A presidency without principle

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/15/1756774/-A-presidency-without-principle

A presidency without principle
Ian Reifowitz
Sunday April 15, 2018 · 4:00 PM EDT


What is there left to say? Seriously. After the last few days, most of us are really at a loss. Just think about a few of the things we’ve seen this week. Pursuant to a referral made by special counsel Robert Mueller, a federal judge issued a warrant authorizing the FBI to raid the offices of Michael Cohen, the personal lawyer of the president of the United States. Think about that for a second.

Of course Trump bleated about this being the end of attorney-client privilege, another lie in the service of his own interests, one that conveniently ignores the fact that one loses that privilege when one talks to a lawyer about committing a crime. That’s called the “crime-fraud exception,” and the granting of the warrant means that judge was convinced that Trump’s attorney and personal fixer probably committed a crime. Given the source of the referral, it’s unlikely Cohen was committing a crime on behalf of one of his non-presidential clients. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken White didn’t mince words, noting: “This is an extremely important development. This is Watergate-level stuff.”

snip//

Nothing I write here, no stringing together of words, sentences, or paragraphs, can do true justice to the situation our country faces today. Put simply, this is not how American democracy in 2018 is supposed to work. By placing this man in the position he now holds, our democracy has committed a grave failure. It has been revealed as deeply wanting, as painfully and dangerously shallow. It has revealed itself to be frighteningly vulnerable to the kind of unprincipled demagogue our founders feared and against whom our champions of constitutional democracy have long warned.

However, we, the American people, can undo that failure. We can bring back to government not only policies that will help rather than harm the vast majority of Americans, but restore principled government itself.

That lack of principle extends beyond the man sitting in the Oval Office. We can elect leaders who see our democratic system of government not merely as a structure to be abused and gamed in order to achieve specific goals any way they can—something seen most nakedly in the still appalling and unprecedented decision by Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans to ignore President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court.

As for that other man, the one who wields executive authority, we can replace him by electing someone who values democracy, the rule of law, and the truth above his own interests—or how about someone who values those things in the first place? We can do this, and we must. There is only one question that remains: what are we prepared to do to make that happen?


Ian Reifowitz is the author of Obama’s America: A Transformative Vision of Our National Identity (Potomac Books).

[Motley13]

1. I ask myself almost every day, how the hell did this happen???????????

he cares nothing about the presidency, it is his ego, I AM THE PRESIDENT!!!!!

Any of us on DU would be a better president , because we care. His only concern is HIM

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. Damn straight....

I tip my hat to you.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. There are some defenders of Donald Trump .......

Here in Rochester. They praise Trump at every turn despite the events taking place before us on a daily basis. Either they have their heads buried so far up their asses, or they are just stupid as can be.

They also get their talking points from FOX. There is the first clue.