Things aren't normal...
Sep. 2nd, 2017 08:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmerThis isn't a political-for-my-blog post - but it is political.
This nation is not in a normal state. The President could be taking bribes and this isn't considered a problem. His legal team has presented a sophistry as an argument against - that his indirect profits from his businesses can't be considered bribes, and that he will donate "profits" - which can always be shrunk by any accountant worthy of a name other than "bookkeeper" - to the government.
The GOP, which sure knows how to investigate anything that looks bad, and to kick up a huge fuss over it, is completely ignoring the emoluments problem, and downplaying Russian involvement and obstruction of justice, and this is accepted, because we surely can't expect them to do their jobs if it impacts an important member of their own party, but it was perfectly normal for them to do act with ruthlessness if it involved a member of the opposing party.
It's hard to express how corrupt this is - to misuse the powers of government for partisan purposes. Sure, partisans will use their powers to try to push their agenda - sometimes even in petty and mean ways - but we've gotten to the point that we accept that people will:
1) use the powers of the government to oppress others,
2) fail to use those powers, even to try to prove their side is clean,
3) it will be accepted as normal.
Further, President Trump pardoned a person who was found to be in criminal contempt - to have blatantly, and willfully, with full mens rea, to violate the Constitutional protections we all should enjoy. This has drawn some criticism, even some harsh criticism, by some GOP legislators - but that's it. Criticize so you're the record and blow it off.
Again: this isn't normal and it isn't right. But as long as there's a set of right wing media who will march with them in lockstep, it doesn't matter - "clearly, there are a variety of opinions".
I have another bit on https://longhairedweirdo.dreamwidth.org.
This nation is not in a normal state. The President could be taking bribes and this isn't considered a problem. His legal team has presented a sophistry as an argument against - that his indirect profits from his businesses can't be considered bribes, and that he will donate "profits" - which can always be shrunk by any accountant worthy of a name other than "bookkeeper" - to the government.
The GOP, which sure knows how to investigate anything that looks bad, and to kick up a huge fuss over it, is completely ignoring the emoluments problem, and downplaying Russian involvement and obstruction of justice, and this is accepted, because we surely can't expect them to do their jobs if it impacts an important member of their own party, but it was perfectly normal for them to do act with ruthlessness if it involved a member of the opposing party.
It's hard to express how corrupt this is - to misuse the powers of government for partisan purposes. Sure, partisans will use their powers to try to push their agenda - sometimes even in petty and mean ways - but we've gotten to the point that we accept that people will:
1) use the powers of the government to oppress others,
2) fail to use those powers, even to try to prove their side is clean,
3) it will be accepted as normal.
Further, President Trump pardoned a person who was found to be in criminal contempt - to have blatantly, and willfully, with full mens rea, to violate the Constitutional protections we all should enjoy. This has drawn some criticism, even some harsh criticism, by some GOP legislators - but that's it. Criticize so you're the record and blow it off.
Again: this isn't normal and it isn't right. But as long as there's a set of right wing media who will march with them in lockstep, it doesn't matter - "clearly, there are a variety of opinions".
I have another bit on https://longhairedweirdo.dreamwidth.org.
