump

 

Alan Dershowitz infamously defended Donald Trump during the last impeachment trial by arguing that whatever the President did could not be wrongful because Trump believed that he was acting in the national interest when he engaged in corrupt acts to further his re-election.

Mr. Dershowitz is stepping forward, yet again, in the guise of a defender of the Constitution, to shelter Mr. Trump from a second attempt to impeach him. Mr. Trump disregarded truth, constitutional imperatives and democratic norms when he falsely claimed victory in an election he clearly lost and baselessly accused his opponent of rigging the vote. Mr. Trump lied repeatedly to inflame millions of his supporters and gave license to the most dangerous among them to attack legislators performing their duty in the halls of Congress.

Notwithstanding, the real threat to our Constitution, as Mr. Dershowitz sees it, is the attempt by Democrats to hold Donald Trump accountable. So, while democratic government teeters on the edge of tyranny, Mr. Dershowitz once again dons his armor as knight errant and rides to the rescue of Donald Trump. 

Republicans' Challenge to Election

 The justification offered by many Republican members of Congress, for their challenge to the legitimacy of Joseph Biden’s election to the presidency, is that millions of their constituents believe that the election was fraudulent and they, as representatives, have a duty to investigate those concerns.

This self-serving excuse for attacking and imperiling the foundation of our democracy is built upon a vast public delusion created by the wholly unfounded and oft repeated rants of a deranged president who has been abetted by the very people who now invoke that delusion as cover for their shameful shenanigans.
These offenders, who act from political self interest at the expense of national good, do not claim there exists any real evidence of election rigging; only that many people harbor that false belief ( which they have promoted )and, therefore, it warrants denial of the well documented election outcome and a grotesque charade of an inquiry.

Assault on the Capitol

 History is a potent teacher and we ignore her lessons at our peril. In 1933, three weeks after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany the Reichstag was set on fire. The arsonist was identified as a communist and the Nazi Party used the burning of the German parliament building as an excuse for the passage of a law which served as the springboard for the establishment of the Nazi state.

How the United States handles today’s unprecedented attack by a Trump instigated mob upon the seat of American government and the principles of democracy and the rule of law, will determine whether our country survives as a free and democratic nation.

Trump's Criminal Call

 

Put aside the blatant threats, patent coercion and unmitigated falsehoods rife in Donald Trump’s  telephone rant to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the call was a criminal act, an outright solicitation of election fraud that must not go unpunished.
Instructing Mr. Raffensperger to “find” the exact number of votes needed by Trump to overcome the margin of victory established by President-Elect Biden and to change the result by claiming to have “recalculated” the vote, clearly constitutes criminal misconduct under state and federal law. Proof of the crime is established beyond a reasonable doubt by Mr. Trump in his own recorded voice.
State authorities and the soon to be appointed Attorney General should present the evidence to Grand Juries. Resulting indictments will be triable after Trump leaves office and can no longer claim presidential immunity.