I wrote back when Barack Obama took the oath of office the importance of holding the lawbreakers in the Bush/Cheney administration accountable so that the history of (mainly) republican administrations acting as if they’re “above the law” might cease. Naturally, then President Obama didn’t agree with me (and millions of other Americans) and chose to “look forward instead of back.” I’ve commented on why I believe that was such a HORRIBLE decision on many occasions which you could find in the archives if you don’t believe me and the administration of individual 1 is PROOF that I was correct. When you study American history you get a clear picture of why I was correct.

So, now, we’re dealing with the same question once again. And, trust me, the issue with Bush/Cheney was not the first time this was important. Take Ronald Reagan for example. He held little regard for the Congress which actually writes the laws of the land and he chose to LEAD what ended up being called the Iran/Contra scandal. ILLEGALLY selling weapons to Iran in order to ILLEGALLY gain funds to transfer to rebels in Central America who were intent on overthrowing the government of Nicaragua. All of this was illegal. Several of Reagans sycophants were charged and convicted in the scheme, but Reagan, himself, was “let off the hook” – maybe because he was already showing signs of Alzheimer’s when he was questioned, who knows – but, further example presidents seem to be “above the law” – despite their claims “no one is above the law.”

And, in the case of Iran/Contra the Vice President at the time, George HW Bush, who also avoided accountability (when obviously he KNEW about all of it – maybe was the actual ringleader as a former CIA operative and head of the CIA under Nixon) pardoned all the “actors” who were convicted in the crimes. So, you’ve got Nixon, then Reagan, then HW Bush, then W Bush, and all of that led to individual 1. Do you get the picture here? America has a history of, on the one hand claiming “no one is above the law” and on the other hand demonstrating if you’re rich and powerful (and, usually, white) you are either “above” the law or you can “avoid” the law via high powered attorneys.

I made it clear virtually the same day President Obama stated he was “looking forward instead of back” that he was insuring another corrupt republican (who knows, maybe a democrat will be as brazen now) running roughshod over our constitution – it was just a matter of time. President Obama (who I greatly admire) virtually assured a future president would authorize TORTURE when, while he was saying “America doesn’t torture,” he was refusing to allow investigations into the TORTURE which his predecessors ADMITTED on national TV they authorized – and worst yet, BOTH (GW Bush AND Dick Cheney) said they’d do it again. Just a quick reminder, authorizing TORTURE is a WAR CRIME!

Well, there’s little doubt individual 1 is the MOST corrupt (IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING) president in history and the question becomes should he be held accountable. I’ve read numerous articles by respected constitutional law experts, people who’ve spent their careers as federal prosecutors, AND political commentators – with strong arguments on both sides – investigate and don’t investigate. Personally, I believe the issue goes well beyond the arguments of those who make cogent arguments to “let bygones be bygones.” To me, that is one of the areas of America which needs a reckoning. We’ve been ignoring our past for far too long and the issue with individual 1 is just another example of why we keep doing this. It’s the easiest way “out.”

I agree if individual 1 is investigated and he’s found to have violated the law in a manner where he needs to be indicted that would “suck the oxygen out of the room” as Joe Biden is trying to “heal” the divisions in this nation. However, ignoring the obvious will NOT allow those divisions to “heal.” I’m old enough to understand if you’ve got a problem you need to deal with, ignoring the problem won’t solve anything – the problem will simply keep showing up – time and again and, usually, worse the next time. And, in this instance the problem is a very serious one. The very future of America as a constitutional republic may lay in the balance. And, I don’t believe that is hyperbole!

In fact, it appears many of the issues which America has been “sweeping under the rug” for decades if not centuries seem to be manifest in the issue of whether or not individual 1 should be investigated and, potentially, indicted for crimes he may have committed. The most prescient to the thoughts running through my head today, of course, have to do with “is the president above the law.” To me, if those who claim individual 1 shouldn’t be investigated because it’s unlikely the courts would convict a president of crimes while in office win the argument, then for all intents and purposes the president IS above the law.

For example, take individual 1’s response to the investigation into the Russians “interfering” in the 2016 election and the question of whether anyone associated with individual 1’s campaign “coordinated” with the Russians? Despite even republicans encouraging our now IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING president to just allow the investigation to take its course and, in the words of Trey Gowdy, “If you’re innocent, act like it.” individual 1 couldn’t help himself and committed, according to my reading (twice) of the Mueller report, at least TEN instances of OBSTRUCTION of Justice. This really gets to the heart of the question of whether or not the president is “above the law.” Simply put, if he’s not subject to the laws then why have a Special Counsel regulation in the first place.

Mueller made it clear, at least to me, why OBSTRUCTION is such an egregious crime – it’s often the type of crime prosecutors face when, for example, prosecuting members of organized crime. When you heard individual 1 refer to witnesses who agree to tell the truth as “rats” you should have been able to figure out what kind of (now) IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING president we have – as I’ve pointed out, someone who acts like a mob boss. OBSTRUCTION is a law at the foundation of our constitutional form of government – when prosecutors are investigating criminal activity OBSTRUCTION is the act of someone who doesn’t want them to be able to do so trying to block the investigation. It really does seem simple to me – it’s a serious offense.

The question, right from the start here, was can the president BLOCK investigations into his own behavior? And, when you think about it, the original investigations we’re talking about all happened prior to individual 1 becoming our (now IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING) president. The alleged campaign finance violations – ie paying off Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to prevent their “stories” about illicit affairs with individual 1 – while his wife was pregnant with his final son – becoming public AND the alleged “collusion” with the Russians during the 2016 campaign. The OBSTRUCTION, of course, happened while in office.

Speaking of OBSTRUCTION, that’s essentially how all this “trouble” began. When I think about James Comey I will ALWAYS believe he was the reason we were dealing with all this in the first place – on two fronts. First of all, without his brazen disregard for FBI protocols just 11 days prior to the 2016 election, I don’t believe individual 1 would ever have been our (IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING) president. Secondly, his refusal (thankfully) to “pledge loyalty” to individual 1 led to his firing and ultimately to Mueller as the special counsel. (Just try to imagine how someone who spent the early part of his career prosecuting members of organized crime would have reacted to the request for “loyalty” coming from the president – talk about your “red flags”) By firing Comey individual 1 believed he had ended the Russia investigation – and, with most of his decisions, the opposite was true. That was OBSTRUCTION offense #1.

So, the FBI is SUPPOSED to be independent from the executive branch – really independent from all political entities – just think about whether the president can simply fire people in the department if he doesn’t like who they’re investigating – especially if it’s him. Well, despite all that has happened in the past four years, thankfully, on January 20, 2021 the FBI AND the Justice Department will again be independent from the executive branch because we’ll have a president who will be focused on things like “crushing” Covid-19, getting an infrastructure bill through Congress, “fixing” the Affordable Care Act so it can help MILLIONS more Americans get covered with health insurance, dealing with police reform, the CLIMATE CRISIS, and a nation which will likely be teetering on depression (just as back in 2009 – only worse) as a democratic president takes over from a republican disaster. I will be anxious to see who the new Attorney General is.

I started this post several days ago, and, as usual, I got sidetracked with my thinking, but in the interim we’ve seen individual 1 making an even MORE brazen attack on the foundation of our constitutional republic. In the past couple of days the Attorney General of the state of Texas filed a lawsuit (he desperately needs a pardon from individual 1 before January 20) – the “mother of all frivolous lawsuits” attempting to get the Supreme Court to throw out the votes in the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Apparently, because they allow African Americans to vote in those states, or ????? Who knows, this lawsuit is going to get thrown out just like the 50+ lawsuits before it. Basically, this is another attempt to get the highest court in the land to render the constitution moot. Would that make any sense? Is that what individual 1’s three appointments to the high court were expected to do?

Final Thought: I watch the “data” regarding the Covid-19 pandemic pretty much daily by checking the site: “Worldometer.info” which tabulates EVERY positive test in EVERY state (actually, EVERY country worldwide) including EVERY death and other statistics relating to the coronavirus pandemic. For example, there’s a category in the “world” section of their data which keeps track of how many people are in “serious/critical” condition – which I take to mean those who are in the ICU or close to the ICU. (As an aside, about 1 month ago the number of “serious/critical” was about 14,000 and today, it’s over 26,000 – OK, now about 4 days later it’s 27,333) As I watch, I can’t help but remember how individual 1 and his son-in-law, back in the early days of this pandemic, were opposing additional “stimulus” after the “CARES Act” because they didn’t want to help the “blue states” which, apparently, they thought were the worst cases of the crisis. Apparently, in states that didn’t vote for individual 1 they didn’t want to provide federal support for fighting the pandemic. Sooooooooooo…………..

In the “top ten” of the states hit the worst in this pandemic we have: Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio. The second ten consists of Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana, Arizona, Missouri, Alabama, and Louisiana. Here’s my point – these are ALL American states and they ALL need help in the form of stimulus. Every state has lots of people who are in danger of economic disaster which could be difficult to recover from – like many people out on the streets – in the MIDDLE of the pandemic, no less. Yet, republicans continue BLOCKING relief to the states and the people who are in desperate need right now. Our economy COULD be headed for depression and republicans are doing NOTHING. (Maybe that is what they want to “hand off” to president elect Biden)

Today, already, (There’s an hour or two of reporting time left) there have been over 222,000 NEWLY diagnosed cases of Covid in America with around 2600 Americans DEAD and, yet, the republican party is AWOL. (I wrote that last week, the previous two days have had over 3000 deaths each day and, before the vaccine can have a significant effect I’ve heard we should be expecting days of over 4000 deaths. Yikes!) I can’t even believe I’m feeling the necessity to write these words. Do the “red” states have to get desperate before Congress is able to act? What will it take for “we the people” to finally understand today’s version of the republican party has got to go? Sadly, there’s a significant segment of the population who no longer respect our system of laws – which was the point of what I wrote above. If the people at the top are above the law then these people at the bottom are asking, “What about us?” And, individual 1 has managed to somehow cause them to believe they’re in the “same boat.” As if, individual 1 has been the victim of anything other than his own illegal behavior.

I have an acquaintance who is a supporter of individual 1 and, essentially, has been regurgitating the propaganda which has come from the “White House” and all the right wing echo chambers since the start of this nightmare. When the Covid-19 crisis began he was spouting the “herd immunity” philosophy of individual 1’s administration (save for a month or so in April/May) and suggesting to me, “It’s just another flu.” At the time, I tried to explain to him this was much more serious than a flu epidemic and the main problem with simply letting it run “wild” in our communities was that our hospitals and our doctors, nurses, and other aspects of our health care system would not be able to handle the numbers. And, that was if you’re OK with all the people who would DIE. Well, obviously, individual 1 and those who continue to support him seem to be OK with the numbers DYING. And, aside from that, many of those who contract Covid-19 and “beat it” end up with side effects of the disease which are long lasting – putting them in the “pre-existing condition” category with their insurance carrier.

And, of course, republicans have been in court just recently, attempting to overturn the Affordable Care Act (hopefully without success, but that still remains to be seen) which would eliminate the protection against insurance companies discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions in their attempt to gain health insurance. I’ll say it again, what causes every day Americans to support these people? To them I have to say, “get your head out of your……………. OK, fill in the blank.

Two days ago I heard individual 1 say this: “I’ve heard 15% of Americans have contracted the virus. That’s great! That’s how we defeat this thing.” (or words to that effect) Of course, that’s the exact words we heard repeatedly from Scott Atlas the former head of the Coronavirus Task Force. It’s so absurd it bugs me I feel the necessity to write about it. Even if this was true (and, it’s likely far from the truth) we would be looking at 2 MILLION Americans dying before this pandemic would be “over.” The reality is we KNOW of just over 15 MILLION Americans being diagnosed as being Covid-19 positive. That would be less than 5% of our population and we’ve still lost over 300,000 Americans. “Herd immunity,” if it was possible without relying on vaccines, could lead to as many as 6 MILLION Americans dying. It’s offensive to me so many republicans are OK with this. Heck, republicans in the Senate continue to refuse agreeing to a Covid relief package prior to Christmas unless McConnell gets his “get out of court free card” for his corporate cronies. God help us!